Stella!!!!

It was only a matter of time.
We learned last week that Ted's Stella was in fact not the title character. In this week's episode, "Happily Ever After," we watch the fallout of Stella dumping Ted at the alter - can we say cliche??? - with the gang trying to get Ted to act the way they think he should.

Since I haven't blogged this season yet, I'll just say I am glad it was Stella who dropped Ted and not the other way around. It was great to see that Ted really did love Stella and her daughter and did, in fact, want to be with her instead of just marrying her just to fit his goal of getting hitch. It sucks that I'm left hating Stella and will always think of her as "that bitch" because I actually love Sarah Chalke.

Though I always knew she wasn't the Mom (mostly because she has an 8-year-old daughter, I would have liked to see Chalke become a regular on this show just because I'm cringing as I prepare to watch her in the final season of "Scrubs," which has fallen off the deep end. With Chalke only making a brief appearance in this episode, and not even sharing a line with any of the cast, it looks like HIMYM's time with Stella is over.

And I love how Ted is becoming interesting again. Since hooking up with Stella last season, his character had quickly become my least favorite. I was more interested in seeing Marshmallow and Lillypad together and Barney chase after Robin. But now that Stella is in the rearview window, we can get back to finding the Mom.

This episode didn't have a lot of time for jokes. Yeah, all of them hiding under the dinnertable when Stella came in to the same restaurant was amusing and the flashbacks were solid but overall, the epsiode dealt with the fallout. I loved how everyone wanted Ted to act they way they would have: Marshall wanted him to unleash all his anger, while Robin understood why Ted just wanted to avoid Stella at all costs - included avoiding half of Manhattan.

Encouraged by the group, Ted got up the nerve to tell Stella she made the wrong choice, a choice she would regret for the rest of her life, but when he saw her go home to her daughter and Tony, he knew it was the perfect end to her love story but not his. (Collective sigh)

Now, let's find out who is under that yellow umbrella.