Arrivederci, Fiero
| "Arrivederci, Fiero" |
|---|
"Arrivederci, Fiero" is the 17th episode in the second season of the television series How I Met Your Mother. It originally aired on February 26, 2007.
Plot
Ted and Marshall begin the story in Marshall's Pontiac Fiero. The car is about to hit 200,000 miles on the odometer, and Marshall is excited, since the Fiero has served him well. He even has cigars in the glove box ready for the occasion, although Ted can only find two sets of chopsticks. However, Marshall hits a pothole, and the Fiero quits running just before it hit 200,000 miles. In the shop, Marshall is saddened, and everyone begins sharing stories about the Fiero.
Marshall tells the story of how he had to prove himself worthy in the eyes of his brothers by ordering 12 cups of coffee at the drive-thru while sitting naked in the front seat (his brothers jumped out and surprised him, causing him to jerk the car and make the hot coffee spill all over him). He also uses this to tell why he has never allowed food or drink in the Fiero (not even groceries). Ted then tells his memorable moment with the Fiero, known as both "Fieroasco" and the "100k Fiasco" (the Fiero was approaching 100,000 miles at that time), which began during their freshman year of college, when Marshall offered to drop Ted off at his parents' house in Ohio on his way home to Minnesota for Christmas break. Ted tells of how they got lost on a back road and had to cuddle together to stay warm when a snowstorm hit, and then found out they were parked in front of a small bed-and-breakfast with people staring at them the next morning.
Lily and Robin then feel the need to come clean about something, and they tell Marshall about when they took the Fiero to get Thai food but spilled it in the passenger compartment. They carefully cleaned it up, smoked the cigars that Marshall had been saving for the passing of 200,000 miles, and wrapped two chopsticks in napkins, hoping Marshall would never discover what they did. Finally, Barney says that he doesn't understand any of their feelings for the car. Ted then tells of Barney's only memory with the Fiero, which was the time Ted taught Barney how to drive on the Fiero (because Barney had never learned how to drive a car), and Barney was quite scared of driving ever again (even though he never left the parking lot or went much above 10 mph). Although all 5 of them attempt to push the car to 200,000 miles, they give up, and say goodbye to the car.
Music
- The Proclaimers - "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" is in all the flashbacks.
Cultural references
- The scene where Robin instructs Lily on how to clean up the Thai food mess in the Fiero is reminiscent of the clean up scene in Pulp Fiction where Mr. Wolf instructs Vincent and Jules to clean up the remnants of Marvin from their car.
Continuity
- Despite having grown up in Minnesota, and going to school at Wesleyan University in Connecticut at the time, the flashbacks all show the Fiero being registered and inspected in New York State.
- The mention of a "...homeless guy threw up in the back seat..." is strange, as a Fiero is a 2-seater.