Please accept this recap from the fantastic EW.com staff Sandra Gonzales instead of one from Aaron, Star, or myself. Tis the season to be busy unfortunately. My one comment I will make about the episode was I loved seeing the Mother in her driving gloves (and her knitting a hat for Marvin also made me love her while practicing her angry speech)

Credit: http://popwatch.ew.com/2013/12/16/how-i-met-your-mother-recap-justice-and-scotch-is-served/

Having people in your life who you’d do anything for — even go to jail — that’s the dream, so said Barney at the top of tonight’s How I Met Your Mother. And right he is. But as he — and we — were reminded this hour, sometimes one of the best things you can do for someone you care about is let them go.

But how did we arrive at such a poignant lesson? A troublemaking wedding attendee named Darren (Andrew Rannells) is partly responsible and I’ll explain how in a bit. First, let me tell you about Darren, the emotional proctologist who caused a lot of problems for the gang in tonight’s fall finale.

We met charming Darren at the beginning of the episode when he immediately hit it off with Lily and Robin, who both were unable to immediately identify his connection to the festivities. Robin knew he was not related to her because he had all his fingers and teeth, but since he seemed to know them well enough, they didn’t think twice about warming up to him. And, admittedly, I trusted him too…until The Mother revealed the true story of this guy.

Darren, it turns out, was the slimy lead singer in her band, SuperFreakonomics, who not only was looking to bump The Mother out of the band that she started but was also a no-good, troublemaking, feud-starter! His schtick? He’d introduce himself to a pair of friends, tell a fake sob story about his life based off of a Disney movie (usually Bambi or Lion King), and then proceed to drive a wedge between the two people whose company he was keeping. We learned all this from The Mother as she was driving Marshall to the Inn after picking him up along the side of the road.

You probably have the same questions as I did while watching that unfold — um, didn’t we see her on the train to Farhampton? Well, there’s an explanation: Once she got to the Inn, she was prompted by Lily to get back at Darren for acting like a jerk. So she stole his van but, being “too nice,” she had planned on turning around to return it when she picked up the cutest hitchhiker she’d ever seen…and Marshall. Upon hearing this, Marshall gave The Mother some advice — she needed to stick up for herself and take back the band. So that’s what she planned on doing.

Back at the inn, Darren got Robin to open up about her true feelings about Lily and Marshall’s move to Rome and then quickly told Lily the truth. And when Lily learned that Robin secretly wanted Marshall to win the impending argument, Lily felt betrayed. And when it came to Barney and Ted, Darren dropped the bombshell that Ted was moving to Chicago. The news obviously crushed Barney — not just because Ted was leaving so soon but because Ted hadn’t been the one to tell him. “It’ll be easy to say goodbye now that I know how much I mean to you,” Barney told him.

Part of Ted knew it was wrong not to tell Barney about the move, so he attempted to make amends with Barney by stealing a $600 bottle of Scotch to show his dedication to him. (Stealing something of that value is considered Grand Larceny — an act punishable by jail time.) In essence, Ted proved he’d go to jail for Barney — the highest sacrifice possible according to the “Bro”ble.

Robin and Lily, too, made up by the end. Robin explained that she only said she would root for Marshall because she didn’t want to lose her best friend — but she acknowledged that was selfish. Robin’s mea culpa? She helped hold up Marshpillow so Lily could punch the crap out of it and take out some of her pent up frustrations about the matter. It helped for a bit. Then the real Marshall walked in.

I thought we were going to be left with that cliffhanger, and in a way we were. Upon laying eyes on each other, Lily and Marshall declared a fight pause and hugged each other. I was happy to see this, but would be lying if I said I was looking forward to the episode airing in January titled “Unpause.”

With everything at a standstill the gang decided to drink to their reunion — that is, until Darren accidentally bumped into Ted, breaking yet another bottle of extremely expensive scotch. Fuming, Ted punched Darren right in the eye, giving him a gnarly bruise and giving the future mother of his children the satisfaction of seeing the biggest jerk in her life get what was coming to him. (Oh, and he quit the band — bonus!) To thank the person behind the punch, she had Linus send her hero a drink — a glass of Glen McKenna ’35.

That would have been a great note to end the episode on, but this wouldn’t be HIMYM without a cliffhanger. In the final moments of the episode, Marshall revealed to Barney something he’d brought him. And no, it wasn’t a suit made out of prosciutto — it was the fourth slap.

Marshall’s hand pulled back, Barney pre-cringed…and we’ll see you in January, folks.

Best quote: “I swear to Hef.” — Ted

Great moments:
+ The Mother ordered the Kennedy Package. (Thanks, Linus!)
+ Marvin’s first words — “skunk junk.”
+ “Chicago? Is that even a real place?”

The HIMYM hour long series finale has been set.

As per TVLine.com “The good news about the show’s winter exit? Save for two Olympics-fueled repeats, the show will air all originals from Jan. 13 to March 31.”

I don’t know how I feel about this. I wasn’t expecting it to end SO soon, but then again lots of momentum for the 2nd half of the season.

I’m verklempt.

Discuss.

Hola Amigos, Jenn here. I’m hopeful that now post-holidays we will be able to get back to our timely and regular recaps. Thanks for your patience.

Fun episode tonight, but no story progression sadly. However I did enjoy seeing so much Marshall interaction with the gang after only really getting to see him in his B storyline for the first half of the season. Also I can’t believe Barney first lost the Slapbet 7 years ago. Where does the time go?

The episode open on Sunday 1am and Marshall is winding up to slap Barney, about to make contact with Barney’s face before Narrarator Ted take’s us a few weeks to fill us in on the backstory of this particular slap.

