# HIMYM - "How Your Mother Met Me" OAD 01/27/2014



## jeff92k7 (Jan 18, 2006)

This sounds like it's going to be a good episode for all of us who want to see more of the Mother. I'm guessing it will be her narrating the story and will be from her perspective. I'm very excited to see how the episode goes.


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## Graymalkin (Mar 20, 2001)

Judging from this episode, they should've figured out how to get Cristin Milioti into every episode of HIMYM this season. She's wonderful!

From here on I'm just skipping any episode that she's not in.


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## Gunnyman (Jul 10, 2003)

She really is fantastic.


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

Crap. They got me.


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## Neenahboy (Apr 8, 2004)

Damn it all, why couldn't the season have been _this_?


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## dianebrat (Jul 6, 2002)

Graymalkin said:


> Judging from this episode, they should've figured out how to get Cristin Milioti into every episode of HIMYM this season. She's wonderful!
> 
> From here on I'm just skipping any episode that she's not in.





Neenahboy said:


> Damn it all, why couldn't the season have been _this_?


EXACTLY!
This is why some of us have been so livid at the wasted episodes this season that were barely mediocre, THIS is what they get right when they're firing on all cylinders and not just phoning it in.

I'd go as far as saying that this may be one of their best episodes in the series.


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## MarkofT (Jul 27, 2001)

Except you need to have seen all the previous episodes of the series to get most of what they showed in this one episode.


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## vman (Feb 9, 2001)

Totally agree with above about it being a great episode and wishing they had done a lot more with the mother this season. In fact, I actually was annoyed by the ending with Barney being gone, because it likely just leads to more of the usual stuff rather than the great stuff with the mother. Wonder where Lily went - she's not with the mother!


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## Fahtrim (Apr 12, 2004)

That was actually an awesome episode. I was very pleasantly surprised. 

Hope they can do even half as good on the rest of this season.


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## jilter (Oct 4, 2002)

My family always watch and discuss this show and I partially pay attention. However, this episode really caught my attention. Very well done. The actress who plays the mother is wonderful.


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## Gunnyman (Jul 10, 2003)

If they spin off a series starring the mother, I'm in.


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## Ment (Mar 27, 2008)

Gunnyman said:


> If they spin off a series starring the mother, I'm in.


yes me too, the rest of the cast has been swirling around the bowl the whole season..

So who is detailed (obsessed) enough to list all the call backs to previous episodes.


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## MarkofT (Jul 27, 2001)

From the HIMYM wiki for this episode:

Ted's shellfish joke was made back in Double Date.
The Mother says "What the damn hell?!" just like how Marshall and Daphne said in previous episodes.
Kelly mentions that she once met a guy who tried to pick up girls by saying that his penis granted wishes. This is one of Barney's plays first shown in The Playbook.
When drinking at MacLaren's Pub Louis seems to believe that it's called Puzzles. This means that he was at the bar during the events of Three Days of Snow.
The Mother shows many of her quirks that Future Ted revealed throughout the span of the series, as well as many quirks she shares with Ted:
Her paintings of robots playing sports
Her breakfast singing show
A love for caligraphy
A love for coins
Proper pronunciation of certain words such as renaissance

Clips from many previous episodes were seen including:
The bar scene in Pilot, where Ted and Barney play have you met Ted
The scene in The Mermaid Theory and Now We're Even where Ted wears a dress.
The scene(s) from The Leap/Definitions in the Econ 305 class that Ted mistakenly teaches.
The scene in Bass Player Wanted where The Mother buys a drink for Ted
The club scene in No Tomorrow.
The breakup scene in Girls Versus Suits and the aftermath that followed.
The scene in "Now We're Even" when Lily and Barney make up, and Ted walks in wearing a dress.

