Memento mori: Barney Stinson
Dang, HOW long has it been since I've done a HIMYM theory?
Anyway, here's my latest, partly inspired by the latest episode, but also an idea I've had for a while, and I've just got to get it out now:
I think that Barney Stinson is dead in the future.
1. He's the only one who's made any sort of plans for once he's dead. "Going out of this world the same way I came into it: buck naked. Open bar for the dudes, open casket for the ladies." Lily and Marshall (okay, mainly Marshall) have also made plans for their death when they write their death folders, but they seem far less concrete than Barney's: Marshall is mainly concerned about reassuring Lily, and Lily certainly doesn't take them seriously at all. Barney may have had some odd requests for his funeral, but he seemed to take them seriously, and they're very specific.
2. He's never shown up in a future scene. Lily and Marshall have both been shown up to at least 2029; and while Robin's never been in an actual future scene (other than Lily's fantasy porch scene where she's married to Ted), her relationship to Ted's kids has been shown through crayon drawings.
3. The way Ted talks about him to his kids, it's like they haven't met him. For instance: "The thing you have to understand about your uncle Barney is this: when times are bad, it's impossible to keep him around." (2.19, Bachelor Party) He doesn't do this with any of the others, because clearly the kids have already had some sort of contact with everyone else.
3a. And is it me, or does he talk about Barney in past tense, when everyone else is present tense? For instance, 1.3: "I had no idea why I hung out with Barney" is a general statement that could easily work in present tense, if it was still true. Compare with 1.15: "Kids, something you might not know about your Uncle Marshall is that he's always been good at games."
4. Lily didn't include him in her front porch scene. There's already been some speculation about why this is, if Lily doesn't think he'd want to play bridge with them because it's not "awesome," or if she thinks he and Robin will be hooking up in a closet somewhere. But why'd she consciously exclude him, if that front porch fantasy is such a big deal to her, so much so that she won't let any subpar girlfriend of Ted's be a part of it, even hypothetically? Lily and Barney are close friends; right now, he's probably closer with her than he is with anyone.
5. Ted has a line about him "sleeping in a coffin." (4.17)
6. His over-the-top, larger-than-life personality could be future Ted compensating for the fact that his friend's dead now. Remembering him as alive and vibrant might help him ease the pain that Barney's gone. Don't forget that all the events in HIMYM have to be viewed through the Saget!Ted filter; he's already been proven to be an unreliable narrator in other aspects.
6a. Also, Ted has to be telling his kids this story for a reason, and it's not because they don't already know how he and their mom met. (He's already said, "You know the short version of the story, the thing with your mom's yellow umbrella... but there's a bigger story, the story of who I had to become before I could meet her." (3.01)) Could it be so they know about who Barney was as a person? He was clearly important to Ted, and during season 3 (which the above line kicks off) he and Ted were wingmen and made Ted into someone he knew he had to change from before he'd be ready to settle down. (After the St. Patrick's day episode, he says "Your mom was at the party, but I'm glad I didn't meet her then... I don't think she would have liked me much." He still had to change into Bob Saget before he could meet her. Or something.)
7. He's often dressed in dark colors, sometimes even a black shirt with a black suit and a black tie. Black is a color of mourning.
8. When he's sleeping in his suit-jamas, he's eerily still... almost death-like. (Thanks, idioticonion!) See cap:
9. Suits are very somber attire; they're worn in places other than funerals (like at the office and such), but they're generally too formal to be considered "happy" attire.
10: This exchange from Sweet Taste of Liberty:
Ted: Barney, I'm going to KILL you.
Barney: Don't say you're going to kill someone in front of airport security... not cool!
(This is not to suggest that Ted's going to kill Barney. But there was a similar exchange between Harry and Malfoy in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, where Malfoy tells Harry, "You're dead, Potter." Many HP fans have taken this as foreshadowing of Harry's death in Deathly Hallows.)
11: Barney's religious views have been most touched on of all the characters: he's the only character to have been shown in a church or praying at all, and in We're Not From Here he says "I dare God to smite down this perfectly healthy [man]" when talking about Marshall. He is also well-acquainted with the Bible enough to know that the "Love is patient, love is kind" verse is from 1 Corinthians (2.22). Could his underlying (and very very well-hidden) religious beliefs be foreshadowing?
12. Barney's often told Ted to use a carpe diem attitude to help himself get laid. See Third Wheel (telling girls about the supervolcano for the mortality angle, "don't postpone joy") and No Tomorrow (the episode's entire premise is that they could die tomorrow, so they should live for today).
13. The fake suicide scenes from Wait For It: shooting himself in the head, hanging himself, and...
Thoughts? More evidence, for or against? Because I kind of want to be proven wrong on this one.
