Episode Report Card Cindy McLennan: C | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Möbius Knicker Twist
By Cindy McLennan | Season 4 | Episode 20 | Aired on 04.13.2009
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.Barney tells Lily a joke that is only boy-funny, not girl-funny (per Ted and Marshall), and offends her so deeply she stops hanging with the gang. Obviously, the lovely and talented Ms. Hannigan's pre-baby time was running short and we needed a reason for her to be off our screens (where she is sorely missed) but the writers could have written a reason in the neighborhood of her character. I'll hit that in the weecap.
Ted's starting up his new architecture firm at home, which causes some friction between him and Robin. Ted hires an intern, PJ, to set up the office, design a website and brochures, and to guard the sanctity of his brainstorming hour. And Ted mentors him being like Ted. When Robin complains to Barney at MacLaren's, he's fully on Ted's side, until he learns PJ is male; then he's sorely disappointed in his own mentee.
Lay-offs are coming to GNB. Marshall's a hard worker, but Barney advises him to become a guy in their office, you know, like food guy, toy guy, YouTube guy and the like. After a few false starts (e.g. Eco-guy, which is bound to get you fired), Marshall decides to start a fantasy baseball league and becomes sports guy. However, managing the league involves more work and money than Marshall can handle.
Back at Ted's, tension between Robin and PJ escalates until they end up in bed together. PJ's performance (with Ted) goes downhill and Ted lets him go. Once he no longer works 10 feet from her bedroom, Robin loses interest and breaks it off with him. Ted hires PJ back. Robin takes PJ back.
Meanwhile, Barney is freaking that Robin's involved with PJ, but with Lily avoiding him, he has no one to talk to. He finally confesses to Marshall that he's in love with Robin. Like Lily didn't tell Marshall that ages ago! Barney needs Lily's mastery of manipulation to get PJ out of Ted's office and Robin's bed, so Marshall hires PJ as a paralegal. He administers the baseball fantasy league for Marshall, who keeps the sports guy tag, so he wins. PJ breaks it off with Robin and quits Ted's firm, so Barney wins. And getting away from Ted and Robin? I think PJ wins, too. I'll catch you on the flip side with the end tag and full weecap.
Discuss this episode in our forums, then see why vlogger Sean Crespo thinks HIMYM is just a modern-day Friends in No Prior Knowledge! Then check back for the full weecap!
Want more? The full recap starts right below!Marshall, Ted and Barney are laughing and enjoying themselves when Lily enters MacLaren's and sits next to Barney in the booth. Barney tells her he heard this great joke at work today, but Marshall and Ted try to talk him out of telling it to Lily. It's boy-funny, not a girl-funny, whatever that means. [Usually, it means horribly dirty, and offensive to women. - Zach] Barney rails that they're being sexists. Funny is funny and Lily is cool. They bicker back and forth for a moment, and finally Lily talks Barney into telling her the joke. "Lily, what's the difference between peanut butter and jam?" Ted can't look at them. Marshall covers his mouth and snickers. Barney looks to them and says, "See, it's funny?" Again, Ted says, "It's boy-funny," and Marshall warns, "She's not going to like it." Lily asks why they won't let her decide and then turns to Barney. "What's the difference between peanut butter and jam?" Saget!Ted narrates: "And then Barney said the punch line. To this day, it's still the dirtiest joke I've ever heard in my life, and no, I'm not going to say it." It's funny to hear that line come out of Bob Saget's mouth (Saget is the voice of future Ted, and hence my "Saget!Ted") since his standup is so very blue.
Anyhow, the camera zooms in on Barney's mouth, and although we see his lips move, there is no sound. Lily's nostrils flare. She grabs her purse and looks at Barney with no love in her eyes. "Yeah, I can't hang out with you any more." She leaves MacLaren's. Barney protests that it's a funny joke, but Lily never looks back. Saget!Ted narrates, "And we didn't see Lily for four weeks." And we don't see her at least for the rest of this episode, which I think throws off the chemistry. Badly. I'm so glad for the Hannigan-Denisof family and their new addition, but damn, I miss our girl. A couple of people in the forum wondered if that line meant Marshall didn't see Lily for four weeks, either. I think a couple of people in the forum are on the drugs. [Hey, the thought crossed my mind as well. - Z] Moving right along...
What? You want to know the joke? Well, I've heard dirtier (and Saget's said dirtier), but I've heard way funnier, too, as has my husband Scott, who was a boy the last time I checked, and didn't laugh. If Barney were here I'd make him mock up a dirty/funny scale a la the hot/crazy scale, to see if it was worth repeating here. But since he's fictional, and is not here, that's not going to happen. If you haven't yet figured out the joke, I'll note that the very first post in the episode thread has the punch line. TWoP Barnes must be so proud of her charges -- who I do think are on the drugs.
And don't look at me like that, MrCoffeeNerves. Caffeine is totally a drug. One of my favorites.