For the catchphrase commonly used by Barney, see Challenge Accepted (catchphrase).

“Challenge Accepted”
←	HIMYM episode 6x24 (136)	→
First aired: May 16, 2011
Director: Pamela Fryman
Writer: Carter Bays Craig Thomas
Images (27)

Robin and Barney bond when they stop Ted from getting back together with an ex (until they run into Nora), and Marshall and Lily watch a ticking clock as he fears that he soon will be the victim of food poisoning.

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 Reception 8 References 9 External Links

RecapEdit

Due to Marshall feeling down, Lily decides to get them both some of their favorite soup from the Blue Bowl, a local soup-ery. But shortly after eating it, Lily gets sick and begins throwing up. Desperate to stop Marshall from eating any, after an attempt to call him, she runs from the school to meet him at the house. She stops him just before he takes a bite... of his third bowl.

Marshall has an important business meeting with a prospective employer and has a countdown set to when he'll begin vomiting as well. While at the meeting, he resists vomiting, despite a plethora of disgusting images and stories that the employer tells. Eventually, he gives up and tells the employer he is set to vomit soon and runs out of the room.

Discouraged that he probably blew his chance at his dream job, he comes home and just wants to get some rest before his "countdown" finishes. He awakes in the morning to find out that he hadn't gotten sick at all; only then strikes the fact, Lily is actually pregnant, and had morning sickness.

Meanwhile, Barney and Ted are arguing about who is going to push the button to demolish the Arcadian. Just

then, he is made in charge of deciding what bulb to choose for the 50,000 bulbs that are to be used in the new GNB headquarters. Unable to make a decision on what light bulb to use and searching for help desperately, he runs into Zoey who is down on her luck following their breakup. She asks him if he wants to get coffee, and subsequently tells him she wants to get back together. He decides to meet with her and buys her an orchid, like he first did for her. However, despite arriving half an hour ahead of Barney and Robin, Ted is held up as he wants to give the "perfect orchid" and wastes half an hour searching for it. Barney and Robin stop him before he can meet Zoey and

convince him not to do so because it is a bad idea. So he passes the flower to an old lady and asks her to give it to the blonde girl sitting in the cafe but a random blonde receives the flower by mistake.

Soon after, Barney meets Nora again, and seems to desire reconciliation. Robin looks at the two longingly, implying unresolved feelings for Barney.

Finally, the scene cuts to the wedding that Ted is the best man at. He is called by Lily to help the groom, and the groom is revealed to be Barney.

ContinuityEdit

• Lily and Marshall's wedding photo, taken in Something Blue and earlier seen in Say Cheese, is seen behind their telephone.
• Ted tricks the kids by saying that's how he met the mother. He plays a similar trick in Belly Full of Turkey.
• When Marshall comes back from his interview, Lily is seen with the Marshallpillow stand-in from Desperation Day.
• Lily claims she understands subway conductors, as she did in Subway Wars.
• Barney is known for accepting challenges nobody challenged him to.
• In Big Days, Barney complains that the season of sundresses would be over.
• Lily introduces a new class pet guinea pig, Mr. Buttons 2, after Mr. Buttons 1 (and its fate) is mentioned by Barney in A Change of Heart.
• Barney mentions his "New is always better" rule. It was first mentioned in Architect of Destruction.
• Ted nervously scratches the label off his beer, which he did in Big Days.
• The muffled talking from Ted is the same from when Barney ignored Nora and Lily in A Change of Heart.
• "Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp (Let It Roll)" by George Harrison also is played in season's opener Big Days.
• Barney's wedding is also shown in Big Days, The Best Man, The Magician's Code - Part Two, and Farhampton.

GalleryEdit

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

Memorable QuotesEdit

Lily:

Ted can really go on about a bitch.

---

Barney:

New is always better.

---

Ted:	Do you know how many people it takes to replace 50,000 light bulbs?
Barney:	Are these people Irish, Polish, blondes... What are we dealing with here?

---

Barney:

That is going to be legend...wait for it... dary adjacent. Legendary adjacent!

---

Marshall:

Lily, this year, this nasty schoolyard bully of a year will not stop punching me in the face. How did we kick off 2011? My dad died. And now after five months of unemployment, I just blew my dream job. The good news is, in a few seconds, I'm gonna start heaving my guts out because that's what life is for me now: just losing what's inside until I'm just empty.

---

Notes and TriviaEdit

Goofs and ErrorsEdit

• Ted left his phone in the bar, but later called Lily. This could be explained away by saying he used a public phone, however this was not shown during the episode.
• When Lily threw up on the class pet cage in school the cage can be seen clean in the next shot.
• In Disaster Averted, it is revealed that Marshall and Lily's child was conceived in Barney's bathroom during the hurricane. This episode takes place before the hurricane, and therefore Lily could not be pregnant.

Allusions and Outside ReferencesEdit

MusicEdit

• Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp (Let it roll) - George Harrison makes a return in the wedding scene.

Other NotesEdit

• When shown from a distance, The Arcadian is recognizable as a set from the show, Bones.

GuestsEdit

• Jennifer Morrison - Zoey Pierson
• Bob Odenkirk - Arthur Hobbs
• Nazanin Boniadi - Nora
• Marshall Manesh - Ranjit
• Chi McBride - Rod
• Dave Foley - Mr. Bloom
• Breanna Yde - Little Girl
• Bette Rae - Mrs. Berkelheimer
• Kyle S. More - Hipster Dude

ReceptionEdit

This episode premiered to 7.15 million viewers.^[1]
Donna Bowman at the A.V. Club gave the episode a B.^[2]
Angel Cohn at Television Without Pity gave the episode a C.^[3]
Robert Canning at IGN gave the episode a 7 out of 10.^[4]

References Edit

External LinksEdit

• Challenge Accepted at the English Wikipedia
• Challenge Accepted at CBS Press Express
• Challenge Accepted at the Internet Movie Database
• Challenge Accepted at TV.com

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