In the scene in which meets Louis and The Mother, a "Save the Arcadian" sign can be seen in the background, indicating they met sometime during Season 6. However, when they meet for a drink, Lily and Barney are seen making up following their fight in The Mermaid Theory, which is followed by
Ted entering the bar wearing a dress, indicating that they met at the same night the events of Now We're Even.
Louis was seen as The Mother's boyfriend in The Time Travelers.
It is revealed that the Mother knew Mitch, the Naked Man, from music lessons prior to the series. He also attempts the Naked Man on her unsuccessfully, establishing his 2/3 rule.
In 2008 it's shown that The Mother is reading "Worlds End" a book of which she lent Cindy in 2009 when Ted pointed it out when visiting her house in Girls Versus Suits.


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## cmontyburns (Nov 14, 2001)

Let me offer the completely original observation that Bays & Thomas hit a towering home run with casting Cristin Milioti. Wow, is she appealing. The final scene of her playing the ukelele was beautiful and sad.

I think it doesn't speak well for what the show has been doing creatively that it could shuffle all the main characters and story off to the side for an entire episode and they could go totally unmissed. The show is playing with something interesting and real in Marshall and Lilly, and I'm interested to see how that resolves, but that's all I really care to know more about. 

More like this one, please.


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## cmontyburns (Nov 14, 2001)

MarkofT said:


> [*]It is revealed that the Mother knew Mitch, the Naked Man, from music lessons prior to the series. He also attempts the Naked Man on her unsuccessfully, establishing his 2/3 rule.


"The Naked Man" is one of my favorite episodes of the series. So clever. I think they engaged in a bit of revisionist history to fit Mitch into this episode, though, as he was managing a CPK in the Naked Man episode.


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## cmontyburns (Nov 14, 2001)

dianebrat said:


> I'd go as far as saying that this may be one of their best episodes in the series.


I don't think it rises to that level. It's more that it stands out so sharply from most of what has gone on around it this season. And Milioti elevates it further.

But it was very good, no disagreement there.

ETA: Sepinwall's review gets at something that bugged me a bit. We've all asked his first question, but his second one is valid, too:



> But as I watched Cristin Milioti be so vulnerable, and charming, and funny, and as I saw the Mother blossom into something more than just a collection of tics that Ted Mosby is destined to find adorable, all I could think was A)Why did we have to wait so long for this? and B)Why did they have to squeeze it all into one episode?


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## Azlen (Nov 25, 2002)

I would have much preferred this season taking place after they met and have it be a combination of her getting to know Ted and blending into the group dynamics paired with flashbacks of their past near misses and overlaps.


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## rahnbo (Sep 12, 2010)

The could have started the season with this episode & it would have been perfect assuming the remaining episodes are on par.


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## Steveknj (Mar 10, 2003)

Azlen said:


> I would have much preferred this season taking place after they met and have it be a combination of her getting to know Ted and blending into the group dynamics paired with flashbacks of their past near misses and overlaps.


This is what I was hoping for actually. I know for many of us, the title was literal, but to me, that wouldn't have bent it too far.

That said, this was a wonderful episode. I agree with it being one of the best of the series. At it's best, HIMYM knew how to pull at your heartstrings. The best episodes were the ones where we got a glimpse of Ted moving toward meeting the mother, or Lily and Marshall struggles in their lives, or Barney and Robin's dance around and to each other. This one played right into that.

The more I think about this episode and how the rest of the season has gone, this should have been a 10 episode season at most. Then we wouldn't have needed all the silly filler.


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## Steveknj (Mar 10, 2003)

MarkofT said:


> Except you need to have seen *SOME OF* the previous episodes of the series to get most of what they showed in this one episode.


FYP.

The previous post talks about wasted episodes THIS season. And I agree. There were bits and pieces of most episodes that were important to the story, but much of it could have been told more succinctly in the context of few episodes with less filler. What we got were a lot of mediocre episodes with a tidbit of important information thrown in. I get why they had to do it this way (ratings of course), but it has made me impatient. Now that we are in the home stretch I hope we get a lot more substance (and more mother!) the rest of the way. I think there are three critical questions left to answer:

1) Lily and Marshall - what happens to their marriage? Subquestions: Does Lily go to Rome? Does Marshall stay and become a judge?

