Spoiler Alert
Comments4| “Spoiler Alert” | ||
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| First aired: November 12, 2007 | ||
| Director: Pamela Fryman | ||
| Writer: Stephen Lloyd | ||
An annoying habit in Ted's new girlfriend causes the gang to point out various bad habits unnoticed by other members of the group. Marshall forgets his password and can't check the results of the Bar exam; he turns to Barney for help.
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Recap
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Ted thinks that he has found the perfect girl, Cathy, but the group disagrees. At first they refuse to give a reason so as not to "spoil" her for him, but eventually Marshall tells him that she talks too much. Now that Ted knows, he cannot stand her garrulousness. The five friends then let slip each other's flaws until all are "spoiled", and thus are more annoying to those who had previously not noticed the flaws:
- Lily: chewing loudly (pointed out by Ted);
- Marshall: singing about whatever he is doing at the moment, or nonsense (pointed out by Robin);
- Ted: correcting people (pointed out by Lily);
- Robin: overusing and misusing the word "literally" (pointed out by Ted);
- Barney: speaking in a falsetto, overusing catch phrases, and spacing out when his friends are talking to him (pointed out by Marshall, Robin and Ted).
Whenever one or more of the group has these quirks pointed out to them, the sound of glass shattering is heard. This represents the shattering of their illusions about one another.
Meanwhile, Marshall's bar exam results have been released, but he cannot remember the password he needs to retrieve the results online (thus saving him from waiting three months for a notification by mail). Barney offers to help but this is only a ruse, and, with Marshall angry at Barney and the whole gang annoyed with one another, the arguments reach a climax. The argument is halted when the group mockingly sings one of Marshall's 'nonsense' songs; the song was actually a mnemonic device to help Marshall remember his password for the bar exam results website. He enters it and proudly announces "I'm a lawyer". The group then celebrates with champagne at MacLaren's with each sliding back into their bad habits (Lily crunching loudly on bar snacks, Ted making a correction on a comment, Robin using 'literally' incorrectly, Barney saying 'Law-suit up!' in a high-pitched voice, and Marshall singing his own praises) which they all let go.
At the end, in a time leap forward, Ted runs into his overly loquacious ex-girlfriend with her deaf fiancé, and uses sign language to announce how Cathy talks too much. Even though the man is deaf and it does not affect him, Ted has 'spoiled' Cathy, and a subtitle displays "(Glass shattering)" as Ted walks away and Cathy's fiancé looks on in despair.
ContinuityEdit
- The montage showing the early bloom of Ted's romance with Cathy is composed of a scene in which the two are sitting on the sofa watching television and drinking wine; a scene in which Ted lets Cathy try the sauce they are preparing in Ted's kitchen; and finally a scene in which Ted surprises Cathy with a flower at an outdoor flower shop. The scenes and structure of this montage parallel those of the montage used in the earlier episode Little Boys, where Ted admits to actually liking Stacy (his love interest for that episode).
- Marshall's habit of always singing what he's doing is a throwback to the first season episode Sweet Taste of Liberty.
- Ted's habit of correcting people is referenced by him in Shelter Island, when he informs karate master Tony that he is already having sex with Tony's ex-girlfriend Stella, and then nervously remarks to himself: "Why do I always have to correct people?" Robin also refers to it in Benefits, telling Lily that "no one likes a Ted" when Lily corrects her spelling.
- Ted again uses sign-language to communicate with Cathy's deaf fiancé. He first displayed the skill in How I Met Everyone Else, in a flashback to when he met Barney.
GalleryEdit
- For a listing of all images on the wiki tagged as being from this episode, see Category:Spoiler Alert images.
Memorable QuotesEdit
| Ted: | Lily, she knows all about art. Marshall, she's open to the existence of UFOs. Barney, she's hot. Robin, she's not hotter than you. (Ted tells the gang why they should all like his new girl) |
| Marshall: | I assume it's because she's loyal, wears shiny belts, and I resemble a young Harrison Ford. (Marshall on why he thinks Ted calls Lily "Chewbacca") |
| Marshall: | Brother, you're driving the "I wanna have sex with her" truck, and it has a huge blind spot. |
| Ted: | That's ridiculous. |
| Barney: | Is it, really? Ted, let me tell you a little story about a young lady I wanted to have sex with. Lucilia. On a white sand beach in Rio de Janeiro, we made love for ten straight hours, and when we were done, she applauded, and told me I was far, far better than the best lover she could possibly imagine, and that I had restored her faith in God. |
| Ted: | What's that have to do with Cathy? |
| Barney: | Who's Cathy? |
| Robin: | Oh, my God, Lily! What are you eating? Gravel? |
| Marshall: | Oh, I know, right? It sounds like cufflinks going up a vacuum cleaner! |
| Lily: | Well, why don't you sing about it? |
| Marshall: | (singing) Because I don't sing about everything I do! |
| Robin: | No, no, sometimes you just sing nonsense words, like a stroke victim. And what's worse: they're catchy! Apple, Orchard, Banana Cat Dance (Ted, Barney, and Lily join in) 8663. See, we know that one because you once sang it for like three hours? What the hell is that? |
| Marshall: | That's my password AOBCD8663 |
Notes and TriviaEdit
Goofs and ErrorsEdit
Barney mistakenly refers to the National Security Act of 1947 as the "National Security Act of 1948".
Allusions and Outside ReferencesEdit
- Ted calls Lily Chewbacca because she chews her food loudly, a reference to the Star Wars character.
- Cathy's name and her flaw of excessive talking is a reference to the phrase and toy Chatty Cathy.
MusicEdit
- The Underdog - Spoon
Other NotesEdit
- Lindsay Price, who plays Cathy, and Josh Radnor, who plays Ted, started dating at some point while making this episode, just like how their characters were dating in this episode.
GuestsEdit
- Lindsay Price - Cathy
- Ron Butler - Proctor
- Steve Little - Test-Taker
- Lyndsy Fonseca - Daughter
- David Henrie - Son
ReceptionEdit
Omar G at Television Without Pity gave the episode an A-.[1]
Donna Bowman of the AV Club gave the episode a B rating.[2]
IGN rated the episode 8.6 out of 10.[3]
ReferencesEdit
External LinksEdit
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