How I Met Your Mother Review:
"Definitions" (Episode 5.01)

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regrettable

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The season premiere of How I Met Your Mother wasted no time serving up catnip to longtime fans. That's great for series veterans, but the spillover crowd from last night's Emmy Awards probably felt a little lost.

Before the first commercial break, we saw allusions to no less than six situational gags from previous seasons, from Robin getting caught making out on that red couch (though now Barney is in Todd's position), to the running line of Season 4's "The Three Days Rule," "We should... or..."

Luckily, the remaining two-thirds of the episode provided a rule fit for the next edition of The Bro Code (because that Gremlin rule has got to go on record somewhere). "Definitions" also updated a classic sitcom situation by adding a modern-day twist: How can two emotionally insecure people label their relationship when the very nature of "dating" is constantly changing?

But best of all, tonight's episode brought back the Ted Mosby seasoned fans adore. His agonizing over how to spell 'professor,' and then his impromptu soliloquy in front of hundreds of ECON305 (not ARCH101) students recalled the hopeful romantic we saw before he turned 31. That was the Ted Mosby first-time viewers met tonight, as it should have been.