Kids, I’m gonna tell you an incredible story,
the story of how I met your mother
~Future Ted
So as many of you know, I didn’t start recapping HIMYM until Season 4 (ref. Woo Girls) and because of that I’ve always felt that beawesomeinstead.com is incomplete. The thing is, I like completion…so let’s start from the beginning shall we?
I’ve got to be honest, starting to re-watch from the beginning is really stinking difficult. I mean we know so much more now, and at the same time still know so little. And with knowing what comes next for a lot of this it’s hard not to sit and pick apart the little details that would drive many of us mad…Example, Ted references the first time that Marshall & Lily had sex and implies that they were on the bottom bunk, but when we see “Frist time in New York (ref. s02e12) they are on the top bunk. So past that one, I’ll try to keep it as if we are watching for the first time, otherwise we could be here for weeks.
Robin. Robin is great in this episode. Even though she ends up being just Aunt Robin the fact that it starts here should make her a huge part of the story. Not only that but she looks amazing! It doesn’t hurt that in this phase of HIMYM, Robin seems quite flirty. Anways, it’s hard not to watch her interact with the group yet, but I guess that’s the burden of foreknowledge.
Lily & Marshall. Just great together, I mean what more can you say. Lily in the eye patch looks ridiculous but I suppose that’s the point. I wish Marshall said “dibs” more. And for some reason I completely forgot that Barney kissed him… his reaction was hilarious. Speaking of which….
Barney. I’ve always loved the way that he & Ted meet. It’s quite legendary when you think about it. It’s even funnier when you get the rest of the story. My favorite part from Barney here has to be his pushing Ted to wear a suit…and how stinking excited he is when Ted actually does. Plus we get to see him play laser tag. Good stuff.
Ted. If you haven’t figured it out by now, the show is about Ted. Now while I might get some debate on that, it’s true. With that said, already I see a ton of foreshadowing in this episode. And while there are some continuity errors since then, seeing those really encourages me that the show is still going in the same direction they initially indented…even though I’m sure some details have changed.
All and all, what a great episode and premier. Season 1 really was an amazing season…enough from me, what did you all think about the Pilot of HIMYM?torrentz.com
How I Met Your Mother Music
- E-Pro by Beck
c(not exactly but it’s the same tune as the guitar riff when Ted, Barney, Lily & Marhsall are in Ranjit’s cab after stealing the Smurf penis) - Cigarettes and Coffee by Otis Redding (playing in Robin’s apartment –Air Version)
- I Want To Be Ready – Kool Blues (playing in Robin’s apartment –DVD Version)
- Back On The Chain Gang by the Pretenders
(closing song, Ted explains to his kids how he met Aunt Robin)
Legendary Lines
Ted: You know ever since college it’s always been Marshall and Lily and me. Now it’s gonna be Marshall and Lily… and me. They’ll go off get married, start a family, and before you know it, I’m that middle-aged bachelor their kids call “uncle Ted.”
Barney: Okay, meet me at the bar in 10 minutes, and suit up!
Barney: …Where’s your suit? Just once, when I say, “suit up” I wish you’d put on a suit.
Ted: I did… that one time.
Barney: It was a blazer!
Lily: did you know there is a pop tart under your fridge?
Marshall: No but dibs.
Ted: Hey, Barney. See that girl?
Barney: Oh, yeah, you just know she likes it dirty.
Barney: De -wait for it- Nied! Denied!
Barney: There’s no such thing as the signal! But yeah, that was the signal.
Ted: I gotta do what that guy couldn’t, I gotta take the leap!…Okay, not a perfect metaphor, cause for me it’s fall in love and get married, and for him it’s…death.
Barney: Actually, that is a perfect metaphor…
Ted: Are you trying to get me drunk?
Robin: For Starters
Marshall: Lily, I like olives.
Lily: We’ll make it work
Moments of Awesomeness
- Have You Met Ted? … best game ever. True Story
- Marshall’s practice proposal to Ted. So perfect…those two should totally be toget…wait, Marshall isn’t he mother. I mean Marshall & Lily.
- Uncle Ted. I love Ted’s talk with Barney about Marshall & Lily’s kids calling him Uncle Ted. Explains a lot if you think about it.
- Lily’s second surprise from Marshall, “Boogity Boo!”
- First episode and already we get Carl & Ranjit!
- Barney’s catch phrases are in fully swing… what up, wait for it, suit up…
- Ted suits up. Barney’s reactions are far better than Ted suiting up though.
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Is Robin hot in the episode or what?…seriously, oh my.
Lingering Questions
- Ted ask Marshall what he told him that his perfect woman would be. Marshall recalls that it’s someone who loves dogs, drinks scotch, can quote obscure lines from Ghostbusters. Since most of us know a little bit more about the future, what do you think happened to these qualities in the future?
- Will Ted tell the eventual mother that he loves he on the first date or before? Will he Mosby her? Have you ever Mosby’ed someone?
