How I Met Your Mother

I am always pretty wary when season finale time comes around because I feel like most shows try way too hard to wow us into sticking around for the next season’s premiere. Murders, explosions, huge cliffhangers, you name it and most shows will use it. Tonight we did get a cliffhanger, but I didn’t feel like the writers expect us to really worry about Stella’s answer. Mostly I felt like this episode was an amazing end to an up and down season (more up than down toward the end, true, but we ended on a very high note, I thought). There were hilarious jokes and the strength of the characters’ friendships were center stage, which when combined make this show one of the best shows on television. That said, does anyone else have “Reunited” running through their head? No? Just me? On with the recap then.

All plotlines tonight start with one thing – Ted freaking out about the future and breaking up with Stella, followed by Ted tying his shoe at the wrong time and ending up in a car accident when his taxi gets hit by another vehicle. Marshall gets a phone call from the hospital and then proceeds to call Lily and Robin, all three of them dropping everything and running flat out to get to their friend who may or may not be critically injured…but who is actually sitting in bed eating jell-o. Ok, so Ted is fine and we all heave a collective sigh of relief, albeit a slightly saddened sigh due to one very noticeably missing person in our gang. Lily, reading out thoughts, calls Barney to tell him about the accident and Barney, being, well, Barney, hangs up on Lily and then abandons an office full of Koreans (I am assuming here, based off of previous context clues) so that he can flat out run to his bro in need. I’m not going to lie, I cheered when he took off sprinting. Barney may have some pretty serious character flaws, but he really does love his friends beyond belief.

Back at the hospital, Marshall and Robin are debating whether or not miracles exist. Unsurprisingly, Robin does not believe they are real and Marshall is out to prove her wrong. His first (and best, in my opinion) example happened March of 2006 – Marshall, Barney and Ted are at the bar drunkenly trying to get pencils stuck in the ceiling. They get on to stay, cheer, take a shot and then a pencil suddenly falls and bounces off the table into Barney’s nose. My roommate and I were laughing so hard at this that we may have missed something, but I definitely got Barney’s “Am I dead? Am I dead?!” which just sent me off laughing again so please forgive me if I missed anything else. Really, just…classic. Absolutely classic. Either way, Robin isn’t buying that this is a miracle and Marshall throws out his next example. This time it is July of 1999 and Marshall is coming home from a trip to Amsterdam (wearing one of the most ridiculous things I have ever seen him wear, by the way). He is about to get stopped by the customs officer (he is, of course, trying to smuggle pot into the country) when suddenly a new guard with the munchies shows up for a shift change and lets Marshall right on through with a big smile. Robin is still totally not buying it.

The debate is put on hold when Stella shows up at the hospital, somehow having heard about Ted’s accident (did anyone catch how she found out?) and she almost immediately launches herself into Ted’s arms. It appears all has been forgiven and both profess their love for one another. Once it looks like the worst is over, Marshall again tries with Robin by saying that this is a miracle, but Robin assures him most miracles should not involve dry humping. Marshall tries yet again, this time with Lily’s kindergarteners giving him lice (hey, Marshall, maybe if you didn’t have so much hair…) and stopping him from crawling back to the job he hated, but he just keeps hitting the brick wall that is Robin’s opinion of miracles. Stella once again diverts attention from the argument when Lily inadvertently alerts Stella to the fact that Ted thought they had broken up. Stella, it seems, had no idea and storms back into Ted’s room to definitively break up with him. That miraculous cab accident seems to have been pretty useless until Ted’s cell phone rings and the nurse tells him that he’s being called because he is listed as Barney’s emergency contact.

Poor Barney has run all the way to the hospital only to get hit by a bus right outside. The gang finds him in ICU, covered in casts and cuts and it looks extremely painful and sad and then, finally Ted and Barney make up. Ted says that Barney is his brother! There is manly crying! Marshall gets in on the action! I might have made happy noises. Lame, maybe, but the entire group is reunited and even though I expected it to happen, I am still thrilled it did! Marshall, seeing one final shining chance, offers the moment up to Robin as a miraculous event and we get our explanation about why she is so anti-miracle. It turns out that Robin had a dog when she was a little girl (named Sir Scratchewan, which is now the best dog’s name I have ever heard). The dog needed to be put to sleep and so Robin’s parents let her say goodbye and took the beloved pet off to the vet. Except, when they came home they brought with them a miracle – the vet had found a cure and had fixed Sir Scratchewan! Just one problem, however – Sir Scratchewan was now a turtle. Well, it took young Robin awhile to figure out that there really was no miracle (the turtle was no good at fetch) and ever since then she hasn’t believed in miracles. I was too busy laughing at this point to feel for her, but man, parents do some misguided (if loving) things to their kids. Maybe this explains why Robin owns so many dogs now.

The miracle talk over, Ted rushes off to find Stella and try to make things right while the other three stay with Barney. Marshall and Lily ask him about the accident and whether or not he saw the things he loved flash before his eyes like Ted did. This is accompanied by lots of talk of boobs that dispense scotch, but Barney only has eyes for Robin. You see? He does love her! I again start making happy noises and start talking myself into calming my glee down for tonight’s blog (how many times can I tell you guys that I absolutely adore the two of them together, really. You are all sharp enough to have caught on the first dozen times) and Barney just keeps on gazing. That’s right, Barney. You go ahead and stare because next season I am sure there will be a lot of man pain and angst you battle your feelings for Robin. I am looking forward to it immensely!

Ok, final scene (I know this has been a long blog, but it’s the season finale – cut me some slack!). Ted has tracked Stella and Lucy down to Kiddie Funland. Pulling Stella into the cab of a racing game, Ted hands her a small orange kangaroo and…proposes. He has seen the error of his ways, he loves her and wants to commit, yadda yadda yadda. We, of course, get no answer. I could ramble about how I still refuse to believe she is the mother, but how that doesn’t necessarily mean she will say no, but there are so many ways this could go. I like Stella and I like the guy Ted is with Stella, so keeping her around awhile longer wouldn’t bother me. I am just anxious to see which road the writers take us down. Unfortunately, we will have to wait until next fall to find out.

Final awesome quotes of the season:

• “I love Springsteen – he’s like the American Bryan Adams!” – Robin

• “Please let me go to Kiddie Funland!” – Ted trying to go after Stella. The nurse thinking he was trying to get morphine was pretty great too.

• “A drunk jacka** called God and a box of pencils called Destiny!” – Marshall’s comeback to Robin’s sarcasm about the pencil in Barney’s nose being a miracle.

• “Metaphorical relationship muffins.” Just rolls right off the tongue, doesn’t it?

• Barney being so distraught that they cut him out of his suit. Oh, Barney.

