“Garbage Island”
←	HIMYM episode 6x17 (129)	→
First aired: February 21, 2011
Director: Michael Shea
Writer: Tom Ruprecht
Barney's Blog
Images (10)

Marshall becomes obsessed with saving the environment, Ted runs into The Captain, and Robin tries to prove Barney has feelings for Nora.

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 11 Comments

RecapEdit

Future Ted opens by telling his kids how in 2021, he ran into Wendy the Waitress at an airport in Hong Kong. To explain what she was doing there, he has to back up ten years.

Back in 2011, the gang and Zoey are at MacLaren's Pub, and Robin asks Barney how his laser tag date with Nora went. Even though Nora enjoyed herself and gave Barney her number, Barney thought it was a disaster, because she declined going out for drinks with him. Robin insists Barney likes Nora, but Barney keeps denying it, tearing up her number.

Ted explains to Wendy how he and Zoey met. In his tale, he tells how Zoey was miserable married to The Captain, and after a huge fight The Captain stormed out and demanded a divorce. After some soul searching, the two found each other and started dating.

Once he's done, Zoey asks Ted if he managed to pick up a box of her things from her old apartment. Ted hasn't, because he's afraid of running into The Captain. Zoey tells him he can just pick it up from the building's door man, and Ted agrees to get it for her tomorrow.

Marshall leaves, complaining that he has a lot of useless work to get through. The gang lament that Marshall doesn't seem like his usual self, and Lily confirms that he's lost interest in a lot of the things he used to love... including sex.

The rest of the gang go home, leaving just Barney and Robin at the booth. Robin realizes Barney really does like Nora, given his reaction when she lets slip that Nora's got a date with someone else at Cafe L'amour.

Later that night at Marshall and Lily's apartment, Lily tries to persuade Marshall to come to bed, but Marshall is absorbed in a documentary about Garbage Island, and decides he has to save the planet.

The next night, Ted arrives at Zoey's old apartment building to pick up her box from the doorman. In the lobby, Ted runs into The Captain, who assumes Ted is there to comfort him after his divorce. Unsure what to do, Ted agrees to come upstairs to his study.

At MacLaren's, Marshall is busy telling the entire gang (minus Ted) about Garbage Island, and has started a green initiative at MacLaren's. Wendy walks by, and overhearing their conversation, complains that she now has to carry 80 pounds of garbage to the recycling center every night, because of him. He also has plans to give a green initiative presentation at GNB; for only 12 million dollars, they can cut their carbon footprint in half. Barney tells him that if he does, all the board is going to hear is "12 million dollars" and fire him. Barney also said that Marshall would hear some muffled laughter, which he apologizes for in advance.

In his study, The Captain explains to Ted how he and Zoey actually split up: They had a happy life together, until an unknown scoundrel swooped in and stole Zoey's heart. Zoey admitted to The Captain that she was in love with someone else, and so The Captain stormed out. He returned, begging her not to leave, and after one last night together, Zoey left.

Ted arrives at MacLaren's and tells the gang what just happened, and now realizes he is the bad guy.

Later in their apartment, Lily tries to convince Marshall again to sleep with her. Marshall, concentrating on his recycling presentation for GNB, agrees that he will tomorrow night, after he's finished the presentation.

The next night at MacLaren's, when it's just Barney and Robin, Barney tells Robin he waited at Cafe L'amour all day, and Nora didn't show up. Robin admits that she made the entire date up, to prove that Barney really does like her. Barney continues to deny he has any feelings for Nora, so Robin offers to sleep with him tomorrow night; if he really doesn't have feelings for Nora, then he should jump at the opportunity.

Meanwhile, as Marshall returns home and explains how the presentation didn't go well: They didn't approve of his proposal, and although he wasn't fired because of the recent death of his father, his boss fired Meeker, the only employee who agreed with Marshall. To make him feel better, Lily bought him a six-pack of beer, and threw the rings that came with it into the garbage. Upon hearing this, Marshall freaks out, running down to the dumpster to find them.

Ted realizes he forgot to grab Zoey's box from the doorman, so he returns to the building. As he enters the lobby, The Captain spots him, and they go back up to his study. The Captain reveals he knows who stole Zoey: the doorman. The Captain wants to go downstairs and attack him, but Ted manages to calm him down, convincing him that he'll find someone who'll make him happier than he was with Zoey. The Captain admits that it really doesn't matter who stole Zoey, so Ted reveals that he stole Zoey, and quickly runs from the building.

Barney arrives at Ted's apartment to see Robin. Robin is disappointed, because she thinks it means he's there for her and has given up on Nora. Barney quickly corrects her, saying he's there to get Nora's number.

At MacLaren's, Zoey tells Ted he did steal her, by being the sweet guy who would never steal her, but that doesn't mean he's the bad guy.

On the street in the dumpster, Marshall explains how his dad was always so proud of him for wanting to be an environmental lawyer, but never got to see him as more than a corporate stooge, and if they start a family now, Marshall will be stuck at GNB forever. Lily realizes this is why he's been putting off sleeping with her, and tells him if he wants to quit his job, then he should, and that they can put off having a family until they're both ready.

Meanwhile, Future Ted narrates how on that night, Meeker went to MacLaren's to confront Marshall for getting him fired. In doing so, he met Wendy, and the two bonded over their hatred of Marshall.

