How I Met Your Mother Wiki
Register
Advertisement
How I Met Your Mother Wiki


Last Words
HIMYM episode 6x14 (126)
LastWordsPromo1
First aired:
January 17, 2011
Director:
Pamela Fryman
Writer:
Carter Bays
Craig Thomas

Images (4)

The gang console Marshall as he returns to Minnesota upon learning of his father's death, and reflect on what it would be like if their fathers died.


Recap[]

Following the death of Marshall's dad, Marvin Eriksen Sr., the entire gang travel to St. Cloud, Minnesota with him to attend his dad's funeral. Ted wants to comfort his best friend, but finds himself standing around feeling useless, unsure what to do or say. Lily is in the same situation as Ted, but Robin, who has been to a couple of funerals in the past, has declared herself "vice girl." Whatever Marshall may need to get through the day, (alcohol, cigarettes, fireworks, etc.) she's got with her in her purse to give to him.

After seeing Judy Eriksen, who hasn't slept or eaten in two days, bustling around the room, Lily decides her role can be to take care of Judy, in spite of them not getting along. Barney decides that his and Ted's role can be to make Marshall laugh, by showing him internet footage of a guy getting hit in the nuts, which is the one thing that always makes him laugh.

Marshall soon enters the room, complaining that he forgot his phone charger. However, Robin has a spare one in her purse, proving that she really does have everything Marshall might need on her. Meanwhile, the gang overhear Judy talking to the minister, thanking him for leading the funeral services later. However, the minister apologizes as he won't be able to attend the ceremony, but leaves them in the hands of his reverend son, Trey.

Marshall turns to the gang and reveals that Trey was the toughest bully in school and terrorized him growing up. In an attempt to make him laugh, Barney and Ted show him one of their internet videos, but it doesn't work.

Later, Trey asks the Eriksen family what their last words with Marvin were, in order to create a theme for the funeral. Judy and Marshall's brothers all recount their final memories with Marvin, and all have great stories. Marshall is disappointed his final words with his father weren't very memorable.

He recounts to the gang how, after visiting Marshall and Lily at their apartment, Marshall asked Marvin if they served food on the plane (after he denied Marvin their last pork chop) and Marvin complained that "Plane food is ass." An upset Marshall takes a flask from Robin and starts drinking, but soon spits it out, shouting that he's wrong.

Once his dad had left the apartment and was outside on the sidewalk, Marvin shouted up to Marshall through their window that it was starting to rain, and went on a (unintentionally) racial tirade about how the Koreans across their hall probably had an umbrella. Barney and Ted try to cheer Marshall up again with another video, but fail again.

Marshall again says that he's wrong; after grabbing an umbrella, he joined his parents down on the sidewalk and waited with them until a cab arrived. As they enter the car, Marvin turns to Marshall and tells him he should rent Crocodile Dundee 3, saying that "it totally holds up!"

Robin's reputation as "vice girl" is spreading. A man approaches her asking if she can get some things (vodka and dirty playing cards) for him, and Robin obliges. Marshall checks his newly-charged phone and finds that he has a final voicemail from his dad, who must have called the day of his death and left a message when Marshall's phone was uncharged.

He tells the gang he's going to hit play and listen, but can't bring himself to do it; he doesn't want to risk replacing the memory of his dad's final words with the voicemail message, as it could be worse than his "Crocodile Dundee 3" last words. The gang comfort Marshall, telling him he should just listen to the message and not put too much pressure on the idea that someone's last words have to be meaningful or special. Marshall decides to listen to the message by himself and leaves the room.

While Lily leaves to go help Judy in the kitchen, Daphne approaches "vice girl" Robin and asks her for liquor. As she and Daphne leave, Lily comes back and tells Barney and Ted how Judy exploded at her for offering to help cook. Barney and Ted are shocked, but Lily explains how, after her outburst, Judy decided to have a nap and finally slept.

Marshall comes back, and says he still can't bring himself to listen to the message. The gang tell Marshall that his dad loved him, and it almost doesn't matter what his last words were. Marshall turns it back on them, and asks each of them what their dad's last words would be if they died right now.

Ted recounts how, a month ago, he visited his dad, Alfred Mosby, and Alfred's last words to Ted were admitting he hooked up with Ted's prom date.

Lily's last conversation to her dad was when he called her from jail (for not paying taxes), asked Lily for $15,000, and mentioned coming up with a new board game idea called "Tax Evasion." Lily pretended she was the answering machine, to avoid having to speak to her father, and hung up on him.

Robin's last words with her father was a phone call on her birthday, where he told her she was a huge disappointment.

After having thought it over, the gang agree with Marshall that last words are a big deal. Barney admits that he always thought he had it rough, not knowing his dad, but at least he never has to suffer like Marshall is.

Judy enters, dragging Daphne behind her, asking who is responsible for getting the fifteen year old drunk. Lily steps forward and takes the blame, while Judy shouts at her. After their confrontation, Judy grabs a nearby salad and starts to eat again, pleasing Lily.

