This season of How I Met Your Mother started out not so great, but this half of the season has taken a turn for the better and tonight’s episode beautifully reminded us that we are finally nearing the end of Ted’s search for the mother.
Although the show has been picked up for a ninth and final season, the creators of the series have not changed the fact that we will be meeting the mother at this season’s end.
With just four episodes remaining this season, here is how tonight’s episode went down:
MINNESOTA TIDAL WAVE
Marshall has invented his own alcoholic drink at McLaren’s and claims it’s not at all girly. To prove his statement, Robin, the least girliest girl ever says that she loves the drink, too. However, knowing Marshall and his love of fruity drinks, we know he’s lying; especially when he sends Lily to the bar to order it for him.
After ordering the drink, which is pink and comes in a girly glass with a crazy straw, the bartender informs Marshall that Robin has ordered the drink so often that they’ve named it after her.
Marshall is deeply upset and Lily encourages him to challenge Robin to a dance-off. He says he can fight his own battles and instead, heads to the men’s bathroom with a sharpie and writes Robin’s number on the wall, following the words “For a good time, call Robin Scherbatsky.”
Robin retaliates by heading into the women’s restroom and writing an extremely long apology to Marshall, with the intention of making him stay in the women’s room long enough to encounter women entering the restroom, forcing him to hide in one of the stalls.
Ultimately, he runs out of the restroom with a bunch of horrified screaming girls ahead of him and Carl, the bartender reminds him that the bar is not that kind of place.
Carl then realizes Marshall does not know his last name and says he will name every drink in the bar after him if he can prove that he does know it. He doesn’t. Lily then heads over to the jukebox, starts cranking some music and Marshall and Robin begin their dance-off.
THE TIME TRAVELERS
Ted is sitting in the bar all alone one night when Barney approaches him with two tickets to a “Robots vs Wrestlers Legends” match. After Ted refuses to go, Barney calls upon his future self, “20 years later Barney” to convince him to attend the match, which will apparantly be “legen-wait20yearsforit-dary.”
Then, we see “20 years later Ted” arguing that Ted should in fact go. Then, “20 minutes later Ted” shows up and warns present Ted to not attend the match, as he gets way too drunk and will regret it. And of course, “20 minutes later Barney” shows up for a final say in the matter.
COAT CHECK GIRL
“20 minutes later Barney” then points to the door as coat check girl from Season 1 (the wonderful Jayma Mays) walks in and sits at the bar. Ted immediately wants to go over and talk to her, but future versions of the coat check girl appear before him and drag him over to a table.
They convince him that if he did go over and talk to her, it wouldn’t end well. Either he would get sick of her or she would get sick of him. Because, “that’s what always happens, right?”
YOU’RE ALL ALONE, TED.
Ted, majorly depressed after talking to the future coat check girls, wanders back over to the table with Barney where he expects to hear a lecture about how he should seize the big moments in life before their gone.
In a surprising twist, Barney tells Ted that this moment has already passed. It was five years ago. It is revealed that Ted was actually still sitting alone in the bar staring at a ticket to Robots vs Wrestlers because the rest of the gang couldn’t make it out that night. (Robin and Barney were off fighting over caterers for their wedding and Marshall and Lily were upstairs trying to get Marvin to go to sleep.)
Future Ted’s voice over comes on and says that if he could go back in time to that night, he wouldn’t go to Robots vs Wrestlers. He would go to see Marshall and Lily, his own apartment and to see Barney and Robin. But before he did all that, the first place he would go would be to his wife’s apartment.
45 DAYS
In an emotionally poignant scene, Ted knocks on the door of his future wife and tells her that in 45 days they will meet each other. They will end up getting married and have two kids together. In just 45 days.
But that’s not enough for Ted. He tells his future wife that he wants those extra 45 days with her. Even though he knows she’s dating another man, he says an extra 45 seconds with her before he comes to punch him in the face will be worth it.
Shortly after he says this, her boyfriend does come up and punch Ted in the face. He falls to the ground, looks up at his future wife’s closed apartment door and smiles.
It was this scene that got me excited for this show again. You guys, we are finally going to meet the mother after all this time. In just 45 days.
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