A sitcom reaches a point in its life cycle where they don't have to strive so hard for the punchline, or even to get the laugh. 'How I Met Your Mother' (Mon., 8PM ET on CBS) proved that this week with Barney and Robin's romantic struggles.

None of their moments together were particularly funny, but because we're so invested in these characters and we care about their well-being, we don't care. Luckily, we could laugh at Ted and Marshall for partaking of all that marinated sub sandwich as a balance point.

It was genuinely heartbreaking when Barney finally broke things off with Nora, realizing during her father's speech that it's Robin he can't get out of his mind. But, as Robin told both Barney and Kevin, she's pretty messed up. And right now, she doesn't know why anyone would like her.

Until Robin learns to accept herself and love herself, she won't make the right decision for her, but the writers did such a great job with the twists and turns this week, that we now don't know again who that someone might be. While Barney seemed the inevitability, right now he's just the guy she's willing to cheat on Kevin with ... and then go back to Kevin. That's even more shallow than Barney Stinson.

However it ends, though, 'HIMYM' has proven itself a great show because we didn't laugh when Ted caught Barney picking up the rose petals from Robin's bed. We cared about him and we care about his happiness, no matter who it's with.