Marshal fills Barney in the his preparation and training for the next slap. Including going to Shanghi to meet the 3 masters of the virtues of slapacy: speed, strength, and accuracy. First, Marshall meets Red Bird (a Robin doppelganger) – the speed master. Marshall’s training involved slapping a tree, that slaps back. Next, Marshall meets White Flower (a Lily doppelganger ) – the strength master who  lives on a hand shaped Slap mountain, which is the largest of the Slappalachian mountains. To get power, Marshall must get slapped by people who hate Barney to harvest the anger of others into his own slap. Finally Marshall travels to Cleveland to meet the The Calligrapher (a Ted doppelganger) – The accuracy master. The Calligrapger immediately gives Marshall a grammar lecture and wallows in single self-pity.  However before Marshall can complete his training the Calligrapher dies because Marshall slaps his in the back to help him stop choking.

We’re back to Sunday at 1am and Marshall misses slapping Barney’s face because he wasn’t trained in accuracy and Barney flees to the woods where he stumble upons 4 women sitting beneath a willow tree with a tiger just as Marshall “said”. The gang follows and Marshall reveals The Calligrapher didn’t die right away and finished training Marshall who then delivers the 4^th slap. This episode wouldn’t have been nearly as palpable for me if it wasn’t for the Re-Return (see below).

Legendary Lines

• Barney: You know what tie goes with that suit? The tie at the top of a hefty bag.
• Marshall: Don’t think of it as a slap, think of it as a high five for your stupid face.
• Robin: Oh My God you had a treeway!
• Marshall: I have a slapatite for destruction
• Marshall: Cleveland, it’s the city equivalent of being slapped in the face.
• Marshall: I wouldn’t call Janice easy on the eyes, or the springs of a bathroom scale…
• Robin: I love you.    /    Barney: Enough to take the slap for me?     /     Robin: No
• Marshall: That’s FOUR!

Moments of Awesomeness

• Barney oversharing his awkward sexual fetish
• Carl!  (good to see you buddy!)
• Ted confirming that the slapping tree and slap mountain exist because he backpacked there in college
• Marshall kissing his hand and pressing it to The Calligrapher’s ear as he leaves

New  Jersey

• SO much terrible CGI.
• Clearly we needed some major suspension of belief for this episode, but it was too much for my taste.
• The Calligrapher’s lingering death.

Callbacks

Barney’s scorned women from his past! So many great ladies! How many of those 6 ladies did you recognize? Sound off in the comments.

Re-return

Marshall introduces Boyz II Men who sings a lovely version of “You Just Got Slapped” with a montage of the previous slaps!

And Marshall reminds Barney there is 1 more

Re-return

Who is is the Mother going to meet next?

Hey folks, Jenn here.

I’m a big twitter user and following all things HIMYM is a big part of my newsfeed. A few things that have popped up over the last 24 hour worth sharing are:

The #HowIMetYourRacism hashtag that was trending during/following Monday’s episode. See @CarterBays remarks on twitter and check the hashtag out to see what people were saying.

Second things I came across today from TVLine’s @MichaelAusiello

How I Met Your Mother Series Finale Title Revealed! Plus – Scoop on the Kids’ Names

Highlights:

• The finale is called “Last Forever”
• We find out Ted’s kids names THIS MONDAY!
• HIMYM Alum we’ll see in upcoming episodes: Rachel Bilson, Sarah Chalke, and Lucy Hale

Sound off in the comments

We open with Ted and Mother with her cute preggo belly in a Farhampton Inn Hotel room in 2017 while Mother is in labor. The scene quickly transition back to “Present Day” which one tweeter argued isn’t really present day, since 2030 is technically present day in the HIMYM world…touché.

Barney’s face is still red and throbbing after getting slapped by Marshall. Meanwhile Marshall is trying to prolong the pause as much as possible because he doesn’t want to have a smackdown with Lily. However it is not 2:01am and we are reminded that nothing good happens after 2am. Barney ends up getting Jabba Drunk, but then quickly turns into truth serum drunk. Robin and Ted use this time to get answers to long unanswered questions. In the process we learn that Robin is rich, like worth 6,000 Canadian craploads. They get back to grilling Barney and we get some interesting responses. Ted then drops the million dollar question, what does Barney do for a living! Barney’s job is PLEASE which stands for Provide Legal Exculpation And Sign Everything. Barney lands this job back in 1998 from Greg, the man who stole his hippy girlfriend and changed his life. Greg takes Barney under his wing, however Barney really was long-gaming Greg all along and revealed his plan which ended up going down. Barney was in cahoots with the Feds as told Greg about his long planned revenge while “Barney Stinson is Awesome” played in the background. Robin still is trying to find out if there will be a RingbearER at her weddings and Barney says that the RingerbearER is Trevor Hudson and that Barney works with his mother which is a huge sigh of relief for Robin.

Meanwhile Marshall and Lily head up to their room to unpause, but not before Lily gets some long overdue loving. Marshall accepts a self appointed challenge to have some super long loving to further put off fighting. After Marshall’s sweet loving that puts Lily to sleep Marshall steps on Ted’s “I wove you mommy” talking stuffed animal that leads to waking Lily up and the fight unpausing. I could see it in Alyson Hannigan’s eyes right away this fight was going to be serious. So much emotion, so many feelings. Lots of words were said, but Marshall brings up 7 years ago when Lily broke up with him and moved to San Francisco, which is clearly still a very much tender and sore subject for him. Lily can’t handle the real talk and leaves the hotel room and calls for SOMEONE to pick her up from the Farhampton Inn.

The episode closes with a flashforward back to 2017 with Ted, pregnant mother and baby girl Mosby leaving the Farhampton Inn for the hospital. We learn that their daughter is named PENNY and that mother is about to give birth to a son named LUKE. The Mosby’s head to the hospital in the mini-van…and scene.