Ok, well I guess that’s it for me for the season. Thanks for reading and I promise not to make any jokes about having legendary summers or anything like that!

And, one last time in season three - Don't forget to check out some HIMYM videos at our online video guide!

I don’t know if the fact that Ted’s red cowboy boots were my favorite part of tonight’s episode means I liked the episode or I didn’t. Honestly, I think the things I like and the things I disliked about balanced each other out this week. We got to poke some fun at Ted – fun. We had to deal with Britney – not fun. Lily’s art soothes dogs – humorous. Marshall’s ever-growing need for a haircut – not humorous and honestly just distracting!

We did find out who the mystery woman warning girls about Barney was, of course, so that was a nice conclusion to the story. Too bad it had to be Abby. We didn’t even get the slight humor of her being a dorky receptionist. Nope, just Britney and her weird line delivery. I am really sorry for those of you that liked her in this role, I really am, but I just don’t see the appeal. If she said “awesome” one more time I was going to cry. She had one good line (“I don’t want to steal any attention from America!”) and even that was more good writing than actual acting ability. Plus, okay, maybe it was just me, but during the scene where she and Barney were dressed alike all I could think was that they looked related. It was very disconcerting. All I really have to say about the “Barney and Abby try to make Ted jealous” plot is this:

Dearest Barnacle,

Sending Annoying Abby over to bother Ted in the middle of the night is not winning you and points.

Kisses,
Justine

Let’s move right along to Lily and Marshall, shall we? Lily and Marshall realized they were in more money trouble than they previously thought (what with needing to fix the crooked floors in that apartment they bought – remember that?) and Marshall wanted Lily to sell her expensive clothes to make some money. To which I said, directly into my television, “Do it!” Look, I love Lily, but man do I hate her wardrobe most days. I also think Marshall should try to sell his hair. Right, letting it go now. Anyway, Lily sadly didn’t want to sell her clothes and decided to sell her art instead. Marshall lacked faith in the ability for her paintings to sell. Her paintings didn’t sell (she ended up on a sidewalk alongside a “tube sox” selling heroin addict) until she met a GCWOK (Gay Couple Without Kids, for those not in the know) who took her painting off her hands…for the frame. Guilty for not having believed in his now-distraught wife, Marshall goes off to find the painting for Lily and discovers her ability to calm canines through art. So, in the end, they got their money selling Lily’s pictures to veterinarians and she got to keep her clothes. Well, most of them, as Robin bought some things (and there was your “insert Robin here” moment of the night).

That is really all I have, honestly. It could have been better and it could have been a lot worse (more Abby, for example). In my (very humble) opinion, it’s time to reunite Ted and Barney, writers. This show thrives on the group aspect of the five characters we love. Reunion time! Please?

And, finally, quotes and/or enjoyable moments:

• “Sound like that b*tch had it coming.” – Ted on a little girl who only draws rainbows

• “Girl, you can not pull off a tall kitchen!” – Lily talking about the woman on iforcemywifetoweartrashbags.com (or something to that effect; I didn’t catch the full address).

• “No Country for Straight Men” – the best cowboy-with-red-boots movie ever.

• “I got a two syllable damn!” – Lily on why she didn’t want to give up a dress.

Also, if you didn’t catch it at the end of the show, lilyandmarshallselltheirstuff.com is a real site for a real charity so if you are interested in bidding on some cool things from the show for a good cause you should head on over!

If you want How I Met Your Mother video clips, check out our online video guide

Tonight was split into two separate storylines (due to last week’s very sad Bro Breakup). On one side we had Ted and Stella who were moving forward in their relationship by not having sex and on the other side we had Barney desperately trying to get over Ted by finding himself a new wingman (or, as he called it, the Vice President of Awesome). Oh, and we also found out that even though they have been Ted’s friends forever Marshall and Lily still don’t know when to shut up.

To begin – I enjoyed tonight’s episode. I didn’t bust a gut laughing or anything like that, but it was a nice little thirty minutes of one of my very favorite shows. I really do enjoy Stella, which is why I am not letting myself get attached to her (and now that Ted has met Lucy, I am even warier), but you can’t deny that Sarah Chalke is amazing in the role. Ted genuinely seems happy with her and that makes me sad for the inevitable breakup (no, I do not think Stella is the mother). Anyway, now that we have established that – didn’t they already do this episode in season one? Where Ted had waited a really long time to sleep with Victoria (this again during "Zip, Zip, Zip") and Marshall and Lily got locked in the bathroom? I know it wasn’t exactly the same, but nonetheless I have to question it. I mean, Stella had a very solid reason for waiting and Ted was understanding as always and all, but I immediately thought of Lily having to pee in front of Marshall. At least tonight we only had a brief awkward moment of Lily enjoying San Francisco’s earthquakes a little more than more people would.

Watching Ted try to lower Stella’s expectations for their first time (that is a lot of pressure…five years!) was adorably hilarious. Of course his friends didn’t exactly help with their teasing, Marshall especially. For those who didn’t catch it, here are some things that were current the last time Stella had sex – Seabiscuit (movie), SARS, Nell Carter’s death and The DaVinci Code (book!). No wonder Ted was so nervous. I mean, no offense to Stella, but I am pretty young myself and all of those things seem very long ago even to me. I’m just saying! As far as whether or not Ted should have told Lily and Marshall about Stella’s drought, well. I can see how humiliating it can be to have people you’ve only just met knowing such intimate things about you, but they are Ted’s best friends. I am glad that Ted and Stella both seemed to understand the other’s point of view by the end, even if that meant sleeping together for the first time in an extremely fancy “motel”. Honestly, the sheets were silk. What motels “off the turnpike” have sheets like that?!

As for Barney and his epic search for a new wingman? It was pretty sad and it just makes me want to give Barney hugs. He was so desperate for a new wingman so he could get over Ted that he picked Randy, the awkward guy from his office (played by SNL’s Will Forte). Randy, a huge fan of Barney (and Barney’s blog), was thrilled to be taken under Barney’s wing but so incredibly awkward (thirteen year dry spell for Randy – he peaked young) that Barney spent most of the night watching Randy cower under the table and get drinks thrown in his face. Ok, just let me get this out of the way – who did Barney call when he needed assistance with Randy? Oh, that’s right, Robin. Of course. Robin. Again…just saying.

I kind of tired of Randy long before the horrific nosebleed/erection detail (honestly, I just have no desire to even consider the repercussions of such a thing), but the scene where Robin called Barney on his “rebound bro” was a good one. Not even because it was Barney and Robin, but because it was written well and it shows how much of a friend Robin really is to Barney. At the end of the day, I bet she would have gone over there for him even if he hadn’t threatened her with a public sex tape. And, really, aren’t the friendships among the characters what make this show tick anyway? So, gold star for that.

