Unlike the disappointment many Star Wars fans felt after seeing The Phantom Menace, having waited so long for a new installment, I'm pretty confident fans of How I Met Your Mother felt anything but Jar Jar Binked when it came to tonight's new episode, "Trilogy Time."

The force is strong with show writer Kourtney Kang, who did very well to bring us back from the dark side of countless weeks with no new episodes. 

Some programs like their linear scripts, but our favorite comedy showed once again it loves to rock a flashback. Things got off to a great start tonight in present day, though, with the peeping Tom obsessing over Barney and his seven o'clock smile.

The revelation that he was, in fact, routinely relieving himself of some pent up gas to prevent breaking wind in front of Quinn was as good an opening scene as we've been treated to all season. 

For an episode that jumped around so often, requiring multiple scene and costume changes, I thought the attention to detail was outstanding. From the size of Lily's engagement ring to Barney's flip phone with antenna, such accessories did very well to add some subtle flare to what were already very entertaining scenes.

Titled as this episode was, one could have expected to be inundated with one Star Wars reference after another, but Obi Wan Kang-obi showed she knows her way around Trilogy subculture and slipped in a couple of very nice fanboy references in the form of the very real Stormtrooper fantasy and the debate over the changes made to the cantina scene with Han Solo and Greedo. 

Marshall and Lily's scenes got funnier with each installment, culminating with one of the best How I Met Your Mother quotes of the week, when - Marshall aboard his boat - told Ted he was "just that good." Robin, too, was great in her scenes as Rhiannon which was also a well chosen name for Ted's dream girl who, of course, would have a name rooted in mythology.

I also loved seeing horned up Robin from back in the day when she and Ted were still together and then again when she was dating Barney and forced to wear the stormtrooper suit.

How amazing was the speed with which Barney went from sweaty to suited up when Ted and Marshall came to his apartment thinking he was at decoupage class? 

Ah, yes, our resident Han Solo piloted us through an episode with many a twist and turn and continuously delivered. Whether it was uttering the same line over and over again while closing the door on a number of beautiful women or the scene in his kitchen with Quinn where they smashed mugs and shared gassy hugs, tonight was a strong performance from our gritty veteran.

Back boobs were one of his best inventions yet, but were we to believe each time he emerged from the kitchen in Ted and Marshall's apartment that he and said lady friend had just finished making the jump to light speed sex? 

While Barney was pretty unstoppable tonight, the case for Ted stealing the show could be made.

His hoarder scene was beyond words. The combover, the cat food and the stacks of bundled New York Times were the epitome of that epic detail I mentioned earlier. The call though he made to comment on the amount of cinnamon in his microwavable entree dessert was all time funny. Then to cap things off we saw that in 2015 Ted has a baby girl! Loved it!

Did anyone else notice Barney in that scene and how seemed to make sure he concealed his left hand at al costs. It was as if they didn't want us to know whether he was married or not at that point in the future. Go back and watch if you missed it. My guess is that he will be, but he didn't have a ring on in the final scene with Quinn so I took that to be present day. 

Man, this was a treat of an episode after such a long wait. I can't wait to read what you all thought. Sorry if unlike Kourtney Kang, I was not too subtle with my Star Wars references, I just couldn't help myself.