Legendary Lines

• Marshall: We’re not unpaused?   /   Lily: Not yet, mama needs some papa.
• Ted: Just tell me in baseball terms.   /   Barney: I got thrown out trying to stretch a single into a double.
• Marshall: Please excuse medium sized fudge.
• Barney: Yes, but not the MIT you are thinking of. The Magicians Institute of Teaneck.
• Marshall: You did it. You banged your wife to sleep. Nice job.
• Ted: Not so fast princess, I guess subtle clues and the bar tab are two things you just don’t pick up…
• Barney: Good. I mean I’m a little nervous, but I love Robin more than I’ve ever loved anyone and I’m going to do everything that I can to make her happy. For a long time, deep down, I felt sort of broken. But I don’t feel that way anymore. Robin, along with the idea that vengeance would soon be mine, has made me 100% awesome.
• Narrator Ted: 2am it’s a good rule, but every rule has an exception and for us that exception was you Luke.

Moments of Awesomeness

• Lily’s love/hate word choices towards Marshall
• Never before seen callbacks to previous Marshall and Lily pauses
• Barney’s Jabba speak
• Ted artifacts
• Barney’s road dogs drunk accent
• Marshall pre-bang pep talk
• Barney pressing record on the camera attached to his XXX ray goggles.
• Marshall un-arousing mental picture montage…especially how your TMJ night guard smells in the morning and bugs with boobs.
• Barney correcting the facts in Robin and Ted’s argument about money when they were dating.
• Greg putting his hang out to fist bump Barney and Barney high fiving it, which really makes it an awkward turkey of sorts.

Callbacks

• The whole concept that nothing good happens after 2am
• Richard Dawson drunk Barney
• Barney always responding with “please” when asked what he does for a living.
• Greg and Hippy Barney
• Marshall trying to distract Lily which is calves

Re-return

Trevor Hudson!

Lingering Questions

• So Robin’s wealth is from her family, not Robin Sparkles eh?
• Who does Lily call to pick her up? Mother? Ranjit?
• What do you think is going to happen with Lily and Marshall?
• Most importantly what were your reactions when you learned the kids’ names?

For me Penny made me think of when Ted and Barney licked the Liberty bell back in season one in “Sweet Taste of Liberty” and Ted revealed that it tasted like pennies. Also I thought of the “Lucky Penny” episode in season 2 that keeps Ted from getting that job in Chicago. Luke was an obvious choice since Ted always said he wanted a boy and a girl named Luke and Leila. Luke seems like the more practical choice. I’m curious if we learn how Penny exactly got her name sometime in these last 10 episodes. Wow, we’re also down to single digits.

200 episodes in and the level of emotional brilliance in unbelievable. Every moment of this episode is already an instant classic. Please excuse any injustices I give it in my recap, there was just too much awesomeness.

The episode opens at MacLaren’s Pub, but on that fateful day in September 2005 where Ted starts telling his kids the story of how he met their mother, except tonight we learn how Mother met him. First we learn that there is ANOTHER MacLaren’s Pub across the city, which is very New York. Next we learn that fateful September day in 2005 when Lily and Marshall got engaged and Ted met Robin was Mother’s 21^st birthday and also the day she finds out her true love, Max has died. Mother is heartbroken.

Next we flashforward (or backwards based on how you look at it) to April 2008. Mother’s roommate convinces her to go out for St. Patrick’s Day despite the impending rain, which causes Mother to bring her trusty yellow umbrella. At the club, Mother runs into Mitch, aka twitter trending Naked Man, who pulls his 3^rd Naked Man. Naked Man ends up giving Mother a pep talk that leads to her going back to school to get a degree in economics, which brings us to fall 2009, where Mother meets Cindy in the economics class that Ted mistakenly goes to on his first day at Columbia. Mother is the only person in the room to laugh at Ted’s lame selfish/shellfish joke.

Then we jump to January 2010 when Ted is at Cindy’s apartment admiring Mother’s belongings and he leaves the yellow umbrella. Cindy fills Mother in on essentially how perfect Ted is for her, but Cindy also then realized how perfect and awesome Mother is and plants a smackaroo on her. As we know Cindy falls in love with a nice girl and moves out therefore looking for a roommate and meets Darren who ends up taking over the band. Jump to April 2012 when Mother meets Louis who take her to the Gang’s MacLaren’s and we learn Louis was there the night Ted and Barney took it over and called it Puzzles. Mother and Louis go on to date, which leads up to Barney and Robin’s Wedding.

Mother stays at Louis’ beach house while in Farhampton to play at Barney and Robin’s reception, which then seamlessly transitions Mother into what we know about her time spent with Lily and then Marshall. After Darren quits the band and buys “the best man” a double of Linus’ finest scotch she heads home to find Louis on bended knee, proposing.

At this point the episode was everything I wanted to be, but then it has to go “Pull a HIMYM” and take things to a heart-strings pulling level like no other. Before answering Louis, Mother takes a moment and heads outside to talk to someone. And looking upwards at the Heavens, Mother has a moving conversation with her late love, Max. Mother’s emotions while letting go of Max just cut through every fiber of my being (apparently along with the rest of the HIMYM fanbase). Mother turns down Louis’ proposal and checks in at the Farhampton Inn since Robin’s mother didn’t come and therefore there is an open room, which happens to be next to Ted’s.

The closing scene has Mother on the balcony of her room playing and singing a hauntingly beautiful version of “la vie en rose” on her ukulele. As Mother sings we see where the gang is at that moment. Marshall on the bed of his room looking devastated, Lily in the car looking upset, Robin restless in bed, Barney on a cot finishing off a bottle of liquor and Ted, Ted out on the balcony listening to the Mother’s song.

Legendary Lines

• Red Head Roommate: And these are things you want?    /   Mother: No, these are things I need
• Mother: I have not been sitting around; I have been hard at work (gestures to robots bowling painting). I think I am about to enter my robots doing track and field events period, it’s a very exciting time.
• Mother: How is the bathroom line this long and yet the floor is covered with urine. If there is urine out here, what in God’s name is going on in there?
• Naked Man: Can I tell you an embarrassing story?    /   Mother: Is it this one right now?
• Cindy: Well if you ask me, you know what comes after the one. The next one.
• Mother: Aww Geez what is this knucklehead doing.

