The How I Met Your Mother Blog

This is a weekly column where the episodes from seasons one, two, and three will go head to head in a humor cage match. This week, the episode twelve’s.

Season 1: The Wedding

Robin accepts Ted’s invite to a friend’s wedding, but thanks to Ted, the couple may never make it down the aisle.

This was the first episode in the Victoria arc—one of the best plot lines the show’s ever had. I liked it, but the ones to follow were superior. This was also the first episode where Robin started to really warm up to the idea of dating Ted. It was at this time that we first met Stuart and Claudia (Matt Boren and Virginia Williams)—when Ted almost inadvertently stopped their marriage. The theme of the episode was how Ted saw himself—how any of us see ourselves: as a single person or someone looking for a relationship. Bonus: the last moment of this episode was our first view of Victoria, smiling that charming smile she has.

Lily got most of the good lines in this episode:

Ted: “We can’t sneak her into the wedding, we’re not ninjas.”
Lily: “I wish we were ninjas.”

Lily: “Jeez, don’t “Ted” out about it.”

Lily: “Claudia is getting married tomorrow and so help me God if I catch you even so much as breathing the same air as her I will take those peanuts you’re trying to pass off as testicles and I will squeeze them so hard until your eyes pop out and then I’ll feed them to you like grapes.”
Barney: “Wait… my eyes? Or my testicles?”
Lily: “One of each!”

Fun trivia: In the scene where Ted runs into Claudia on the street and she’s screaming at someone on the phone about her wedding cake, it’s actually Victoria she’s yelling at even though we haven’t met her yet. Victoria was later revealed to have made the cake.

Season 2: First Time in New York

Robin wants to tell Ted that she loves him, but she can’t tell him. Meanwhile, her sister visits and brings her boyfriend, and Robin doesn’t know how to react when her sister says she’s ready to lose her virginity.

This is one of my personal favorite episodes. The premise is clever and all the flashbacks are hilarious. From Ted’s switcheroo story of a love ‘em and leave ‘em tryst to Robin’s gay first boyfriend to Barney-as-Swayze Dirty Dancing fib I think this was one of the funniest episodes ever. We learned a lot about all of the characters and everyone was involved in the same plot—no lame B plot to cut back and forth between.

Robin’s sister was adorable (she’s gone on to star in Bionic Woman) and her accusations of promiscuity were perfect little-sister embarassment for Robin:

“Oh come on, you’ve slept with like 100 guys.”
“It’s not 100 guys! It’s not 100 guys! I had different levels of affection for each of the very reasonable number of guys.”

This episode also focused on how hard it is for Robin to say “I love you”. To use Barney’s highway metaphor, Robin didn’t want to “get off the freeway, but saying ‘Hmm hmm hmmm’ is like getting into the car pool lane. And what’s in that lane? A big diamond”. Ted, on the other hand, turns out to be an “I love you” slut. By the end, Robin managed to say it. In a lesser show this could have been a corny moment but this is How I Met Your Mother—Ted replies “I’m gay” and it all feels so much more natural and authentic.

Marshall and Lily had their moments too. When Marshall found out that he might not have been the first person Lily slept with—turns out Scooter had splashed around in the shallow end—he didn’t take it well.

Season 3: No Tomorrow

Ted lives like there’s no tomorrow during a St. Patrick’s Day celebration with Barney. Lily and Marshall spend the evening at their new apartment with Robin.

I liked this episode. I think the future of the show will prove that this was a real turning point in Ted’s life. I think he’d been still recovering from his break up with Robin up to this point and maybe realizing how much of a “Low Point” he’d hit will snap him back on track. Say what you will about Marshall’s lecture to him at the end, but it was necessary and Ted’s face showed that it had sunk in.

The weak part for me here was the B plot. It was cute and funny, but I like LAME better when they’re not such a charade-playing cliche married couple. Robin needs something to do too, maybe now that Ted’s back on the wagon she can spend another night as Barney’s bro.

Advantage

This is a close call, but for me “First Time in New York” is just a killer episode. Its’ in my top three of all time and I have to give it the nod. I have a feeling you might disagree so be sure to vote for your choice below.

Vote

Previous Season vs. Season Showdowns

• Episode 1
• Episode 5
• Episode 6
• Episode 7
• Episode 8
• Episode 9
• Episode 10

I’ve removed the scorecard for now. I’m going to go back and make sure the tallies are correct for each episode and hopefully get the earlier ones posted that are not up at the moment.

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