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Robots Versus Wrestlers
HIMYM episode 5x22 (110)
Robots v wrestlers
First aired:
May 10, 2010
Director:
Rob Greenberg
Writer:
Jamie Rhonheimer
Barney's Blog

Images (4)

While Barney, Lily and Marshall watch a Robots vs. Wrestlers event, Ted attends a sophisticated kind of party. Robin continues avoiding the group to build a better relationship with Don.


Recap[]

Barney is excited to get the gang to come with him to a grand-scale fighting match called "Robots Versus Wrestlers." Barney had bought a fifth ticket for Robin, despite knowing she had wished to spend time away from them, and indeed she ends up declining. Meanwhile, Ted finds himself continuously snubbed by his friends whenever he tries to appear intellectual, such as by reciting a poem, as his friends always make fart noises to interrupt him. At the apartment, Barney is introduced to Marissa Heller, who Ted explains was their apartment's previous occupant. Ted has been receiving her mail ever since they moved in 10 years ago, and over the years, Marshall and Ted had gotten a good idea of what she might be like, although they have no idea what she looks like. In the present, Ted opens another such envelope addressed to her, which is an invitation to a high-society party in the Alberta building, a famous building that Ted describes as the most beautiful in Manhattan. Unfortunately, the party is the same night as Robots Versus Wrestlers, so Ted convinces the gang they'll make a brief appearance at the party before heading over to Robots, having Lily pretend to be Marissa so that they can gain entry to the party.

As Lily is about to introduce herself as Marissa to the doorman, the real Marissa arrives, foiling their plan. Ted manages to impress Marissa with his architectural knowledge, and Marissa agrees to take the group with her up to the party. Ted has a great time at the party, becoming a big hit, while Marshall, Lily, and Barney find it boring and want to leave. Ted decides to stay, leaving Barney hurt, as he, Marshall, and Lily head to Robots Versus Wrestlers.

Marshall thinks Robots Versus Wrestlers is awesome, but Barney is bothered by the fact that their group appears to be growing apart: Robin moving in with Don, Ted leaving them for the party, and Marshall and Lily possibly having a baby soon. Lily assures Barney that, though they might drift apart, they'll still remain friends. Meanwhile, Ted continues to have a good time at the party and begins reciting a poem to everyone there, in the original Italian. As he does so, Ted is amazed no one interrupts him and realizes maybe he has gone too far, and wishes someone would stop him. At that moment, Marshall and the others discover Ted's doppelganger, a Mexican wrestler at the event. Barney sends Ted a picture, who upon seeing it immediately leaves the party. Meanwhile, Barney, Marshall, and Lily are at MacLaren's, where Barney has been making a series of absurd rules they have to follow if Marshall and Lily have their baby. Barney gets up to get a drink, and Marshall asks Lily to seriously consider the possibility of having a baby. Lily points out they won't be able to do as many fun things as before, such as finding Ted's doppelgänger at Robots Versus Wrestlers. They then agree that they won't start trying to have a baby until after they've found the fifth doppelgänger of the group, Barney's. Ted arrives later, where Barney apologizes to him and allows to him to recite another poem. As Ted begins to do so, Robin arrives and interrupts him with a fart noise. As the gang shows her Ted's doppelgänger, Future Ted explains that, although the group grew apart one time or another, they always made sure to get together every year for Robots Versus Wrestlers.

Continuity[]

  • Ted's friends' (and sometimes Ted himself) preference of lowbrow fun over more sophisticated entertainment is a recurring plot point, first seen in Okay Awesome; another example is the opening of Little Boys.
  • Ted's highbrow aspirations (and his friends' mocking of same) are also a recurring plot point, such as in Twin Beds
  • Robin moves in with Don in Twin Beds, during which he observes how "weird" it is that she hangs out with two ex-boyfriends.
  • The fourth doppelganger, Mexican Wrestler Ted, appears in this episode. The existence of the doppelgangers was first mentioned in Double Date.
  • Ted mentions the fact that Ulee's Gold appears in The New York Times crossword puzzle frequently "because of all the vowels" in Rabbit or Duck​, and confirms this after meeting Will Shortz, its editor.
  • Lily reprises her fake British accent, previously seen in Intervention.
  • In the flashback to the first time Ted and Marshall got mail at the apartment, Ted can be seen in the kitchen with a box labelled "Pot lids", which he has when moving into Robin's apartment in Moving Day.
  • The Alberta building party is thrown by Jefferson Van Smoot, who shares his last name with Lily and Marshall's dream wedding venue (Van Smoot House), mentioned in Best Prom Ever.
  • Marshall claims he "would blame that child for the rest of his life" if he had missed seeing Ted's doppelganger while taking care of his child, to which Lily responds "Yes, for the rest of her life." Their disagreement over their preferred sex for their future child was previously referenced in Dowisetrepla​​.
  • Marshall says that he and Lily are "financially stable", implying that they have resolved at least part of the credit-card debt he learns about in Dowisetrepla, and the expensive home repairs from No Tomorrow​​.
  • After failing to fool Marissa Heller, Barney flees with "Stinson out."
  • Barney names several rules for Marshall and Lily's baby. The final rule mentioned is number 83 dealing with baby spit up, suits, and Lily's breasts.

