'How I Met Your Mother' Season 9, Episode 17 'Sunrise' Recap

All of the characters on "How I Met Your Mother" had some work to do before they'd be ready to move on with the rest of their lives, and in this week's episode, they finally got a chance to do it.

In the episode's lightest plot line, a drunken Barney, out wandering the countryside around the inn, bumps into a pair of romantically clueless young men. He decides, much as he decided with Ted way back at the beginning of the series, to teach them "how to live," and in the process, he lets go of his womanizing way of life in preparation for his marriage to Robin.

Meanwhile, Marshall spars with an imaginary version of Lily in an attempt to "win" the argument over whether or not they should move to Italy. In the end, the outcome of the argument will determine the future of their marriage.

The heart of the episode, though, is with Ted and Robin, who spend the night before the wedding walking together on the beach. Here, Ted, in flashback, lets go of his most serious former girlfriends—Stella and Victoria among them—and he comes clean with Robin, at last, about his love for her. Then he gets to decide if he can let her go, too.

After so many episodes this season that have avoided the issues of the characters' unfinished business, "Sunrise" is a welcome and powerful bit of emotional closure. And it's pretty funny, as well.