2) Do Barney and Robin go through with the wedding?

3) And of course, what are the circumstances that put the mother and Ted at the train station in Farhampton for their faithful meeting?


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## JLucPicard (Jul 8, 2004)

Steveknj said:


> FYP....
> 
> 3) And of course, what are the circumstances that put the mother and Ted at the train station in Farhampton for their *fateful* meeting?


FYP


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## Steveknj (Mar 10, 2003)

JLucPicard said:


> FYP


Yep. Although faithful might work too 

Just call me Norm Crosby

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norm_Crosby


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## jeff92k7 (Jan 18, 2006)

Okay...after watching, I agree that this was definitely the best episode this season. Really, my only complaint about it is that they crammed all that into one episode. At times, it felt rushed. I would have preferred to see those back stories spread out over at least a couple of episodes to flesh them out more rather than giving us a very fast overview of them.

Nonetheless, that's a minor complaint and I really enjoyed the episode.... from the redone opening sequence with the mother all the way to the song at the end that was so very beautiful.


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## LoadStar (Jul 24, 2001)

Gunnyman said:


> If they spin off a series starring the mother, I'm in.


That's not the plans at this time. The "spinoff" that they are planning, "How I Met Your Father," will be just a similarly styled show to "How I Met Your Mother" except from a female perspective. It will be an entirely new cast and unrelated to the "How I Met Your Mother" storyline. It's really not a spinoff at all, given that.


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## LooseWiring (Jan 6, 2003)

I sincerely hope that if there is a spinoff that they recast all of the roles except the mother. She is awesome. The rest just plain sucked.

Aside from the Naked Guy all of the supporting cast was very poorly acted.

The wife's song at the end was awesome. Ted should have, at the least, introduced herself to him.


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

LooseWiring said:


> I sincerely hope that if there is a spinoff that they recast all of the roles except the mother. She is awesome. The rest just plain sucked. Aside from the Naked Guy all of the supporting cast was very poorly acted. The wife's song at the end was awesome. Ted should have, at the least, introduced herself to him.


Much of the supporting cast was already in the show. They were cast for one or two episodes. Casting for regular for a series is different.


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## smak (Feb 11, 2000)

How competent producers could see how great she was from day one, and not rewrite the whole season is beyond me.

This has happened many times in many series before, they hire somebody for a quick one-off episode, or a small role, and they are so good, they make them regulars.

Or even a pretty big focal point of the show, like they did with Ben in Lost.

As for Barney and Robin, we've seen much later than this time period already I think, so I'm pretty sure they are going through with it.

-smak-


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

Admittedly dumb question -- was ANY of the footage actually old footage from previous episodes?

I think not, since it was basically doing the Rashomon thing -- showing you the same scene from a different perspective (and/or with more info).


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## Amnesia (Jan 30, 2005)

mattack said:


> Admittedly dumb question -- was ANY of the footage actually old footage from previous episodes?


I thought the scene in Mom and roomie's apt---where Ted kept on liking Mom's stuff---was the old version, up to where Mom comes out of her room...


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## Test (Dec 8, 2004)

mattack said:


> Admittedly dumb question -- was ANY of the footage actually old footage from previous episodes?
> 
> I think not, since it was basically doing the Rashomon thing -- showing you the same scene from a different perspective (and/or with more info).


I'm curious about this too. Sure some were from different angles and we saw the mothers face, but what about the scene where Ted comes in wearing a dress? Did a brunette really walk by Barney & Lily in the original scene?

Also, not sure if the rumored ending has been talked about in these threads (I think it has), but this episode makes me think it's true.


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## TAsunder (Aug 6, 2003)

Pretty good episode. Why would she want to date insufferable Ted though?


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## cmontyburns (Nov 14, 2001)

TAsunder said:


> Pretty good episode. Why would she want to date insufferable Ted though?


Heh, I think a question like that was playing around in my subconscious as I watched the ep.

