Let’s start with two thoughts.  I’ve never been a huge fan of guest stars…I mean they do help with ratings and they are usually very nice to look at, but few really pull of any great acting. It’s mostly about making an appearance. That being said (and please exclude Sarah Chalke, she is amazing), I felt JLo did one of the better acting jobs I have seen from a guest on How I Met Your Mother. Then again as long as it wasn’t Gigli I think we knew she had acting chops.

Secondly, Throughout most of tonight’s episode I found that I was enjoying it but never really felt like it was significant or of any real substance, other than to draw more attention to Barney. Luckily, I think I was wrong again. I love the fact that we got a lot more Robin time this episode, I felt it was long overdue. More importantly than more Robin development, was a huge reveal into the true character of Barney. While, some would argue that Barney needs to be only about suits & sex, I think it’s great to develop him in some other dimensions. I thought that his relationship with Robin was a strong start to that and now we get another glimpse. Not only does he show that he still cares for Robin, though maybe not in the same way as before he make a commitment that is against his normal persona on the show. That’s not just unusual, I feel it will be critical. I have to say, I didn’t know whether to laugh or cheer when he ran out and jumped in the Hudson…I digress.

I thought the callback to Ted’s legendary date planning ability (like in Ten Sessions) plus his music number to convince Barney of the “Super Date” was pretty funny. I loved the scene changes…the whole video was like a mixture of The Old Spice Man Your Man Could Smell Like video played by Michael Bublé. However, after Girls vs Suits, I’m starting to wonder if HIMYM is turning musical.

I’ve have to say, I started the episode underwhelmed, but now I feel like it was a pretty solid ep. Lots to like… then again, I’ve watched it 3 times now.

I’d love to know if I’m the only one who felt that way. What did everyone else think?

Music

• The Bang Bang Song by Marshall (reprised at the end by Robin)
• Super Date by Ted Evelyn Mosby (the heart touching ballad sung to sell the “Super Date”) get the mp3

Legendary Lines

Barney: At least when I run out on a girl I have the common courtesy to sleep with her first. It’s called manners.

Lily: She kinda sounds like the anti-Barney

Robin: But um….     (looks like it’s back! May the drinking games commence.)

Marshall: You’re my wife. You’re supposed to stop me from embarrassing myself in public.

Robin: Isn’t that every girls dream?

Lily: Of Course she’s upset! Take a look at yourself you dumb slut.

Marshall: I can’t believe you threw up in your storm trooper helmet.
Barney: Eh, that had something worse in it after the Phantom Menace premier.

Moments of Awesomeness

• Superdate…did I mention I ripped the audio for that song? I’m listening to it for inspiration while writing.
• Barney’s “This changes everything, new plan” moment was hilarious.
• I will be trying the sit on a chair and fall off from shock move…great effort by NPH there.
• I’m fairly certain that my wife read “Of Course You’re Still Single Take a Look at Yourself You Dumb Slut”… what a great title by the way…and her new book, “ Of Course You Don’t Have A Retirement Plan yet Take a Look At Yourself You Dumb Slut”… it’s due out in June, hopefully at a book store near you.
• Marshall pretends to be Robin and she jumps him in the kitchen. Now there is a decent fight… Murder Train vs. The Hoosier
• Poor Mike got Hooked by Anita (JLo)… and only 1 ep after getting unhooked by Robin.
• I love it that Robin goes to the range to shoot when she is mad… and she throws the gun when she is out of bullets.
• Barney’s reason for jumping into the River. I feel there is a lot more to this simple act that what we see in this episode.

The Re-Return

Everyone wants to know what happened on Robin’s date with Don. Robin doesn’t want to kiss and tell… Although one interesting thing did happen:

I said, bang, bang, bangity, bang bang…

My Thoughts:

This episode of How I Met Your Mother was done very well. The way the character’s were split was a new twist and I loved the Marshall/Robin story line. always new ground to explore I suppose.

Erin Cahill was a cool choice for Ted’s little sis and played the part well. She and Barney (the rest of the cast too) had some decent chemistry too. I wonder if they will bring her back more this season since she will be in New York (trying not to give too much away until later). Sadly, there was a quick look at Barney’s office posters (though I only saw focus) but no Awesomeness Poster, despite finally getting a shot of his office this season.

Legendary Lines :

Ted: Did you bring that chair yourself?
Barney: I needed one that swivels.