Quotes:

• “You’re the Assistant Undersecretary of Only Okay.” – Barney speaking to Randy in reference to the Vice President of Awesome job title.

• “It’s like Your Virginity: The Sequel!” – Ted talking about his first time with Stella after her five years without sex.

• “Hey there, Bro-seph Lieberman.” – Randy addressing Barney (Barney’s follow up was also great, but I wasn’t able to write fast enough to get it all, forgive me).

• “Their…meat…is…delicious.” – Randy attempting to hit on a woman who loves koalas.

Next week: The return of Britney. I brought this upon myself, really…

Check out video of HIMYM at our online video guide.

What the heck was that?

One minute I’m laughing like a crazy person and the next my heart has been broken (I almost just made a really bad broken pun, but my heart just isn’t in it). We all knew that Ted wasn’t going to take this news well, but holy cow. I am sincerely sad right now!

Well, sad and extremely frustrated on a few points. WHAT WAS WITH THE GOAT? Is that supposed to be clever, writers? So Robin will be living with Ted for his 31st birthday, you say? There will be an incident with a goat and a wash cloth? Do you really expect me to care when Ted just broke up with Barney?!

Rational aside: I know they will make up. I know they will still be bros. I know this. I am not some insane fan who cries herself to sleep at night and sends eyelashes in the mail or anything. Still, I am very down after watching that. I can’t even bring myself to do a full recap of the plot, so you are all going to get an abridged version. Because…that is what I want to do.

Points of Awesome:

• Robin and Barney high-fiving over how he nailed the anchor from News 1. So in character for them both and so why I think they belong together. She played along!

• Barney freaking out about everything in the following days and then hiring Marshall to try to acquit him of wrongdoing.

• The wall of inspirational posters in Barney’s office.

• The 1776 flashback – “You cod piece blocked me!”

• “I have six self-cleaning litter boxes…and no kids!!”

• Everyone knowing about Robin and Barney and Lily being perversely curious about the sex as she crouched on a rooftop...with a goat.

• Ranjit!

And then it all went downhill from there!

Ok, honestly, the first 3/4 of this episode were amazing. I was really into the story and the jokes and acting were spot on. I can’t fault them for anything in this episode up until the end with the goat. Even the Ted/Barney fight was expected (although I am sort of irked that Ted wasn’t mad at Robin. I mean, there were two people watching that music video, is all I’m saying). The goat, however, well. I have to ask, yet again, what the heck was that?! Were they trying to be captivating? Intriguing? Dear show, you are not LOST. No one cares about the goat; we care about the mother. Well, and our beloved characters, but can any of you really say this goat thing made you more interested in sticking around than you were? Yeah, I didn’t think so. I mean, hey, maybe I missed something?

At the end of the day (well, night, I guess), this episode came down to Barney for me and I really need to applaud the show’s portrayal of him in this episode. He was the Barney we have always known existed but had only seen glimpses of here and there. He was crazy, over the top, deceptive and…vulnerable. He loves Ted, sincerely, and the pain in his eyes when Ted got out of that limo was horrible.

Bravo, Neil. Bravo, writers. Excellent job on the making me laugh so hard I almost didn’t notice the gut wrenching pain of my bros being split up. I am looking forward to watching Barney try to reconcile things, I really am.


Check out video of HIMYM at our online video guide.

Disclaimer: I adored this episode and everything that happened in it. If you disliked parts (you know which part I speak of) then you are probably not going to agree with a lot of what I say tonight. The rest of you? Please join me in celebration — wonderful things happened tonight! Robin Sparkles was back! Robin and Barney finally gave into that burning chemistry that I have been obsessed with since “Zip, Zip, Zip”! James Van Der Beek was… funny! And now I may have used up my normal allotment of exclamation points, but you know what? I don’t care!

We open the episode at MacLaren’s, our gang seated at their usual booth. Right away, we are supposed to notice Robin’s appearance (especially her breasts). Robin admits that an old friend from Canada is coming to see her, hence the gussied-up look. When pressed by her friends, she also admits that this friend is actually her ex-boyfriend, Simon (Van Der Beek), and that he was very special to her – a summer love. Immediately, Canada jokes begin to fly including but not limited to: “Did he take your maple leaf?”, “Did he give you your first 'O Canada' face?” and “Did you ride his zamboni?” Yes, the Canada jokes are excessive sometimes, but that does not stop them from being funny. I know, I am a horrible person, but if you are going to tell me you didn’t even chuckle at that volley of bad puns and teasing, then I am going to call you a big fat liar (who probably lives in Canada).

Still talking about Simon, Robin divulges that they only dated for a week and a half (Canada only gets summer for a week at the end of July, you know) and that he dumped her after his band’s gig (band name: The Foreskins) because Louise Marsh’s parents got a pool. I am too busy laughing at the desperately thick Canadian accents to really care about anything else by this point, but I got the gist. With this new information, the gang correctly guesses that Robin is looking so sexy so she can “win” the reunion, what with her looks and her great job on the news. Simon, we learn, still lives with his parents and works at a water park, so things are looking pretty good for Robin. And then… oh, and then Simon walks in and it’s James Van Der Beek in a padded suit, balding and dressed like… like an aging rock star who still lives at home with his parents and once dumped a pretty girl for access to a pool.

Smug and happy, our fabulous foursome (not including Robin) think their girl can’t lose… until Robin freaks out, acting as if the hunkiest hunk around just smarmed his way into the bar. Oh boy is she in trouble. She immediately reverts and is suddenly an insecure teenaged girl sitting at a booth in a bar making goo-goo eyes at her crush. Simon walks over and immediately tells her she got old and then there is an absolutely hilarious exchange between him and Ted about the importance of his job metering the flow of riders on the water slides. Seriously, when did James Van Der Beek get funny? Because even as a 13-year-old watching Dawson’s Creek I thought he was kind of lame, and when my university tried to use him on my college tour as one of their “famous students” (he attended for a short while and sang a cappella, you know) I was less than impressed. But tonight… tonight I was enamored. James, I applaud your ability to play a pathetically mean Canadian nobody. Bravo!

Anyway, Robin has fallen for Simon again and the group is dismayed. Well, everyone except for Barney who, as soon as Simon revealed that he and Robin met on the set of her second music video, immediately jumped up trying to track down said video. According to Marshall, Robin has “revertigo,” which is when you slip back into a former behavioral pattern while around someone from your past. Lily also suffers from revertigo, it would seem, and thus tonight’s subplot is introduced. We will touch upon that later, when Michelle actually shows up. For now we are still focusing on Robin, who not only agrees to go on a date with Simon, but then actually plays one of his band’s tracks (“Murder Train”) over the daily montage of puppies in need of adoption that they air on her newscast. Clearly an intervention is warranted, but when Lily tries to help, Robin staunchly refuses and says Lily is acting like her mom. Which is actually the best way to get someone to act like a parent, really, and now we have Mother Lily and Father Marshall lecturing Robin on how she can’t date Simon. This culminates in Robin storming from the table screaming that she and Simon are going to “go all the way.” Seriously, I am so happy with this episode at this point, and we haven’t even seen the music video yet!

