10 Reasons To Unbury ‘How I Met Your Mother’

Marshall and Barney are fighting, and it’s up to Lily and Robin to make them friends again using the power of binge drinking. This episode perfectly encapsulates what every college freshman has to learn the hard way — different types of alcohol result in a different types of drunk. Just remember to never give Marshall daiquiris.

Ted and Barney live out every naive partygoer’s dream of running their very own bar during a snowstorm. However, in their desperation to create the perfect drinking heaven, things at Puzzles get out of hand quickly, and the duo soon learn that owning a bar requires actual work. Why is their bar named Puzzles, you ask? That’s the puzzle.

Ted reunites with his pretentious college girlfriend, Karen (Laura Prepon), and the gang is anything but happy. After seeing Prepon play a self-centered, manipulative heartbreaker while dating Ted, we should have known better than to have ever fallen in love with her on Orange is the New Black.

Origin stories are always amazing, and this one is no exception. There’s confusion, deception, misremembering, the hot-crazy scale, Blah Blah, and college haircuts. But what makes this episode great is something that the show itself is so skilled at: showing how different characters remember different events. Plus, goth Lily is a sight to be seen.

By far the saddest entry on the list, but it had to be included. Marshall and Lily worry about their chances of having a baby, but the titular bad news is not what you would expect. Look out for the countdown throughout the episode, and keep an emergency tissue on hand.

One of the most memorable and quotable episodes in the show’s mythology. Barney and Marshall make a slap bet over a secret Robin is hiding, and we finally meet a certain Canadian pop star. Enough said.

This is one of those episodes that was good when it aired but oh-so-fun to rewatch, specifically because of Barney’s mother (Frances Conroy). Barney learns that his dad is not (spoiler!) in fact Bob Barker and that his mother has been telling him extravagant lies for years. With a parental record like that, no wonder Conroy’s a natural on “American Horror Story.”

Sick of being criticized for overthinking, Ted throws caution to the wind and decides to let drunk Ted take over. What follows is a smaller, yet still regrettable, version of The Hangover: a random hook-up, a sprained ankle, drunk dials, and, of course, a pineapple. This is an especially great one to watch if you’re trying to piece together your night through your own hangover.

In a world fueled by the Internet, Ted and his latest date attempt to do the unthinkable — not Google each other before going to dinner. Out of the many shows that have tried to capture the power of the virtual world, this episode is one of the more successful examples of how unlimited access to information warps our real-world relationships.

We learn the answer to one of the biggest questions in the series: Why is anyone friends with Barney? The answer is actually pretty sweet and fleshes out Ted and Barney’s deceivingly artificial friendship. We also get more insight into Barney’s shady private life, which is always fun.

[You can stream How I Met Your Mother on Netflix and Amazon Prime Instant Video.]

Kayla Cobb is a proud graduate of Clemson University and loves her cat and TV shows more than some people love their kids. You should really follow her on Twitter at @KaylCobb.

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