>>>Remember the class reunion? He acted all sad and lonely when he found out >>>Thelma Lou had married until another girl showed him some interest, and then he perked up real quick. This was probably done to end the show on a happy note, but it sure left me feeling like Barney's love for Thel was not all that deep, and maybe that was the real reason why he had not asked her to marry him in the first place. And you can't really blame him for not marrying her if his love wasn't deep enough no matter how WE felt about it. How did you feel? Based on his actions, DID Barney love Thelma Lou enough to marry her years earlier?<<<
Lydia, I haven't seen that episode in a long time (looking forward to the season six set coming out so that I can view it again), but I'll put in my two cents' worth anyway. (Seems like I've been putting in my two cents a lot lately. If I keep it up, pretty soon I'll have put in enough to give Olive a sizeable tip! She has those kids to feed, you know.) Well, I'll agree that Barney's reaction to the interest of another woman was probably used to end the episode in an upbeat way. However, with all due respect to you, Lydia, I don't think that it indicated that Barney's love for Thelma Lou was in some way lacking. Rather, I believe he was allowing himself this diversion to mask the pain he was feeling (reminds me of that old Smokey Robinson song "Tears of a Clown"). There is too much evidence that points to Barney's feelings for Thelma Lou being the real thing: 1. Barney dated Thelma Lou on a steady basis for several years. 2. Barney told Thelma Lou that she was the only girl for him, the only girl he loved. 3. When Andy pressed Barney about when he and Thelma Lou would marry, Barney never nixed the idea that he would marry her. He just wasn't ready to take the big step yet. 4. Remember how easily Barney fell into the conversation about the furniture when he and Thelma Lou were walking home from the movie? It was obvious that, in his mind, Barney was planning on making a home with Thelma Lou in the future. It was only when he realized what he was saying that he backed off and qualified the situation with words like "someday" and "if." 5. And the clincher--Barney didn't marry anyone else. Though he dated other women, no one took the place of Thelma Lou. The obstacle in Barney and Thelma Lou's relationship was not that Barney's feelings didn't run deep enough for Thelma Lou, but that Barney had a fear of commitment that he hadn't yet overcome. That's my take on it, anyway! I'll be interested to read what others think. Thelma Lou (Janet) _______________________________________________ WBMUTBB mailing list [email protected] http://mail.wbmutbb.com/mailman/listinfo/wbmutbb_wbmutbb.com http://www.mayberry.com/tagsrwc/wbmutbb/