So, OK, quick aside about Lily and Michelle. Michelle and Lily were apparently very “ghetto” in high school. I was less than impressed except that Alyson Hannigan is so awkward and small that it actually sort of works. Michelle of course turns out to be very intellectual and eloquent, except when she is around Lily. Barney is tickled pink by the entire experience and we also get a quick glimpse of Ted’s revertigo around his friend “Punchy” (they greet each other and immediately fake-fight). And that, dear readers, is tonight’s unimportant subplot.

Back again to Robin, who is lugging the band’s equipment from their gig, just as she used to. Simon sits in the same van as a decade earlier and proceeds to dump Robin exactly as he had a decade earlier. Exactly as he had a decade earlier. Robin is clearly devastated and returns to the bar defeated. Barney finds her alone and crying and, guys, he immediately comforts her. Arm around her, rubbing her shoulder, telling her she is an amazing woman… comforting her! My heart flutters, it really does. And Robin, clearly as fluttery about it as I am, invites Barney back to her apartment. Now, I was in no way fooled by this ploy, but it was still great to watch Barney’s face as she whispered in his ear, even if I knew she was whispering about showing him the music video and not taking him to bed.

Back in Robin’s apartment we get some double entendres and then… the video. Oh, this video is everything I hoped it would be. The bad wig, the cheesy lyrics, the robot. And, of course, guest stars Tiffany and Alan Thicke! I am not ashamed to say that I am still singing the song in my head ("Sandcastles in the saaaaaand"). It is amazingly bad and a perfect follow-up to “Let’s Go to the Mall.” Love Ballads of the '80s (well, really the '90s, right?). Absolutely amazing. You know what is coming, though, don’t you? I bet you do.

End of the episode is Barney and Robin kissing on her couch after having watched the music video over and over and over. Finally!! I have seriously, seriously been waiting for this since Season 1. And, yes, perhaps they will crash and burn, but nonetheless I am a happy woman tonight. He made her see that she isn’t that same lame teenager from Canada that she used to be! She is his bro! Guh, I am beyond thrilled. Now, writers, listen up – don’t you dare screw this up, you hear?! I’m counting on you!!

And now that I have rambled on and on and on, here are your quotes of the evening:

• “Did you meet him at Degrassi?” – Barney referring to Simon
• “If you reedit this, there’s a tampon commercial in there” – Barney on the music video

As always, you can find HIMYM video clips in our Online Video Guide.

EDIT: Hey, guys, me again, letting you know that the Guide has also started carrying Barney's blog! If you haven't been following it, you should definitely start!

Tonight on How I Met Your Mother: Marshall’s screaming boss, Lily’s crazed hormones and Ted’s desire to keep his car clean! Three very hot button issues in most people’s lives (what? I’m right and you know it. Especially if you have ever been the only one of your friends to have a car!). Most importantly, this week’s episode gives us a ton of group interaction and individual idiosyncrasies which are two of the best things about this show. Well, I think so at least.

Marshall appeals to the gang for help dealing with his boss, “Artillery Arthur” who screamed at him over his failure to complete a report on time. The best part of the report is that the rest of the group gets him to refer to it as “The Ninja Report” which, I must agree, is the coolest report name ever. Seriously, I wonder if I can implement that into my daily work activities. Anyway, Arthur’s verbal barrage leads to…Marshall crying. Which, in turn, leads to the group both mocking him and trying to help him out because, well, that’s what friends do. Each person tells Marshall what he should do in turn, beginning with Robin. Robin, who, in her daydream, enters Arthur’s office in Marshall’s suit and wielding a gun. And, right in that moment I remembered why I love Robin. Hello, Robin, who is not bumbling and boring! Ted’s idea is for Marshall to go up to Arthur and give a “Lincoln-esque” speech about human rights. Even in Ted’s daydream he fails in his attempt. Oh, Ted, how you do try.

Barney then introduces the main theme of the episode – the Chain of Screaming. Barney says that approaching your boss is the wrong way to go. Instead, he says, you just pass the screaming along so that the chain continues and you still get to feel better. This idea seems pretty unhealthy to me, of course, but we are talking about Barney. Barney who, it turns out, works for a company full of men who consider North Korea to be a friend (are we surprised?). Also unsurprisingly, Marshall ignores Barney and turns to Lily the kindergarten teacher for help. And, unsurprisingly, Lily’s advice is to approach Arthur as you would approach a five year old.

Sadly, we never get to see this interaction, because Barney gets to Marshall by convincing Marshall to yell at Barney (participating in the Chain of Screaming, clearly) and Marshall realizes that if he stays at his firm he is going to end up just like Barney and quits his job. It would have been more meaningful for me, I think, but I was too busy giggling over Marshall screaming at Barney about how Bob Barker was not Barney’s father.

So, we end up in Ted’s car with Ted trying to calm down a terrified, newly unemployed Marshall. Over the course of the scene, we keep adding characters (each with something potentially harmful to Ted’s new car, which is freaking him out as he tries to help Marshall) and, finally, Lily shows up both ruining Ted’s mission to keep his car pristine and forcing Marshall to tell Lily about his job. This, of course culminates in them having sex in the back seat and Ted selling his car so that Marshall and Lily can afford to pay their mortgage. Lily, I’m sure, is just glad she finally got the sex she had been desperate for all episode!

Overall, a pretty good episode, I thought. Not as good as last week’s, but satisfying. NEXT week, however is going to be one of those fabulous, legendary episodes that you will be quoting at your friends for weeks to come. I can feel it in my bones. It’s called “Sandcastles in the Sand” you guys. Robin Sparkles! Man, I can’t wait!

Two quotes of the night this time – Barney saying, “It’s like Christmas bonuses or sexual harassment…it’s just good business!” and Lily saying, “I’m going to drive her like a pack of sled dogs” while explaining her idea of how Marshall should respectfully ask his boss for respect. Ted gets runner up for his teasing Robin about how gun violence might solve everything in Canada.

