| “Slapsgiving” | ||
| ← | HIMYM episode 3x09 (53) | → |
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| First aired: November 19, 2007 | ||
| Director: Pamela Fryman | ||
| Writer: Matt Kuhn | ||
It’s Lily and Marshall’s first Thanksgiving as a married couple. Barney has to deal with a looming slap. Robin wants to bring her current boyfriend and Ted and Robin must deal with residual tension since their breakup.
Recap
The episode begins with Future Ted telling his kids about a private joke he and Robin used to share while they were going out where they would salute whenever another person used a military rank before another in a sentence (an example being 'Major Payraise'), but since breaking up simply share awkward looks whenever someone does it. It's the gang's first Thanksgiving with Marshall and Lily as a married couple. Lily is obsessing over making sure it is perfect, Robin has invited her older boyfriend Bob, who is forty-one, to Thanksgiving dinner, and Marshall is terrorizing Barney in the days leading up to Barney's third slap across the face from the Slap Bet to the point where he has set up a countdown on his computer. When Robin and Ted are the only two members of the group to show up to a night of baking pies, they notice how awkward their relationship has become since they broke up; they have nothing to talk about when they are alone together, and are uneasy in each other's presence, creating a nagging feeling that they are no longer really friends. They fight, but end the night by having sex. Meanwhile, Barney begins to get upset at the notion of another slap, and Lily declares as Slap Bet Commissioner that no slap would occur on Thanksgiving much to Barney's delight and Marshall's dismay.
On Thanksgiving, Robin and Lily decide that Robin and Ted need to talk about what happened and Ted, Marshall and Barney have decided they must ignore it. Robin and Ted argue again and Lily forces them to talk it out. After the two discuss how weird it is to be around each other they come to the realisation that they're not friends, and sadly agree that after the dinner they shouldn't see each other again.
Later, over the dinner Bob uses the phrase 'major buzzkill', causing Ted and Robin to salute without thinking, making them realise there's still a connection between them and they can still be friends. Future Ted tells his kids that he had a great evening with his friends (and Bob), and that's why he takes them to Marshall and Lily's to spend Thanksgiving every year. Barney begins to taunt a dismayed Marshall as the countdown enters the last ten seconds. Lily warns him not to but when Barney keeps going regardless, she allows the slap to happen with only three seconds to go. Overjoyed, Marshall slaps Barney immediately sending him flying across the room before singing 'You Just Got Slapped' (a song of his own creation).
Later, as everyone tidies up from the dinner Ted notes there's going to be a 'major clean-up' making everyone unknowingly salute and despair.
Continuity
- Lily asks that the Thanksgiving pies be made at Robin's because Marshall keeps eating them (which he attributes to his "sleep eating" disorder). His apparently insatiable appetite was first demonstrated in Drumroll, Please when he becomes obsessed with Stuart and Claudia's wedding cake. It is referenced again in several episodes, including The Best Burger in New York and Sorry, Bro.
- Marshall delivers the third of the five slaps he wins in Slap Bet, where he also uses the first slap.
- The second slap occurs in Stuff and the fourth in Slapsgiving 2: Revenge of the Slap, which takes place two seasons later, in Season 5, and in which Future Ted mentions that the third slap was delivered two years ago.
- In Disaster Averted, Marshall gets three more slaps and uses two immediately, leaving himself with two more slaps.
- Marshall slaps Barney for a seventh time in Slapsgiving 3: Slappointment in Slapmarra.
- The final slap is delivered in The End of the Aisle.
- Ted's new-found promiscuity, which he mentions aspiring to in Something Blue (claiming to want to "get out there and have fun"), is pointed out by Robin. She adds that it resulted in him getting a butterfly tattoo, as seen in Wait For It.
- Marshall emails the slap countdown website to Barney in Wait For It.
- Ted and Robin sleeping together here is referenced again in Rebound Bro (Ted mentions having not had sex in five months, Marshall noting that the last time he did was Thanksgiving) and Shelter Island (Ted tells Stella that he and Robin had their "backslide" over Thanksgiving).
- Ted and Robin are seen doing their running joke again in Benefits, The Wedding Bride, Platonish and Last Forever - Part One.
- Marshall's Slapsgiving song, "You Just Got Slapped", appears again in Slapsgiving 2: Revenge of the Slap, in the commercial for Lily's father's "Slap Bet" board game, and in Slapsgiving 3: Slappointment in Slapmarra, performed by Boyz II Men.
- Lily displays her dislike of people who are not members of the gang appearing in photos of major occasions again in Say Cheese.