Moments of Awesomeness

• The Mother-centric opening credits
• Max’s note in Mother’s birthday card
• The close up on Mother’s robots bowling painting
• Mother being the 3^rd of Naked Man’s 2 out of 3
• Mitch’s quick recovery of “master”ing video games
• Mother misunderstanding/ oversharing when Cindy asks her “how she got here?”
• Mother has a calligraphy set, coin collection, and a chainmail corset from the Renaissance Faire
• RadioHedgefund
• Louis thinking Mother is 16 for a minute
• Mother’s lottery ticket speech
• Mother’s English Muffin rendition of “One” from A Chorus Line
• Mother crushing her glass

Callbacks

• Barney’s green suit
• Mitch the Naked Man
• “Save the Arcadian” bills posted on the wall behind where Mother meets Louis
• Puzzles (Bonus: Mother gets the name)
• Ted in the green dress

Re-Return

Ted (in his beloved Wesleyan tshirt) comes in from the balcony to tell Barney, who had been sleeping on a cot in his room, about hearing the Mother’s song, but discovers that Barney is gone.

Lingering Questions

Am I alone in LOVING how Mother delivers lines, especially when she kind of realistically stream of consciousness stumbles over them? Same sentence: “I think I am about to enter my Roberts doing track and field (cuteness) events period. I first noticed it when she practiced her Darrin speech to Linus.

How long did it take you to place Mitch as the Naked Man?

Speaking of how Mother delivers lines, her deadpan come backs are superb. Don’t you agree?

How many near misses of Ted and Mother actually MEETING did you count?

Did you notice the “Welcome Aboard” sign in the background of Louis’ porch as mother leaves? It was a subtle Captain reference in my opinion.

One of my friends in NYC posted this AWESOME living social deal. It kind of makes me want to go to NY for the weekend (February 22)

Here’s the link for those of you interested: https://www.livingsocial.com/events/cities/3-nyc-midtown/1016619-how-i-met-your-mother-bar-crawl-admission

Ted and Robin are out searching for Barney at the beach. While calming Robin’s nerves about Barney possibly bailing on the wedding, he brings up Stella. This leads to Robin asking about Stella and other ex-girlfriend’s of Teds, including his top 5 best and worse relationships. We revisit Ted’s most recent interacts with Stella, Victoria and Jeanette. Robin says she thought Victoria was his best relationship and asks why they broke up. Ted reveals to Robin that they broke up because of her. Robin is shocked and flabbergasted by this admission and Ted goes further to admit that even after ALL THESE YEARS, Robin is still his #1 and he his still is in love with her. ::I’ll pause for a collective groan::: Ted wants to move on, but it took Crazy Jeanette to get him to buck up and let Robin go. Ted and Robin stay up to see the sunrise on a new day, a new day where Ted lets Robin go…metaphorically (and physically as she floats off like The Boy Who Could Fly…I mean like Ted’s childhood balloon).

For a long time I’ve been obsessing over the use of purple in HIMYM. well turns out there is a whole Color Theory conspiracy. Here is little diagram, but it’s very interesting. Also there was some reference to Barney the Purple Dinosaur which is amusing.

Thoughts kids?

It’s the beginning of the end, for real this time. Jenn here to usher you through this anguish. Tonight’s episode was based around the concept of rallying after a hangover, just one of many stories that Future Ted overshares with.

We open with New Years Eve 2021 – Ted and Mother. Cute perfection and it’s great to learn that Mother is indeed trying to end poverty; she has an acclaimed (according to Ted) book about the subject coming out. The Mother warns Ted about partying too hard, but Ted remind her of the vow he made the morning of Barney and Robin’s wedding thanks to Barney’s drunk ass.

As you all may recall we last saw the gang looking for a missing Barney who wound up getting blitzed. So much so Barney only remembers bits of pieces of the early morning hours of his wedding day including ice water, a bear, stairs, and Robin and Lily kissing.

The gang recalls that Barney had a hangover cure: Stinson’s Hangover Fixer Elixir, which clearly coming with a fake history lesson. The elixir all worked for them so using combined memories they list all the ingredients, except there was a secret ingredient Barney never told anyone and it becomes Robin and Lily’s job to get Barney to spill the beans. Which leads to Barney falling down the stairs while atop a room service tray cart. Robin using some tricks her Dad used on her to wake up on Barney including: dunking his head in a tub of ice water, making him watch youtube videos of a bear roaring, and threatening to cut on his tie, except in Robin’s case it was with her Cabbage Patch Doll and an ax. As a last resort Robin agrees to make out with Lily and Lily gets super excited and awkward. The kiss does in fact bring Barney to enough consciousness to tell the gang that the elixir is a lie.

Marshall and Ted are tasked with getting all the known ingredients and they get everything easily except grease. The only grease at the Far Hampton Inn is from the bacon and the chef is being difficult so Ted is challenged by Marshall to eat the bacon. We learn that Ted grew up thinking he was allergic to bacon and other magical yummies because he’s mother is a lying whore.

Most of episode if comprised of the gang’s past stories of drinking Barney’s Elixer and Future stories of breaking their vow now to get elixir worthy drunk again. Let’s take this by each member of the gang:

Marshall - Past (6 years ago):  The morning of day 2 of the bar. / Future (2020):  New York State Supreme Court Election night. It’s only 6 years away yet Lily and Marshall look OLD.

Ted - Past (4 and a half years ago): The morning after Stella left him at the altar. / Future (2022): New Years Day, except it’s not him that’s hungover it’s the Mother.

Lily - Past (2 years ago): The morning of Lily’s class fieldtrip to the Jack Hammer and Siren Museum. / Future (2030): The day the move Marvin into college.

