HIMYM 115: Game Night

After winning one too many game nights, the crew enlists Marshall to run their game nights instead of participating in them. Marshall takes this opportunity to create his own game that doubles as a 'Ted's New Girlfriend Interrogator'. After taking the opportunity to grill Victoria, the group learns of Barney's humble beginnings as a womanizer, which he leverages to hear everyone's most embarrassing stories and reclaim the glory of being Awesome.

Ted: Once again Ted is not all that nice a guy. It is one thing to hide a crush on a friend from your girlfriend, but buying Robin a welcome mat is a pretty forward act for a guy with a girlfriend.

Marshall: So Marshall is a game master and takes great joy in both playing them and winning at them. In season 4 we will see it came from kind of an ugly start with his dad, but for now it is fun. Also, being the guy who relentlessly enforces drinking game rules is incredibly important, otherwise people would just be left drinking for fun.

Lilly: Lilly played a classic switcheroo with the tapes to embarrass her good friend Barney, but he gets her back as sociopaths are known to do. Also the extra 'm' syllable when she said the word 'time' while Marshall's mom listened to them have sex was almost art.

Robin: Well Robin showed some good old fashioned ugly jealousy toward Victoria who was only nice to her and the group. Classic undermining of the romantic rival.

Barney: Well it was his origin story so there was a lot of good stuff, pretentious hippiedom, explaining the rules of Marshall's convoluted game, and even taking a drink when he said what, but it all paled to the bridge of his break up song with Shannon. The fact that the group couldn't continue to watch the video through the bridge only made it funnier to me.

MVP: It could have been Victoria for the embarrassing story we didn't get to hear, but it's Barney, it has to be.

Season count:

Ted - 2
Marshall- 3
Ranjeet- 1
Barney - 5
Lilly - 3
Guest (Ellen the matchmaker) - 1

Continuity:

• Marshall's mom puts mayonnaise in cookies along with salads? How can you ruin sugar.
• Everyone heard this story, and yet when they were talking about their first times in season 2, they all forgot that Barney was saving himself for Shannon.
• Marshall winning at games and being good at them will be repeated many many times.
• Ted was very aware to lie about being 'vomit free since 93' when he got drunk during the Pineapple incident, so this is a clear retcon line for Marshall, but at least the writers remembered and cared enough to do retcon.
  

Suit Ups: 1 (9) well it was written on a flyer but it created Barney... so it counts.
Wait for it: 0 (2)
Have you met....: 0 (8)
Barney: He finally gets Shannon. Confirmed; Shannon, Tania (2nd hottest bridesmaid), Work's with Carlos girl, Natalia (NYE) (4), Possible; Suitcase thing worked (1)


Up next: Victoria and Ted spend their last night together in NY