Benefits Preview
Yes, tonight’s episode is called “Benefits” as in, ‘Friends With’. Ted and Robin explore the trouble that ensues when once-dating roommates resume with the boot-knocking.
TV.com says:
Robin and Ted explore “friends with benefits” while living together. Marshall has trouble with a few reality TV stars.
I am decidedly not excited about the reality stars appearance. Hopefully it will be a B plot and Marshall will just make fun of them the whole time. Then I’d be able to deal.
As has been the case, I won’t get a chance to recap till tomorrow but throw up your thoughts here in the meantime.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!In Season 4 @ 12/01/2009 | By JD
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TheMix | January 12, 2009 @ 9:42 am
I was watching the game last night and saw the preview for this and nearly flipped my lid. I raised my hands in pure joy and shouted "YEAAAHHHHH!!!!"……..to which my mother promptly gave me a "wtf?" look.
My plan is falling into place, J.D., ohhhhh yes….the plan is falling into place.
I think this has been discussed before, but Cobie's pregnancy won't have an impact on the show's story-lines, correct? ::cough cough::
-Jason
Amy | January 12, 2009 @ 10:05 am
I guess I won't pass judgment until watching, but… I am not excited about Spidey guest starring…. sort of makes me cringe when I think about it.
JustinDickinson | January 12, 2009 @ 10:09 am
I'm picking up what you're laying down.
JustinDickinson | January 12, 2009 @ 10:10 am
They'll come and go, and then we'll never think about it. It'll be like if they hired a shitty guest star. I re-watched Atlantic City the other night and that cute tall skinny girl who guest stars in everything was in that episode, as the clerk at the courthouse, doing the “is what I would say if…” bit and I thought how much I hated her, but overall still liked the episode.
Gravity | January 12, 2009 @ 10:11 am
Haha, I loved her doing that for some reason. To each his own I suppose.
AnnF | January 12, 2009 @ 10:26 am
I saw a clip that showed what those pesky reality stars are doings and I'm not saying a word.
JustinDickinson | January 12, 2009 @ 10:46 am
Thank you!
HIMYM_NLBlog | January 13, 2009 @ 1:09 am
hmm, when i saw the preview of Benefits i expected more of the episode.
It wasn't bad but more dramatic than normal. And the Marshall, magazine thing, was in my eyes not so good. I thought it was a little bit weird to make such a big thing over nothing.
But of the other hand the story of Barney was nice, how he reacted all the time on the storys from Ted and Robin having sex were very nice.
And is good to know that now Ted also knows that Barney is in love with Robin, so he can help him or make jokes about it.
Gravity | January 13, 2009 @ 1:56 am
The guest star thing is no biggie whatsoever. Great episode.
Amy | January 13, 2009 @ 1:58 am
Reality Stars…. it worked… beautifully. I guess I should have more faith.
I looooooooved tonights episode… more than I can say.
John Darc | January 13, 2009 @ 2:00 am
Episode just finished. I dug it, but it might just be the romantic in me. I'll need to rewatch.
John Darc | January 13, 2009 @ 2:01 am
Episode just finished. I dug it, but it might just be the romantic in me. I'll need to rewatch.
edit: And the guest "stars" were actually unintrusive, and even funny (that rip at Kardashian rings so true).
Serenichi | January 13, 2009 @ 2:06 am
I loved this episode!
the guest stars were good, and I am happy that Ted knows about Barney and we are getting somewhere with the Robarn storyline.
micbrooks | January 13, 2009 @ 2:10 am
does anyone know the song at the close of the show?
baseballstudjc | January 13, 2009 @ 2:17 am
ive been looking all over and cant find that song
JustinDickinson | January 13, 2009 @ 2:25 am
I'll take it down if I'm asked to.
clearwater | January 13, 2009 @ 2:26 am
The only part I liked about that girl was the end when Robin was totally disapointed that they weren't on Candid Camera. The clerk's real name is Kate Micucci, btw. And while she is both cute and skinny and I am fairly sure she is not at all tall.
Gravity | January 13, 2009 @ 2:35 am
I hope the handling of those guest stars removes all skepticism on that subject in the future. Bays and Thomas aren't stupid guys.
gacrazy | January 13, 2009 @ 2:36 am
me too! i keep replaying the episode and it starts with
please let me know if you find it!!
"wake up, i'm trying to show you, i wanna come clean"
no hits on google
himymfan | January 13, 2009 @ 3:16 am
It took me a while to find it but I finally did so I thought I'd share the artist is Hayley Taylor and the song is "No More Wishing" I can't find it to buy it anywhere but i heard it on her myspace page.
samc | January 13, 2009 @ 3:25 am
No More Wishing by Hayley Taylor
AnnF | January 13, 2009 @ 3:26 am
This was a marvelous episode although I had a tiny issue with Marshall's magazine story. It felt slightly out of place with the general flow of the episode but the bits where he kept showing up outside Robin and/or Ted's room was really funny.