Robin - Past: (1 and a half years ago): The morning of her first day back on their air. / Future (2016): Buenos Aires, Argentina. Robin and Barney both with wedding rings are in a room with a baby ::gasp:: that turns out belongs to the woman in the room across the hall, which is where this drunk asses wound up

The moral of the story is Barney made up the elixir because he loves his friends. He wanted them to believe they could rally and they did.

We then flashforward again to New Years Day 2022. Mother is hungover and Ted gives her Barney’s elixir to help her rally. It’s all pure cuteness and then little Penny and Luke run into the room, which literally (not figuratively) made my heart explode. Okay it was figuratively, but still.

Legendary Lines

• Robin: My father’s recipe for a Bloody Mary trades out tomato juice for wolf’s blood.
• Marshall: Come again for Judge Fudge.
• Lily/Marvin: You so of a me/bitch.
• Ted: Dude you’re a grown man why are you throwing a tantrum.
• Ted: How could you mom! You had the map to heaven and you never showed me the way, may you rot in the bacon-less hell I’ve lived in my entire life
• Ted: Why do you know what sea monkeys taste like.    /   Marshall: My brothers are not the best people.

Moments of Awesomeness

• Passed out Barney on the floor with his hand in his shoes
• Barney is going to Robin’s HUSBAND tomorrow (hopefully)
• Marshall running against BRAD for NY Supreme Court in 2020
• The Too Many Manhattans Project
• The Weekend at Barney’s wedding pictures
• Ted growling like a rabid dog when Marshall reaches for some bacon (Ted sounded exactly like my dog when he goes all “Tazmanian Devil”)

Callbacks

• Barney’s superpower that he can’t take a bad photo
• Barney’s wish to recreate Weekend at Bernie’s with him

Re-Return

Robin suggests kissing Lily again. Yet in a role reversal Lily turns her down and Robin is the stupid awkward one.

Lingering Questions

• I wonder if younger people watch the opening credits and don’t know what a disposable camera is like the one Lily is holding?
• How come Ted and Mother look so young and fabulous in 2022 and yet Marshall and Lily look really old in 2020? Tough break Ericksens.
• What’s your hangover cure? (Mine is advil and powerade)

2024

Older Ted and Mother – flashforward and flashback all in one episode. What a lovely treat to hear Ted reminiscing  and sharing stories with Mother. However Mother knows all of Ted’s stories. Mother tries to out Ted-Ted, but they both know each other’s stories so well. Mother then drops the LINE OF THE SERIES: “You’re the love of my life pooh bear. I just worry about you; I don’t want you to be the guy who lives in his stories. Life only moves forward.”  So much emotion goes between the two of them. So much is unspoken.

2014

The morning of the wedding little sister Katie finally joined in for the pre-wedding fun. The sisters Scherbatsky are destressing with a lively game of indoor hockey. Lily girls up the moment with a lame scrapbook document Barney and Robin’s love. Lily trying to force Robin’s wedding day freak out. Lily then tries to purposefully piss off Robin by suggesting she wear her own wedding dress as a bridesmaid. Just when Lily thinks Robin is immune to a wedding day freak out Robin runs into her mom in the hall (props to the HIMYM crew to get Tracey Ullman to fill Robin’s mom’s shoes).  Meanwhile Barney is struggling on choosing a suit. Unsurprisingly all of his suits have a story such as rodeo clowns, magic, escorts, etc. Ted gives Barney a good pep talk and gets Barney to wear his new suit that Tim Gunn made for him for the occasion. The gang all realizes that this is the last time they’d all hang out together since Ted will be leaving for Chicago the next day.

Music Note: The episode closed with Bob Dylan’s “If You See Her, Say Hello”  – I look up the lyrics and got extra choked up when I read “and though our separation, it pierced me to the heart. She still lives inside of me, we’ve never been apart.”

Legendary Lines

• Mother: Yeah “Lily” used the word ragamuffin.
• Robin: You just poked the dragon, here comes the bride.
• Ted: Susan Tup. Sue Tup. Suit Up.
• Jed Mosley: Hey that is not a toy you Ragamuffin. That is an authentic flail I won at the Renaissance Fair.
• Jed Mosley: No Can-I-Doesville Babydoll.
• Mother: Of course she showed up. What mother is going to miss her daughter’s wedding?

Moments of Awesomeness

The high five between Mother and Ted for being an “old married couple.”

Ted’s old man hair and Cosby sweater AND the fact that he’s totally pulling it off.

Ted not wanting to give up a $20 dollar bill because the one he has is lucky.

Narshall = John Heder

Barney’s scuba suit theft story.

Callbacks

The Wedding Bride…too!

Swarley

Lingering Questions

• The writers have all but confirmed that mother is sick and seemly going to die. Or is she? My friend Chris is hoping for a surprise twist between 2024-2030.
• Was anybody else hypnotized by Cristin’s watery eyes tonight?
• The episode is called Vesuvius – which is an Italian volcano, named Mount Vesuvius. What are your thoughts on the significance of the name for tonight’s episode?
• SO much purple Ted…seriously. I hope we get an explanation, do you think we will? Maybe even on the DVD…

Robin’s mom arrives 4 hours before the wedding, despite her fear of flying. While catching up Robin’s mom wants to know about Barney. She then shares about her own marriage and warning signs, although many of which could easily relate to Barney. Robin and Lily seem concerned.

Meanwhile the fellas, Ranjit and Billy Zapka included, are having lunch when they discuss the night before. Billy saw Lily get into The Captain’s car which leads them to go to the Captain’s house and learn that the Captain is engaged to Boats, Boats, Boats Becky. While at the Captain’s Ted solves the mystery of why Lily went to the Captains…or at least he THINKS he solved it. In the end we find out that Lily’s pregnant.