Tonight’s episode was pretty awesome. I took a surprisingly small amount of notes on it, but the show was on its game tonight. Heh, game. I made a pun, sort of. Moving right along…

Someone is following Barney around and tipping off his future conquests as to his true, dastardly nature. This leads to Barney getting deservedly slapped in a hardware store, a pet store, and a museum. When Lily is approached by our mystery woman, Barney decides to enlist the gang to help him track down his stalker. Here is where March Madness comes in, inspiring Barney to create his very own bracket of the top 64 women he has slept with. With a lot of beer, our courageous crew narrows it down depressing story by depressing story until they have their very own Final Four – Holly, Meg, Kate and Anna. Barney (with Lily’s help and moral guidance) tracks down each woman, looking to “apologize” and stop her slanderous spree. Barney doesn’t really want to talk to any of them (talking to a woman you have already slept with is like “changing the oil in a rented car”), but our sweet little Lilypad bullies him into it. Of course, none of the four are actually the mystery woman, but we do get a present out of the whole thing - a brand new website to play with. I am sure you have all been there by now, but if not you should go right away (well, after finishing my blog, of course).

Dispirited, Barney returns to his friends and Robin jumps in with her own plan (that’s right – Robin had lines! And a part to play! That alone made my night) that includes her pretending to be the newest object of Barney’s libido and the rest of the group scouting the bar for when the mystery women approaches Robin to warn her about Barney. First, Lily positions herself by the juke box and dances around like the spaz we love her to be. Second, the boys sit in their usual booth and try to act casual (which includes Marshall screaming rambling awkwardly to himself). Finally, Robin enters looking smoking and saunters up to the bar trying to act interested in Barney (ha – “act”). She manages to only giggle slightly (Robin giggles when she lies, you see) and then Barney pretends to go to the bathroom. The blond woman who inevitably approaches Robin doesn’t set off any bells of recognition in Barney’s head which leads to a long, desperate apology from Barney where he can’t believe he can’t remember her. And, again, this isn’t the mystery woman. Lily does, however, get a good “Barney’s Redemption” shot.

The best part of tonight’s episode? The little end scene with Barney writing a journal entry to the Doogie Howser theme music. You guys, you are lucky I am here typing this up right now as I was very afraid I was going to fall over from laughter and concuss myself. I have been waiting for something like this for years! He even had the blank blue background and the digitalized letters and it was just perfect! Yes, Barney, you are awesome.

Runner up to best part of tonight’s episode is all of the Barney/Robin implications! Yes, I know that his mystery woman is going to pop up again, but Robin so very clearly and secretly wants Barney that I just don’t know what to do with it anymore. She defended his scrapbook! She knew what ruse he would use at the museum! Come on, writers. Throw us a bone!

And, finally, best quote of the night goes to Marshall for the following quote in reference to Barney saying he doesn’t keep a list of all of the women he has ever slept with:

“I keep a list…it’s called my marriage license.”

And then he and Lily high-fived and were amazing in their adorable dorkitude.

And that’s all I’ve got for you tonight, but I hope you enjoyed as much as I did! We had group interaction, crazy shenanigans, and Barney being Barney. You can’t really go wrong there. In fact, there was even an intricate MacLaren’s scene!

Until next week, then. Don’t forget to stay awesome.

Well. They over hyped Britney quite a lot, did they not? Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t mind, because Sarah Chalke was amazing and Ms. Britney, well…can’t really act. I bet that will get me a lot of angry feedback, but come on. She’s no Sarah Chalke.

Anyway, due to the previously mentioned over hyping done by everyone and their mother, I really don’t have much to say about Britney’s guest spot other than it was nice to see her functional. She delivered her lines in an acceptable manner and I barely even sneered! Pretty forgettable, honestly. I hope she had as good a time filming her scenes as has been reported.

Moving on, let’s get to the episode itself shall we? I came away from the episode tonight with three major points on my mind: Marshall really needs a haircut, Ted will never learn to be smooth with the ladies (and I blame it all on Barney), and the writers must think we are really dense (but I love them anyway).

Tonight focused on Ted’s desire to win over the lovely Stella, his tattoo removal doctor (played, of course, by Sarah Chalke of Scrubs fame). Stella refuses his date proposals and Ted spends all of his ten sessions trying to change her “no” to a “yes”. As he does this, we get intermittent scenes with the entire group at MacLaren’s (yay group time at the pub!). This group time includes Barney trying to “help,” Robin looking gorgeous and saying very little except for when she attributes “Stairway to Heaven” to the wrong, non-dead singer, and Lily wearing a variety of fake nails we are supposed to think are real. Still, it was excellent to see the gang together in one setting.

Ted spends the entire episode humiliating himself in numerous ways (screaming like a girl, thinking he has a date with Stella only to find out it’s a Girls Night Out, reading a really bad self help book to impress her, etc.), but I surprisingly didn’t find it as pathetic as I could have. You have to give him credit, really, considering he was there to get a butterfly tramp stamp removed. How many men would have the guts to still go after their doctor in such a situation? And then, at the end, Stella reveals that she has a daughter and no time for dating, but really does like Ted. So what does Ted do? He sets up an entire two minute date, including meal, movie and kiss. My heart! Some of you may mock, but he totally redeemed himself in my eyes. That was adorable and I am still a little starry eyed.

More important for us, however, is the throwaway line that Stella gives about the one party she has gone to all year – St. Patrick’s Day. She went home early! Yeah, I know, how many of you fell for that? Me either. Look, I would love for Stella to be the Mother, but I think we all know how unlikely that is. That said, if I turn out to be wrong I will be the first one cheering. Yeah, can anyone tell how much I liked Stella?

So, that is pretty much it, no? Not a very plot heavy episode, but enjoyable. They still have a ways to go before I will feel as enamored with the show as I once was, but I am still eager to tune in every week. Hey, maybe next week Robin will get more than three lines (perhaps with Barney, writers? What? A girl can dream!).

Oh, ok, look. You have to let me get one catty Britney comment in, okay? Because I respected her performance, I really did, but…she ended up with Barney. Propositioning Barney for random hotel sex and shopping. You just know she’s delivered those lines in some form before, no? Ok, ok. I promise I am done with the Britney bashing. Unless she returns and then all bets are off! Off!

Best episode moment tonight goes to Barney sneakily getting Ted to grow the mustache, despite how horrifying it was. Not quite as scary as the Breakup Beard, but close. A well earned ten dollars, Barney. Well done, indeed.

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Welcome back!

I know you have all missed this show as much as I have, so I won’t waste words gushing about how happy I was to settle down on my couch tonight, pen and paper in hand. I am sure you all understand (except, maybe, for the pen and paper part).

Tonight was St. Patrick’s Day on How I Met Your Mother, although the holiday was mostly celebrated by Barney’s suit (yikes, what an eyesore) and not our gang. Instead, St. Patty’s was used to make a few important things happen for our dear Ted: He realized that the married Marshall and Lily are boring, threw caution to the wind and got a black eye for it (that he deserved), realized that maybe boring wasn’t so bad, and picked up that now infamous yellow umbrella. As for Barney, well, he and his suit ended up sleeping next to a dumpster. Note to Barney: Leave the suit there!

