Poor Ted (Josh Radnor). It seems like for the last nine years, the guy can never catch a break. I consider myself the “Ted” among my group of friends, so I feel his pain. In the opening of the latest How I Met Your Mother episode entitled, “The Broken Code,” Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) informs Ted he saw him and Robin (Cobie Smulders) holding hands by the carousel a mere week before the wedding. Ted quickly insists that he was only holding Robin’s hand because she was sad about misplacing her locket. Barney brushes it off, but not for long.
Barney knows that Ted will do anything to please him during the wedding weekend, since he is the best man. Barney forces Ted to give up his hotel room and sleep in the boiler room, take care of the wedding doves, and do the artwork for the table cards. Ted is also planning the “Best-Man” poker game. When Ted finished all the tasks, he visits Barney’s hotel room. He finds the poker game already in play with Tim Gunn and The Karate Kid‘s Billy Zabka being dealt in. Billy is also sporting Ted’s Best Man hat.
Barney is still fuming about the hand-holding in the park and asserts that Ted broke “bro code.” Ted reminds Barney that he also broke “bro code” when he slept with Ted’s mother. In order to see if Ted really did break the code, the duo seeks the help of Marshall (Jason Segel). He is still on the road and is only seen via iPad on this episode. I thought this was a very clever approach to still include Marshall in the story. Lily (Alyson Hannigan) even constructed a body for him out of pillows.
Marshall states the only way to prove if two friends can hold hands and it “not be weird” is if Ted and Barney do the same thing. During this experiment, Ted admits he has had feelings for Robin on and off for the last nine years. He assures Barney he would never do anything to hurt Barney and Robin’s relationship. The two rekindle their “bromance” and Ted is reinstated as best man. This comes with a price: Billy Zabka is mad and wants the best man title back! It looks like he will try to settle the score in a future episode.
While the Ted/Barney/Marshall storyline has been going on, Lily is trying to help Robin find a female friend. It had come to light during the planning of the bachelorette party that the only female friend Robin has is Lily. The two sit in the bar and try to find a girl for Robin to befriend, since Lily will be leaving for Rome in a few days. She still has no idea that Marshall has accepted the Judge position in the United States. I am positive this story will come to a head towards the middle of the season. Robin does bond with a woman over hockey. Lily quickly becomes jealous and scares her off. The two decide Lily is the only girl Robin needs in her life.
Sadly, “The Mother” was absent from this episode. I am anxious to see more of her and her interactions with Ted’s friends. Of course, I am also anticipating the first time her and Ted finally meet. There is still a lot more HIMYM left this season. After 4 great episodes, I am excited to see what the future holds.
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