“Baby Talk”
←	HIMYM episode 6x06 (118)	→
First aired: October 25, 2010
Director: Pamela Fryman
Writer: Joe Kelly
Barney's Blog
Images (15)

Marshall and Lily worry a lot about baby names and genders. Robin can't stand her new co-host and Ted makes things worse when he dates her. Barney accepts another challenge.

Contents 1 Recap 2 Continuity 3 Gallery 4 Memorable Quotes 5 Notes and Trivia 5.1 Goofs and Errors 5.2 Allusions and Outside References 5.3 Music 5.4 Other Notes 6 Guests 7 Podcast 8 Reception 9 References 10 External Links

RecapEdit

Marshall and Lily visit their friends Stuart and Claudia, who have just had a baby girl. Stuart and Claudia are having trouble agreeing on a baby name and that causes Marshall and Lily thinking about baby names of their own.

Lily shoots down many of the names off of Marshall's list recounting stories of her worst students. Marshall then shoots down Lily's suggestions of Tara (recounting how he and his friends used to pine for a hot girl named Tara in high school) and Ester (a performer at the Lusty Leopard). Marshall confers with Ted privately who points out that Marshall has only boys' names on his list. Marshall admits that he is terrified of having a daughter because he thinks about what it would be like to be the father of girls like Ester and Tara. He even fears that his stripper daughter will date an aging Barney.

Robin says they shouldn't name their daughter Becky. Robin is very frustrated with her childish new co-anchor at Come On, Get Up New York! Robin complains that Becky uses baby talk and points out how ridiculous it is that guys find it sweet and says that a guy wouldn't be able to use it to pick up a woman. Barney accepts this as a challenge. However, he soon realizes that this challenge may be beyond his abilities and he gives up.

Ted exacerbates the problem by admitting that he finds Becky charming and he begins to date her to Robin's disgust. Ted explains that dating Becky is nice because she makes him feel needed, something Robin didn't do when he dated her. Startled by this revelation, Robin shows up at Barney's and asks him to weigh in. Barney assures Robin that her independence and lack of neediness is one of the things he liked most about her. He then requests that Robin help her get rid of a woman in his apartment. Finally able to succeed in his challenge, Barney now needs help getting rid of her. Robin grabs Barney's katana and takes care of it.

Marshall, still concerned about having a girl asks his parents, Marvin Sr. and Judy, for advice. Marvin Sr. confides to Marshall that the reason the Eriksen line is male-dominated is because of ancient Viking traditions. So, in the bathroom before having sex with Lily, Marshall consumes pickled herring, and, after fearfully picturing a pregnant daughter marrying Barney in a strip club, submerges his manhood in ice water.

As Marshall lays down with Lily, being careful to face her north, Lily calls him out on his strange behavior and accuses him of trying to make a boy. Spotting the lemons by the side of the bed (which his father claimed were "baby-girl fertilizer"), Marshall realizes that Lily was trying to make a girl herself.

Marshall and Lily visit Stuart and Claudia again. The couple explain how they finally decided on a name, Esther. Later, in bed, Marshall and Lily realize how silly they were being and concede that they just want a happy healthy baby. They agree on a gender-neutral name: "Jamie". That is until Lily rejects it because of a troublemaker in her class named Jamie.

Ted finally breaks up with Becky: After taking her to the park and buying her ice cream, he bends down to tie her shoe. Then he notices nearby another man tying the shoelace for his young daughter. Suddenly finding his relationship with Becky uncomfortable, Ted declares they are done and walks off.

ContinuityEdit

• In a flashback, it's shown that Rob, one of Lily's kindergarten students, was the one who put the purple hand print on her shirt in the Pilot.
• Marshall is previously shown sporting a rat-tail in his youth in The Window and Hooked.
• Claudia jokes about Stuart holding onto and never letting go of vodka. In Intervention, an intervention was held for Stuart in an attempt to stop him drinking.
• Marshall and Lily are both concerned over the gender of their future child, as Marshall wants a boy and Lily wants a girl. In Dowisetrepla, when fantasising about raising a family, Marshall imagined himself having only sons, and Lily imagined herself having only daughters. In Last Cigarette Ever, Future Ted reveals that Marshall and Lily will eventually have a son.
• Marshall and Lily's son's full name is Marvin Wait-For-It Eriksen.
• The Eriksen's tendency to produce large, heavy babies was previously mentioned in Belly Full of Turkey, Not a Father's Day, Jenkins and Home Wreckers.
• Robin wears a necklace with a handgun pendant, reflecting her fondness for firearms.

GalleryEdit

For a listing of all images on the wiki tagged as being from this episode, see Category:Baby Talk images.

Memorable QuotesEdit

Marshall:	I don't want a girl, I just want a little boy!
Ted:	It's not what it sounds like, folks.

---

Robin:	Ted, of all the women in New York, you had to go out with an eight-year-old girl?
Ted:	Not what it sounds like, folks.

