Happy St. Valentine’s Day, Everybody!

Okay, so Valentine’s Day is over. Like Robin, I had no Valentine but I treated the day as if it were any other day. But you don’t care about me, right? You just want your HIMYM recap! Let’s begin:

Plot A: Marshall is still in Minnesota and it is driving Lily insane. She first put Marshall’s Viking jersey on her body pillow. (On a side note, I’d like to give a shout out to the NFL “Best Fans” commercial from the Super Bowl. They used a clip from How I Met Your Mother and appropriately put Marshall in a Vikings jersey). Then she started dressing it up in her clothing and having dinner with it. She even apologizes for yelling at the pillow. But she explains that Marshall is needed in Minnesota as his mother isn’t handling his father’s death well. So, he extended his stay past Valentine’s Day, missing their annual viewing of “Predator.” Future!Ted explains that back on their first Valentine’s Day, Marshall and Lily settled in to watch “Sleepless in Seattle.” Except his brothers had taped over it with Predator. So, they just went with it and it became tradition.

So, Lily decides to surprise Marshall by going to Minnesota to be with him on Valentine’s Day. Judy is glad to see her daughter-in-law and calls Marshall down. We see Marshall with stubble, a t-shirt and hand-held game in hand. He is surprised to see Lily but quickly turns to ask his mom if she bought more batteries. She did and he goes off to play more MarioKart. Ladies and gents, Teenage!Marshall. Judy pleads with Lily to try and get Marshall home. He’s been getting underfoot while she’s been trying to move on.

So, Lily tries to get Marshall to leave. But Marshall insists that he’s reverted to Teenage!Marshall for his mother’s benefit. That she needs someone to help, to make her feel needed. Lily finally tells Marshall that his mother wants him out. Judy denies this but still mouths to Lily to get Marshall out.

And this is where Plot A converges with Plot B.

Plot B: Ted and Zoey. They fought, they kissed, they started to date. Ted says that the divorce complicates things, especially since she’s rushing into another relationship so soon. He says that tonight he’s going over to Zoey’s house to bake cookies! The others look at him with that “Oh, Honey” look and tell him the obvious. Even I knew it was really “to bake cookies.” Once they convince this, Ted’s all set for his date with Zoey.

And he blows it. Zoey welcomes him into her new apartment and notices an overnight bag. Smooth move, Ted. Smooth. Even his friends flinch. Zoey calls him presumptuous and his friends have to agree. Ted argues that his friends told him he’d be staying the night. They clarified that they said he was going to get lucky, not sleepover. Robin asked if he brought the slippers. Ted insists they’re British morning socks. The others just shake their head.

Zoey shows up at Ted’s apartment and apologizes for overreacting. He apologizes for being presumptuous. They put everything behind them and decide to have a Valentine’s date. Ted offers to cook and have it at his place. Zoey agrees and Ted is happy. Until he takes some time to think about it.
So he shows up in Minnesota to “help” Lily.

So, now Judy and Lily have to deal with Teenage!Marshall and Teenage!Ted. And Lily decides to try tough love. She tells Marshall that there’s a big storm coming so she’s booked herself on the last flight to New York. She asks Marshall to be with her on that flight. I guess Ted can stay in Minnesota. Marshall pleads with her not to go, but she says it’s time to go back to New York and leaves.

Marshall then confesses to Ted that he’s the one who is having a difficult time moving on from his father’s death. His father was his rock and now that he’s gone, the world seems scarier. Ted confesses that he’s scared his relationship is moving too fast with Zoey. He says she’s coming off a divorce, but you’ve got to imagine that Ted has some reservations since he hasn’t had a major relationship since Stella left him at the altar. But they both realize that it’s time to be men and return to New York.

So they pile into a car and have themselves a road trip! Though it isn’t much of one—the snow storm has hit and Ted’s sound asleep. As Marshall squints, his dad appears in the backseat. He confesses that he couldn’t see either. He just kept driving and trusted the road to take him there. Umm, am I the only one who thinks that’s really dangerous? I don’t know if Marshall is just having difficulty in the snow or because it’s night, but if he can’t see that well, shouldn’t he…I don’t know…pull over or wake Ted? But this seems to encourage Marshall to drive on.

But they make it back in one piece. Zoey shows up at Ted’s in time for dinner, though he hasn’t unpacked his overnight bag. Zoey teases him about it, but then reveals she brought her own. They settle in for a romantic Valentine’s Day while Marshall joins Lily for “Predator.”

So, all that leaves is…

Plot C: Barney doesn’t celebrate Valentine’s Day. He celebrates his own holiday on February 13th which he has christened “Desperation Day.” This is when all the single women are looking for their Valentine. Barney swoops in during this vulnerable time and does what he does best. He swoops in, takes a girl home and leaves before midnight. That’s a very important rule. Because if you are there past midnight, then it is a Valentine’s Day date.

Robin, naturally, finds this horrible. She is going to spend the day before Valentine’s Day with some girlfriends who don’t have dates either. And they are going to be celebrating being single. Barney smells the desperation in the air. Robin continues to defend the practice.

And wouldn’t you know it? Barney’s “Desperation Day” hunt is set in MacLaren’s…where Robin and her friends are having their little party. He crashes it and we realize that Robin is the only one okay with being single on Valentine’s Day. The two really, really want dates and even leave Robin to get them. Meanwhile, Barney meets Robin’s coworker Nora.

And Nora is awesome enough to see straight through Barney’s games. But she agrees with Barney that the idea of an anti-Valentine’s Day is a bit ridiculous. She likes the romance surrounding the holiday. Barney tells her that he’ll be spending it with Robin playing laser tag in Poughkeepsie—a call back to “Bad News.” “Oh yeah, I agreed to that,” Robin remembers not too fondly. Nora, though, is genuinely interested. They spend the night talking and, wouldn’t you know it, Barney is still there as Valentine’s Day dawns.

And we see him on Valentine’s Day, talking to Robin. He wants to know where she is as those boy scouts are a year older, taller and more deadly. She said she decided not to go, but sent a replacement. As Nora walks up, Robin wishes him a happy Valentine’s Day.

Tag: Lily has the awkward break up talk with Pillow!Marshall.

Okay, this is late. Sorry. I got sidetracked, got busy and then got sick. But here it is! And this past Monday’s episode should be sooner. I hope. Anyway, I enjoyed this episode and thought it was adorable. I liked the arc they took Marshall’s character following the death of his father. And this isn’t the end, just the first step of life without dad. And I like Nora. This will be interesting. What do you think?

Quote of the Episode:

"This is Barney, a high-functioning sociopath and my ex."--Robin, introducing Barney to her friends.