Alan Sepinwall and Dan Fienberg briefly discussed the episode on the latest Firewall & Iceberg podcast. Fienberg was generally moderate on the episode (though he acknowledged that it is the best of a weak lot so far this season). He said one of his issues with it is that it set up the idea that the mother was with this perfect guy who did everything right, and now she's going to end up with Ted, "who's such a putz".

I had to chuckle -- that's basically right.


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## TAsunder (Aug 6, 2003)

Maybe in a surprise twist, she will end up with Marshall and Ted will marry Lily. That pairing makes more sense!


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## Johnny Dancing (Sep 3, 2000)

I have been skimming episodes all season. I keep wondering why Marshall is way from the rest of the cast on the road trip all season. I guess I know why he is doing the road trip in the show but not why in real life.

I am thinking he is on a movie set the road trip plot allows him to do his scenes off site on his own time.

Also... I missed a most episodes of the middle seasons and don't remember Lily as being so angry all the time. Maybe as she aged her angry scenes aren't cute anymore.


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

TAsunder said:


> Pretty good episode. Why would she want to date insufferable Ted though?


There were a few times she actually channelled Ted.

Anyway, never got the dump on Ted vibe that goes on here. He's okay.


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## cmontyburns (Nov 14, 2001)

TonyD79 said:


> There were a few times she actually channelled Ted.
> 
> Anyway, never got the dump on Ted vibe that goes on here. He's okay.


They haven't wrecked Ted as much as some other characters, in my view. Unfortunately, there have been times in the last few seasons where they've really played up how insufferable he can be (prissiness, faux intellectualism, etc.), and that has diminished the character and made it harder to root for him. Who would want to be with a cartoon like that? Fortunately, Ted's underlying goodness is more or less still there, and they can put him in sincere situations where it still comes out. (I compare this to, say, the Ross character on Friends, who the show so thoroughly ruined that when it put him back together with Rachel at the end -- an inevitable outcome -- it felt like the wrong thing to do. How could Rachel want to be with _this _Ross?)

They've turned Ted into a bit of a putz, yes, but he's still basically a good guy. Perhaps the issue actually arises from the other side: the mother, appealing as she is, may be too much a paragon to feel suited for anyone who isn't also one. And Ted never was that.


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## Steveknj (Mar 10, 2003)

cmontyburns said:


> They haven't wrecked Ted as much as some other characters, in my view. Unfortunately, there have been times in the last few seasons where they've really played up how insufferable he can be (prissiness, faux intellectualism, etc.), and that has diminished the character and made it harder to root for him. Who would want to be with a cartoon like that? Fortunately, Ted's underlying goodness is more or less still there, and they can put him in sincere situations where it still comes out. (I compare this to, say, the Ross character on Friends, who the show so thoroughly ruined that when it put him back together with Rachel at the end -- an inevitable outcome -- it felt like the wrong thing to do. How could Rachel want to be with _this _Ross?)
> 
> They've turned Ted into a bit of a putz, yes, but he's still basically a good guy. Perhaps the issue actually arises from the other side: the mother, appealing as she is, may be too much a paragon to feel suited for anyone who isn't also one. And Ted never was that.


Very well said and the comparison to Ross on Friends is spot on. Still, I think I'd rather spend time with Ted than Ross. I always kind of liked Ted at the beginning and I don't remember him being so pretentious the first couple of seasons. As what happens with a lot of these shows, the writers start playing up one particular trait of a character and that defines him. The Ted that narrates the show seems VERY different than the Ted that we've seen over the last few years. I like narrator Ted.


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## Ment (Mar 27, 2008)

Steveknj said:


> Very well said and the comparison to Ross on Friends is spot on. Still, I think I'd rather spend time with Ted than Ross. I always kind of liked Ted at the beginning and I don't remember him being so pretentious the first couple of seasons. As what happens with a lot of these shows, the writers start playing up one particular trait of a character and that defines him. The Ted that narrates the show seems VERY different than the Ted that we've seen over the last few years. I like narrator Ted.