Yes, that yellow umbrella continues to taunt us. The Mother was there! Ted picked up her umbrella! Actually…not really all that exciting. It does give me hope that the writers are going to hold to their word and move this story arc forward, but as far as the episode was concerned, it just gave Ted a prop. A bright yellow prop. I am curious as to how many of you noticed the quick bit where Ted bumped into the random lass at the bar? Anyone? It grabbed my attention, is all I am saying.

On the other end of the spectrum (Ted’s being the sleazy and booze soaked end) are Marshall, Lily and Robin. Marshall and Lily take Robin along to put up their first piece of art in their first real apartment together. Exciting, right? Um, right? And then, of course, come the shenanigans — the apartment is crooked! Lily can’t find out or she will be devastated! Okay, here is the thing. As a television plotline, this wouldn’t interest me at all. And, as an audience who has never met me, none of you are going to find this amusing. But that is my friend’s apartment. I witnessed that entire scene, right down to a friend rolling a bottle down the floor. Sometimes having life experience to connect your shows with makes the entire thing better, is all I am saying. Plus, my friend also has a Hungry, Hungry Hippos game. What? It’s relevant to me! Ok, ok, back on track. Here is where the plot redeems itself a little, because Marshall’s invented ghost story and Lily’s reaction to said ghost story were my favorite parts of tonight’s show. Only Lily and Marshall could think up a racist Confederate army ghost, am I right? And, in the end, Robin’s one shining moment of the show really wraps up this subplot for me: “How is ‘racist ghost’ better than ‘crooked’?!” Marshall and Lily, you might be slightly more boring in marriage, but your eccentricities still endear you to me. And Robin gets a gold star for inventing a really dangerous and awesome game while also rocking a salad spinner on her head. You know, since she isn’t allowed to have her own plotlines anymore (ever since that shaving with butter thing, can you blame the writers?).

Really, I didn’t find tonight’s episode overly fantastic. I enjoyed it, laughed at parts, reveled in the joy of having my show back, but it was no “Pineapple Incident” (my number one episode, for those who care and took our poll). That said, I remain besotted with this show for many reasons. Tonight’s reason is simple — this show can take a joke, run with it, run it into the ground even, and still have me laughing at it when it shows up again three minutes later. The running gags about Barney’s suit were pretty much brilliant, from Marshall calling him Gumby to Ted telling him to give the bouncer his pot o’gold. From Robin saying that Marshall and Lily’s apartment was “an uphill battle” to Marshall saying they would have to name their daughter Eileen. Yes, it can be cheesy, but who doesn’t like some cheese from time to time? Well, unless you are lactose intolerant…in which case I mean you no offense! Well, anyway, that is my take. You are welcome to (and probably will) disagree, but that is just fine. Moving right along! Next week: Britney Spears! Oh, the blogging material. Can you taste it? I can’t wait.

And now, I leave you with my top three moments from tonight’s episode:

• Pocket Dialing. I know they used it for “deep meaningful” reasons at the end, there, but how many of you haven’t picked up the phone only to hear a vague scratching noise on the other end? It happens and it’s usually pretty funny, especially for those who are watching others go “Hello? HELLO? Are you even there? I am talking to your pocket/purse/coat, aren’t I?”

• Ghetto Barney! “I don’t see no ring on this finger!” Classic. Oh, how I have missed my little Barney Stone.

• Ted and Marshall’s conversation at the end. Sappy, sure, but the relationships amongst the five characters are what make this show great. Plus, how often are you going to hear Ted call Marshall sexy or a “Kentucky Derby winning steed”?

See you next week!

And, as always, don't forget to check out video for How I Met Your Mother at our online video guide.

Hey, guys!

We have just one week to go until a brand new episode of How I Met Your Mother! Until then, I invite you to go vote for your favorite episode in our TV GUIDE poll.

See you next week!

Tonight’s premise was pretty simple: Everyone ganged up on Ted to try and convince him not to date his tattoo removal doctor (R.I.P. Tramp Stamp Ted!). Barney naturally headed up the group, proclaiming “The Platinum Rule” to be as such— while The Golden Rule is “Love thy neighbor” (yes, he was wrong, but he had a plan, so let him finish), The Platinum Rule is “Never ever ever love thy neighbor.” And, of course, Barney, Marshall and Lily, and Robin have all had experience with The Platinum Rule and we then spent the rest the episode traveling down Awkward Lane with them on their quest to win over Ted.

If I went into detail on each of the three examples of The Platinum Rule, I would be here all night, so here they are in a nutshell: Robin had a crush on the sports anchor for her news show (Kurt, the “Ironman”) and the relationship went sour when “Ironman” proved to be clingy and overly emotional. Marshall and Lily met their neighbors across the hall and began hanging out with them, enjoying a new couple to do couple-y things with, only to have the couple begin turning up every time they opened their door. Barney decided to seduce Wendy the Waitress and then had to deal with Wendy believing them to be in a committed relationship and the whole situation putting the gang’s bar situation at serious risk.

There were eight steps to The Platinum Rule: Attraction, Bargaining, Submission, Perks, The Tipping Point, Perg (wait for it…wait for it some more…keep waiting for all of eternity)atory, Confrontation, and Fall Out. Over Barney’s explanation of all eight parts we were shown various clips of the group going through each step with their own Platinum Rule counterparts. My favorite was definitely poor Robin and her ex-hockey player. Kurt was hilariously needy and his breakdown on the air was just the sort of funny/awkward that hits all the right spots. Marshall and Lily’s neighbor couple just ended up being stalker like and vaguely annoying, but I did giggle when Marshall and Lily were so paranoid about having to see them that they snuck out a window, leaving a keyless Ted out in the hallway. And, as for Barney, well, come on. How many times have we seen him seduce a woman only to have her latch on to him when he wants to run for the door? The only thing that saved his storyline for me was the “Don’t kill the bar!” running gag, which was amusing. Well, and seeing Barney dive for Marshall’s hamburger when Wendy seemed to accept the breakup in a mature and reasonable fashion which made Barney paranoid that she was trying to kill him and his friends. Flying lettuce and tomato in slow motion does make for some good television.

In the end, Ted went out with Stella anyway, but it turned out she had never thought it was a date anyway because of that darn “no doctor can date their patient” rule. So the entire Platinum Rule spiel was for naught. However, how many of you caught Saget’s voiceover where he said that that was it for him and Stella “at least for then”? I suspect we will be seeing Stella in the future, especially since Ted apparently needs ten sessions to remove his tattoo. You have my attention, writers. Now let’s see what you can do with it!