Ted: You’re my sister.
Barney: (whispering) Now he’s just stating a fact.

Ted: There aren’t any black people in Minnesota?
Marshall: Not if Prince is on tour.

Moments of Awesomeness:

• Barney’s Christmas/Holiday jingles, despite their vulgarity, they were quite funny, and catchy.
• Barney with the leather chair he brought to the apartment when Ted brings Heather home.
• It’s an ongoing gag but Lily’s loose lips are quite funny.
• The final scene (see The Re-Return at the bottom of the page).
• Notice the Jersey names inside the Wall-Eye Saloon? Great stuff guys.

Vocabulary:

Nothing great here…just a bunch of Canadian words…think elongated English. (though the whole: “sucking down a 20 oz. pilsner while watching some coal miner’s daughter strip down to her pelt”, has pretty impressive wording).

What really happened:

Ted’s sister, Heather, make the visit to New York and Ted’s main mission is to keep her away from Barney. It seems that through the years Heather had been brought to Barney’s attention via the Mosby Christmas card and in honor of the even Barney makes up very catchy Christmas jingles about how hot she is. Barney finds out Heather is in town because Lily can’t seem to keep a secret and is waiting in the apartment for when they arrive. Ted’s plays the protective brother, Barney is hurt that Ted does not trust him and then Ted includes Barney in their plans out of guilt.

Robin is feeling homesick for Canada so Marshall takes her to the place he goes when he feels homesick for Minnesota, the Wall-Eye Saloon. Meanwhile, Ted, Lily, Barney & Heather are at dinner together. Heather tells Ted that she found an apartment in New York and asks him to cosign the lease for her. Ted feels she is too irresponsible and Barney chimes in (often) and says he could help since he works at Goliath National Bank since she wants to work in that world. The two set up a meeting and Ted gets Lily to keep an eye on them to make sure Barney keeps things strictly business. Robin loves the Wall-Eye Saloon but then starts to mention Canada. Marshall quiets her and says they only accept people form Minnesota there. Robin plays along and all is well.

Ted skips ahead for “what happens next” and we see Marshall discovering that Robin stole his ‘99 NFC championship story to fit in more at the bar. Marshall show her how everyone there makes fun of Canadians with “afraid of the dark” jokes to which she gets briefly offended then tells one herself to fit in. Also, Lily walks in on Barney and Heather re-dressing in Barney’s office.

At McLaren’s, Barney and Heather engage in a series of double entendres about work until Ted confronts them about sleeping together. They let Ted know the whole thing was staged. They counted on Lily to spill the secret (as she does so well) so they could get back at Ted for meddling too much and for not trusting Barney, Heather get’s mad and storms out. Barney had promised not to sleep with Heather so he kept his word, though he does admit to an awkward sexually charged kiss with Ted’s mom at an airport.

When Robin beats Marshall’s high score at Fisherman’s Quest at his bar, he outs her as Canadian. As she leaves, Robin gives a humorous but heart felt speech about Canada and why she misses it so much. When Heather heads back to the apartment to get her stuff she finds a briefcase she couldn’t afford from earlier in the episode with signed lease papers inside, then brother & sis make up and Ted apologizes. Marshall finds Robin outside in the cold, sad with ice cream and short sleeves and they make up when Marshall takes her to the Hoser Hut, a Canadian bar…and as it turns out when Marshall “accidentally” hits the light switch finds out Canadians are afraid of the dark.

The Re-Return (the final scene that HIMYM comes back with after the credits):

My Thoughts:

This episode of How I Met Your Mother had some great moments but overall it just didn’t make me laugh I recant…this episode is hilarious when you watch it again later.. Barney being a little way into guys that fight was excellent.  Marshall had the best lines overall and made the episode descent. Along with that I do hope light sabers will be available for use in 3-5 years. The goat, murder train for Marshall’s fight scene… Great ep.

Despite the ongoing hints at a Barney/Robin story line (they like screwing with our minds don’t they?), the single contained episodes get me a little. I like them and all but I need some carry over here and there, some continuity…something that says wait till next week…but I’m sure like all other shows they will do that during the Season Finale so as to make everyone really mad (Anyone else hate that? and it’s not just HIMYM…must be something in “writing a T.V. Show 101)

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Legendary Lines :

Lily: Stop fighting. It’s stupid and juvenile.
Kid: We’re 6. We are stupid and juvenile.

