The Rough Patch (9 Nov. 2009)

After Barney and Robin hit a rough patch in their relationship, Lily devises the perfect plan to break them up, calling in help from Robin's famous friend, Alan Thicke.

Director:

Pamela Fryman

Writers:

Carter Bays (creator), Craig Thomas (creator),

Stars:

Josh Radnor, Jason Segel, Cobie Smulders

Cast

Episode cast overview:
Josh Radnor	...	Ted Mosby
Jason Segel	...	Marshall Eriksen
Cobie Smulders	...	Robin Scherbatsky
Neil Patrick Harris	...	Barney Stinson
Alyson Hannigan	...	Lily Aldrin
Alan Thicke	...	Himself
Lyndsy Fonseca	...	Daughter
David Henrie	...	Son
April Bowlby	...	Meg
Matt Jones	...	Pizza Guy
Whit Hertford	...	Lost in Space Robot

Storyline

Although Robin and Barney are outwardly happy about their relationship, Ted believes that they in fact are miserable. He believes an old message from Barney via an old porn videotape and the fact of both Robin and Barney letting their appearances go (Barney who is overeating and Robin who is looking like an old woman) are cries for help in wanting and needing to break-up. Marshall and Lily however believe that as with any couple, they are just going through a rough patch, one that they can weather. But when Marshall sees what Ted sees, they go into cahoots with each other to break them up. When their plan goes horrible awry, Lily, the master of orchestrating break-ups without the couple knowing what hit them, feels she has to come and fix the mess Ted and Marshall created. Lily's masterpiece as she considers it involves Robin's old friend Alan Thicke, one of Barney's old girlfriends, a stormtrooper and a bunch of dirty dishes. Will Lily's old magic do the trick?

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 November 2009 (USA)

Filming Locations:

20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bays Thomas Productions, 20th Century Fox Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Barney Stinson: Hello, Ted. If you're watching this tape - and I knew that you would - It means you have my porn collection, and that means either I am dead, or in a relationship. If I'm dead, I need you to take me to the Hamptons and recreate "Weekend at Bernie's". I want to dance. I want to have sex with a young woman. I want to go skiing. If, on the other hand, I'm in a relationship, then for the love of God... get me out of it!

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Connections

References True Grit (1969)

User Reviews

Finally back to normal!

This is not one of the best ever episodes of How I Met Your Mother, but definitely the top of the list of season 5. It wasn't the storyline, creative dialog, or a fantastic episode all together, but the ending is the best ending to an episode this season, by far.

The storyline is decent and there are good lines in this episode, but Barney becoming the Barnacle again and prowling on every female in Manhatten again is so relieving. Marshall, Lily, and Ted were all good, but the most important characters in this episode were Robin and Barney and its fantastic to see the show back to its legen- wait for it...-dary self!!