How I Met Your Mother Season 9, Episode 8: 'The Lighthouse' Recap

This week's episode of "How I Met Your Mother" edged viewers a little bit closer to the wedding at the end of the Farhampton weekend, but it did so with a collection of unrelated subplots that didn't do much to advance the overall story arc. The episode ended, however, with a major milestone for the series.

In "The Lighthouse," Robin (Cobie Smulders) and Barney's mother are still prepared to be unhappy in-laws, but their confrontation eventually reveals a little (a very little) about Robin's enigmatic mother and provides the foundation for future peace in the Stinson-Scherbatsky household.

Meanwhile, in the Midwest, Marshall (Jason Segel) and Daphne make a stop in Ted's hometown of Cleveland and pick up an unwanted stowaway in the process. Back in Frahampton, Lily (Alyson Hannigan) continues to fume and grimace over the revelation about Marshall's job offer.

And Ted (Josh Radnor) does his best to give up his romantic search for the perfect mate and "settle" for Cassie. It doesn't work.

Ratings for this week's episode were up a bit from last week, perhaps because previews had promised that we'd finally get another glimpse of Cristin Milioti (The Mother). A glimpse is all we got, via a flash-forward—and there's still been no real-time interaction between Ted and his wife-to-be—but it was a glimpse of a very important moment: Ted's marriage proposal, two years after the Farhampton wedding weekend. Given that the proposal is the pinnacle of the entire trajectory of the series, the brief, last-minute scene felt a bit anti-climactic, but at least Milioti got a little more on-camera time.