Ted: “It’s clobbering time” (I like this because of the Fantastic4 tribute aspect)

Barney (to Ted): That’s going to swell up real good. You’ll look like Owen Wilson.

Marshall: I’m serious woman, put it back in your pants!

Ted: Don’t ever get into a fight with Uncle Marshall.  The guy is freakin’ crazy.

Moments of Awesomeness:

• Ted’s flashback fight sequences, especially when he gets punched during St. Patrick’s Day
• when he and Marshall fight during “The Duel” from Season 1.
• But most awesome the flashback to the goat in Ted’s apartment! That’s two weeks in a row! And according to Ted the real “goat” story is only a few weeks away.
• Murder Train callback
• How into fighting Robin was…and how into Barney she was after the fight
• Marshall… the greatest guys in the universe are Crocodile Dundee and David Hasslehoff… how fun.

Vocabulary:

Other than the use of Marshall’s “Lawyered” phrase I couldn’t find much…maybe when I re-watch it tomorrow)

What really happened:

Ted decides to tell his kids the story of the only real fight he had ever been in. It begins with everyone being overly sympathetic to Ted because he got dumped at the alter.  A funny discussion goes on about how Barney fakes listening to conversations when he focuses in on a hot girl. Anyways, The group is hanging at the bar and we get introduced to Doug. Doug has been there since the since the beginning (don’t you love video editing?) and loves Ted, Barney, Robin, Lily, and Marshall. So much so that he tell some guys to leave their booth despite the protest of the group. Doug comes back to tell them that the ladies can take the booth and the men will be required in the alley so they can fight the guys who were in their booth.

Everyone is against the idea of fighting except Robin. Ted evaluates the the situation and decided he needs the experience of being in a fight. Robins love for the fighting man encourages Barney to jump in as well. Needless to say, Robin looks impressed.

When Ted & Barney finally get outside all 3 guys are unconscious and Doug thinks the guys were there all along and were apart of the fight.  After Doug goes back in Barney comes up with a legendary story (you have to love Barney’s speeches) but Ted says no one will believe them. So Barney punches himself, and then Ted.  Upon returning back inside the bar to cheers. Once back a the booth, Doug brings free drinks to everyone but Marshall, because Marshall didn’t have his back.

Later that night Marshall is upset because everyone made fun of him for not fighting. It should also be mentioned that Marshall mentions the 2 most manly men in the world are Crocodile Dundee and David Hasselhoff (no Chuck Norris? Please!).  Marshall goes to Lily’s class to teach the kids a lesson about not fighting. IT kinds of backfires and he ends up being called a wuss and laughed at by 6 year olds. Back to the bar, Barney and Ted ate trying to impress some girls with their fight story and then notice 2 guys in their booth. This time, they don’t want to fight, just serve papers for the fight the other day.

The guys take their papers to Marshall, who is still mad about last night. Even though he knows they are only liable for a fine, he lets them thin that jail time is possible and they fess up about what really happened. Robin comes in and is all into Barney and invites him to a hockey game until Marshall tells her the truth about the fight and leaves.  At the bar again, Marshall get’s the lawsuit dropped against Ted and Barney by telling them what pansies they really are. Then Doug finds out they sold him out.

Behind the bar again, Doug is mad the guy’s didn’t have his back. They tell him that he beat up the 3 guys by himself and he is less angry but still mad about Ted and Barney giving him up and tells Ted that is probably why Stella left him. Ted get mad and punches Doug. Then Doug knocks him out with one punch, thus the the only fight Ted has ever been in. Ted goes to Lily’s class to tell his story of why you should never get in a fight. Now he is a wuss too to the kids.

Ted then divulges what really happened. After, Doug punched Ted Marshall knocked out Doug. It appears he really did know how to fight thanks to his brothers (best laugh of the episode by the way…Murder Train…lol)

The Re-Return (a new little section I decided to add, this will include a short mention of the final scene that HIMYM comes back with after the show “ends”):

Sitting around the table for Thanksgiving (assuming 3-5 years in the future), Marshall, Lily, his brothers and family. Marshall prepares to carve the turkey…Jedi style with a green light

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Seeing as my good friend Ben at howimetyourblog.com has decided to stop updating the site (we will miss you dude) and J.D. at have-you-met-ted.com keeps delaying his reviews because of his busy social life (congrats on all the cool stuff you’ve been doing by the way J.D.), I decided to start writing some How I Met Your Mother recaps. Be easy on me… I’m no where as good as those guys. On to the show.