Future References (Contains Spoilers)[]

  • The gang meets another Van Smoot—George "The Captain", Zoey's husband—in Natural History.
  • Ted is slower to call dibs in Big Days.
  • Barney's obsession with Lily's boobs culminates in Ducky Tie.
  • Marshall and Lily's preferred sex for their child comes up again in Baby Talk.
  • In Doppelgangers, Lily believes that her and Marshall's pact with the universe, to have kids after seeing Barney's doppelganger, is fulfilled when she sees a pretzel vendor who only she thinks looks like him, after which she and Marshall begin trying to start a family, as seen throughout Season 6. Barney's actual doppelganger appears in Bad News
  • Future Ted admits that the gang does "drift apart" in the future. Notably, Robin leaves the gang from 2016 to 2020 (Last Forever - Part Two) after divorcing Barney in 2016 (Last Forever - Part One), only rarely seeing even Lily (Bad Crazy).
  • In Last Forever - Part Two, the gang, along with the Mother, attend Robots Versus Wrestlers in 2019.
    • While Future Ted states that the gang never missed Robots Versus Wrestlers, Robin does not attend it with the gang in 2019 after distancing herself from them in Last Forever - Part One.
    • Also, Marshall, Lily, Robin, and Barney are all too busy to go to Robots Versus Wrestlers: Legends with Ted in The Time Travelers. That said, Robots Versus Wrestlers: Legends may be affiliated with Robots Versus Wrestlers, while being a distinct event.

Gallery[]

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

Memorable Quotes[]

Barney: Five front row tickets to Robots Versus Wrestlers!
Marshall: Robots Versus Wrestlers?!
Ted: That is awesome!
Barney: You've heard of Robots Versus Wrestlers?
Marshall: Never.
Ted: But we assume its some sort of sporting event that pits robots against wrestlers!
Barney: That's exactly what it is! According to the website!
Barney, Marshall and Ted are excited by the very idea of Robots Versus Wrestlers

Robin: I have plans with Don on Saturday: He's making me Chinese.
Lily: I'll assume you're talking about food, otherwise I'll have some follow-up questions.

Lily: You don't have to worry about me and Marshall having kids. That's a long way down the road.
Marshall: Exactly. It's down the road. Medium way.
Lily: A medium-long way.
Marshall: I mean, you can see it ahead.
Lily: In the vast, vast distance.
Marshall: But you're already seeing exit signs for it.
Lily: Really? I didn't see any.
Marshall: You might wanna get in the right lane.
Marshall and Lily don't quite agree on their timetable for having a baby

Barney:
  1. You promise to always love me more than the baby
  2. Once a month I get to use the baby to pick up chicks
  3. That may involve the baby falling from a two story window and me heroically catching it
  4. No breast-feeding in front of me
  5. Forget about 4. You can whip em out whenever you want

... 83. If anything that's comes out of that baby gets on one of my suits, I get to touch Lily's boobs

Barney's conditions for Marshall and Lily to have a baby

Notes and Trivia[]

Goofs and Errors[]

  • In the opening scene Marshall is wearing a Packers green and yellow shirt, but as a Vikings fan who hates the Packers, Marshall would never make that mistake.

Allusions and Outside References[]

  • The Alberta is a parody of The Dakota, a New York City apartment building with a storied history.
  • Barney calls Arianna Huffington "Zsa Zsa Gabor".
  • When Lily picks up the candlestick and states, "Miss Lily in the living room with the candlestick" she is referencing the classic murder-mystery-solving board game of Clue in which players must determine who did it, where, and with what.
  • Ted quotes from Dante's Inferno in both English and the original Italian.
  • Marshall mentions that the name's actor Willem Dafoe sounds like a frog talking to a parrot.
  • The snooty quartet including Ted is a reference to the film, Trading Places, as is their choice of song.
  • Ted recites the poem "Friendship," written by Ralph Waldo Emerson.
  • Marshall hits a gong, which was supposedly used in 1885 during the London premiere of The Mikado, by W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan.
  • Lily mentions The Young and the Restless in the elevator.
  • The candlestick that Lily holds supposedly belonged to the poet Edgar Allan Poe.
  • Ted tells Marissa that the architect of the Alberta, Lewis Lamar Skolnick, is one of his favorite architects. Lewis Skolnick and Lamar were both characters in Revenge of the Nerds.

Music[]

Other Notes[]

  • International Airdates: United Kingdom: October 21, 2010 on E4; India: November 3, 2010 on Star World; Czech Republic: January 10, 2011 on Prima COOL; Germany: February 16, 2011 on ProSieben.
  • Ted is wearing the same New York Cubans T-Shirt that Don wore in the previous episode Twin Beds.
  • Mexican Wrestler Ted shouts "¡Yo soy el conquistador de máquinas!" which translates, "I am the conquerer of machines!"
  • Don is not seen with Robin when she takes Lily's call while on the air, even though he's still co-hosting the show with her at that point. Robin also exhibits the same flippant behavior that Don had previously shown before Robin developed a crush on him by talking with Lily during a show segment and then catching up with the teleprompter as the story wrapped, behavior that had previously disgusted Robin when it was coming from Don.
  • Although it's not elaborated either way, Jefferson Van Smoot may be related to George Van Smoot, AKA The Captain. Both are wealthy high society men around the same age who are seen hosting or sponsoring sophisticated events, Jefferson hosts the party in the Alberta Building, while George/The Captain is a sponsor for the Goliath National Bank fundraiser at the Natural History Museum in Natural History.
  • If Barney does plan on sleeping with Marshall and Lily’s daughter the day she turns 18, that would happen on February 14th 2032.

Guests[]

Reception[]

Donna Bowman of The A.V. Club rated the episode with a grade A. [1]
Amanda Sloane Murray of IGN gave the episode 7.2 out of 10. [2]
Cindy McLennan of Television Without Pity rated the episode with a grade C+. [3]

References[]

External Links[]


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