Brow Beat

followed up last week's

with a solid if not spectacular effort.For that, the Shame Index would like to say

.

:

Was the Index alone in finding the home-inspector a littleproblematic? The Index was having a hard time remembering the last time anAfrican-American character of any substance showed up on

. That this one talked a little jive before taking ahard, one-storey plunge for our amusement made the Indexuncomfortable.

— While Ted's new house was certainly in need of a seriousrenovation, likening it to Guantanamo Bay wasn't particularly apt, tasteful, or funny.

— The Barney-Robin crying sideshow. The Index doesn't feelthis was acutely shameful, but it wasn't awesome either. Why, for the secondweek in a row, hit the note that Barney's a serial fabricator? The Index did,however, thoroughly enjoy the scene between Barney and Ted's mother, which was wonderfully choreographed, from the hilarious, in media res opening — "and that's how you got the broach! — rightdown to the accidental brushing of hands as the two reached for the dial toturn up the volume on " NightMoves ."

— Sadly, the perfect selection of Bob Seger's classic wasmarred by the obligatory use of CSNY's "Our House" later in the episode.

— Ted's weak toast. That's the best you can do, sappy, prolixTed Mosby?

Awesome :

— Pretty much everything Clint did or said. Volunteer fearfighter!

— "Kids, there was no guitar."

— "It's like the last 35 years of my life never happened!"

— Drunk or Kid. The perfect Marshall Eriksen game. ("I cameout of that coma in under a week.") Only slightly tarnished by Marshall's treacly speech about Ted's heart being both drunk and a kid, which belongs on the Shameful ledger.

— "It's going to be a total sausage-fest!" Especially giventhat what seemed like a throwaway turned out to be a set-up for Marshall'ssweet housewarming sausage-fest at the end of the episode.

— "I am so baked right now. I'm only sixty percent sureyou're actually standing in front of me."

— Though one hundred percent of the HIMYM viewing audience saw it coming, the reveal thatTed's 2010 money pit will be his home in 2030 worked, at least for the Index. Anice little bit of back-story — How I Met Our Mortgage, if you will.

Share your thoughts on the episode in the comments. Effortsto explicate Clint's wedding song will be given extra credit.

Previous Shame Indices: Episode  1 ,  2 ,  3 ,  4 ,  5 ,   6 ,  7 ,  8 ,  9 ,  10 ,  11 ,  12 ,  13 ,   14 ,   15 ,   16 ,   17 ,   18 , 19