Barney and Ted are upset they still haven't managed to make Marshall laugh, so Barney knees Ted in the groin in front of him to try and make him laugh. Unfortunately, they still fail.

Marshall decides not to listen to the message, resigning himself to live with "rent Crocodile Dundee 3" as his father's last words. However, later at the memorial service, he listens to the perfect stories his mom and brothers have about their last moments with Marvin, and decides to listen to the voicemail and runs from the church, with the gang close behind.

He listens to it, and disappointingly tells the gang that it's a pocket dial. Lily tries to comfort Marshall, telling him that he has so many great memories with his dad that he doesn't need to worry about the last one.

The gang agree with him, but Marshall tells them all how important his dad was to him, how he always came through for him, and now all he's left with is a static-filled message. However, after a few minutes of nothing but static, Marvin's voice comes through the message. Marvin laughs and apologizes for accidentally pocket dialing him, but tells Marshall that he had a great time and that he loves him.

Marshal breaks down and reiterates his father's last words, "his last words are he loves me." Lily smiles. Marvin's voice then comes back in as he says, "oh and remember my foot cream, that fungus thing has come back." Marshal pauses before repeating "my father's last words to me are that he loves me." Everyone agrees.

A peaceful Marshall, upon hearing his father loves him, re-enters the church and speaks to everyone there about his father's last words: to rent Crocodile Dundee 3. Future Ted explains how Marshall decided not to share his father's last words, and keep them to himself. In the crowd, Judy tells Lily she knew what Lily did for her today, and thanks her. Lily just shrugs it off before Judy gets in one last jab, that she admits is the end of her abuse.

Later, when the gang are alone after leaving the church, Marshall agrees that he really should've rented Crocodile Dundee 3. Robin pulls a copy from her purse, and hands it to a surprised Marshall who thanks her. The rest of the gang all get to thinking about last words, and Ted, Lily and Robin all call their fathers.

Barney calls his mom, Loretta, and tells her he's ready to meet his dad.

Continuity[]

  • The salad Lily gets Judy to eat is the Eriksen Seven Layer Salad, which Lily was tasked with making in Belly Full of Turkey.
  • Lily's issues with her in-laws were first addressed in Belly Full of Turkey, and she admitted to Marshall that she hated his mother in The Stinsons.
  • Ted found out about his parents' divorce in Brunch​.
  • Robin opens up about her issues with her father in Happily Ever After​.
  • Ted's father called him "T-Dawg" during their last conversation. Ted invited the students in the Econ 305 class to call him as "T-Dawg", as seen in Definitions​, before immediately telling them not to.
  • Lily's father's attempts to create new board games was first brought up in Slapsgiving 2: Revenge of the Slap​.
  • Barney's mother previously offered to give Barney his father's address in Cleaning House​, and Barney discovers that his "Uncle Jerry" was actually his father in Natural History.
  • Marshall found out about his father's death in Bad News​.
  • When Marshall states his dad was his best friend, Barney nods. Although he would normally refute anyone other than him being Marshall or Ted's best friend, here he accepts it out of respect for Marshall's loss.

Future References (Contains Spoilers)[]

  • In Oh Honey​, it is revealed that Barney wrote a letter to his father, and that he never responded. He eventually does in Legendaddy​.
  • Marshall continues to stay in Minnesota until Desperation Day​.
  • Marshall and Lily eventually name their first child after Marshall's father in The Magician's Code - Part One​.
  • While Lily and her mother-in-law seem to resolve their issues, they still don't completely get along, as seen in The Drunk Train​ and Who Wants to Be a Godparent?
  • After finding out about Robin and Barney's divorce in Last Forever - Part One, Ted likens it to his parents' divorce, and demands that Barney not start brewing his own beer and nail his prom date.

Gallery[]

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

Memorable Quotes[]

Barney: Today, we are going to make Marshall laugh. Ted, what's the one thing that always cracks him up?
Ted: Internet footage of a guy getting hit in the nuts?
Barney: (over the top of Ted) Internet footage of a guy getting hit in the nuts, exactly! So we are going to get our bro a four star nad rattler. You search knees, feet, banisters, fire hydrants and diving boards. And I'll cover bats, racquets, hockey sticks, golf clubs and riding crops.
(They both pull out their phones)
Ted: What about animals?
Barney: (points to Ted) Claws, paws, talons. (points to himself) Hooves, beaks and clenched monkey fists. We can do this!

Marshall: You guys don't get it, okay? None of you do. My dad was my hero. And he was my teacher. And he was my best friend. He always came through for me, and now he's just gone. And what am I left with?
(Plays static message and yells at the sky)
Thanks a lot God, thank you. You took my father. The greatest man that I have ever known, and you whipped him off this Earth, way too young. And he'll never get to meet our kids, Lily. But we've got this voice mail. Thank you so much for the voice mail, it's a great comfort. Because whenever I'm starting to feel lonely, or sad, or maybe a little bit cheated, at least I've got the sound of his pocket to console me. How is this fair? You've got an entire human life, and it just ends for no reason. And what are we left with?
Marvin Eriksen Sr.: (Over the voice mail message) Marshall? Looks like I've been calling you for over five minutes. How's my pocket sound? Sorry about that buddy. Anyway, your mom and I had such a great time seeing you. I love you.

