Something Borrowed (How I Met Your Mother)
| "Something Borrowed (How I Met Your Mother)" |
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"Something Borrowed" is the 21st episode in the second season of the television series How I Met Your Mother. It originally aired on May 7, 2007.
Plot
Marshall and Lily are about to get married, however, nothing seems to be going right for either of them. Much to Lily's disgust, Scooter, her high school boyfriend, shows up at the wedding having been invited by Lily's family (even though Lily did not invite him personally), and then tries desperately but unsuccessfully to win her back. Lily also has no flowers for the ceremony, and her harp player is in labor and about to deliver a baby. To top things off, Lily's veil was found ruined, and Lily thinks that the wedding is just falling apart.
Marshall is also having a difficult time, as one of Lily's relatives gave him highlighted tips in his hair, and in an attempt to correct it, he shaves off a patch of hair on his head. Marshall and Lily then see each other, and they are about ready to call off the wedding. However, Ted has a plan. Since both Marshall and Lily always wanted a small wedding in a park, Ted suggests that they go outside, hold a small ceremony like they always wanted, and then go perform the ceremony in front of all of their guests. With Barney recently licensed to marry people, all they need is something to cover Marshall's bald patch, which comes in the form of a fedora.
Marshall and Lily are then married by Barney, in front of only Ted and Robin. Then, without a worry about how the big ceremony takes place, they go inside, and hold the wedding ceremony in front of the family and all other friends. However, no one else knows that Marshall and Lily had been married right before. They then hold the wedding reception, which carries over into "Something Blue".
Cultural references
- The title of the episode refers to the old saying about good luck tokens for brides: "Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue."
- After shaving his head, Marshall says he's leaving and never coming back. He's going to go "find that money under the rock by the tree and go live with the guys on the beach in Zihuatanejo." Ted says that they are criminals, but Marshall corrects him saying that Andy was falsely accused. This is a reference to The Shawshank Redemption.
- Also after shaving his head, Marshall references other famous individuals that have shaved their heads such as Britney Spears, who would later make an appearance in the series.
- Marshall's wig-out about his hair is inspired in part by the viral video Bride Has Massive Hair Wig Out.
- The song played on guitar during the impromptu outdoor wedding is Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring.
- The piece played on piano during the opening of the episode is "La Réjouissance" from Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks.
- The harpist plays the first two measures of the Minuet in G major by Christian Petzold (formerly attributed to Bach).
- After Lily's Cousin gives Marshall's hair cool tips, Marshall states that he looks like one of the Backstreet Boys.
- While trying to win Lily back, Scooter quotes the Guns n Roses song November Rain.
Continuity
- Lily's high school boyfriend Scooter, introduced in "Best Prom Ever", reappears in this episode.
- It is explained in this episode why Marshall is wearing a hat at his wedding in "Showdown".
- When Marshall and Lily are contemplating where to have sex for the first time as a married couple (the reception hall bathroom), it is once again a place where Ted is present. This is similar to the episode "First Time in New York", in which there is a flashback to Ted being awake for Marshall and Lily losing their virginity.
- This is the second reference to the main cast smoking cigarettes, after it was shown Robin smoked in "Moving Day". This is the subject of "Last Cigarette Ever".
- The friend who helps Lily get rid of Scooter is Marshall's good friend, Brad, from "World's Greatest Couple".