Anyway, here's my latest, partly inspired by the latest episode, but also an idea I've had for a while, and I've just got to get it out now:
I think that Barney Stinson is dead in the future.
1. He's the only one who's made any sort of plans for once he's dead. "Going out of this world the same way I came into it: buck naked. Open bar for the dudes, open casket for the ladies." Lily and Marshall (okay, mainly Marshall) have also made plans for their death when they write their death folders, but they seem far less concrete than Barney's: Marshall is mainly concerned about reassuring Lily, and Lily certainly doesn't take them seriously at all. Barney may have had some odd requests for his funeral, but he seemed to take them seriously, and they're very specific.
2. He's never shown up in a future scene. Lily and Marshall have both been shown up to at least 2029; and while Robin's never been in an actual future scene (other than Lily's fantasy porch scene where she's married to Ted), her relationship to Ted's kids has been shown through crayon drawings.
3. The way Ted talks about him to his kids, it's like they haven't met him. For instance: "The thing you have to understand about your uncle Barney is this: when times are bad, it's impossible to keep him around." (2.19, Bachelor Party) He doesn't do this with any of the others, because clearly the kids have already had some sort of contact with everyone else.
3a. And is it me, or does he talk about Barney in past tense, when everyone else is present tense? For instance, 1.3: "I had no idea why I hung out with Barney" is a general statement that could easily work in present tense, if it was still true. Compare with 1.15: "Kids, something you might not know about your Uncle Marshall is that he's always been good at games."
4. Lily didn't include him in her front porch scene. There's already been some speculation about why this is, if Lily doesn't think he'd want to play bridge with them because it's not "awesome," or if she thinks he and Robin will be hooking up in a closet somewhere. But why'd she consciously exclude him, if that front porch fantasy is such a big deal to her, so much so that she won't let any subpar girlfriend of Ted's be a part of it, even hypothetically? Lily and Barney are close friends; right now, he's probably closer with her than he is with anyone.
5. Ted has a line about him "sleeping in a coffin." (4.17)
6. His over-the-top, larger-than-life personality could be future Ted compensating for the fact that his friend's dead now. Remembering him as alive and vibrant might help him ease the pain that Barney's gone. Don't forget that all the events in HIMYM have to be viewed through the Saget!Ted filter; he's already been proven to be an unreliable narrator in other aspects.
6a. Also, Ted has to be telling his kids this story for a reason, and it's not because they don't already know how he and their mom met. (He's already said, "You know the short version of the story, the thing with your mom's yellow umbrella... but there's a bigger story, the story of who I had to become before I could meet her." (3.01)) Could it be so they know about who Barney was as a person? He was clearly important to Ted, and during season 3 (which the above line kicks off) he and Ted were wingmen and made Ted into someone he knew he had to change from before he'd be ready to settle down. (After the St. Patrick's day episode, he says "Your mom was at the party, but I'm glad I didn't meet her then... I don't think she would have liked me much." He still had to change into Bob Saget before he could meet her. Or something.)
7. He's often dressed in dark colors, sometimes even a black shirt with a black suit and a black tie. Black is a color of mourning.
8. When he's sleeping in his suit-jamas, he's eerily still... almost death-like. (Thanks, idioticonion!) See cap:
9. Suits are very somber attire; they're worn in places other than funerals (like at the office and such), but they're generally too formal to be considered "happy" attire.
10: This exchange from Sweet Taste of Liberty:
Ted: Barney, I'm going to KILL you.
Barney: Don't say you're going to kill someone in front of airport security... not cool!
(This is not to suggest that Ted's going to kill Barney. But there was a similar exchange between Harry and Malfoy in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, where Malfoy tells Harry, "You're dead, Potter." Many HP fans have taken this as foreshadowing of Harry's death in Deathly Hallows.)
11: Barney's religious views have been most touched on of all the characters: he's the only character to have been shown in a church or praying at all, and in We're Not From Here he says "I dare God to smite down this perfectly healthy [man]" when talking about Marshall. He is also well-acquainted with the Bible enough to know that the "Love is patient, love is kind" verse is from 1 Corinthians (2.22). Could his underlying (and very very well-hidden) religious beliefs be foreshadowing?
12. Barney's often told Ted to use a carpe diem attitude to help himself get laid. See Third Wheel (telling girls about the supervolcano for the mortality angle, "don't postpone joy") and No Tomorrow (the episode's entire premise is that they could die tomorrow, so they should live for today).
13. The fake suicide scenes from Wait For It: shooting himself in the head, hanging himself, and...
Thoughts? More evidence, for or against? Because I kind of want to be proven wrong on this one.