Now that all the medals have been given out at the 2014 Winter Olympics, it is time to get back to watching our favorite TV shows. How I Met Your Mother is one of the first shows to return from the mini hiatus and will be sticking around until the comedy bids its final farewell on March 31st. The latest episode, “Rally,” focuses on Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) trying to recover from his epic hangover.
Before we see a hungover Barney, we are granted another flash-forward into the lives of Ted (Josh Radnor) and “The Mother” (Crista Milioti). It is New Year’s Eve and Ted is about to get wasted. Ted assures “The Mother” that he will be fine because the vow that he took on the day of Barney and Robin’s (Cobie Smulders) wedding. I hope in one of the final episodes we get to see a complete flash-forward of Ted’s life with “The Mother.” I know the show is called How I Met Your Mother, but fans should be treated to see some of Mr. and Mrs. Mosby’s future together that isn’t only shot in 30 second clips thrown into random episodes.
Barney only remembers bits of pieces from the first two hours of his wedding day. This includes: falling down a flight of stairs, a bear, and Lily (Alyson Hannigan) and Robin sharing a kiss. Looks like he remembered the three most exciting parts from those two hours. Luckily, Barney has his friends to help piece together the other moments. When Ted and Robin return from their walk on the beach, they find Barney sleeping in the hotel hallway with a fire extinguisher. It is 10 hours before the big day and he’s passed out!
Robin is worried because they have pictures to take before the ceremony. If you remember from earlier seasons, Barney can not take a bad picture. The group finds out that this only holds true when he is conscious. Barney has a special Fixer Elixir that has helped the gang recoup after a hard night of drinking. Funny we haven’t heard about it until now, since the characters have been hungover more than once over the last nine years. Since it is a Stinson family secret, they do not know the ingredients for the drink. Ted and Marshall (Jason Segel) collect the ingredients while Robin and Lily try to take Barney outside to get some air, but not before they accidentally make him fall down the stairs.
In a few humorous clip from the future, we find that Marshall is running for State Supreme Court judge for New York in 2020. When he thinks he has lost the race, he becomes highly intoxicated and then must make his acceptance speech. For this only taking place six years in the future, both Marshall and Lily have aged tremendously. However, it is nice to see what the future holds for one of TV’s favorite couples. Then in 2030, we see Lily getting her drink on after she and Marshall drop Marvin off at his first day of college. What she doesn’t expect is to see her 18 year old son walk into the same bar she and Marshall are drinking at. That would be a shock for any parent.
Marshall and Ted have found all the ingredients for the Fixer Elixir, except grease which is not used for cooking at the Farhamtom Inn. There is bacon on the breakfast buffet that Ted must eat in order for the cook to make more and supply them with the grease needed for the Elixir. Ted has never had bacon, but like all men he ends up loving it! But it will be the only time he will ever eat the sweet breakfast treat.
Back in the hotel room, Robin and Lily have tried everything to get Barney to wake up including shoving his head in a tub of water and forcing his eyes open to watch a bear growl on TV. The two decide, much to Lily’s delight, that they must share a kiss in order to wake him up. Not surprisingly, that does the trick and Barney is awake long enough to tell his friends that the special ingredient is nothing. The Elixir is a lie. Now there’s a twist everyone saw coming!
Robin reminds the group that Barney lied to them so they would overcome their fears of what was going to happen. He used the Elixir as a placebo to help them get over their problems: Ted getting left at the alter, Marshall needing to finish his bar exam etc. Instead of getting Barney to sober up in time for the photos, the gang pulls off one of the coolest feats of the entire series. They copy Weekend at Bernie’s and dub it Weekend at Barney’s, with Barney posing in all the wedding photos passed out wearing sunglasses. Of course that is too good to be true, and the photos end up being postponed. The lie worked for Barney and we was able to move on, so if you hadn’t watched the episode maybe you believed this lie too!
Back to a new short clip of Ted and his future wife. It is New Year’s Day 2022 and it is not Ted who is hungover. Ted is able to use the Elixir on “The Mother” and it “works” on her too, just before their young children come greet them in the morning. But the best part of this episode is in the closing credits when Robin wants to kiss Lily again and Lily is the one who is not interested. Oh how the tables have turned. Only six episodes left! See you next week…
[Photo via Richard Cartwright/CBS ©2014 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved]
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