Season 2, Episode 16: Stuff

Friends don’t let friends come see their crappy play!

Ted and Robin debate exes while Lily and Barney feud over a play she’s invited them to.

Ted & Robin- Future Ted explains that communication is important in a relationship, as is learning when to stop talking.  Ted pretends that he hasn’t dated anyone, but Robin insists that he just needs to not pretend.  She knows he’s dated other people.  But when he points out a girl at the bar that he made out with she is insulted and walks out.

Robin and Ted bring a dilemma to the group: do you keep things your ex leaves in your apartment and/or gives you?  Robin thinks Ted should just get rid of the stuff, but Ted says that it’s no big deal.  He says that the things he’s kept don’t remind him of the girls, but of the times and places he was when he got them.  But Robin says that whenever she sees anything in his apartment  she’s just going to compare herself the the girls he dated.  Lily sides with Robin, but Marshall sides with Ted.  Barney ultimately sides with Robin, because Ted’s apartment is too cluttered.  So Ted packs up everything in his apartment that an ex gave him.

Later Ted and Robin go up to his apartment and it’s fairly bare.  It turns out most of his stuff was given to him by old girlfriends.  Future Ted says it should’ve ended there but the next day, he and Robin are walking her 5 dogs and Ted finds out they were all given to her by her ex-boyfriends.  And now all Ted can see are her exes, and he tells her it’s hypocritical.  They take it to the group who rules that Robin does not have to give up her dogs.

They apologize to each other, but Ted can’t help but be jealous.  So Robin tells Lily that she’s thinking about sending the dogs out to her Aunt’s farm upstate and Lily tells her the dogs will probably be much happier on a farm than in Robin’s apartment.

Ultimately, Robin decides to send her dogs to her Aunt’s at least for a few months.  But when she goes in Ted’s apartment she discovers that he didn't actually get rid of any of his stuff, it’s all back in his apartment.  They have a huge blow-out fight and finally decide to move in together.

Lily, Marshall & Barney- Lily’s friend asks her to be in a play so she asks everyone to come see it.  But Barney insists that they’re too old to do things like ask their friends for rides, ask their friends to help them move, and ask their friends to come see their crappy play. 

Future Ted explains that in New York there’s Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway, Homeless People Screaming the the Park, and then the Play Lily Was In.  They play is pretty bad, the four characters are Rage, Greed, Envy, and America (the father of all three), with Ted thrown in as Consumerism.  Three hours later it finally ends and everybody except Barney says it was great.  Lily says that friends support each other and if Barney were to be in a play she would sit through the whole thing and then compliment him after. 

The group goes to Barney one-man play entitled “Suck it Lily.”  Lily is determined to stay through the whole thing and say something nice afterwards.  The play starts and it is terrible, the first 40 minutes are Barney saying “moist” which is a word Lily hates, and then there’s 20 minutes of Barney shooting them with a water gun.  After that comes Barney as a robot, at which point people are leaving.  Then he pulls out the recorder and plays really obnoxious songs.  Finally, Lily stops him and apologizes for making him come to her play and says that she has nothing nice to say about his.  Barney tells them he was only getting warmed up so they end up staying and watching the rest.

At one point in his play, while he’s tap dancing while dressed like a robot, Marshall slaps him off his feet.  #2 for the slap bet!

The Mother- Yay!  Slap Bet is on!  I love Barney torturing them all with his play.  On the other hand, Robin and Ted are moving in together.  I tell you, it’s a disaster waiting to happen.