---

Barney:

You're the least needy woman I've ever met. That's awesome. I mean, no guy's going to say "Who's your daddy?" to Robin Scherbatsky. You're your own daddy. And mommy. And weird survivalist uncle who lives in a cabin with a shotgun blaming stuff on the government. And that is what makes you the most amazing, strong, independent woman I've ever banged.

—Barney assures Robin her lack of neediness is nothing to ashamed of.

---

Marshall:	How come the creepy kid in a horror movie is always a girl? Or twin girls, who speak in unison.
Lily:	What about Chucky?
Marshall:	A, he was a doll. B, he was possessed by an adult serial killer, and C, how could you bring up Chucky right before bed?!

---

Marshall:	Hey, Barney, that prime rib was surprisingly good, but it's ten thirty in the morning I don't really need to see a lady get naked and dance.
Barney:	Oh Esther gets naked, but she doesn't dance... [offscreen, we hear the sound of a balloon being blown up and tied at the end, it is implied that Esther performed this act using only her vagina. We then see a stack of cards being shot at Marshall and Barney, one of the cards lands on Barney's forehead] That WAS my card!

---

Robin:	[at her newsdesk] Members of the G-8 convened today in Vienna to discuss plans to fight climate change, by which- [Becky playfully taps Robin on the shoulder] What?
Becky:	Ask me what I did yesterday.
Robin:	Hey, Becky. Becky, this is our news segment, okay? Nobody cares what you did yesterday.
Mike:	Lighten up Robin. [turns to Becky] What'd you do sweetheart?
Robin:	Mike?
Becky:	[camera pans to Becky] Well, I'm new in town and don't know many people but yesterday I met the sweetest man who took me on a tour of the city. [whispers] Guys, New York is kinda cool.
Robin:	Okay, back to the G-8 conference. Hello? Mike? Can I get in the shot? [camera shakes from side to side indicating that Mike is saying "no"] Fantastic.
Becky:	Then, this cutie patootie took me to this bar called MacLaren's right underneath his apartment.
Robin:	Wait. Did you go out with Ted Mosby?
Becky:	Yes!Guys, I went out with Robin's roommate. I saw her bedroom. [whispers] She's a messy Bessie.
Robin:	[camera goes back to Robin] In other news, later today a Manhattan architect gets punched in the throat.
Ted:	[cuts to Ted at McLaren's holding his throat] OW!

---

Notes and TriviaEdit

Goofs and ErrorsEdit

• In flashbacks of the time when Ted and Robin dated, Robin is shown to have the same hairstyle she has now (wavy with bangs). In Season 2, Robin had straight hair and no bangs.
• In flashbacks when Marshall went to high school, the school has a flag of Quebec in front of the school.

Allusions and Outside ReferencesEdit

• The video for the song "Jeremy" by Pearl Jam is referenced in the episode in a flashback about a boy named Jeremy.
• Marshall suggests baby names LeBron, Shaquille, Hakeem, and Dikembe, all names of famous black basketball players: LeBron James, Shaquille O'Neal, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Dikembe Mutombo.
• Lily says to Marshall, "You're writing checks my vagina can't cash," a reworking of an oft-quoted line from Top Gun. The original line is, "Son, your ego is writing checks your body can't cash."
• The song that Marshall and his high school friends sing to the hot girl Tara uses the melody of song "End of the Road" by popular 90s R&B group Boyz II Men. Marshall was singing bass and holding a cane like Michael McCary from the group.
• The movie Kill Bill is referenced in the scene when Robin grabs Barney's katana.

MusicEdit

• The iconic theme from Psycho is played in the short scene where Lily is stabbed in her leg with a pencil.

Other NotesEdit

• Lily wanted to name her daughter Tara which is the name of Willow's lover in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

GuestsEdit

• Laura Bell Bundy - Becky
• Matt Boren - Stuart
• Virginia Williams - Claudia
• Bill Fagerbakke - Marvin Eriksen Sr.
• Suzie Plakson - Judy Eriksen
• Ron Nicolosi - Mike
• Emily Wilson - Marshall's Daughter
• Jadon Sand - Rob
• Ashwyn Bagga - Johnny
• Bruce Merkle - Michael
• Payson Lewis - Morris
• Ryan Powers - Marc
• Mikaela Hoover - Stacey

Podcast Edit

How I Met Your Mother - 'Baby Talk' Podcast(16:00)
53 views

Featuring an interview with Joe Kelly and guest star Laura Bell Bundy.

ReceptionEdit

This episode premiered to 8.292 million viewers. ^[1]
Donna Bowman at the AV Club gave the episode a B⁺. ^[2]
DeAnn Welker at Television Without Pity gave the episode a A^-. ^[3]
Robert Canning at IGN gave the episode an 7.5 out of 10. ^[4]

ReferencesEdit

External LinksEdit

• Baby Talk at the English Wikipedia
• Baby Talk at the Internet Movie Database
• Baby Talk at TV.com
• Baby Talk at CBS Press Express.

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