Gallery
- For a listing of all images on the wiki tagged as being from this episode, see Category:Slapsgiving images.
Memorable Quotes
| Barney: | Please, don't slap me! |
| Marshall: | I'm sorry, what? |
| Barney: | Oh God, don't slap me again! I don't want to get slapped again! The first two times hurt so bad, I don't like, I don't like it one bit! |
| Marshall: | Well, I thought I ruined it by putting a clock on it, Barney? |
| Barney: | Well, you didn't ruin it, you made it so much worse! I can't eat, I can't sleep. I've lost 10 pounds, my suits are wearing me! You know what? I am out of here! |
| Marshall: | What?! No, no, you can't leave! |
| Barney: | Why can't I?! Nowhere in the rules does it say I have to sit through this sort of mental torture! You are allowed to slap my face, sir, but you are not allowed to slap my mind! Good day! |
| Barney: | Hey, check it out! We're in the last 20 seconds of Marshall's countdown to nothing! |
| Lily: | Barney, put it away. |
| Barney: | So, how does it feel Marshall? To just sit there, impotently, your large hand just dangling flaccidly in the wind...? |
| Computer: | The slap will occur in 10, 9, 8, 7... |
| Barney: | Uh, classy touch,dude.Too bad! |
| Lily: | Barney, put it away! |
| Barney: | I will in 5, 4, 3... |
| Lily: | You can slap him! |
| Marshall: | (Slaps Barney) That's three!!! |
| Ted: | Do you think that... do you think that I'm jealous of Bob? |
| Robin: | I don't know. Is it so ridiculous to think that you might be? |
| Ted: | Yes. |
| Robin: | Why? |
| Ted: | Because he's a thousand years old. |
| Lily: | (flash forward) No, Ted, what are you doing? |
| Robin: | (flash forward) Right? |
| Ted: | The only reason I'm jealous of Bob is that we can only talk about the first Thanksgiving, but he was actually there. |
| Robin: | Come on. |
| Ted: | The only reason I'm jealous of Bob is because I heard Noah gave him shotgun in the ark. The only reason I'm jealous of Bob is that I'm just an architect, but he discovered fire. How do you top that? |
| Robin: | He's 41! Why are you bashing on him so hard? |
| Ted: | I'm not. I'm just joking around. That's what friends do. |
| Robin: | It's mean. |
Notes and Trivia
Goofs and Errors
- In the flashbacks of the first two slaps delivered by Marshall the first slap shown in the flashback is the slap before Marshall won the slap bet.The DVD release shows the real first slap.
- When Marshall shows that they are in the final hour of the countdown there are actually 2 hours and 40 minutes left. In the DVD release it's correct.
- During the rules during 'Slap Bet' Marshall says you can't wear rings when you slap, but when he slaps Barney, he is wearing his wedding ring on his left hand, the hand he slapped Barney with.
- Marshall says the slap will occur at 3:01 in the afternoon; but when the countdown ends and Barney gets slapped it is nightime outside the apartment.
Allusions and Outside References
- When Ted goes to make pies with Robin and Bob, Robin mentions that Bob "went to see Green Day".
- Ted, commenting on how old Bob looks to him, says that Bob looks like Orville Redenbacher.
- Barney dresses up as Borat Sagdiyev from Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.
Music
- You Just Got Slapped - Marshall Eriksen
- Click, Click, Click, Click - Bishop Allen
- Flight of the Bumblebee - Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
- Still Alright - Adam Merrin of The 88
Other Notes
- Eben Ham, who played "Younger Bob" in this episode, also appeared as "Pete the Policeman" in Belly Full of Turkey, and the pilot who collapsed in Now We're Even.
Guests
- Orson Bean - Bob
- Eben Ham - Younger Bob
Reception
Omar G at Television Without Pity gave the episode a B+.[1]
Donna Bowman of The AV Club rated the episode B. [2]
Eric Goldman of IGN gave the episode 8.5 out of 10. He describes the slap bet as one of the funniest running jokes of the series. Goldman was also impressed by how well Neil Patrick Harris took the slap, describing it as "like Biff Tannen taking a punch from George McFly". [3]
Entertainment Weekly put it on its end-of-the-decade, "best-of" list, saying, "After winning permission to slap Barney in a bet, Marshall renames Turkey Day in 2007. Slapstick ensues, setting the stage for "Slapsgiving 2" in 2009. Did we mention it's a real knee-slapper?".
References
External Links
- Slapsgiving at the Internet Movie Database
- Slapsgiving at the English Wikipedia
- Slapsgiving at TV.com
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