Marshall: My father's last words to me are "I love you.
All: Yes. Yes, they were.
Barney: We heard it. Loud and clear.
Marshall: Bye, Pop.

Lily: Hey! You really do have everything in there, don't you?
Ted: You're like Mary Poppins if her magic purse was also filled with drugs.
Robin: If!? Ted, the kids in that movie jumped into a painting and spent fifteen minutes chasing a cartoon fox... spoon full of sugar!? Grow up.

Marshall: I'll be right back. And if I don't come back, well, then these are my last words to you all. I really, really, really love you guys. Now I'm going to go drop a deuce.

Notes and Trivia[]

Goofs and Errors[]

Ted and karen at prom

Ted at prom with Karen

  • Despite claiming in Monday Night Football that he never wears suits to a funeral, Barney wears a suit to Marvin's funeral. It is possible that he wore one because he wanted to be respectful as Marshall and his father were so close.
  • In Sorry, Bro, Ted is shown having gone to prom with Karen. In this episode, he revealed that Donna Bromstead was his prom date. However, he may have meant his junior prom, rather than his senior prom.
  • When Marshall finds out, that he has a voicemail from his dad, Robin wonders how is that possible. Marshall explains that his phone has been out of battery from the day his father died, and that's why he gets it now when the phone is charged. Yet, in the previous episode Marshall tries to call his father after his death, but does not notice the received voice mail. However, Marshall borrows Ted's phone to call his father.
  • When holding up the phone, while the gang is listening to Marshal's dad's voicemail on speaker, you can clearly see the homepage of the iPhone when he holds it up. Exposing the fact that they're not listening to a voicemail.

Allusions and Outside References[]

  • When a man says to Robin, "I hear you're a woman who can get things.', she replies, "I've been known to locate certain objects from time to time." This is dialogue from The Shawshank Redemption, with Robin repeating Red's line and the man repeating Andy's. Marshall and Ted also referenced the movie in Something Borrowed.
  • The term Nad rattler refers to a real website.
  • Robin's "vice" bag is compared to Marry Poppins' magical bag.
  • Barney mentions Nathan Hale's execution and his famous last words in a fake history lesson.

Other Notes[]

  • International Airdates: Canada: January 20, 2011 on CityTV.
  • Filming for this episode began December 15, 2010[1].
  • Actor Danny Strong previously worked with Alyson Hannigan on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
  • Eric Braeden was originally set to reprise his role as Robin's father but backed out at the last minute, claiming that his cameo appearance was not "substantial" enough after learning he would only have two lines. Neil Patrick Harris called him a "D-Bag" on Twitter[2] and Braedan responded claiming he did not even know who Harris was[3]. Ray Wise replaced him.
  • The episode was supposed to air on 10 January 2011, but was postponed to the following week due to a moment of silence ceremony for the victims of the Tuscon shootings.
  • The episode has no scene before the title sequence, instead it starts immediately with the title sequence. From the start of season two onward every episode usually has a cold opening before the title sequence.
  • It took Jason Segel several takes to get through the scene where he tells the gang about the pocket dialed voicemail. He was crying too much that he couldn't get through his lines, and just started ad-libbing some of it.
  • This is one of the very few episodes to not have a scene at MacLaren's.

References[]

  1. HIMYM Production Twitter status update on Dec-15-2010.
  2. Neil Patrick Harris Twitter status update on Dec-17-2010.
  3. Eric Braeden Snaps Back at 'Little Boy' Neil Patrick Harris for Twitter Slap" from The Hollywood Reporter, Dec-17-2010. Retrieved Jan-18-2011.

Guests[]

Podcast[]

How_I_Met_Your_Mother_-_Last_Words_Podcast

How I Met Your Mother - Last Words Podcast

Podcast for the episode

Featuring an interview with Jason Segel, Craig Thomas and Joe Kelly.

Reception[]

  • This episode premiered to 10.538 million viewers.[1]
  • Donna Bowman at the A.V. Club gave the episode an A.[2] She felt Last Words was "Unpretentious, unobtrusive, funny, balanced, and shot through with genuine feeling and unexpected grace, it brings us all the way back and leaves us in a more promising place."
  • DeAnn Walker at Television Without Pity gave the episode an A.[3] She said "I really can't wait [for the next episode], because somehow what used to be this charming little comedy has provided some terrific drama lately."
  • Robert Canning at IGN gave the episode an 8.5 out of 10.[4] He believed ""Last Words" did a great job of balancing the emotional with the funny.".
  • The St. Petersburg Comic Review gave this episode 9.5 out of 10 stars. "The last words were awesome."

References[]

External Links[]


Previous episode
Bad News
Last Words
(all episodes)
Next episode →
Oh Honey
Advertisement