The guest star thing didn't bother me at all.
I loved the call back to Madeline
And I was in tears at the end. NPH is so good at playing the broken-hearted man.
But yay Ted for noticing!
Katie | January 13, 2009 @ 3:27 am
The song at the end of the show is "No More Wishing" by Hayley Taylor, the music video can be seen here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcphR5Ctrcw
KJO | January 13, 2009 @ 3:28 am
This episode is very reminiscent of the Seinfeld episode "The Deal," in which Jerry and Elaine explore the friends with benefits scenario (I believe they called it "getting this and that."). They also had rules: a) no calls the day after sex, b) no obligation to sleep over, because Jerry and Elaine were not roomies. In the end they too could not avoid feelings in such a relationship.
I thought this episode was very well done. I also feel that the usage of the reality stars was very good and done in such a way that I can't see how anyone would have a problem with it. I won't go into any details in case you haven't seen it yet, but please let me know what you think about that JD.
John Darc | January 13, 2009 @ 3:53 am
I liked the "it's not a major thing! *Major Thing!*" callback.
Amy | January 13, 2009 @ 3:54 am
it's the return of the Ted we all love!!
John Darc | January 13, 2009 @ 3:54 am
I really appreciated that they actually got their TV lingo right. CRTs are the best quality TV. Bulky, but they have the truest blacks and great quality. And cheaper, I think. Also, great for smashing.
Tash | January 13, 2009 @ 3:59 am
I totally agree! NPH had me crying so much by the end…he's really great at what he does!
Anonymous | January 13, 2009 @ 4:08 am
does this 'reading a magazine' thing void out the fact that marshall does/used to only be able to poop while listening to classical music?
frida | January 13, 2009 @ 4:09 am
oh i loved it! it was funny and sweet…. neil was great in it. and i loved ted's reaction.
to me it seemed they were even making fun of the stupid guests, associating them with 'reading a magazine'
Dave | January 13, 2009 @ 4:09 am
i have an mp3 of no more wishing…ssh. it's doable if you know your way around firebug.
frida | January 13, 2009 @ 4:22 am
people tend to make this comparison, but i dont get it… not only because i think barney is a better character than joey, more interesting, with a different, insecure past, and a job…. but specially because NPH is 100 times a better actor than matt leblanc. so its believable…. at least it felt that way to me and my friends…. and com'on, they cant keep making bimbo jokes forever, the guy is over 30…. i think they can play this well and successfully, maybe (following your Friends comparison) like chandler and monica's relationship… which was funny, particularly in the beginning.
JustinDickinson | January 13, 2009 @ 4:33 am
FRIENDS != HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER
Just because they're both ensembles doesn't mean parallels need to be drawn.
Ike | January 13, 2009 @ 4:42 am
This was a wonderful episode. HIMYM in it's best. Funny lines, real topics, callbacks to great jokes, amazing acting, and great editing and pace. Marshall's story fit in nicely, and reeled in some 'big' name guest stars, yet didn't ruin the episode a la Britney. Marshall has always been a bit insecure, and being paranoid bout pooping fits well. I was worried before this episode about the benefits lasting for awhile, but Bays and Thomas and the writers pulled it off perfectly. To see a wounded Barney was amazing, and how he said I love you, and she didn't notice WOW. NPH is amazing. Barney I've been there and I know how you feel. I was thinking last night afterwords, it seemed like Lily didn't have many if any full body shots, I guess she's starting to show. I hope this is the start of a long streak of more amazing classic HIMYM.
Picelli | January 13, 2009 @ 5:00 am
this was one of the best ep of the 4th season!
and the marshall plot was way funny!
and FINALLY Ted learned about Barney`s feelings for Robin.. it was all natural and sweet to be seen.
I`m glad to have HIMYM back in such a good shape!
DarkeSword | January 13, 2009 @ 5:03 am
I love how the entire episode they refer to using the restroom as "reading a magazine" but they all are pretty open about the sex topics; hell Barney even says "masturbation." The irony was cracking me up! They can talk all they want about Ted and Robin sleeping together, but they can't say "poop!" xD
CanadianWingman | January 13, 2009 @ 5:08 am
I felt like this episode was an average episode. Nothing particularly enjoyable, but nothing bad either. The "reading a magazine" thing was funny, but not ground-shaking.
The references to earlier episodes were good, such as "Private Thing" and "Madeline." This episode was ruined for me with the return of whinny, pathetic Barney. As much as I hate to compare Barney to Joey from Friends (lets face it it's a valid comparison) they almost crushed his character when he went all gaga over Rachel, and I don't want the same thing to happen to Barney. Barney just isn't Barney when he's dealing with all this Robin stuff, and well I think some people would like to see them together, I don't think it would work for the show.
