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Last Time in New York
HIMYM episode 9x03 (187)
Last Time in New York (1)
First aired:
September 30, 2013
Director:
Pamela Fryman
Writer:
Craig Gerard
Matthew Zinman
Barney's Blog

Images (9)

When Lily discovers Ted’s list of things he wants to do in New York before he moves for Chicago, she becomes frustrated that she is the only person who knows about his plans. Meanwhile, Robin and Barney realize they have very little time together before their relatives arrive for their wedding.


Recap[]

Friday at 2:00 P.M. (52 hours to the wedding), Barney and Robin are looking through the schedule of their wedding day, and they hear the bus carrying their elderly relatives pulling in. They realize that they won't have a minute alone to themselves now. When Robin says that her great-grandparents, who have been married for sixty years, never stop bickering, Barney wonders how long it has been since they had sex. Barney is worried that the same will happen to them but Robin assures him that it won't. Still concerned, they say that they have to have sex right now. They get to their room but Robin says they should have sex somewhere they're not supposed to. When they leave their room, they hear two of their relatives talking and decide to go back inside, but are locked out. They go to the front desk to get another key but their relatives are already there. Looking for a place, they go inside the ice machine room but find James hiding there. They tell him that they are trying to have sex as they are worried the magic might fade away once they wed. James then sacrifices himself to the old relatives so Barney and Robin can have some alone time. Robin and Barney then decide to meet up in the business center. Robin later gets a call from Barney to meet him on the third floor. They go inside a room but find Robin's great-grandparents having sex there. They leave, disgusted. However, they are later touched that they still do it after sixty years of marriage and say that they will be like that in sixty years. They then decide to meet their elderly relatives.

Lily calls Marshall from the Inn, asking where he is, and he tells her that they are driving through Wisconsin, "Packers country." Marshall tells her that he will be there in time for the rehearsal dinner tomorrow. Lily then tells Daphne about the dress she was going to wear to the rehearsal dinner, but it was destroyed by the dry cleaners.

As Lily hangs up, Ted sits down with her with a piece of paper in his hand. Thinking that it's his toast for the wedding, Lily looks it at. Ted tells her that it's the list of things he wants to do before he leaves New York. Lily says that she hates it that he is leaving and she's the only one who knows. She asks him why he won't tell anyone and he says that he can't drop a bombshell this close to the wedding. Lily says that that's an excuse and he's been avoiding Barney and Robin and he's running away from them. Ted says that he is moving on, but Lily says that the list shows that he loves New York. Lily reads the stuff from his list; one of them is "come clean about April 26th." She asks him about it and he tells her that it was him and Marshall who destroyed her rehearsal dinner dress while having a sword fight. Lily then takes revenge by making him wear an old bathing suit hanging in the bar and making Marshall wear a Packers' jersey while he's in Wisconsin.

Lily then notices that the only thing not checked off on his list is "scotch with Barney", which is the easiest, and realizes that Ted is in fact avoiding Barney. He tells her that he's not and that they've both been busy. He says he's been saving a 600 dollar Glen McKenna 30-year so he and Marshall can have a drink with Barney before the rehearsal dinner.

A flashback to April 26th shows that Lily and Robin also had a sword fight and accidentally smashed the Glen McKenna and mixed the remaining Glen McKenna with a cheap whiskey, chocolate sauce, ketchup and hand sanitizer to get the color right.

Lily feels guilty and when she sees the Glen McKenna and is worried Ted will find out when he decides to taste it, but he doesn't.

Later, Robin sees Ted and Lily in the bar. She notices the list on a table and asks what it is, and Lily, covering up for Ted, tells her that it's a list of things she wants to do before going to Italy. When she sees "come clean about April 26th" on the list, she tells Ted about their sword fight. Lily then gets another bottle from a nearby liquor store. Ted thanks her for not telling Robin but asks why she helped him when she is opposed to Ted moving. She replies that he loves New York a lot and he really must need to go. She then asks him to go have a drink with Barney and he shouldn't wait for Marshall as he may not get there in time. She asks him to be honest if he is avoiding Barney and Ted says that he has been. Lily says that Barney needs him as this is the biggest weekend of his life. No matter how awkward it is for him, he will regret it if he isn't there. She then advises to say goodbye to the bad things that happened with him in New York, and not the good things. When she stops talking, Ted asks her to turn over the list and on it is another thing: "Get one last life lecture from Lily." He hugs her and goes to the have a drink with Barney. Before he can say much, Barney tells him that he saw him and Robin behind the Central Park carousel. Shocked, Ted drops the bottle of scotch which smashes.

Continuity[]

  • Barney saying "ring bear" instead of "ring bearer" first happened in The Locket.
  • James mentions he's getting divorced, which he revealed in Coming Back.
  • Ted made a list of things he wants to do before he moves from New York to Chicago. Ted revealed he's moving to Chicago in Something New.
  • When Ted goes to tell his upstairs neighbor how he really feels about her, it is much like his speech to the Mother in The Time Travelers.
  • The bottle that Lily and Robin broke is Glen McKenna scotch. The gang saved money and bought a 50 year old bottle of that scotch in Intervention.
  • Barney is known to like Glen McKenna, as seen in Legendaddy.
  • The sword fight between Marshall and Ted occurred back in 2005 and was shown in The Duel.
  • The sword fights happened on April 26th, between Romeward Bound and The Bro Mitzvah.
  • Lily says "You sonuvabitch" again. This phrase, said in a particular 'Lily' way was first seen in The Playbook.
  • The scene between Ted and Robin at the carousel happened in Something Old.
  • Lily continues to take drinks from Linus, after being offered the "Kennedy Package" in Coming Back.
  • Barney and Robin, speaking in unison then looking at each other and saying "Awww" started in Something New.
  • A montage of Ted's painful moments was shown previously in Band or DJ?
  • Ted's list of last things to do in New York is written on yellow legal pad paper, the same Ted uses to make his pro and cons lists. Ted's tendency to do this appeared previously in I'm Not That Guy and The Naked Truth.
  • A flashback to Lily shoplifting was shown in The Magician's Code - Part Two.
  • Ted is seen talking to the Empire State Building and touching it. He first references doing this while mentoring PJ in Mosbius Designs.
  • Ted's nickname for the Empire State Building is "Empy" which Lily also uses.
  • On the list of things Ted wanted to do in New York there was an item to fix graffiti that had an incorrect form of "you're." Ted has been shown to pay attention to grammar, pronunciation and correct usage of words in Spoiler Alert, Intervention, The Wedding Bride and others.
  • The montage of the bad things from Ted's life in New York includes the following:

Future References (Contains Spoilers)[]

  • The bottle of Glen McKenna that Ted breaks is the first the three bottles to break over the course of Season 9. The other two bottles will break in Mom and Dad and Bass Player Wanted.
  • Robin almost finds out about Ted moving to Chicago; she will find out in Sunrise.

Gallery[]

For a listing of all images taken from this episode, see Category: Last Time in New York images.

Memorable Quotes[]

Lily: Okay, but there's still one item left on this list. Time to check it off.
Ted: Yeah, I should probably wait for Marshall.
Lily: Well, we both know he may not get here in time. Be honest. Have you been avoiding Barney?
Ted: Maybe a little.
Lily: This is the biggest weekend of his life, and you're his best bro. No matter how awkward you feel, i-if you're not there for him, you will always regret it.
Ted: Okay.
Lily: Hey, Ted.
Ted: Yeah.
Lily: You wrote down all these things to say good-bye to, but so many of them are good things. Why not just say good-bye to the bad things? Say good-bye to all the times you felt lost. To all the times it was a no instead of a yes. To all the scrapes and bruises, to all the heartache. Say good-bye to everything you really want to do for the last time, but don't go have one last scotch with Barney. Have the first scotch toasting Barney's new life because that's a good thing, and the good things will always be here waiting for you.

What?

Ted: Turn the page.
Lily: "Get one last life lecture from Lily." Well, you're dreaming if you think that's the last one of those.

Ted: Ah, I've been waiting for the perfect time for this and my friend, that time is no..
Barney: I saw you and Robin at the carousel.

Notes and Trivia[]

Goofs and Errors[]

  • Ted asks Lily to turn the page and read - Lily reads, but earlier you can see that the other side of the sheet is blank.  It's possible that Ted added in the last item on the list later as a way to thank Lily.
  • Robin and Lily fill the 30 year old Scotch into another bottle of scotch. This bottle is shaped differently compared to the bottle they put the chocolate syrup and ketchup in.

Allusions and Outside References[]

  • The episode title is a play on the Season 2 episode, First Time In New York. That episode featured Robin's sister visiting New York for the first time, seeing the Empire State Building for the first time, and considering sleeping with somebody for the first time. This episode features Ted thinking about leaving New York for the last time and seeing the Empire State Building for the last time, plus Barney and Robin trying to sleep together for the last time before their wedding.
  • The film The Princess Bride and Mandy Patinkin who portrayed one of the main characters (Inigo Montoya) are mentioned frequently throughout the whole episode. Marshall and Ted citing famous lines of Inigo Montoya during their swordfight, as well tries Lily when she is fighting with Robin. She says "My name is Rodrigo de Goya, you killed someone I love, prepare to dance!". Afterwards, Future Ted says "Yes, kids, that's what your Aunt Lily thought the line was"
  • Robin mentions Mandy Patinkin several times as being a magical phrase attracting old people. She and Barney use it to gather their elderly relatives.
  • The preview of this episode said that Barney and Robin's relatives are "The Walking Old". This is a parody to The Walking Dead.
  • Lily states that her destroyed dress made her boobs look worth the opening scene in the Sex and the City movie.
  • Robin stating: "Ah, I found Waldo" is a reference to a (puzzle) children book named 'Where's Waldo?'. Outside North America this book is widely known as Where's Wally?. Wally wears a red-white striped shirt and has to be found in very detailed illustrations among a lot of other people.

Music[]

Other Notes[]

  • Robin makes three unintended allusions to anal sex. In the first two, Barney gets glaring eyes. In the last one, James gets glaring eyes. Each time, Robin reacts annoyed and makes clear that she doesn't want anal sex.
  • Robin and Lily do an excellent job of peeling the label off of the real bottle of Glen McKenna and pasting it on the substitute bottle.

Guests[]

  • Sherri Shepherd - Daphne
  • Wayne Brady - James
  • Robert Belushi - Linus
  • Lou Cutell - Uncle Mort
  • Marjorie Lovett - Aunt Muriel
  • Joie Magidow - Elderly Relative
  • Jonathan Craig Williams - Cop
  • Jason Boggs - Packers Fan
  • Ramon Hilario - Crusty Old Guy
  • Cynthia Murell - Gorgeous Woman

Podcast[]

Featuring television critics Mikey O'Connell, Sandra Gonzalez and Joe Adalian.

Reception[]

  • This episode was viewed by 7.87 million people. [1]
  • Donna Bowman of The AV Club gave the episode an A-.[2]
  • Max Nicholson of IGN gave the episode a 7 out of 10. [3]
  • Angel Cohn of Television Without Pity gave the episode a B.[4]
  • The St. Petersburg Comic Review gave this episode 7.5 out of 10 stars. "...yeah, the ring bear..."

References[]

External Links[]


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