Legendary Lines

• Ranjit: can you help me get a driver’s license
• Barney: you banged her, like a bunch of times. You knocked boots, boots, boots!
• Robin’s Mom: He lied to those poor girls to get into their snowpants
• Barney: Lily peed on that and you touched it.
• Marshall: Lily, no we have to do this. We are going to live in Rome and you are going to get your dream because you’re giving me mine, again.

Moments of Awesomeness
-The Captain singing with his housekeeping crew
-Marshall ripping the sword off the wall to challenge the Captain to a duel
-Ted’s “Mosby Boys” call
-The Captain’s insanely overtop obsession with boats and sailing
-The flashback evidence of smoking/pregnancy and how they worked with either scenario

New Jersey
the moment where Robin’s mom asks if Robin has someone that is really there for her and that she can depend on. And then Robin whit fully says she does…which in my humble opinion alludes to Ted. Ugh, not again. Seriously stop teasing it.

Re-Return
Flash forward to 1 year later and the Eriksen clan is in Italy. Marshall and Lily are arguing about Funyuns in Italian. Lily’s Dad and Marshall’s Mom also came to Italy with them to help look after the kids…Marvin and Daisy.

Lingering Questions

1. Robin’s mom plans on taking the train home after the wedding. Will she see Ted on the infamous platform?
2. Are Mickey and Judy an item? They boinked a while back, but we never heard much else.
3. Did anyone else think that Daisy was going to be Robin’s mom’s name? Especially after reading Carter’s tweet this morning.
4. Anyone else find 2 people with flower names in one family to be a bit much? Lily and Daisy…

Last night I had a great facebook chat (or chatbook as a former student of mine used to call it) with a fellow HIMYM addict, Lindsay, and I really like her theory:

• Lindsay: Got any theories for the finale?
• Me: Tons!
• M: Mother dies and Ted marries Robin years later
• M: Robin dies
• L: I think the mother being dead is a red herring
• L: I believe Robin will die
• L: They return to Farhampton together so much because they get together there to remember her (she’s buried near)
• M: Good theory
• L: I think she’ll die in childbirth complications (it’ll be a surprise). It’ll be a daughter.
• M: Oooohh
• L: And one of the scenes we’ll see is Barney (not wearing a suit) putting flowers on her grave with the baby, the same kind she had at the wedding
• L: Barney doesn’t wear suits at funerals.
• M: Yeah we see NPH without a suit for the finale
• L: Someone’s dying. This much I believe.
• M: Are you a witch haha – I love your theory
• L: I think it could possibly be Lily, but I think Robin makes more sense.
• M: We see too much future Lily so Robin makes sense
• L: there will be a close up of the blue french horn hanging in Ted and the mother’s home together. That’ll be your ending scene.
• M: Watch it be hanging above the chair where Ted is telling the story to the kids
• L: Yep
• M: That’s so good
• L: Stop it or I’m gonna cry!
• M: It’s going to be a lot of emotions

UPDATE: Lindsay offered an alternate version to her overall theory this morning:

Or perhaps this is theory B) Robin is indeed infertile so they adopt a child. Robin, being a Scherbatsky, after all, will die brave doing what she loves. They’ll off her covering some amazing news story. War in Syria or something like that. Barney will raise their daughter alone and you’ll see him, without a suit on, putting flowers on her grave in Farhampton. The rest is the same.

That’s our theory. What’s yours?

Sorry for the delayed post kids. I spent St. Patrick’s Day in NYC..and woke up in a dumpster all thanks to a guy in a green suit. Kidding…maybe.

Wednesday 8pm – 3 days after the wedding

On their first date Ted tells Mother the story of Gary Blauman. While telling the story mother sees her very recent ex-boyfriend with whom she just broke up with and she decided she isn’t ready to date. Ted continues the story as he walks Mother back to his apartment and delivers such a sweet lilted “this is where I leave you.” But thankfully the Mother comes to her senses since Ted was not longer the guy to make a speech and scare her off.

Back to the day of the wedding. Gary Blauman shows up and throw Robin in a seating chart code red frenzy. Each of the gang members chimes in on if they love or hate Blauman. Ted hates him for cockblocking him (or so he thinks), Lily loves him for intervening while she was in a tattoo parlor and prepared to get a bunch of butterflies and Mark McGrath from Sugar Ray’s face tattooed on her while reeling from her breakup with Marshall. We learn that Barney hates Blauman because he hate his accidental curly fry and THAT cannot be forgiven. Billy Zabka loves Blauman because Blauman loves his poetry. James Stinson hates Blauman because he had an affair with Blauman that ended his marriage. In the end Marshall rules Blauman can stay because the bride wants him there, but not before we are privy to the MOTHER of all “where are they nows” in the form of who Ted still keeps track of.

Perfect blend of stories in this episode. The two plot lines worked so well together and I know I’ve given Ted crap for a while, but all of his scenes with Mother make me fall back in love with him.

Legendary lines

• Barney: No more books Ted, I don’t like the person you become when you read books.
• Ted: There’s a bottom below Sugar Ray?
• Lily: Marshall, Blauman saved you from a lifetime of looking at Sugar Ray every time we do it on your birthday.
• Ted: Bad like there was a big fight? / Mother: Bad like there was a big ring.
• Barney: But he was not “good, thanks.” He was not “good, thanks” at all.
• Ted: Wait Blauman’s gay? Then that means that night the real battle was between Blauman and the girl. And the prize was this guy!
• Billy: That’s not even my move. If I was going to do anything, I’d sweep the leg and put you in a body bag, everybody knows that.
• Narrator Ted: and that’s how it goes kids, the friends, neighbors, drinking buddies, and partners in crime you loved so much when you’re young, as the years go by you just lose touch.
• Narrator Ted: You will be shocked kids, when you discover how easy it is in life to part ways with people forever. That’s why when you find someone you want to keep around you do something about it.
• Mother: What are you doing? / Ted: Remembering this.

