| āNorettaā | ||
| ← | HIMYM episode 7x07 (143) | → |
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| First aired: October 24, 2011 | ||
| Director: Pamela Fryman | ||
| Writer: Matt Kuhn | ||
| Barney's Blog | ||
Kevin helps the gang realize that their partners remind them of one of their parents. Meanwhile, Barney and Nora's romantic evening doesn't go the way they planned.
Recap
Future Ted recounts that in the fall of 2011, all of his friends were in a relationship, and remarks that with Barney's brother James in town, it made their MacLaren's booth very crowded.
In MacLaren's Pub, Barney tells the gang that tonight, after two months, he and Nora will finally sleep together, since she offered him a "special surprise" that night. However, as the night unfolds, several disasters take place that threaten to ruin the night. Nora loses a tooth while ice-skating, has a rat attack her on the streets of New York, and witnesses a suicide jumper off the roof of Barney's apartment building. However, despite all this, and Barney's worries that the night was spoiled, the two of them still sleep together for the first time.
Back at MacLaren's, James expresses concerns that Nora is just like his mom, Loretta Stinson. Kevin mentions that it's not uncommon to date people similar to your parents.
This causes a problem between Marshall and Lily. Lily feels she's not sexy anymore due to her pregnancy. This prompts Marshall to create a sensual board game, to help her feel sexy again. Lily's dad, Mickey Aldrin, is the only other person she knows that is as enthusiastic about board games as Marshall is. Remembering what Kevin said at the bar, Lily can't help but start thinking of Marshall as her dad, completely ruining all the romantic things Marshall is trying to do.
On the other hand, Marshall realizes that Lily is just like his dad, further ruining the night.
Meanwhile, Kevin is concerned that Robin and Ted are too close, especially considering they are roommates and have a complicated past. Robin claims that she's only being particularly nice to Ted because he's so fragile; despite his desire to be married, he's currently single, and all his friends are dating. When Kevin confronts Ted, Ted tries to hold up a strong front, but eventually breaks down and reveals how vulnerable he is right now. Kevin takes pity on him and agrees to go to a Weird Al Yankovic concert with him, and the two become closer.
In the last shot, a girl walks up to Ted and they talk, after which Ted realizes she is just like his mother, but roles with it.
Continuity
- Barney performs another magic trick, making a roll of condoms disappear up his sleeve.
- When James remarks that Barney has slept with plenty of people's mothers, Marshall sympathetically pats Ted on the shoulder. Barney has mentioned his attraction to Ted's mom several times, as seen in How Lily Stole Christmas, Little Minnesotaāāā, and Home Wreckersāāā, where it is established that Barney and Virginia made out following the events of Brunchāāā.
- Kevin mentions his mother's favoritism towards his brother, an issue he previously brought up in Field Tripāāā.
- Game Night established Marshall's love of inventing games. Examples include Marshgammon from Game Night and Lilial Pursuit from Say Cheeseāāā, and those that Mickey Aldrin created include Diseases and Dog Fight Promoter from Slapsgiving 2: Revenge of the Slapāāā.
- Barney was previously seen playing "Barney's Favorite Things" in False Positiveāāā.
- Barney calls Nora "mommy" in A Change of Heartāāā.
- When looking for someone to go to a Weird Al Yankovic concert with, Ted also calls Stuart, Claudia, Brad, Natalie, Trudy, Ranjit, Carl MacLaren, and his mom, Virginia Mosby.
Future References (Contains Spoilers)
- Peculiar Jacques would be mentioned once again in The Locket.
Gallery
- For a listing of all images on the wiki tagged as being from this episode, see Category:Noretta images.
Memorable Quotes
| Barney: | I can turn this around! |
- —Barney's reaction to all the disasters of his date with Nora.
