Katy Perry Reference or Clue Reference?

I seriously couldn’t decide. I went through Perry’s hits. I came up with some variations of the Clue reveal. And I couldn’t decide. So, that’ll have to do.

Anyway, Marshall is still in Minnesota helping his mother along with his brother. He stays in touch with the gang back in New York, mostly out of boredom as he’s now playing Clue…with himself. So, first a reminder from Future!Ted. Zoey started off as Ted’s enemy and evolved into a member of the group. Now, onto…

Robin: Her story begins with a party back in December we didn’t see. Apparently, Robin tried to make everyone—including Zoey—dinner. We see the blacken lumps that were her labor of love. Everyone stands in the kitchen, holding hot dogs and trying to comfort Robin. Lily tries her hot dog first and says she’s going to eat her hot dog in the bathroom. Barney and Robin eventually migrate into the living room while the other three remain in the kitchen. Zoey asks for the ketchup, which Ted passes. Unfortunately, the bottle drops and Ted tells her she has to go for another bottle in the cold. Zoey complains and says she shouldn’t have to because she brought the wine. Ted informs her that it’s all gone. An intoxicated Marshall apologizes. Zoey says she’ll buy three bottles next time if Ted will do this for her. He says no. She then offers to set him up with her extremely hot cousin. Ted agrees.

Which brings us to the current day. Robin tells Marshall that the gang hasn’t seen Zoey in a while, so Ted decides to call her up. He tells Zoey that everyone misses her and he still wants that date. She agrees to set Ted up.

Later at MacLaren’s, Zoey joins the others as she tells Ted he’ll love her cousin. Barney coughs statements that show that he thinks Zoey is exaggerating. Then Katy Perry walks in. Barney says he takes everything he just said back. Zoey introduces her and Future!Ted cuts in. He says that none of them remember her name. They just all refer to her as “Honey.” And the reason is because the things that come out of her mouth elicit the “Oh, honey” response. Things like the Nigerian prince e-mail scam, the casting agent who has an office in a KFC, and a role on “Lost.” Even Marshall has to respond, “Oh, Honey.”

Robin’s story continues as Zoey leaves and Honey tells Ted it’s time to go home. Barney asks to speak to Ted offside. He tells Ted that he can tell that Honey’s been digging him all night long. Ted doubts that as Barney desperately tries to prove it. In the end, Ted lets Barney win and he leaves with Honey. Upstairs, Ted reveals why he didn’t go home with Honey. “He’s gay!” Marshall’s mother guesses, listening in on the kitchen phone. Marshall chases her off and Robin continues the story. Ted’s in love with Zoey.

Dun dun dun!

Anyway, Ted’s so worried about his love for Zoey he throws himself an intervention. Even brings out the intervention sign too! The others don’t think he needs an intervention and just advise caution.
Marshall gets another call but doesn’t recognize the number. Robin tells him not to get it but soon picks up Marshall’s antsy mood. She teases him about his Minnesota politeness and lets him pick it up. Turns out it’s…

Barney: Barney explains that he’s now using burner phones because too many crazies have his number. So he uses them, throws them away and gets a new one. And then he does the same for his phone. Zing! Barney tells Marshall his account of meeting Honey. In it, Honey makes eyes at Barney the entire time. I get the feeling that the director told Katy to really overact this part and she nails it. Barney says that he and Katy had a great night. Marshall doesn’t want the details, so Barney sums it up for him: squeaky, squeaky, squeaky, etc. Marshall cuts him short and Barney continues with his story.

That morning, Barney found Zoey at work—leading a protest for something or other. He tells Zoey that he went home with Honey last night and proceeds to give her the summary: squeaky, squeaky, squeaky, etc. Zoey interrupts to confirm that Honey did not go home with Ted. When Barney says yes, she hugs him. He was confused by that. Marcus, Marshall’s brother, believes it’s because Zoey loves Ted. Marshall tries to chase his brother off the phone but Marcus spells it out: Zoey is in love with Ted but was upset by Ted’s insistence on meeting Honey. She left the bar early because she was upset to see how well Honey and Ted had hit it off. But knowing that Ted didn’t leave with Honey, Zoey now has hope.

Marshall is impressed with his brother’s insight. Marcus then asks Marshall if he wanted a doughnut from the new shop Hertz. Marshall agrees and everyone saw what came next: Marcus ran upstairs, wailed on his brother and then said, “Hurts, don’t it?” Even Barney has to comment on how stupid that was. Marshall says he has to call Ted and hangs up with Barney.

Ted: Marshall has to talk to Ted about Zoey, but Ted has to talk to Marshall about Zoey. Ted tells Marshall that Zoey showed up at his apartment, saying she was in the neighborhood and thought she’d stop by for the beer Ted’s about to offer her. He invites her inside and offers her a beer. They have a fun moment and Ted sighs. He then tells Zoey that they can’t be friends anymore and she can’t ask him why. Marshall assures Ted that he did the right thing just as Lily calls him. Ted lets Marshall accept the call from his wife.

Lily: Marshall and Lily hate Ted. Marshall will agree if he wants the sexting to continue. He agrees and immediately his phone vibrates. Lily explains why they hate Ted now. Apparently, despite asking Zoey to not ask why, she does so anyway. So Ted, panicking, says that Lily hates Zoey. So, Zoey shows up at Lily’s to ask her why. So, Lily panicked and said she didn’t hate Zoey, Robin did. And Robin calls. Marshall apologizes for his wife and Robin brushes it off. She tells him she told Zoey that Marshall hates her. At that, Marshall’s call waiting kicks in. He says it’s a 917 number, which is the area code given to cell phones in New York City. He panics, but Robin knows he’ll still pick up. He does so and it’s really…

Honey: She found Barney’s phone in her garbage and she’s going through the contacts. She explains how Barney’s night with her really went. Apparently, after he asked “Who’s your daddy?” he broke down crying. He cried about calling his father but not hearing from him yet. He was afraid his father was ashamed of him. Honey comforted him through the night.

Marshall realizes he can pump Honey for information. She says Zoey has been going through some rough times. But she can’t go into the details because they are between Honey, Zoey and Zoey’s therapist. Marshall tells Honey he is Zoey’s therapist and she sings like a canary. Armed with this new information, he tells his eavesdropping mother and brother to come to his room. He pulls together all the information together and reveals that Zoey and the Captain are getting a divorce.

Back in New York, Zoey is back at Ted’s. She figures out that he’s the one who hates her. And he decides to list every reason that would be. But then Marshall calls Zoey before calling Ted. After finishing the calls, they kiss. We see the neighbor across the hall poke her head out, on the phone. She says they are kissing and Judy, Marshall and Marcus celebrate.

I loved this episode. It was put together very well and it worked the mystery angle well. I liked how Marshall was still in Minnesota, so he had to get his information from phone calls. And he, along with his mother and Marcus, are the ones to put everything together. Brilliant episode and finally, FINALLY!, they are moving both Ted’s and Barney’s plots. I can’t wait to see how the Ted-Zoey relationship plays out. And I can’t wait to see Barney’s dad! Your thoughts?