16. Season 6, Episode 13: Bad News

Lily and Marshall finally meet Barney’s true doppleganger, Dr. John Stangel

Summary:

After struggling for awhile to have a baby, Marshall and Lily are worried about their chances of conceiving. They go to see a fertility doctor, Dr. John Stangel, who ends up being Barney’s doppleganger. After tests, Dr. Stangel informs Lily that she is fertile. Marshall starts to worry that he’s the problem, so he has his sperm tested. His parents drop by for a surprise visit, and assure him that they’ll love him regardless of the results of his test. They talk about the options of a sperm donor or adoption if Marshall gets bad results.

Meanwhile, Robin’s new job at World Wide News gets off to a poor start. She quickly discovers that the lead anchor is her old nemesis Sandy Rivers. Things get worse when Sandy tells her colleagues about bunch of Robin’s most embarrassing moments at Metro News 1. Eventually, Robin decides to embrace the stories and “steer into the skid,” which helps her get past the embarrassment and smooth things over.

Marshall gets his test results back and his sperm are perfectly healthy. He tries to call his dad with the good news but his dad doesn’t pick up. When he meets up with Lily, she tells him that his father passed away from a heart attack.

Why it Made the List:

Part of what put “Bad News” in the Top 20 was the introduction of Dr. Stangel, Barney’s doppleganger. His was the only one that hadn’t been found yet, and it acted as a reassuring sign that it was time for Lily and Marshall to have a baby (in a previous episode, they had agreed that finding Barney’s doppleganger would be a sign from the universe that it was time for them to have a baby). Watching Barney interact with Dr. Stangel was pretty amusing too.

The other reason that “Bad News” makes the list is because of the death of Marshall’s father. Such a dark storyline is hardly ever found in sitcoms, and I think it was a bold move for the writers to go in that direction. “Bad News” proved that HIMYM was not just another sitcom, but a multi-layered, deeper-than-usual show that really is must-watch TV.

17. Season 6, Episode 16: Desperation Day

In “Desperation Day,” Barney meets Nora for the first time

Summary:

On the day before Valentine’s Day, Barney explains his theory of “Desperation Day” to a skeptical Robin. He calls Valentine’s Day eve Desperation Day because he believes women will be extra easy to hook up with, due to their last-minute need for a Valentine. Robin disagrees and tells Barney that she will be spending the night of Desperation Day with her girlfriends, not caring about finding a Valentine.

That night, Robin does hang out with her friends, and Barney takes a liking to one of them, named Nora. Due to his focus on Nora, Barney ends up not going home with a girl on Desperation Day. Robin calls Barney on his affection for Nora, but he denies it. Robin tricks Barney into thinking she’ll be his laser tag partner the next day, and sends Nora in her place. Nora and Barney have a great time playing laser tag and discover the chemistry between them.

Meanwhile, Marshall is still living with his mom and mourning the death of his father. While living at home, he has reverted back to his teenage self, and he even resists a visit from Lily, who pleads for his return to New York. Eventually, Marshall does head back to New York, and the late-night drive home reconnects him with his father and helps him finally get over his grief.

Why it Made the List:

Nora has always been Barney’s best match, even over Robin (leave your hate in the comment section), so it was fun watching the two of them meet in “Desperation Day”. Their chemistry was undeniable as they barreled through the laser tag arena gunning down little kids. It was the beginning of a great couple, one that unfortunately would not last.

Another heart-warming moment arrived when Marshall finally got over his dad’s passing. His imagined conversation with his dad in the car, while driving back to New York, was a really effective way to show him finally saying goodbye to his dad and moving on.

18. Season 6, Episode 24: Challenge Accepted

Season 6 closed with a bang, revealing Barney to be the groom at the future wedding alluded to in the season-opening episode “Big Days”

Summary:

In a flash forward to September of 2011, Lily decides to cheer Marshall up by getting them both their favorite soup. Not long after eating the soup, Lily gets sick and desperately tries to stop Marshall from eating some before his big job interview later that day. But she is too late, as he has already had two bowls of the soup by the time she reaches him.

