This was such a funny episode, or maybe I just enjoyed Barney’s line from above and the re-appearance of it. So many great lines, one offs and call backs. It really reminded me of so many of the really great episodes from Seasons past. I really thought everyone was at their best tonight. Lily was anti-annoying. And oh my Barney and Robin played their slightly changed characters well. Clearly, the fat guy and the old lady have never been who Robin and Barney were(are?) which could make this episode feel way out there and too far off. But I felt like it’s just Ted’s way of embellishing the facts to make a point. (Warning: Spoilers start here)

Now does this mean the Robin and Barney will never be right for each other like Ted & Robin or just a not now thing, working through the rough patch?…I take that thought a lot from Ted’s last statement. Then again , Robin does bring up the deal with Ted, but I think that more of a decoy and a red herring.

I will say it’ll will be nice to see Barney be more Barney again. One of the final scenes where “old” barney walks back in and turns the head of every hot chick in the bar, did make me cheer a bit, even though I wish they would have done more with B&R. In fact, my only criticism of this episode is how they ended B&R. Yes, you could see it coming, but still it’s like they are together and miserable, apart and happy and still cool with each other. I’ll reserve my complete judgment for now because who knows where they next few episodes will take us…just saying.

On the positive side, the Neil Young jokes were amazing. That was a great argument and needed to be done. And let’s talk about the stakeout. The Stormtrooper jokes, Ted’s porn jokes, Alan Thicke, Danger will Robinson, we needed a van, ( I could go on)…the point is it all worked so well.

I think this episode (and last) gave us some little things to look forward to. I do feel like we will see another slap sometime soon, and I take it from the re-return that we may get another Robin Sparkles moment… maybe not. But at very least I’m anxious to see where R&B end up by the end of the season. And who knows, we might even get some more mother clues.

That’s all I got, what did everyone else think?

Legendary Lines:

Barney:…Do not humanize the enemy Ted!…

Lily: Are you sure? I mean no biggie, we can just swing by the back alley and drop these off in the dumpster.
Marshall: I see six of the words you just said on this video label.

Barney (while eating wings): Sorry Ted. I’m my own wing man tonight.

Marshall: We have two alpha dogs in our relationship.
Lily: Sure we do sweetie.

Ted: Ok, now yours just quoting the video…were you in that video, were you the guy with the farmer tan?

Marshall:  Ok Barney’s ordering…five of something.

Old Ted: That was the moment we learned that relationships are hard work, but eventually everything will work out…and that was the moment we unlearned that other lesson we had just learned a few seconds earlier.

Barney: I’m not happy, I wish I was, nothing would make me happier than being happy…

Mother Music:

• Murder Train by the Foreskins (it was composed for the show but I’m begging them to release it!) – plays during Lily’s planned fight of Barney & Robin
• the Peter Gun Theme  by Henry Mancini – Barney walks into the bar as all the women eye him and proclaims, “Daddy’s home”
• I also noticed a short instrumental while the plotter watch B&R from the station wagon. Getting more info!

Moments of Awesomeness:

• Barney’s Help message recorded over “Archisexture” because he knew Ted would watch it, and let Marshall watch it too…btw, was I the only one expecting a reference to Ted Mosby the sex architect on that movie?
• Legen, wait for it…. dsofthefall. Legends of the fall! (an no  it was not OK. LOF sucked)
• Murder Train
• Lily as a diabolical planner was great and their arguments… Star Wars, Old Girlfriends, Dirty Dishes and the Canadian/American War!. Well played.
• The was Ted sensors and exaggerated the story to the kids. “They only let themselves go a little bit, but to use they seemed like this”… well that and Porn is vile and bad into his tripping story.
• Marshall’s favorite 70’s t.v. show, The fat guy and the old lady.
• “Catchphrase” . Probably one of my favorite moments is when Barney is talking and Robin is sitting there with her fingers in her ears saying, “Shutup, shutup,shutup,….”
• The station wagon scene was LEGENDARY! That kid of back and forth comedy is amazing and HIMYM can do it so well, they just don’t always do it.

The Re-Return:

Alan Thicke and Robin say goodbye, and he lets’ it slip that he and Robin were also in a failed Canadian T.V. variety show, which he mentions would be quite embarrassing.

    Also, and I really want to hit on this since I harped about it so much on the last episode, Lily wasn’t quite as annoying this episode. Now I realize that there wasn’t as much Lily this time but still. Not only that but I fell like the married couple was shown a little more positive this time. And I simply loved Marshall’s I’m a good boyfriend speech. Now we could just get the writers to remember all the little quirky intricacies they create for each character. I love continuity, not only that but it would have been hilarious to see Robin on the ski lift in shorts, eh?
    On a side note, anyone know where you can find Alexander’s Famous Beer? It’s one of the beer labels I always see on the show. I wonder if it’s real or one just a label the props department made up… Anyway, I just felt that there was a lot good about this episode.  But enough about me, what did everyone else think?