| James: | The Pork Authority is closed. Looks like it's Hand Central Station for you little buddy. |
| Marshall: | You know what? I'm a real lucky guy, 'cause I married my dad. |
| James: | Ask me what I think of Nora. |
| Marshall: | What do you think of Nora? |
| James: | Lovely girl. Ask me what I really think of her. |
| Lily: | What do you really think of her? |
| James: | Guys, she's great, seriously. Just drop it. Ask me one more time. |
| Ted: | What do you really think? |
| James: | Fine! If you really must know, I do not like Barney with that woman! Happy? |
| Robin: | What could you possibly not like about Nora? Her hair? Her mousy little nose? The way she does everything perfectly? I mean, what's not to like? |
| James: | It's not that I don't like her. It's just, she's our mom. |
| Lily: | What do you mean, she's your mom? |
| Barney: | Oh, God, this night's ruined. |
| Nora: | Oh, come here, you. Yes, it's been a very tough night, but I still think we can turn this around. |
| Barney: | Really? |
| Nora: | Why not? No sense in letting things get us down. How does that song go again? |
| Nora/Loretta: | āŖ Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens āŖ Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens āŖ Brown paper packages tied up with strings āŖ These are a few of my favorite things āŖ When the dog bites āŖ When the bee stings āŖ When I'm feeling sad āŖ I simply remember my favorite things āŖ And then I don't feel āŖ So bad. āŖ |
| Barney: | (sobbing softly) Mommy, no. |
| Lily: | No, I can't go through with this! |
| Marshall: | Thank God, me neither! |
| Lily: | You're too much like my dad. |
| Marshall: | You're too much like my dad. |
| Lily: | Your dad?! |
Notes and Trivia
Goofs and Errors
- In the end scene where we see a flashback of Weird Al Yankovic receiving fan mail from a young Ted, it is mentioned in Ted's letter that he was eight years old. Ted was born on April 25, 1978, so at the time of the flashback on February 21, 1985, he would have been only six years old.
- Depending on how bad Ted's childhood scrawl used to be, a six (6) could be easily mistaken for an eight (8), or maybe he just lied to make himself seem a bit more mature.
- The scene that showed Barney and Nora were in China Town, New York. Actually it's a scene in China Town in Bangkok, Thailand.
- Lily is seen eating while in bed, but in Twin Beds, Lily forbade Marshall of this because of ants.
- In the scene where Nora and Barney go out on his balcony, we get a look into Barney's apartment. The front wall doesn't show the 300 inch tv screen as seen in World's Greatest Couple and Do I Know You?, instead it shows a fireplace and shelves.
Allusions and Outside References
- Marshall paraphrases the movie Jaws, saying "We're going to need a bigger booth.".
- Weird Al Yankovic makes an appearance, and Ted mentions several of his songs.
- Loretta is a Julie Andrews fan. She and Nora sing My Favorite Things from The Sound of Music.
- Frances Conroy (Loretta Stinson) also sang "My Favorite Things" in Six Feet Under's episode Timing and Space.
- Ted has a documentary film about coin collecting that he says was produced by the actor who played Argyle in Die Hard. No such film actually exists.
- Barney's air guitar solos are a reference to those from Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure and Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey.
- The jumper Nora and Barney see when they are on Barney's balcony yells 'Goodbye cruel world' which is the same sentence the puppet yells in Neil Patrick Harris' episode 'The Lullaby' of 'Neil's Puppet Dreams'.
- When Ted is on the phone trying to find someone to go to the concert with him, he may be imitating Rob Schneider's SNL character, Richard Laymer ("The Richmeister").
Music
Other Notes
- Noretta is a portmanteau of two names: Nora and Loretta.
Guests
- Wayne Brady - James Stinson
- Frances Conroy - Loretta Stinson
- Chris Elliott - Mickey Aldrin
- Bill Fagerbakke - Marvin Eriksen Sr.
- Cristine Rose - Virginia Mosby
- Weird Al Yankovic - Himself
- Kal Penn - Kevin
- Nazanin Boniadi - Nora
- Sathya Jesudasson - Mrs. Venkataraghavan
- Riley Thomas Stewart - Young Barney
Podcast
Featuring interviews with Neil Patrick Harris, Jason Segel, Josh Radnor and Cobie Smulders.
Reception
- This episode was viewed by 9.87 million people.[1]
- Donna Bowman of The AV Club gave the episode a B.[2]
- Robert Canning of IGN gave the episode 6.5 out of 10. He says, "For the second week in a row, How I Met Your Mother chose to embrace a gimmick (or two) over its actual characters. This resulted in a handful of hallow laughs, but nothing all that memorable."[3]
- Angel Cohn of Television Without Pity gave this episode a C.[4]
- The St. Petersburg Comic Review gave this episode 7.5 out of 10 stars. "... what's Weird Al doing here?"
References
- ā http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2011/10/25/tv-ratings-monday-dancing-sing-off-fall-hart-of-dixie-rises-as-cbs-results-are-confused-by-local-football/108364/
- ā http://www.avclub.com/articles/noretta,63860/
- ā http://www.ign.com/articles/2011/10/25/how-i-met-your-mother-noretta-review
- ā http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/show/how-i-met-your-mother/noretta.php
External Links
- Noretta on SpoilerTV.com
- Noretta at the English Wikipedia
- Noretta at TV.com
- Noretta at the Internet Movie Database
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