This probably infects all the lovable losers in shows eventually: another one being Leonard - BBT, probably because we the audience who have some loser in all of us can't believe the opportunities the shows put in front of the characters that we don't experience in life and thus the continued same character flaws seemed forced. 'You dissed that hot girl AGAIN!'


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

cmontyburns said:


> They haven't wrecked Ted as much as some other characters, in my view. Unfortunately, there have been times in the last few seasons where they've really played up how insufferable he can be (prissiness, faux intellectualism, etc.), and that has diminished the character and made it harder to root for him. Who would want to be with a cartoon like that? Fortunately, Ted's underlying goodness is more or less still there, and they can put him in sincere situations where it still comes out. (I compare this to, say, the Ross character on Friends, who the show so thoroughly ruined that when it put him back together with Rachel at the end -- an inevitable outcome -- it felt like the wrong thing to do. How could Rachel want to be with this Ross?) They've turned Ted into a bit of a putz, yes, but he's still basically a good guy. Perhaps the issue actually arises from the other side: the mother, appealing as she is, may be too much a paragon to feel suited for anyone who isn't also one. And Ted never was that.


Thanks for trying. I still don't see it. Just seems like a normal person to me.


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## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

I definitely think Ted's been portrayed as a pretentious d-bag for much of the last several seasons, but I can still see the earnest, lovable guy from the first few seasons in there and hopefully he'll come out a bit more in these last handful of episodes. 

This episode was great. As most of the rest of you, I wish they would have stretched this over multiple episodes rather than cramming it into one.


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## Anubys (Jul 16, 2004)

Johnny Dancing said:


> Also... I missed a most episodes of the middle seasons and don't remember Lily as being so angry all the time. Maybe as she aged her angry scenes aren't cute anymore.


She's been married for a few years now and has a kid. Her constant anger seems normal to me!


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## aadam101 (Jul 15, 2002)

Is the mother doing any pilots for next season? I really really really enjoy her. I remember she did an episode of 30 Rock and she was great in that too.


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## alpacaboy (Oct 29, 2004)

Another "me too" - this episode was realllly good.
I liked the mother. The last scene was sweet but sad.
Gosh, I hope she finds someone.


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## Mr. Soze (Nov 2, 2002)

TonyD79 said:


> Thanks for trying. I still don't see it. Just seems like a normal person to me.


Sounds like you need friends with better lives.


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

Mr. Soze said:


> Sounds like you need friends with better lives.


Not at all.

In fact, I'd bet that "Ted is a ******" is primarily focused on this forum that creates its own reality, especially about this show.


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## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

TonyD79 said:


> Not at all. In fact, I'd bet that "Ted is a ******" is primarily focused on this forum that creates its own reality, especially about this show.


Bzzzzt. Wrong. I've read that sentiment from many TV critics. Just do a google search for "Ted Mosby ******" or "Ted Mosby dbag" or "Ted Mosby jerk" and you'll see all kinds of people, all across the internet, sharing that opinion.

At the beginning of the series, Ted was earnest and idealistic and he was easy to root for. As the show has progressed, we've come to realize that Ted is quirky and extremely particular and selfish and it's now very easy to see why his friends have found soul mates while he's remained single.


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## alpacaboy (Oct 29, 2004)

Okay, as long as this thread got bumped anyway...
I thought, could this episode really be as great as I remembered it being? So last night, I watched it again, and wow, it really does stand out as great. And this time through, the death of Max scene at the beginning was even more heartbreaking, knowing how deeply it affected her.


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

DevdogAZ said:


> Bzzzzt. Wrong. I've read that sentiment from many TV critics. Just do a google search for "Ted Mosby ******" or "Ted Mosby dbag" or "Ted Mosby jerk" and you'll see all kinds of people, all across the internet, sharing that opinion. At the beginning of the series, Ted was earnest and idealistic and he was easy to root for. As the show has progressed, we've come to realize that Ted is quirky and extremely particular and selfish and it's now very easy to see why his friends have found soul mates while he's remained single.