During the entire interview, Marshall is worried about vomiting in front of his perspective employer. Eventually he admits that he’ll be throwing up and minute and runs from the room. Upset at probably blowing his interview, Marshall goes home and takes a nap, awaiting the inevitable onset of vomit. But when he wakes up, he’s vomit free and feels fine. Marshall and Lily therefore discover that Lily never got sick from the soup – she is actually pregnant.

The episode ends with a flash-forward to the wedding scene, which was referenced in the season opening episode “Big Days”. When Ted goes inside to check on the groom, the groom is revealed to be Barney.

Why it Made the List:

“Challenge Accepted” used an excellent charade to reveal Lily’s long-awaited pregnancy. Rather than just revealing it randomly during any episode, the writers hide it under a tale of food-poisoning and catch viewers unexpectedly.

Then, coming off of the happiness of Lily and Marshall finally being pregnant, the episode ends with the fun reveal of Barney being the groom at the previously seen wedding. By ending the season with that cliff-hanger, fans were left to speculate: who could the bride be?

19. Season 7, Episode 3: Ducky Tie

Barney, Marshall and Lily make a bet involving the (now-infamous) Ducky Tie and Lily flashing Barney

Summary:

Now that Lily is pregnant, her breasts have become bigger and Barney is obsessed with seeing them. He begs Marshall and Lily to see them but they deny his requests. Later, at a teppanyaki restaurant, Barney is unimpressed with the cook’s techniques and claims he could do all of it.

Lily and Marshall decide to make a bet with him: if he is able to replicate the chef’s skills, Barney has permission to touch Lily’s boobs, but if he fails, he must wear Marshall’s embarrassing Ducky Tie for a full year.

Barney starts mimicking the chef’s skills, matching every move precisely without messing up once. When Barney gets to the last part of his task, Lily suddenly flashes him, which causes him to screw up and lose the bet. When the gang returns to MacLaren’s, Barney has the Ducky Tie on.

Meanwhile, Ted and Victoria make amends and even share a kiss. But Victoria reveals that she’s engaged to a classmate from Germany and in the end leaves Ted, telling him that his feelings for Robin are what’s stopping them from being together.

Why it Made the List:

The Ducky Tie! This episode created a joke that the writers religiously carried on for multiple episodes after “Ducky Tie”. This was also one of those wonderful episodes where the story flip-flops back and forth – does Barney really know teppanyaki? Are Marshall and Lily going to win the bet? I love HIMYM episodes in which you’re never certain which way a story will go until the very end.

20. Season 7, Episode 12: Symphony of Illumination

The episode starts of with Robin addressing her future kids. What?!

Summary:

The episode opens with Future Robin narrating the story to her future kids, rather than the usual Future Ted and his kids. Robin tells her kids that this is the story of when she told their father that she was pregnant.

Back to the present, which finds Robin and Barney together in bathroom of Lily and Marshall’s house. Robin tells Barney that she is a month late and that, since she hasn’t had sex with current boyfriend Kevin yet, he is definitely the father. Barney and Robin wrestle with their feelings about possibly having a child, and are eventually relieved when the doctor tells them that Robin isn’t pregnant.

Unfortunately, the news doesn’t stop there. The doctor also informs Robin that she is barren and unable to ever have children. The rest of the group try to figure out what has upset her so much, but she refuses to tell them. Robin goes for a walk in Central Park and it is revealed that she is talking to her imaginary kids while sitting on a park bench. Robin returns home to find Ted has set up a huge display of Christmas lights, just to cheer her up. Future Ted narrates, explaining that while Robin never had kids, she did become a famous journalist and traveled the world. And she was never alone.

Why it Made the List:

Like “Bad News,” this episode once again proved that HIMYM was not your ordinary sitcom. It wasn’t afraid to deal with such a dark topic and at the same time create such an insurmountable problem for one of its main characters. I really appreciate the writers doing this with a character, because they have the chance to create a character that is able to have a happy ending without kids being in the picture.