Moments of Awesomeness

• Taran Killam, but especially the face he makes while saying “I’ll be the guy in the 8th row going like this”
• Table 27 reunion picture at Tuckahoe Funland
• The telepathic argument between Ted and Blauman (they have turned telepathic conversations into an artform on HIMYM)
• The no look high five between Lily and Marshal in regards to knowing nothing about break ups
• The chemistry between Ted and Mother is magic
• NPH’s over the top rage recounting why he hate Blauman
• The single pan shot of what everyone that Ted has kept tabs on is up to
• Surprise cameos from 9 seasons of friends of the gang
• Mother going in for the kiss

Callbacks

• Ted’s breakup butterfly tattoo
• Blah Blah and her name is Carol!

Lingering Question

1. Is it safe to assume Robin and Barney DO get married? If they didn’t I’m pretty sure that would have come up on Ted and Mother’s date.
2. I’m really curious how quickly Ted decides not to go to Chicago and where he ends up living since he already moved out of his apartment. Thoughts?
3. Was I the only one who thought for a second that Ted was going to say Mother’s name tonight?
4. Who were we missing from the “where are they now” – I was hoping for Victoria and obviously the pineapple.
5. Would you consider a Scottish-Mexican restaurant to be the weirdest place on earth?
6. Am I the only one who HATED the little booties Mother wore on her first date with Ted?
7. Taran Killam you had some great new hair plugs, glad your SNL bucks are paying for them. Amiright?

For a long time I’ve been obsessing over the use of purple in HIMYM. well turns out there is a whole Color Theory conspiracy. Here is little diagram, but it’s very interesting. Also there was some reference to Barney the Purple Dinosaur which is amusing.

Thoughts kids?

It’s the beginning of the end, for real this time. Jenn here to usher you through this anguish. Tonight’s episode was based around the concept of rallying after a hangover, just one of many stories that Future Ted overshares with.

We open with New Years Eve 2021 – Ted and Mother. Cute perfection and it’s great to learn that Mother is indeed trying to end poverty; she has an acclaimed (according to Ted) book about the subject coming out. The Mother warns Ted about partying too hard, but Ted remind her of the vow he made the morning of Barney and Robin’s wedding thanks to Barney’s drunk ass.

As you all may recall we last saw the gang looking for a missing Barney who wound up getting blitzed. So much so Barney only remembers bits of pieces of the early morning hours of his wedding day including ice water, a bear, stairs, and Robin and Lily kissing.

The gang recalls that Barney had a hangover cure: Stinson’s Hangover Fixer Elixir, which clearly coming with a fake history lesson. The elixir all worked for them so using combined memories they list all the ingredients, except there was a secret ingredient Barney never told anyone and it becomes Robin and Lily’s job to get Barney to spill the beans. Which leads to Barney falling down the stairs while atop a room service tray cart. Robin using some tricks her Dad used on her to wake up on Barney including: dunking his head in a tub of ice water, making him watch youtube videos of a bear roaring, and threatening to cut on his tie, except in Robin’s case it was with her Cabbage Patch Doll and an ax. As a last resort Robin agrees to make out with Lily and Lily gets super excited and awkward. The kiss does in fact bring Barney to enough consciousness to tell the gang that the elixir is a lie.

Marshall and Ted are tasked with getting all the known ingredients and they get everything easily except grease. The only grease at the Far Hampton Inn is from the bacon and the chef is being difficult so Ted is challenged by Marshall to eat the bacon. We learn that Ted grew up thinking he was allergic to bacon and other magical yummies because he’s mother is a lying whore.

Most of episode if comprised of the gang’s past stories of drinking Barney’s Elixer and Future stories of breaking their vow now to get elixir worthy drunk again. Let’s take this by each member of the gang:

Marshall - Past (6 years ago):  The morning of day 2 of the bar. / Future (2020):  New York State Supreme Court Election night. It’s only 6 years away yet Lily and Marshall look OLD.

Ted - Past (4 and a half years ago): The morning after Stella left him at the altar. / Future (2022): New Years Day, except it’s not him that’s hungover it’s the Mother.

Lily - Past (2 years ago): The morning of Lily’s class fieldtrip to the Jack Hammer and Siren Museum. / Future (2030): The day the move Marvin into college.

Robin - Past: (1 and a half years ago): The morning of her first day back on their air. / Future (2016): Buenos Aires, Argentina. Robin and Barney both with wedding rings are in a room with a baby ::gasp:: that turns out belongs to the woman in the room across the hall, which is where this drunk asses wound up

The moral of the story is Barney made up the elixir because he loves his friends. He wanted them to believe they could rally and they did.

We then flashforward again to New Years Day 2022. Mother is hungover and Ted gives her Barney’s elixir to help her rally. It’s all pure cuteness and then little Penny and Luke run into the room, which literally (not figuratively) made my heart explode. Okay it was figuratively, but still.

Legendary Lines

• Robin: My father’s recipe for a Bloody Mary trades out tomato juice for wolf’s blood.
• Marshall: Come again for Judge Fudge.
• Lily/Marvin: You so of a me/bitch.
• Ted: Dude you’re a grown man why are you throwing a tantrum.
• Ted: How could you mom! You had the map to heaven and you never showed me the way, may you rot in the bacon-less hell I’ve lived in my entire life
• Ted: Why do you know what sea monkeys taste like.    /   Marshall: My brothers are not the best people.

Moments of Awesomeness

• Passed out Barney on the floor with his hand in his shoes
• Barney is going to Robin’s HUSBAND tomorrow (hopefully)
• Marshall running against BRAD for NY Supreme Court in 2020
• The Too Many Manhattans Project
• The Weekend at Barney’s wedding pictures
• Ted growling like a rabid dog when Marshall reaches for some bacon (Ted sounded exactly like my dog when he goes all “Tazmanian Devil”)

Callbacks

• Barney’s superpower that he can’t take a bad photo
• Barney’s wish to recreate Weekend at Bernie’s with him

Re-Return

Robin suggests kissing Lily again. Yet in a role reversal Lily turns her down and Robin is the stupid awkward one.

