Doppelgangers
Comments0- For more information on doppelgangers, see The Five Doppelgangers.
| “Doppelgangers” | ||
| → | ||
| ||
| First aired: May 24, 2010 | ||
| Director: Pamela Fryman | ||
| Writer: Carter Bays Craig Thomas | ||
| Barney's Blog | ||
Marshall and Lily spot Barney's doppelganger, fulfilling the requirements they set to start trying to have a baby. Robin is offered a better job in Chicago, and is in a dilemma about what to do.
Contents |
Recap
Edit
Although Marshall is ready to have a baby, Lily is not, so they reach a compromise: they make a pact to start trying to have a baby once they finally see Barney's doppelgänger. One day, they finally spot Barney's doppelgänger, who appears in the form of a brunette cab driver. When talking about how Barney looks better as a blonde (in the absence of Barney), the gang convinces Ted to dye his hair blonde. Marshall later spots Barney's doppelgänger again, and is about to thank him, but finds out it is only Barney's tactic to pick up women from the UN headquarters and sleep with them, to complete his list of sleeping with at least one woman from every country on the planet. However, Marshall doesn't tell Lily this as she is finally ready, but she finds out from Barney when she and Marshall are about to conceive a baby.
Robin finally gets an offer for her dream job as lead anchor at rival station WNKW. However, she eventually decides to give it up as it requires her to move to Chicago and she wants to stay in New York for the sake of her relationship with Don. Having nearly had to deal with Robin's departure, Barney realizes that the addition of a baby to the gang would not be that bad after all, and dresses up as an Estonian street performer in order to convince Lily that the fifth doppelgänger has appeared. Lily and Marshall see through his act, but thank him for the gesture, assuring him that he will be a part of their family.
Robin is disappointed when Don tells her that he accepted the WNKW job. Heart-broken that Don was not willing to do the same for her, she breaks up with him and moves back to The apartment. Ted tells her that although they have all been searching for their doppelgängers, things have changed so much in the five years since they first met that the five of them are now, in fact, doppelgängers of their own selves. Ted comforts Robin by saying she has become more courageous and that doppelgänger Robin is 'amazing'. They nearly make out, but Robin bursts out in laughter when she takes off his cap and sees his blond hair again.
Four months later, Lily sees a street vendor selling pretzels who bears an uncanny resemblance to Barney and gathers the rest of the gang to witness the doppelganger, but they found out that the vendor looks nothing like Barney. Just as Barney is about to protest, Marshall telepathically stops him. They realize that one only sees what one wants to see, when one wants to see it, and know that Lily is finally ready to have kids.
ContinuityEdit
- The show has a running joke that five doppelgängers exist for the main cast. Prior to this episode, we have seen: Stripper Lily, Mustache Marshall, Lesbian Robin, and Mexican Wrestler Ted.
- The pretzel vendor does not qualify as Barney's doppelgänger, since Barney's actual doppelganger is Dr. John Stangel seen in Bad News.
- In Robots Versus Wrestlers, Lily tells Marshall that when they see the final doppelganger (Barney's), that will be a sign that they need to start trying to have a baby.
- Telepathic conversations taking place between members of the group were also used in Mary the Paralegal, Bachelor Party, Three Days of Snow, Shelter Island, and Murtaugh.
- The gang's issue with Ted "pulling off" certain styles was first explicatively highlighted in Everything Must Go, with his red cowboy boots. In other episodes, it has included an old shirt, how he does his hair and his goatee.
- The episode flashes back to "fireworks kiss" of Robin and Don's Super Date in Of Course.
- Don mentions having given up on "pants", referring to the time that he didn't wear them during his first broadcast with Robin in Last Cigarette Ever.
- Towards the end, the episode flashes back to the very beginning, the series Pilot, showing Marshall and Lily after their first engagement, the flashback to how Ted met Barney, Ted meeting Robin across the crowded bar, and to a scene in Definitions with Barney and Robin's first public appearance as a couple.
- Marshall uses a variation on his phrase "Lawyered" in this episode; when he and Lily are talking about what the universe wants and they see Barney's dopplegänger, he says "Universed".
- Lily quotes Not a Father's Day when she says "Marshall Eriksen, put a baby in my belly".
- Ted and Barney bring up "New is Always Better" again.
GalleryEdit
- For a listing of all images on the wiki tagged as being from this episode, see Category:Doppelgangers images.
Memorable QuotesEdit
| Don: | Put yourself in my shoes. Can you imagine what it's like to have the phone ring and it's your dream job on the other end? |
| Robin: | Yes, I can. Good luck in Chicago, Don. |
Notes and TriviaEdit
Goofs and ErrorsEdit
- In Something Blue, Barney claims to have slept with an Argentinian exchange student. However on his map of the world, there is no tick over Argentina.
- In Arrivederci, Fiero, Barney reveals that he had never learned to drive. Ted makes a brief attempt to teach Barney without success. However, Barney drives a cab around with ease as a ploy to pick-up women, despite the fact that there was no later mention of him learning how to drive. Barney is also shown driving in As Fast As She Can.
- Barney revealed he had never learned to drive in a flashback. Since then he could have learnt to drive and he drove on more than one occasion since then (speeding tickets, moving truck).
- The flashback from the last episode had a laugh track, but in the actual episode, there was no laughing.
- Ted mentions that a senior drowned while he was on lifeguard duty years ago. However, in The Possimpible, Ted's resume states that while he was a lifeguard he had "0 fatalities."
- Drowning doesn't necessarily mean death. The person could have drowned but just require medical aid and resuscitation. Actual definition of drowning according to the WHO "Drowning is the process of experiencing respiratory impairment from submersion/immersion in liquid". (Still it's bad for lifeguards to allow swimmers to drown even if there are no fatalities resulting from that)
Allusions and Outside ReferencesEdit
- Among some of the names the group calls Blond Ted are Billy Idol, Slim Shady, Brigitte Nielsen, Dolph Lundgren and Ellen DeGeneres. Lundgren and Nielsen were mentioned as an homage to their roles in Rocky IV.
- Ted uses the Washington Generals and the Harlem Globetrotters as a metaphor for Robin's career and love life.
- Barney spoofs Jules Verne's book, Around The World In Eighty Days, with him getting "around the world in 180 lays".
MusicEdit
- Lifesize - A Fine Frenzy
- Hungarian Dance No. 5 - Johannes Brahms, when Barney talks about leasing a cab to get together with foreign chicks
Other NotesEdit
GuestsEdit
- Benjamin Koldyke - Don Frank
- Bonnie Bailey-Reed - Flo
- Brianna Belladonna - Petra
- Brian Huskey - Sal
- Bette Rae - Margaret
- Mina Kim - Korean Woman
ReceptionEdit
Donna Bowman of The AV Club gave the episode a B rating. [1]
Amanda Sloane Murray of IGN gave the episode a rating of 8.9 out of 10. [2]
Cindy McLennan of Television Without Pity gave the episode a C+ rating. [3]
References Edit
External LinksEdit
- Doppelgangers at the English Wikipedia
- Doppelgangers at the Internet Movie Database
- Doppelgangers at TV.com
- Doppelgangers at Spoiler TV
| ← Previous episode The Wedding Bride | Doppelgangers (all episodes) | Next episode → Big Days
|
Start a Discussion Discussions about Doppelgangers
You can find discussions about everything related to this wiki on How I Met Your Mother Wiki Forum!