Favorite quotes time:

• “If he were missing some teeth, I would probably have already hit that!” — Robin, on Kurt

• “You’d antique the crap out of them!” — Robin, teasing Marshall and Lily for their new relationship with the couple against the hall. It was really all in her delivery, but I definitely laughed.

• “She’s gullible; I’m bored. We’re perfect for each other!” — Barney, talking about wanting to seduce Wendy the Waitress

• “Now I kind of want to see those parts…just on other girls” and “You can be there, but the other girls need to be there too…that’s the important part.” — Barney, during his breakup with Wendy the Waitress

• “The Knicks suck!!!” — Kurt, after Robin dumped him. He then ran off screen crying. It was really just oh so very funny.

• “Stella reads my blog!” — Barney after Ted comes home and tells them all that Stella said she couldn’t date him.

No new episodes for awhile, guys, so Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year and all that fun stuff. I hope that you, like me, have HIMYM DVDs to help you through!

You can check out video from How I Met Your Mother in our online video guide.

When you have an episode of How I Met Your Mother where the main plot revolves around one Barney Stinson, you know to expect a few things: women, sex, and those catch phrases that we all know and love. Tonight’s episode did indeed contain all mentioned items; however, we also got to enjoy the rare opportunity of watching Before Barney (as I like to call him), the granola loving, hemp wearing, goateed version of Barney. And oh, how I do love me some Before Barney.

We start with Ted convincing the gang to join a gym. Hey, Ted, don’t feel so bad, I think we’ve all had that moment with the pizza delivery man where you hope they don’t judge you. At least you were fully dressed. My encounters always seem to happen in my pajamas. Anyway, no one cares about my pjs, so moving on. Everyone having been coerced into joining, we then spend a good portion of the episode in said gym. Marshall gets a trainer to whip him into shape…a trainer that Lily feels is way too hot. Marshall then spends the entire episode being horrifically tortured by said trainer. This storyline is pretty much just fluff filler, in my opinion — amusing to an extent, but not really integral to the plot. It does, however, give us the gem, “Do you smell that? It smells like there’s a little B*TCH in my gym!” This line is made even funnier by the fact that Marshall’s trainer is a good six inches shorter than he is. Heh. Lily also gets a hot trainer, who spends all of his time “stretching her out.” Her trainer then turns out to have just been a sleazy guy who frequents the gym, not an actual certified trainer. See? Amusing, but just…not important.

Also not important are Robin and Ted’s storylines. Robin, like all sane people, decides that spending her hours in a gym sweating and exercising means she doesn’t need to wear fancy workout clothes or put on makeup. Sing it, sister! Of course, the rest of the group teases her mercilessly about it, calling her everything from a “lesbian prison guard” to referring to her as manly as much as they can. I am going to open such a large can of worms with this subplot if I comment on it any further, so instead of doing that I will just say that Robin’s plotline had its good and bad moments and I cheered when she got back at Ted for making fun of her for grunting while she bench pressed. “Gooooone.” Nicely played, Robin. Nicely played.

A “nicely played” also goes out to the group as a whole for forcing Marshall’s sadistic trainer on Ted when the realize that he has been the only one not working out at the gym he forced them to join. Oh, Ted. You earned those tears of pain, my friend.

And now, finally, we get to Barney. Barney, who only goes to the gym to check on his “investments” (fat women who he showers with affection in the hopes that, when the gym makes them hot, they will come to him first with their hot love). So disturbing and so very Barney. Barney runs into Rhonda (Stephanie Faracy), who took his virginity. Now, I wasn’t a HIMYM fan until last season (I know, I know), but my roommate assures me that this is continuity. So, hurrah for that! Rhonda doesn’t remember him, though, which sends Barney into a downward spiral of self doubt, something only complicated by his finding out that his brother James (Wayne Brady) — more continuity! — slept with Rhonda so that she, in turn, would sleep with Barney and tell him what a great lover he is.

Devastated by his discovery, Barney is now suffering from The Yips, which is when you worry about something so much that it debilitates you. For Barney this means he has lost his mojo. Barney losing his mojo means (for us, anyway) a very awkward encounter with Victoria’s Secret models. Barney unable to say anything to Heidi Klum but “goobety goobety goobety” will forever be burned in my memory. He couldn’t even successfully utter his legendary “legen…dary!” So classic! Heidi convinces Barney that he will find his mojo again once he sleeps with Rhonda and knows for certain that he has rocked her world. Barney, still depressed, even forgoes his suit ( I know!), but of course, in the end, he manages to rock Rhonda’s world after her very boring suggestion of playing Go Fish instead of having sex. Barney ties everything up with a very nice “Daddy’s back!” And we are glad for it, Barney, we really are. Not seeing you in a tie was beginning to creep me out a little.

Because I never seem to be able to shut up about these episodes (although I happen to think a lot happened tonight, in my defense) I am just going to end with my top five quotes of the episode:

1.“Let’s all punch Barney in the face!” Lily was so excited, you guys. It was adorable and very realistic for group friendships. Especially when said friendships involve Barney.

2.“I rose like a phoenix from her mentholated bosom and emerged, Armani clad and fully awesome!”

3.“It’s not like I’m a Backstreet Boy!” Oh, Before Barney! You were so young and amusing.

4.“I see little hamburgers!” Love you, Heidi! Too bad you didn’t bring Tim Gunn, though.

5.“Having love…making sex…penis vagina?” Ok, so it’s juvenile and stupid, I admit. I still laughed.

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Happy Slapsgiving! Forget the turkey, stuffing and pies. How I Met Your Mother served up what we all really wanted — Barney getting slapped. I know that none of you really believed that Lily’s edict about no slapping being allowed would actually hold, but I hope you all still enjoyed the moment when it actually happened as much as I did.

Of course, there was more going on tonight than just watching Barney grow twitchier and twitchier as the countdown ticked closer and closer to zero. Robin had a new boyfriend, Bob, who was one of my favorite aspects of the episode. Bob, age 41, spent the entire episode being shown to us through Ted’s jealous ex-boyfriend gaze, which saw him as a very elderly man. Seeing a man old enough to be my grandfather spout phrases like, "We's gonna get silly, bitches!" as he hands over the Jell-O shots he brought to Thanksgiving dinner was just… surreally hysterical. Despite thinking to myself that Robin would never date a guy like Bob, I found myself very fond of him, even the false, warped image of himself that he was. I hope everyone noticed that, while Ted and Robin were waving lighters during Marshall’s song, Bob was waving his cell phone. Ha.