How I Met Your Mother Music:

• Explosion by Potent – heavy metal that captures the mood of Barney and Robin’s fight

Legendary Lines:

Barney: 100% effective. You can’t fight if you aren’t there, that’s what Ghandi taught us.

Marshall: Call me crazy but…
Ted: Crazy.

Ted: I’m not sure you know who Ghandi is…

Ted: I welcomed them to the neighborhood, had a hard candy, nodded at a racist comment…

Not So Awesome Moments :

• Flashbacks and continuity… I mean come on, just last episode Robin went ice skating in a skirt and short sleeves! She’s from Canada, eh?
• Barney and Robin’s advice session with Lily and Marshall seemed a little rushed at the end.

Moments of Awesomeness:

• Slap Bet… even thought it wasn’t slap #4 on Barney
• Barney… what can I say, the dude know how to give a speech. I don’t even know what he is saying but NPH really can deliver.
• Lily’s Shining Impression. 
• Marshall’s I’m a good boyfriend speech.
• Callbacks that work… like Lily making pancake and bacon strip for Sunday breakfast.
• Bagpipes.

The Re-Return:

Lily and Marshall make up after their argument and "play the bagpipes"… then we see their downstairs neighbor’s reaction.

   The Ted and Marshall subplot had to be the salvation of this episode. Maybe I just identify with it more. And not to mention, I liked the caffeinated drink reference “TANTRUM!” For some odd reason, reminds me of the Jolt craze! The whole tearing up pillows and a phone book was both amazing and hilarious! Reminds me of when I drank 4 Jolt Colas while at a Tennis tournament. I swear I didn’t blink for 2 days.
    Overall maybe the Canadian viewers liked the episode a lot, for me it just wasn’t the greatest. The contunity issues are always a mild bummer to me, but the episode as a whole was more than I can look past this week. Again, sorry for the late review. I’m working on a way to eliviate that in the, but as for the episode, What did everyone else think?

How I Met Your Mother Music:

• I’m Gonna Be 500 Miles by the Proclaimers (played during flashbacks and while Ted and Marshall are driving together)

Legendary Lines:

Robin: I’m a Canadian. I was born there. My family’s there. It’s who I am.
Barney: Yeah, I know. And it’s provided us with a lot of laughs.

Barney: Not only are you wrong, but you are belligerently sticking to your guns and insulting me in the process. Robin Scherbatzky, you are an American!

Ted: It’s like a hot ball of led!
Marshall: Baby cut it out of me! Cut it out of me!

Lily: So you guys wanna talk about Bitches? I’m just kidding, they are called women.

Kenny Rogers: Cause olf Sparky walked out in front of a Cadillac and got splattered like a watermelon in one of them Gallagher shows.

Not So Awesome Moments (a first for here):

• Flashbacks and continuity… Marshall had a very strict rule for the Fierro. "NO FOOD OR DRINK IN THE FIERRO!". This isn’t a small detail, they spent an entire episode and a few callbacks since on it. On a smaller detail note, Marshall is from Minnesota, he loves the cold like Robin, right?
• Lily, she seems…well, not like Lily anymore. 
• Please make the jokes more original and less predictable (for reference watch Season 1-3)

Moments of Awesomeness:

• Kenny Rogers narrated books. I wonder where I could buy a copy of Goodbye Sparky
• The after effects of Gazola’s on Ted and Marshall
• SHRIP FRIED RICE! I loved Ted’s reaction.
• I’ll never be able to look at Canadian Money the same way again… Queen Elizabeth does sorta look like Elton John.
• Barney’s dramatic speech to Robin and ripping open the curtain only to see a brick wall. That may have been the best laugh of the episode.
• Marshall ripped a phone book in half! TANTRUM!!!
• Nothing symbolizes a fight like a hockey stick in the door handle.

The Re-Return:

• Driving back home, Ted and Marshall are really feeling the effects of Tantrum and feeling awesome — Meanwhile Lily is hanging on to the roof of the car, shouting, "Tantrum!!!" and complaining about having to go pee.

  In true form, reminiscent of the Bro Code, Barney’s poem was truly entertaining. I love the associations that Barney always makes. Poems must be from the past, much like under oath means your inside a courthouse.  Plus despite Ted being the sexless innkeeper, I love seeing how he works the ladies. Ted, truly is a romantic and he always has some great opening/disarming lines. Then Ted’s rebuttal poem, the end of the sexless innkeeper, the girl to prove it all to re-enter the relationship struggles of Barney. I’m not sure it will be a definitive moment but it goes back to the whole Robin and Barney struggling to be in a relationship.