Whoopee. You can find anything on the Internet. That makes it right. Not gonna buy it. He fits into the realm of normal.

Selfish???? Really? Barney has been sooooo giving this entire time. There is a true ****** until they softened him recently. Oh, I get it. Ted isn't FUNNY like barney, so he's a ******.

Calling a normal guy a ****** says more about those who call him one than about him.


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## scandia101 (Oct 20, 2007)

TonyD79 said:


> Whoopee. You can find anything on the Internet. That makes it right. Not gonna buy it. He fits into the realm of normal.
> 
> Selfish???? Really? Barney has been sooooo giving this entire time. There is a true ****** until they softened him recently. Oh, I get it. Ted isn't FUNNY like barney, so he's a ******.
> 
> Calling a normal guy a ****** says more about those who call him one than about him.


Just marry the guy already


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## alpacaboy (Oct 29, 2004)

TonyD79 said:


> Selfish???? Really? Barney...


No. "Shellfish."


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## Steveknj (Mar 10, 2003)

TonyD79 said:


> Whoopee. You can find anything on the Internet. That makes it right. Not gonna buy it. He fits into the realm of normal.
> 
> Selfish???? Really? Barney has been sooooo giving this entire time. There is a true ****** until they softened him recently. Oh, I get it. Ted isn't FUNNY like barney, so he's a ******.
> 
> Calling a normal guy a ****** says more about those who call him one than about him.


I've heard it from friends and family who have never heard of this thread. I think there's a lot of thought toward this sentiment all over. DevdogAZ nailed it. The Ted we see now is not the same Ted we see the first couple of seasons. Nor is it Ted the narrator. But this is normal for pretty much ANY TV sitcom. They find a couple of key characteristics and emphasize it until it defines the character. I don't find Ted nearly as annoying as many here. I think he's still likable for the most part and I'm still rooting for him, but to not see his pretentious characteristics it kind of watching with blinders on.


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## TAsunder (Aug 6, 2003)

Barney is not the protagonist of the show. If he were, it would be a different show. The show is ostensibly about how Ted meets the love of his life. At times, the show makes it difficult to root for Ted.


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## smak (Feb 11, 2000)

Ted is something, I just don't think jerk or dbag is the correct term.

Pretentious is the most fitting word I think, but they emphasized it more in the middle of the show's run versus now.

-smak-


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## JYoung (Jan 16, 2002)

smak said:


> Ted is something, I just don't think jerk or dbag is the correct term.
> 
> Pretentious is the most fitting word I think, but they emphasized it more in the middle of the show's run versus now.
> 
> -smak-


The term "pretentious ******" comes to my mind when thinking about more recent Ted.


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## Mr. Soze (Nov 2, 2002)

TonyD79 said:


> Not at all.
> 
> In fact, I'd bet that "Ted is a ******" is primarily focused on this forum that creates its own reality, especially about this show.


Clearly I am not as clever/cute/funny as I like to think I am.  

I was making a reference to the new show coming on CBS after HIMYM .


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## scandia101 (Oct 20, 2007)

Mr. Soze said:


> Clearly I am not as clever/cute/funny as I like to think I am.
> 
> I was making a reference to the new show coming on CBS after HIMYM .


I got it when I read it


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## Neenahboy (Apr 8, 2004)

aadam101 said:


> Is the mother doing any pilots for next season? I really really really enjoy her. I remember she did an episode of 30 Rock and she was great in that too.


She's joining NBC's "A to Z," featuring Rashida Jones and Will McCormack: http://tvline.com/2014/02/12/a-to-z-cristin-milioti-nbc-comedy-series-cast/


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## aadam101 (Jul 15, 2002)

Neenahboy said:


> She's joining NBC's "A to Z," featuring Rashida Jones and Will McCormack: http://tvline.com/2014/02/12/a-to-z-cristin-milioti-nbc-comedy-series-cast/


Sounds like a great cast! Too bad it's on NBC.


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