The Perfect Cocktail

"The Perfect Cocktail"

"The Perfect Cocktail" is the twenty second episode of the sixth season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother and the 134th episode overall. It was aired on May 2, 2011.

Plot

In the cold opening, Future Ted narrates that on the day Marshall resigned from GNB, his boss Arthur Hobbs asked to be put as his character reference when applying for a new job at an environmental organization. However, the organization rejects his application, revealing that Hobbs gave them negative feedback by recalling his supposed unprofessionalism and stories about his disdain for the environment (including clubbing a baby seal with an even cuter seal). Marshall tries to return to GNB to confront Hobbs, but Zoey, who is still at the picket line, offers him a job as her group's lawyer.

At MacLaren's, Barney hands out invitations to the Arcadian's demolition. Zoey comes over and introduces Marshall as her lawyer, which upsets Barney because he helped Marshall land a job at GNB in the first place. He launches a prank war against Marshall, who retaliates by ruining Barney's hookups at the bar over several days. The pranks go too far and Carl bans the gang from the bar (including Lily and Robin, who were irritated by a woman lurking by their booth in the chance of sitting there with her friends). Distraught by the rift, Lily and Robin try to make them up using various drinks, only to discover that certain party drinks trigger various situations (eg daiquiris = narcissistic behavior or red wine = self-pity). Armed with this knowledge, the two plan a drinking binge for Marshall and Barney by ordering drinks in such a way that would make them get angry at each other first, then eventually reconcile. However, they drink tequila and return to MacLaren's, where Barney tries to hit on a lesbian and Marshall eats chicken wings while smoking. The two forgive each other after a round of beer and Carl lifts the ban on the gang. However, a round of champagne that Lily ordered results in Marshall and Barney blacking out and resuming their feud at Ted's apartment the next morning. Seeing their plan go to waste, Robin suggests that she and Lily drink absinthe, which puts them in a dream-like state.

Meanwhile, Ted goes off to spend the weekend out of town with Zoey at Martha's Vineyard. When Lily tells him what happened between Marshall and Barney, he confronts Zoey while on the road (despite an agreement to never talk about the Arcadian) and told her that it was okay to disrupt his own plans but seeing his friends turn on each other was too much. Ted proposes that if Zoey can spend one night in the Arcadian, she will have him on her side to save it from demolition. Ted asks her why saving the Arcadian was so important to Zoey. She reveals that she grew up in the place as a child, and its destruction would see part of her identity gone with it. When they see the cockamouse creep around the room, Zoey admits defeat and they spend the night at Ted's apartment. The next morning, Ted tells Barney that he is on Zoey's side.

The last scene of the episode sees Lily and Robin trying on a prank on the women who stole their booth. When Barney's assistant shows the women a photograph, they scramble out of the bar in disgust. Lily and Robin immediately come back to clean up the booth.

Continuity

• Ted and Zoey encounter the "cockamouse" (half cockroach, half mouse) from "Matchmaker" in their hotel room at the Arcadian.
• Barney's pranks on Marshall were of the same kind from "Milk" against Butterfield.
• The show uses music from "Okay Awesome"
• Robin uses Barney's catchphrase "Dance for me puppets, dance!" which was first used by Barney in "Columns"
• Marshall is shown smoking a cigarette at MacLaren's while hiding from Carl. Future Ted stated in "Last Cigarette Ever", the certain events in their lives which cause them to eventually quit for good.
• One flashback scene during the New Years countdown, Barney makes a comment on how he is a B+, making a possible reference the the episode "Aldrin Justice" where the professor graded Marshall's paper on Barney's performance in bed. After three attempts, the last which caused Barney to dislocate his hip, he settled for a B+.

Cultural references

• During Robin's absinthe flashback, Marshall can be heard saying they can drink "water, soda, purple stuff." This is a reference to an old Sunny Delight commercial.
• Lily says Barney drinking peppermint schnapps turns him to Richard Dawson, particularly his habit in Family Feud of kissing female contestants on the lips.
• Ted brings up the end of the Oprah Winfrey Show and Lily thinks Marshall and Barney should reconcile "like they do on Oprah."
• Erik Satie's "Gymnopédie No. 1: Lent Et Douloureux" plays during Robin and Lily's absinthe hallucination scenes.
• On planning the Arcadian's demolition, Barney is thinking whether to train a coyote to press the Acme dynamite plunger or hotwire Eddie Van Halen's guitar as the detonator upon hitting a high note.