    All in all it seems like a show scripted to fit each of the characters well all wrapped into a very funny story line. Plus the whole viral site thing. Gotta love that stuff.

What did everyone else think?

 How I Met Your Mother Music:

• a mock tribute to Eric Carmen’s All By Myself, All by Ourselves, cover produced for the show by Hayley Taylor and Keith Slettedahl of the 88-  plays as Robin and Barney long for a couple to hang with.
• The Best Night Ever by Marshall featuring Nuno Bettencourt

Legendary Lines:

Marshall: Wait, if you leave now Colonel Mustard just gets away with it.

Barney: Tweed. Textile of the eunuch.

Marshall: Good, cause I’ve got that story about Sammy Hagar and the Belgium waffle locked and loaded.

Ted: She was exhausted from being turned on

Barney: Mint on the pillow Ted, and don’t charge for the wi-fi, it seems greedy.

Barney: I swallowed my pride, and six shots of whiskey

Marshall: I guess that gouda, just walked itself right through the door, sliced itself up and arranged itself in a perfect semicircle around not 3, not 4, but 5 kinds of sturdy cheese bearing crackers.
Lily: You’re a cheese bearing cracker.

Robin: Which is funny because usually it’s the innkeeper who offers turndown service.

Moments of Awesomeness:

• Ranjit! Plus the first time we have seem his wife.
• itwasthebestnightever.com
• Cat Sitting/ Cat Funeral photo montage (greatest video montage ever)
• the call back to Ted and Robin on the steps in the Rain, now played by RoBarn and L.A.M.E.
• Robin’s behind the back high-five.
• 1860 style poems
• Never sleep on the gouda
• crembru-le-le-le-le
• Armani sweat pants

The Re-Return:

Ted read his poem on the end of the sexless innkeeper. His proof greets Barney and asks Ted back to Bed. This all causes Barney to question, “What have I done” as he goes to brunch with Robin, Marshall and Lily.

Look for it soon.

     So now in addition to look for clues as to who the mother is, what other posters are in Barney’s office, and the other 2 slaps we are waiting to see the other 2 dopplegangers. Those sorts of things always make the show interesting. And HIMYM is always so good with callbacks anyways, there were quite a few tonight like Chewbacca and Robins hatred for Starwars, Lily’s obsession with sex and did I spy a pineapple in shopping back in Ted’s fantasy sequence? Still any episode with Moustache Marshall is good with me.

    I really feel like the Barney and Robin relationship is being rushed a little bit.  Maybe it’s just a simple case of them being contrasted with the seasoned couple of Lily and Marshall.  I don’t think it’s that far out that Robin would be uncomfortable with Barney at a strip club while nasty Lily is fascinated by her doppleganger, but it is a new role for Robin. Guess relationships do that.

     While I love romantic Ted, something about the rooftop scene with Ted and Jen didn’t seem right. Don’t get me wrong I love both of them but I think it was the whole will they won’t they thing that annoyed me. The bulk of the blind date was very good though and Ted’s what could have been fantasy scene was very cool. Furthermore, Marshall’s fantasy about other women and Lily having to die first kept getting funnier.

     Overall, the episode was pretty descent with some truly great moments. Thoughts from out in the inter-web-spaces?

How I Met Your Mother Music:

• Rewind by Goldspot(rewrite of if the date had went well) –Tune isn’t for download at present but you can watch it on youtube or get the CD on Amazon.

Legendary Lines:

Ted: Good for them! Lettin a guy eat pizza off your back, that’s love.

Marshall: If you need me I’ll be getting grinded like some pepper in the champagne room.

Robin: Did one of your whores tell you that?

Lily and the Minister: …plow her like a corn field.

Ted: You dress your cats up in weird costumes
Jen: They’re not weird, see, you’re being snobby again

Moments of Awesomeness:

• the check dance… maybe I’m too far removed from the world of dating but I don’t remember expecting this from the ladies I took out. Women, am I just missing something here?
• Dopplegangers. So now we have seen Lesbian Robin, Moustache Marshall and Stripper Lily. According to future Ted we will see Ted & Barney’s by the end of next Summer!
• A life deadly hick-up disease.
• Now we have seen Ted and Marshall in Chewbacca gear. Sweet.
• “I remember him coming across as a player”  and the shock that came from all Ted’s friends…and Ted.

The Re-Return

Lily dances while her doppleganger pretends to be her and asks for shopping money, “I am this Lily person”