Pizzaboy | January 13, 2009 @ 5:11 am
I gotta say that Bays and Thomas handled the guest stars in an awesome way. Especially that rip at Kim Kardashian. haha The TV lingo was awesome and you gotta love the Major callback. All in all not a bad episode to kick off the rest of this season. And who else is happy Marshall finally cut his hair?
Gel | January 13, 2009 @ 5:25 am
I'M SOOOO Happy Marshall finally cut his hair!!! I kept wondering all this time what the heck was going on with that.
I'm also very happy that that the "celebrities" were kept to a minimum.
I've always had my doubts of Barney and Robin, but tonight, I really did feel sympathetic for Barney. For the first time ever, I could genuinely see how much he really likes Robin.
Nonetheless, I'm still one of those people that hopes to the gods of sitcoms that Robin and Ted will be together in the end….hey, that's just me!
Ainz | January 13, 2009 @ 5:27 am
i love neil! @_@
JustinDickinson | January 13, 2009 @ 6:14 am
You guys commented so much that I had to read them, and now I really can't wait to watch the episode. I'll have recap up as soon as I get home from work, watch the ep, and write up my thoughts tomorrow.
But just to tide you over till then, I used some media-magic to get the song you all like so much:
http://have-you-met-ted.com/stuff/No-More-Wishing...
Now I haven't seen it yet so I don't know if this is right. It sure sounds like a song they'd use.
John Darc | January 13, 2009 @ 8:43 am
Not really. Apparently Lily helped him get over that, and now she just texts him while he is on the can. Having the magazine to read is just a telltale sign of poopage.
John Darc | January 13, 2009 @ 8:44 am
Marshall's hair was awful frumpy this ep. He needs some volumizer, yo. Or gel.
Bugger | January 13, 2009 @ 10:06 am
Same Here…ssh..
redviper | January 13, 2009 @ 10:28 am
Best episode of the season so far. Especially loved the TV throwing! And the Wierd was super duper awesome!
Ashley | January 13, 2009 @ 10:37 am
NPH can do no wrong. I'm convinced that if Barney were played by any other actor, I wouldn't give 2 shits about him. NP brings such depth (the writers too, if I'm being fair) that my heart just aches for the poor boy.
Guest stars were handled quite tastefully, but I'm not surprised by that.
Solid episode all around.
Rudolf | January 13, 2009 @ 11:07 am
Beware JD, there may be copyright issues.
Michelle | January 13, 2009 @ 11:46 am
Ahh, this is a fantastic blog.
I set out to find the song from the end of this episode, and wound up reading all of this =)
I thought "Benefits" was an incredible episode. I couldn't wait for something more major to come of the Barney/Robin situation, and this left me hugging my pillow. Neil was amazing, in my opinion. Also, Marshall cracked me up each time he appeared for the "deal." haha
Nininha | January 13, 2009 @ 11:50 am
Best episode of the season! I guess all the stories were pretty well tied up! What was good is that all of them, besides Barney, took this "thing" between Ted and Robin in a very natural way… What was also great is that you can also see that Ted and Robin know that they CAN have feelings for each other, but they just don´t want to, ´cause it won´t work out… I would like to see a little bit of Robin and BArney, but I just don´t know how the show can do that!
Waiting for the next EPISODE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Amy | January 14, 2009 @ 2:17 am
That was peeing. So it seems like Marshall is just a shy bathroom guy.
Ari | January 14, 2009 @ 2:30 am
Just because no one commented on this: I loved how the magazine is called Them. You know, as opposed to US magazine.
I've watched this episode 3 times already. And lately I've been on quite the NPH kick but this episode just made me ADORE him. And Barney too, of course.
frida | January 14, 2009 @ 2:36 am
well, he started it!
hehehe
Amy | January 14, 2009 @ 3:29 am
Didn't Robin say "private thing"?
JustinDickinson | January 14, 2009 @ 3:38 am
Comments here are now closed. Continue discussion on the recap page:
http://have-you-met-ted.com/2009/season-4-episode...
Thank you.
John Darc | January 14, 2009 @ 12:41 pm
Didn't it blow up in Jerry's face when he got her money for her birthday?
Twemneriemi | July 11, 2009 @ 8:44 pm
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http://www.google.com/coop/profile?user=011181623511421801838&leftnav=no_dir ectory
http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=011181623511421801838:n0bdrak6lrm
http://www.bebo.com/SanekK
http://www.bebo.com/DiscountV
http://www.bebo.com/EmilV74
monstroryuike | September 21, 2009 @ 5:47 pm
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