Lingering Questions

• I wonder if younger people watch the opening credits and don’t know what a disposable camera is like the one Lily is holding?
• How come Ted and Mother look so young and fabulous in 2022 and yet Marshall and Lily look really old in 2020? Tough break Ericksens.
• What’s your hangover cure? (Mine is advil and powerade)

Tonight is our last regular episode not before the penultimate series finale. Like most episodes this season I am both thrilled, but not fully satisfied. Maybe it’s because of the finality of everything. After 9 years I want everything to be extraordinary, but I’m hopeful next week’s finale will properly quench this insatiable thirst thats’s been gnawing at us all these years.

Barney and Robin are both in panic mode just minutes perform their wedding. Robin can’t shake the thought of not having her locket and Barney can’t find the right words to express in his vows.

Robin tells Ted about her upset over Barney not magically finding her locket and how she thought she’d be with someone would come thought for her against all odds. Ted has the locket and gives it to Barney to deliver to Robin in to save the day. However Robin sees through Barney’s lie about finding the locket and knows the locket was really found by Ted. Ted came through for Robin once again and Robin’s realization that “Ted always goes big” for her leads to one of that real conversations they’ve had in a long while. Robin expressed her doubts on not picking Ted. It was both uncomfortable and necessary. I was really happy to see this scene play out and then end with a great speech from Ted about love. However Robin isn’t sold and runs off, and in the process literally runs into the Mother. Mother doesn’t talk to talk Robin out of running away, but instead suggests that Robin take 3 deep breaths before making such a big stressful decision.

Marshall and Lily get into a debate with Barney wedding vows. Barney calls Marshall and Lily out on not keeping their vows and gives specific examples through some never before seen flashbacks. Barney gets Marshall and Lily to doubt their vows and how their relationship has changed. This leads to them “borrowing” the altar and exchanging some very sweet updated vows including a Weird Al reference. Barney witnesses Lily and Marshall’s vows which inspires him to find Robin before the ceremony and he promises to always tell Robin he’s always going to honest with her. He also confessed that Ted got the locket.

Just like that Robin and Barney are back on course, but then Barney has another minor freakout about his tie, but Marshall SLAPS some sense into him right before Robin walks down the aisle to an instrumental version of Sandcastles in the Sand.

Bad Omen count: raining on their wedding day, Barney seeing Robin before he wedding TWICE.

Legendary Lines

• Marshall: What’s you writing? / Barney: ummm it’s my wedding day what do you think I’m writing? / Marshall: suicide note?
• Lily: how do we make him vomit? / Marshall: remind him that he’s getting married
• Ted: Ease to the pease, happy wedding.
• Marshall: Lily, that photo got all over Friendster and MySpace. Man 2007 was a long time ago.
• Robin: Everything’s legendary. You know what legendary means, not real. I mean the man’s initials are B.S.
• Barney: Awww you feed her like Sloth from Goonies, so the magic’s still there.
• Ted: The truth is I don’t love you like that anymore. You don’t love me. You love Barney. And if you think I’d be any part of screwing that up, then maybe you don’t know me at all, Robin.
• Ted: But love doesn’t make sense. You can’t logic your way into or out of it. Love is totally nonsensical, but we have to keep on doing it or else we’re lost and love is dead and humanity should just pack it in. Because love is the best thing we do.
• Barney: you know what you should use the next time you run out of toilet paper, your weddings vows, cause that’s all your marriage has been.none six year wipe after that double flusher of a wedding. Stinson out!
• Mother: ok during that fall we did kind of get to second base with each other and we’ll always share that, but I don’t really know you so…
• Robin: Awww I love the ring bear. / Barney: the you are gonna love the flower gorilla.
• Narrator Ted: Love’s the best thing we do.

Moments of Awesomeness

• Marshall’s Nessie tshirts he wears on the flight to his honeymoon
• Bearded Wonder Woman incident of 2007
• Marshall making Lily’s breakfast I’m bed these days
• Ted’s love speech
• The thought Marshall point and yelling “Maybe it’s Maybellline” at dog erections
• Spew Years Eve 1998
• Mother was a BIT of detective too
• Robin walking down then aisle to an instrumental arrangements of “Sandcastles in the Sand”
• Marshall awesomely using his final slap and ending their slap bet
• The ring bear!
• All the familiar faces at the wedding
• Saget, I mean Narrator Ted’s closing speech.

New Jersey
Not getting to see the flower gorilla
The super imposed/green screen guests at the wedding

Lingering Question

Is anyone else worried about Robin having a nip slip in that dress?

I really wish we got a chance to see Narrator Ted delivery some of his epic lines and words of wisdom over the years. The gang delivers so much emotions as the voice overs play, but I wonder what the Ted telling the story’s face looks like as he does.

Does everyone else already feel the need to hate Friends with Better Lives because its “replacing” HIMYM?

Hey folks, Bro Jenn here – I’ve been recapping and live tweeting most of this season, but I will be busy finale night. Busy co-hosting a series finale watch party with a local bar.

If you or anyone who know is in the DC area let them know about the watch party. I’ll have some pre-show trivia and we’ll have drink specials (including scotch). It’s gonna be legen…

Wilson Tavern

2403 Wilson Blvd, Arlington, VA 22201 (Courthouse Metro Stop)
(571) 970-5330

Today’s the day kids. It doesn’t feel real. I’m not ready to say goodbye to 5 of my best friends, but I know it’s time. I don’t know how I’ll get through Mondays for here on out. HIMYM’s been with me since started working full time.

To prep yourselves tonight talk a look at a collection of tweets and pics from the cast and crew as they wrapped HIMYM last month from the blog Oh No They Didn’t.

Check back here later today to see more info about plans for tonight’s tweets and discussions.