What Really Happened:

Robin is wanting some girl time with Lily because things aren’t going so well for her right now (much like Ted). Problem is, Robin can’t seem to get any time without Marshall. Ted who is similarly down in the dumps get’s a chance to design the new Goliath National Bank building thanks to Barney, but he is up against the Swedish design firm “Sven.”

Lily ends up taking Robin to a coworker’s birthday party at a bar called “Giddy Up” but is shocked to find out they will be hanging with a group of “Wooo! Girls” (much like the Knights who say ni, girls who say Woooo…for everything!). Ted pitches his design for the Goliath building and feels he got the job for his firm, which would be a major account, but Barney later tells Ted that the board voted for “Sven.” Lily also notices Robin in a Limo screaming “Wooo!”

Marshall finds out that the board wanted to go with Ted’s design but Barney decided to go with Sven. Marshall confronts Barney, who tells him he was going to go with Ted but then Sven’s design was dinosaur shaped building that shoots fire and he wanted the Office in the brain. Marshall tells Barney there will be no further “conference calls” and locks him on the roof because he did that to a friend.

Lily goes to "Giddy Up” to try and be a “Wooo girl” but Robin tells her she doesn’t need to because wooo girls are really unhappy and wish they were like Lily. Barney is on the roof with Sven and decides he made a mistake. He goes to “Giddy Up” where even Ted is yelling “woooo!” and tells Ted he got the job, as he is fixing to tell Ted the truth, Marshall cover’s for him and all is well. and though we don’t see it, Marshall later tell Ted the truth and they tie Barney on the mechanical bull for 3 hours.

My Thoughts:

Despite not playing into any story lines (LAME baby, Barney & Robin, Robin moving to Ted’s…) tonight’s episode wasn’t bad at all. There was some great lines at the beginning and the “Ted’s Best friend” gag never fails to get a laugh. Here lately, some of the episodes have seemed rushed but this one seemed to move a great pace.  As an former “aspiring architect” I would have loved to see the dinosaur building actually built. The “Woooo Girls” were a decent story line, but didn’t hit home as much with me as the Ted/Marshall/Barney story line.

I also think that Barney’s speech writer needs to work for the President (who knows…maybe he does). And Marshall’s pink cowboy hat cracked me up especially compared to Lily’s plastic fireman’s hat. If you always wait until the end for the “wrap-up bonus scene” you saw Barney getting off the mechanical bull. Quite humorous, but does anyone else notice that the tricycle keeps being alluded too? (Barney shows up with the two girls at Ted’s place during Happily Ever After… must just have been a popular bit.) Pigeons really are scary by the way. Thoughts?

Legendary Lines :

Marshall: Dude, Sweden is not France. You know that?
Barney: Oh, It’s France.

Marshall: You wanna go down to the current GNB building and…I dunno… pee on it a little bit?
Ted: Yea. Yea, I think I need that.

Lily: We saw you wooo.
Robin: Saw who woooo?
Lily: Saw you woo.
Robin: I didn’t woo.
Lily: You did too.
Robin: That’s not true.
Lily: Your nose just grew

Barney: So it’s agreed. All ATM fees are now called “Freedom Charges”

Barney: I never knew it until now, but I’ve always dreamed of that!

Barney: I picked it because it breathes fire Marshall.
Marshall: Fire Marshall

Sven: This is a waste of time. Push-ups

Moments of Awesomeness:

Barney’s speeches (these always remind me of the “We will be What’s up New your Speech”): American Architect speech, Woooo Girls speech, Barney’s Ted got the job speech.

Lily and Robin’s rhyming conversation.

Vocabulary:

“Woooo Girls” – a woooo girl is a young woman who like the coo coo bird or the whippoorwill gets her name from the signature sound that she makes

“conference calls” – a great excuse to hang out at your job on the roof drinking beer.

How I Met Your Mother Music:

• Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd (wooo girl explanation)
• What Cha Gonna Do by the Classic (club mix)
• Dime Whatever by ProdLab (club mix)
• Num Num by the DNC (club mix)
• all other Club Mixes were scored by the show composer.