Also, hats off to writers for the crazy psych-out opening, in which Robin is narrating. When she says that she’s about to tell them the story of their father, and that their father is Barney, it was a real “What?! No way!!” moment. Even though it ended up being a fake-out, it was still an exceptional shakeup.

Now that you’ve reached the end of our trip down memory lane, understand what we were up against: there have been 160 episodes of “How I Met Your Mother” to date, through seven seasons. Though we’ve done our best to recollect all of the classic episodes and moments, it’s possible we’ve missed a couple. If you think we overlooked a major one (or one that’s just personal to you), leave a comment at the end with your two cents.

Can’t wait to see what we might’ve missed!

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About The Author

Bell Peloquin is a Blast staff writer. He writes the Film and Television Buzz blog.

8 Responses

  1. Peter

    I liked the blitzgiving one also because as a fan of lost I noticed they tossed in tons of lost jokes for Jorge Garcia and also with bad news its memorable because of the countdown,which was down flawless, my only objection is that I wish they had used it for happy news instead of the bad,and oddly dark news marshall recieved. Blah blah hate for the fact that you said nora had more chemistry with barney than robin. That was a lil sarcastic, but I do think Robin and Barney do have better chemistry,especially as it was formed over years. while that part in the final episode on the list was a psych-out,I guess after season 7’s finally we can finally say its true,in some way. Good list dude.

    Reply
    • Joran

      Peter, your comment made me laugh. Why do you think anybody would care what you have to say? Your name starts with a “P” for god’s sake! I stopped reading after the first 20 words because I can hardly imagine you have anything really important to say.

      Reply
  2. Joran

    Dear Bill Peloquin,

    I regret to inform you that I don’t fully agree with your top 20 list. How someone could pick “symphony of illumination” as their favourite episode really eludes me. Do you even understand what this show is about? It’s about five friends who are having the time of their lives and it is meant to be funny. This episode however, was one of the saddest moments in my life. Belief me when I say that there is nothing funny about Robin not being able to have children. On the plus side, you did get a couple of good episodes. Not all, just a couple.

    Peter, your comment made me laugh. Why do you think anybody would care what you have to say? Your name starts with a “P” for god’s sake! I stopped reading after the first 20 words because I can hardly imagine you have anything really important to say.

    If it is possible I would like to request for this article to be removed. On a personal level because it insulted me in more than one way. On a general level because the writing was terrible. I know this because got an A in english in the fourth grade (last year).

    Kind regards,

    Joran

    Reply
    • Legen dary

      Ummm, how does his first initial have anything to do with his content? Also, I’ve found from reading your comment that many of the things that you said are disrespectful and rude. (Note that I read the entire article before I judged it.) I would like to ask that you remove your comment because, well, “it insulted me in more than one way.”

      Reply
  3. Pg14

    I think “oh, honey” should also be in the list. Even though Katy Perry’s acting is terrible, some really good jokes are made about how stupid her character is.
    “the stinsons” is also an episode worth mentioning, the “wow”-moment when barney introduces his “family” is the most surprising turn if events in that season.

    Reply
  4. Mike

    The perfect cocktail is a personal favorite of mine. Totally hilarious, great one liners, plus the return of cockamouse is awesome.

    Reply
  5. Slap Bet Comissioner

    Only two episodes of Season 4? Really? For me the season 4 finale is the best season finale of the series and one of the top episodes, because we finally get to see the final showdown between Ted and the goat that has been anticipated since season 1, and the talk between Barney and Robin is hilarious.

    And, as future Ted say in the finale, “That was the year I was left at the altar, it was the year I got knocked out by a crazy bartender, the year I got fired, the year I got beat up by a goat, a girl goat at that, and damn it if it wasn’t one of the best years of my life”, and that’s why I should have added more of those episodes.

    Reply
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