I was kind of skeptical about HIMYM at first as well, but I kept with it(mostly because of falulatonks )but it has definitely grown on me. All those episodes you mentioned from the end of the first season are very good. And the ones I've watched from S2 are great too. Have you seen Arrivederci, Fiero from S2 yet? It's brilliant. Probably my favorite episode.

Also, Barney/Robin are kind of OTP-able.