- the first time you watched this episode, how did you feel about the ending?
I’m a little confused about this line:”Example, Ted references the first time that Marshall & Lily had sex and implies that they were on the top bunk, but when we see “Frist time in New York (ref. s02e12) they are on the top bunk”
Doesn’t that mean they got it right? Also you wrote ‘frist’ instead of ‘first’.
Other than that, great review on S01E01, Since you are going back, maybe you should think about starting a ’roundtable – podcast’ – similar to what you’re doing on YouTube but more of a discussion.
I’d be happy to help.
Keep it up.
In the first episode, Ted says “when the top bunk moves, the bottom bunk moves also.” Then in season two, in the episode where Robin’s sister comes to NY, it showed Marshall and Lily in the bottom bunk while Ted is in the top bunk. Also in the episode where they showed Marshall and Ted first meeting, Ted also said “I wanted the top bunk anyways”. Season 1’s full of minor continuity errors like this. (Marshall saying he’s never been in a fight before vs the episode with the fight)
I figured that was the case. Unfortunately the write-up says
“Ted references the first time that Marshall & Lily had sex and implies that they were on the top bunk, but when we see “Frist time in New York (ref. s02e12) they are on the top bunk”
when it should say “we see “Frist time in New York (ref. s02e12) they are on the bottom bunk”
See what I mean?
I often will describe women as “oh you just know she likes it dirty”. Thanks Barney for that. Also,any episode with Ranjit is an awesome one.
All right…. no nead to make a big deal. I’ve corrected. The quote from Ted “It’s physics, Marshall. If the bottom bunk moves, the top bunk moves too.” was correct… I just put top when I should have put bottom. Sorry for the confusion.
Though my saddness comes in that there is more talk about my crappy typos than the content and meanings of such a great episode. =(
Sorry Dude. Didn’t Mean To Make You ‘Sad’
My friend and I regularly play “Have You Met…” infact, thats how he got his last girlfriend.
It’s really fun to see how far they’ve come, yet…how much they are the same.
We’ve taken Barney’s ‘Legen…wait for it..Dary’ and turned into the beginning and ends of our phone calls. eg.
[Phone Call 1]
Dary!! …blah blah blah…. It’s Going To Be Legen…wait for it..
[Hang Up]
[Phone Call 2]
Dary!!
….and so on. True Story.
no worries, when I get sad I just stop being sad and be awesome instead. True Story =)
the first time I saw Ranjit I knew he looked familiar. Then I realized I see him everywhere ( imdb ) , even some of my other favorite shows like Scrubs & Burn Notice. I think he is a great addition to HIMYM and I love it when he shows up.
Finally got round to rewatching and reading/watching your review. I’ve not really watched much HIMYM since the season finale, so even the theme music got me very excited! Thank you for the review, I really enjoyed it – particularly the video review, was great to hear your thoughts slightly more indepth.
Sooo…my random thoughts as I was watching:
Firstly, how long and blonde is Barney’s hair?!
I completely agree with you about Lily & Marshall – they’re just wonderful. This is one of my favourite things about HIMYM, that they write and honest and realistic marriage. So often on sitcoms they give up on the relationship because it’s seemingly more interesting to write the “will they/won’t they” part of relationships. But HIMYM doesn’t bow to that trend, and writes them brilliantly too.
Like you said, it’s so cool how many catchphrases and things are already in this episode! I made myself a little list, but I’ve probably missed some…”haaave you met Ted?” “…wait for it…” “What up?” the appearance of Ranjit, Barney’s insistence that he’s Ted’s best friend, Barney’s blog, Barney’s laser tag obsession, and of course Ranjit. Just further shows how great this show is!
Ted & Robin I just love so much. I love the first time he spots her, it gives me butterflies. I still wish sometimes that the end of the episode would say “and that’s how I met your mother”. But I also love that she’s NOT the mother – I love the idea that we start right off, with a pairing who are completely believable (and freaking adorable), watching the will they/won’t they, really rooting for them, and yet knowing that it’s not going to work out. It’s very interesting to watch.
One wondering – what happened to Robin’s friends?!
Some other legendary lines:
“Sorta like a Smurf penis…son, a word of advice. When you go on a first date, you don’t want to say Smurf penis. Girls don’t ordinarily like that.” Ha! (I love that there’s now a whole legion of HIMYM who would LOVE to have this said to them on a first date!)
And of course: “I think I’m in love with you.” You’ve just been Mosby’d.
WE love playing “Have You Met…” as well… actually. I love playing it with my unsuspecting fiends… not sure how they feel =)
Love your review… stuff like that makes me wonder why I even write. I love reading it!
I’ve always wondered about Robin’s other friends…Will we ever know? That is a definite lingering question!
Thank you – but it’s nothing on your reviews! Just my overexcited fangirl ramblings. 😉