Ten years later, in 2021 at the Hong Kong airport, Meeker and Wendy are married with three kids and are going on their second honeymoon. Wendy asks Ted if he's still together with Zoey, but Ted says no, that "did not end well," but it was all for the best since now he's married to a wonderful woman with two kids.

ContinuityEdit

• Footage from Big Days and Oh Honey is replayed.
• Nora's appearance picks up from the end of her and Barney's Valentine's Day laser tag date, which occurred in Desperation Day.
• Barney talks about him and Robin being exes. They previously began dating in Definitions, and broke up in The Rough Patch.
• Robin says Nora is having a date at Cafe L'amour. Marshall and Brad had brunch at Cafe L'amour in World's Greatest Couple.
• Ted briefly recounts his scene with Marshall outside the church at the wedding where he met his future wife, which was shown in Big Days.
• The gag from The Mermaid Theory, where a strategically placed shadow blocks out The Captain's face so only his "murder eyes" can be seen, is repeated again.
• Marshall expresses his desire to work for the NRDC, first touched upon in Life Among the Gorillas. It was also hinted at the end of Natural History that Marshall would not remain a corporate lawyer forever.
• Barney deduces that Robin hasn't had sex for 18 weeks. Robin has been single since breaking up with her last boyfriend, Max, in Architect of Destruction, which aired exactly 18 weeks before this episode.
• Future Ted reveals that his relationship with Zoey ends poorly. Their relationship started in Oh Honey and ends in Landmarks.

GalleryEdit

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

Memorable QuotesEdit

Marshall:

All right guys, I have to go. I have a big, meaningless stack of paperwork that I have to get off my desk to make room for tomorrow's big, meaningless stack of paperwork. But it's all worth it, you know, cause... at least I know I'm making the world a... place.

—Marshall isn't satisfied with his job.

---

Robin:	You like her, you should call her [referring to Nora]
Barney:	Call her?? Robin, 3 things: She had a nice face, her booty was in place, but Barney don't chase!!
Lily:	Argh!! That is ridiculous, Barney, you know what? here is some advice: (**the noise that comes up when Barney is ignoring someone or uninterested**)
Barney:	Totally!!

---

Lily:	You should work at a carnival.
Barney:	I tried; they're pretty strict with backgrounds.

---

Notes and TriviaEdit

Goofs and ErrorsEdit

• In How I Met Everyone Else, Marshall is shown to be almost completely bald in the year 2020. However in the hologram at the end of the episode in 2021, Marshall is shown to have a reasonably complete head of hair. He is also shown to have a reasonable amount of hair in the flash-forward of The Exploding Meatball Sub, which happens 10 years later (in 2021).

Allusions and Outside ReferencesEdit

• Barney mentions Prince, born in Minnesota like Marshall.
• "Garbage Island" is a real thing, known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, located at the central North Pacific Ocean.
• Barney's way of spacing out whenever women try to talk to him is reminiscent of the teacher's voice in Peanuts.
• Barney's quote, "With great penis comes great responsibility," is a play on Ben Parker's famous words to Peter Parker in Spider-Man.
• The Captain compares himself and Zoey to Greek gods Poseidon and Amphitrite, then refers to Scylla and Charybdis.
• When The Captain is telling his version of how he lost Zoey, Ted spits out the brandy he is drinking, saying, "It's a damn good brandy." This is a reference to the 1990s TV series Twin Peaks, in which Kyle MacLachlan, who plays The Captain, also played the role of Special Agent Dale Cooper.
• Marshall mentions Sting.

MusicEdit

Other NotesEdit

• Wendy the Waitress asks Ted if he is still with Zoey in 2020, meaning that she quits her job at MacLaren's. This turns out to be true, as this is the last episode she appears in.
• Marshall talks with 'W's replacing 'R's after watching the Garbage Island Documentary.

GuestsEdit

• Jennifer Morrison - Zoey Pierson
• Kyle MacLachlan - George Van Smoot/The Captain
• Bob Odenkirk - Arthur Hobbs
• Charlene Amoia - Wendy the Waitress
• Nazanin Boniadi - Nora
• Daniel O'Brien - Meeker
• Edward Flores - Food Guy

PodcastEdit

How I Met Your Mother - 'Garbage Island' Podcast(22:42)
42 views

Featuring an interview with Bob Odenkirk, Carter Bays and Tom Ruprecht.

ReceptionEdit

This episode premiered to 9.331 million viewers.^[1]
Donna Bowman at the A.V. Club gave the episode an A-.^[2] She praised MacLachlan's performance as The Captain, saying "When How I Met Your Mother premiered, none of us could have predicted that one of its high points would be the unlikely comic pairing of Kyle MacLachlan and Josh Radnor. Yet here we are in season six, with the Captain’s dialogue becoming ever more baroque and Ted’s position as his friend and cuckolder becoming ever more uncomfortable. And I love it."
DeAnn Walker at Television Without Pity gave the episode a B.^[3]
Robert Canning at IGN gave the episode a 7 out of 10.^[4] He did not enjoy the Ted-Zoey-Captain and Marshall-Lily plotlines, but enjoyed Barney and Robin's moments, saying " In such a straightforward, canned laughter kind of episode, it was good to have at least one storyline [Barney and Robin] deliver some genuine and even some surprising laughs."

ReferencesEdit

External LinksEdit

• Garbage Island at the English Wikipedia
• Garbage Island at CBS
• Garbage Island at CBS Press Express
• Garbage Island at the Internet Movie Database
• Garbage Island at TV.com

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