Fifty-two hours before the wedding, the third (technically due to last week's double header) episode of the season brought us to Marshall still in route to New York, Barney and Robin searching for a risqué spot to prove their flame will not fizzle, and Lily and Ted arriving at a classic “Lily life lesson.”
In route to New York, Marshall manages to gear up in his Vikings fan wear only to end up having to make a pit stop and switch to Greenbay Packers gear to pay some dues (explained later).
As elderly guests begin arriving at the Farmhampton Inn, Barney and Robin fear they will end up like their elders and their romance will fizzle away. This story line turned out to be pretty funny as the Stinson-Scherbatsky team attempt to dodge the elders like zombies (who might bombard them with life-choices questions) in an effort to find a risqué spot to have one “last bang” before they say "I do." The two had the lighter plot of the night dodging zombies and making sexual innuendos (Barney's interpretation of Robin's “back door” statement). In the end, James sacrifices himself to the slew of life-choice questions and awkward hugs they were trying to dodge so that Barney and Robin could have their moment.
The more dramatic plot went to Lily and Ted. Lily finds a list Ted made in which he listed things he wants to do to say goodbye to New York. From this point, we enjoy a montage of the items on the list, which are of course very Ted-esque; from buying everyone a drink at the bar (turns out it’s 10 am and there aren’t many people in the bar) to coming clean about what happened on April 26th. Ted takes this opportunity to come clean and tells Lily about a sword match he and Marshall had that resulted in slicing her rehearsal dinner dress in half. After Lily’s classic catchphrase, “you sonofab*sh,” queue: Marshall wearing a cheese head and Packers gear as punishment and Ted in red-striped vintage swimwear. Later, we learn Robin and Lily actually destroyed Ted and Marshall's $600 bottle of whiskey in a sword fight.
Now came the Lily life lesson in which she tells Ted that his list is obviously made by someone who does not want to leave New York, but instead leave behind what is hurting him. She suggests he make a list saying goodbye to all the things that have been bad and hurt him and welcome all the good that is to come. Ted acknowledges Lily’s advice and agrees to stop avoiding sharing a toast of whiskey with Barney. In the final scene, Ted looks for Barney to share the whiskey, but instead Barney reveals he saw what happened with Ted and Robin at the carousel last season.
Overall, with this being the third episode of the season, it raises concerns for how good this season can truly be? Considering the entire season will take place in a weekend at an inn, the whole aura of the show is different than the atmosphere in which we got to know the gang. With it being the final season, why change scenery now? Yes, there are flashbacks to classic spots, but its no McLaren’s.
Photo Courtesy CBS