How I Met Everyone Else
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| "How I Met Everyone Else" |
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"How I Met Everyone Else" is the fifth episode in the third season of the television series How I Met Your Mother and 49th overall. It originally aired on October 22, 2007.
Plot
 | This article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. (May 2014) |
Premise
At the bar Ted introduces the gang to his newest girlfriend, whose name Future Ted can't remember and instead refers to as "Blah Blah". Embarrassed that she and Ted met online, she makes up a story about how she saw Ted across a crowded room at a cooking class. It soon becomes clear that she is extremely neurotic and paranoid when she feels threatened by Robin. In order to change the subject, everyone begins to reminisce about how they all met each other, and their stories are told through flashbacks.
How Marshall met Lily
Marshall and Lily first met when Lily needed help with her stereo and she had a strange feeling about room Hewitt 110. Knocking on the door, Marshall answers and it is clearly love at first sight. (It is noted that the story has been perfected over time.)
How Ted met Marshall
Ted and Marshall first met when they became college roommates. Marshall is "eating a sandwich" (Future Ted's euphemism for smoking marijuana) when he is told that the Dean is coming. When Ted arrives, Marshall attempts to put out the sandwich and get rid of the smell thinking Ted is the Dean, getting upset when he thinks the Dean will be his roommate. The confusion is cleared up when Marshall walks in on Ted eating a sandwich of his own.
Blah Blah is still feeling threatened by Robin (especially since learning Robin is single) and starts thinking that everything she says is a personal attack against her. Desperate to take the heat off, Ted tells the story of how he met Barney:
How Ted met Barney
Ted and Barney met in the men's room of MacLaren's, after which Barney makes Ted his new wingman (ordering him to shave his goatee and buy a suit) and tells the girl that Ted is deaf so that Barney can get a girl's phone number. When the girl mentions she knows sign language, Ted signs to her that Barney is a great guy and recommends she give him his number.
Barney comments that he knew from then that he and Ted would be wingmen forever, even though the girl gave him a fake number. Ted tells Barney the true version of what happened that night:
Ted tells the girl in sign language that Barney is lying and to give him a fake number, which she does.
Barney is upset at this, and tells Blah Blah that the gang knows they met online. Blah Blah is angry, and Ted assures her that love at first sight rarely happens, only for Barney to remind Ted of how he met Robin:
How Ted met Robin
Ted spotted Robin across the bar, and the two instantly felt a connection...
Blah Blah's paranoia goes into overdrive now that she knows Ted and Robin dated. She wishes she and Ted had a great first meeting story like Marshall and Lily, only for Ted to tell her that the Marshall and Lily story isn't that great. Pressed for details, Ted tells her what happened the night before:
How Ted met Lily (Ted's version)
At a freshman party at college, Ted (who is in a long-distance relationship with his girlfriend Karen) and Lily bump into each other while Marshall chugs from a keg. After some flirting, Ted suggests that Lily comes to his room (110) sometime, and the two start making out.
Ted explains that's why Lily came to his and Marshall's room the next day, and he and Lily have never spoken of it since. Blah Blah, keen to make Ted uncomfortable, vindictively orders Ted to confess to Marshall or she will. Returning to the table, Blah Blah asks Lily how she met Ted:
How Ted met Lily (Lily's version)
Ted was on the phone to Karen, desperately apologizing for making out with another girl. Marshall brought Lily into their dorm room and introduced her to Ted, and Ted quickly rushed off upon seeing her to try sending Karen an e-mail.
When Blah Blah starts to press, Ted takes Lily aside to discuss what happened at the party. Lily claims she doesn't remember kissing Ted, although she did kiss another guy at that party who she doesn't remember. Ted tells her that he's certain it was him, and Lily is forced to accept this. Meanwhile, Marshall and Barney talk about how they met:
How Barney met Marshall
Marshall and Barney met at the bar when Barney attempted to persuade Marshall to forget about his girlfriend and try and score with a random hot chick... even though he won't succeed. Although Marshall initially refused, he played along when Barney coincidentally pointed out Lily. Walking up to her, Marshall kisses her instantly making Barney believe Marshall has a secret seductive technique.
Blah Blah, not impressed, tells Marshall that Ted and Lily kissed. Marshall doesn't believe it, as he was at the party and knows that both Ted and Lily each made out with someone that night but knows it wasn't each other as he recalls who the other two people were. Lily accepts this, but Ted is still convinced that he made out with Lily but decides to play along as to not ruin Marshall and Lily's relationship. Blah Blah is furious and storms out, but not before revealing that she met Ted playing World of Warcraft.
Thirteen years later
At their college reunion in 2020, Ted is approached by a woman who tells him that she was the one he made out with at the Freshman party proving Marshall was correct (revealing that Ted and Lily met when Marshall introduced them the day after the party as Lily recalled). Later Ted, Marshall and Lily all sit down for a "sandwich" that Marshall confiscated and get high when Ted suddenly realizes he can't find his wife.
Continuity
- In the final series episode, "Gary Blauman", which delivers epilogues on several of the show's recurring and one-off characters, Future Ted finally remembers Blah Blah's name: Carol.
Critical response
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- Donna Bowman of The AV Club rated the episode A.[1]
- Omar G of Television Without Pity rated the episode A.[3]
Awards
Gloria Calderon Kellet, the writer of this episode, won a National Council of La Raza ALMA award for Outstanding Writing for a Television Series for this episode on August 17, 2008.[4]
References
- ^ Donna Bowman (2007-11-22). "How I Met Your Mother "How I Met Everyone Else"". The AV Club. Retrieved 2010-04-04.
- ^ Staci Krause (2007-10-23). "How I Met Your Mother: "How I Met Everyone Else" Review. Blah Blah. Hilarious!". IGN. News Corporation. Retrieved 2010-01-12.
- ^ By Omar G | Season 3 | Episode 5 | Aired on 2007.10.22 How I Met Everyone Else http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/show/how_i_met_your_mother/how_i_met_everyone_else.php Pages 8
- ^ "2008 ALMA Winners". Archived from the original on 2012-07-17.