Episode Report Card Cindy McLennan: A- | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad
By Cindy McLennan | Season 4 | Episode 9 | Aired on 11.24.2008
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.The goat makes a cameo and naked Neil Patrick Harris makes the night, as we learn Super Canadian is no match for the Naked Man.
Saget!Ted opens the episode by telling his kids that everyone has theories about break-up recovery, but what works for him is getting back in the game. Current-day Ted meets a pretty woman named Vicky (how many does that make?) and finally works up the courage to ask her out.
Ted returns home from work to find Robin's latest date -- Naked Man -- sitting starkers on his couch while Robin is out on the front stoop, talking on her cell. Naked Man explains that since he hasn't a chance in Hell with Robin, he's trying the Hail Mary of first dates that will never see a second. He stripped while Robin was out of the room, on the off chance that she'd sleep with him just because he's naked. He guarantees an incredulous Ted a success rate of two out of three attempts.
When the gang finds out Naked Man's bested their Super Canadian, they get into a deep discussion about this new ploy. Robin denies she slept with Naked Man just because he was naked. Marshall finds the whole thing offensive, calls her a slut, and says love is the only reason to have sex. Lily counters there have to be at least 50 reasons to have sex and begins composing a list with the help of her friends, particularly Barney.
Inspired by Naked Man, Barney tries to talk Ted into "suiting down" for his upcoming date with Vicky. He picks up a girl at MacLaren's so he can try out the Naked Man plan on her while Ted tries it on Vicky, but Ted doesn't want to mess things up. Meanwhile, Super Canadian sets up another date with Naked Man, just to prove to her friends that she's neither a dupe nor a slut.
As Lily works on her list, Marshall grows more offended, so she addresses this with the never-fail Naked Woman approach. Vicky turns out to be so very much not Ted's type, so Ted decides to try out the Naked Man strategy for the Hell of it, and it works. Barney already is the Barney-type, so he tries out the Naked Man strategy for the sex of it, and it nearly gets him arrested. He wanders the streets of New York suited up like it's his birthday.
Naked Man sees right through Robin's fooling-herself follow-up date with him, but accompanies her (clothed, thank goodness) to MacLaren's, so she can continue to fool her friends. When Marshall retracts his slut assessment of her, Super Canadian allows Naked Man to live to lay another day, and turns him loose on the unsuspecting women of Gotham. Oh, Robin! Was there Kryptonite in your Tim Bits?
Discuss this episode in our forums, then see what vlogger Sean Crespo thinks about HIMYM when he has No Prior Knowledge!
Want more? The full recap starts right below!The goat has a cameo in a flash-forward, and naked Neil Patrick Harris makes the night, as we learn Super Canadian is no match for "The Naked Man." If they'd managed to refer to "Slapsgiving" in this wonderfully silly episode, it would have gotten an A+.
Saget!Ted opens the episode by telling his kids (who make an appearance) that everyone has theories about break-up recovery time. Lily says it takes half the length of the relationship. Marshall says to give it a week for every month you were together. Going by either of those theories, should Ted even remember Stella? Robin's theory is less flexible: "Exactly 10,000 drinks, however long that takes." Does that allow for any detox periods in between? Barney's more philosophical. "You can't measure something like this in time. There's a series of steps... from her bed to the front door. Bam! Out of there! Nexxxxxt!" Saget!Ted thinks you start to recover when you meet the person who gets you back in the game -- so tonight's episode is less How I Met Your Mother, and more How I Met the Person Who Got Me Back in the Game So That I Could Meet Your Mother Eventually, Unless You Were Hatched; I Really Don't Remember Anymore, Go Clean Your Room. Or, How Ted Got His Groove Back...
And so, current-day Ted meets a pretty woman named Vicky (how many does that make?) on the elevator at work. They catch one another's eyes from the start. Saget!Ted lectures that you don't jump into these things; you dip a toe in. Each day, they dress a little more nicely (or in Vicky's case, more revealingly, and in Ted's case, less like it's been three weeks since he did laundry). Saget!Ted notes that eventually, you're ready to wade in -- slowly. Of course Saget!Ted knows that, because current day Ted learned it for him, the hard way. His first real words to Vicky are a confession that he was left at the altar a month prior, which Saget!Ted sums up as a "cannonball." Current day Ted says, "It was a complete disaster. Ever since then I haven't even been able to look at another woman -- except for the old lady on the subway who break-dances for nickels. I -- I don't look at her that way; I just look at her as an old lady -- break-dancing. And she is good. I'm going to give her a dollar next time." Vicky stares at the elevator ceiling, as she thinks, "Great choice, Vicky. You just had to wear your brown camisole to work for elevator guy's benefit. Couldn't even wear a blazer? Oh, no. Now Creed Bratton's going to be leering at you all day, and the other women in the office will hate you more than they already do, meanwhile elevator guy is a Tuh-rain Wreck!" Ted seems to read her mind, so he starts over. "Hey, let's pretend I just said this: 'These elevator rides have been the highlight of my week, and I'd love to see you again, Friday night, not in the elevator, at a restaurant -- a nice one.' What do you say?" Vicky says, "Yes." She must be really nice, but not as nice as our...