We also had a lot going on with Ted and Robin, who, it seems, finally realized that it wasn’t exactly easy trying to be friends right after the breakup of a yearlong relationship. I really did appreciate the show finally acknowledging this fact instead of dancing around it, even if we did need to suffer through a slightly obnoxious running joke of Ted and Robin’s where they saluted while repeating anything that was said relating to the armed forces. It was slightly amusing at the beginning of the episode, but I can just imagine the toll a joke like that would take when repeated a few times a week for a year.

Anyway, Ted and Robin got stuck baking pies together and this led to post-breakup sex (sorry, Bob!). Uncomfortable and regretful, both Ted and Robin tried to make things better on Thanksgiving, but then failed, which led to a huge amount of awkwardness and Lily forcing them into Ted’s room declaring that they better work things out and threatening to take away dessert if they had sex again. (Poor Lily. No one helping her, her husband running around trying to slap people, and a huge dinner to cook. I would have snapped much sooner, honestly.) Ted and Robin actually came to the sad decision that they didn't think they could be friends and headed out to dinner thinking it would be their last time eating together. However, unsurprisingly, dinner ended up with them subconsciously pulling out their old military play on words and they were suddenly back on the road to recovery and friendship, which is fine by me because I am really hoping they can keep the group dynamic working as well as it has been these past two weeks. Of course, the writers' strike might come into play, but let's not worry ourselves yet, shall we?

As always, though, the brilliance of this week’s episode was in single quotes, small details and specific line deliveries so, without further ado:
• Ted (trying to get them to help him trash Bob): "Barney, what’ve you got?"
Barney: "Nothing but respect for that man."
• Marshall exercising his hand in the living room and making hand turkeys to psych Barney out
• Robin, having just made a pecan pie, despite being allergic and not wanting to tell Ted that it’s for Bob: "I made it to smell… it’s like eating with your nose!"
• Ted calling Barney’s slew of girls "skanktrons"
• Barney on hearing about the Ted/Robin sex: "Relapse five! That’s where we high-five, are awkward about it for a few minutes, and then high-five again!"
• "Did you know that mushrooms are carnivorous?" Ted really does just say the first thing that comes to mind, doesn’t he?
• "Lily, would you like to say something?"
"Nope, this sucks. Eat up and leave!"
• The Time Slap Continuum
• Barney: "I’ve lost 10 pounds! My suits are wearing me!!"
• Barney (again freaking out about the impending slap): "You are allowed to slap my face, sir, but you are not allowed to slap my mind!"
• Marshall’s song. Marshall’s song and the fact that Barney, cradling his face, still chimed in with some harmony. As well as how the entire group gathered round to enjoy that very special moment.

Well, I think that is all I have for this very special episode of HIMYM. I hope you guys were as pleased with it as I was! Make sure to check out Marshall’s music video for "You Just Got Slapped," too (clicking on the link for the slap countdown will bring you there). You won’t regret it.

Check out video of HIMYM in our Online Video Guide.

Now this is what I’m talking about! A main plotline that focuses around Ted, our lovable, if slightly bumbling protagonist, but still includes every single one of the gang and is actually funny. This is the show we all tune in to see every week, is it not?

Tonight’s episode is about something that we have probably all had to deal with at one point or another — what to do when our friends hate the person we’re dating. Ted is dating Cathy (Lindsay Price), a woman he is sure his friends will love. Of course, they hate her. Realizing that Ted can’t see her major malfunction, the gang decides to stay silent on why they dislike Cathy. (As Robin says, “She’s a keeper… just keep her somewhere else!”). This of course only causes Ted to agonize over what could be wrong with his girlfriend. Does she kill puppies? Is she secretly a man? No, she just talks… incessantly. (To get back at her, Marshall suggests buying her a parrot. Ha.) As Ted’s perfect image of her is shattered (accompanied by the actual sound of glass shattering), he is now doomed to be tormented by Cathy’s chattering (would the Chatty Cathy joke be too much? Yes?) and, despite having begged his friends to dish on why they hate her, blames them all for pointing out her flaw.

And now we get to the fun part. Ted, upset about having his relationship ruined, points out a flaw of Lily’s to Marshall, which then sets off a chain reaction. Now dogged by Lily’s overly loud chewing, Marshall snaps at her, which then leads to Lily talking to Robin about it. Robin, also seeing the light on Lily’s crunching, can’t disagree with Ted and Marshall’s assessment, which then leads to Lily pointing out a flaw of Ted’s — he corrects everything people say. Robin later throws this new realization back at Ted, who throws back at her that she overuses the word “literally” and, after some teasing about this fact from Marshall, Lily adds to the melee by noting Marshall's habit of singing everything he does as he does it (something that I personally find amusing, but I suppose only having to deal with it once a week doesn’t really give me the right to judge). Barney just sits smugly by and claims to be flawless, of course, but he is quickly brought up on charges of often using a high-pitched voice, using too many catchphrases and spacing out while his friends are talking. Barney, of course, has spaced out through this and says, “See? You couldn’t think of anything!” Oh, Barney. Never change.

I wish I could have conveyed in that last paragraph just how hilarious that final scene was, but words will always fail. If you didn’t watch tonight’s episode, I hope you find the time soon, because I have no hope of being as funny as this show is when they are on top of their game. And tonight they finally were.

Of course, they couldn’t end the episode with the entire gang bickering, and that is where tonight’s subplot comes in. Throughout the episode, Marshall is impatiently waiting to see if he’s passed the bar exam. He’s forgotten his password to the website and thinks that he is doomed to have to wait for the written scores to arrive in the mail. Barney quickly steps in to “help” by offering up an illegal program his coworker has that will help them hack into the site and get Marshall’s score. Marshall, ever the conspiracy-theory geek, is hoping for subterfuge and dark alleyways (“I have a trench coat!”), but when Barney shows up with his program it turns out to be nothing more than a trick to get Marshall to watch an Internet video of a dog pooping on a baby. Oh Barney, never change… I think. However, during the Scene of Accusations, while they are mocking Marshall’s singing, Ted, Robin and Lily break into a song of Marshall’s that is nothing more than some letters and numbers to prove to him how inane his habit is. I’m sure you see where this is going, no? Yes, yes, of course his song is his password. Marshall finds out he passed the bar and everyone forgets their fighting and join him for a celebratory drink at the bar. We end the episode with everyone displaying their individual annoying habits and that is the end of another week. My favorite was (naturally) Barney’s high-pitched toast of “law suit up!”

My favorite quote of the episode hasn’t even been mentioned yet, so I am going to end with my favorite line delivery of the night:

Ted (referencing Lily’s chewing): “Why do you think I call her Chewbacca?!”
Marshall: “Because she’s loyal, wears shiny belts and I resemble a young Harrison Ford?!”

Next week: "SLAPSGIVING"!!!

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