“Subway Wars”
←	HIMYM episode 6x04 (116)	→
First aired: October 11, 2010
Director: Pamela Fryman
Writer: Chris Harris
Barney's Blog
Images (15)

When the gang teases Robin about not being a "real" New Yorker, she sets out to prove them all wrong. The gang all race to catch a glimpse of the Woody Allen.

Contents 1 Recap 2 Continuity 3 Gallery 4 Memorable Quotes 5 Notes and Trivia 5.1 Goofs and Errors 5.2 Allusions and Outside References 5.3 Music 5.4 Other Notes 6 Guests 7 Podcast 8 Reception 9 References 10 External Links 11 Comments

RecapEdit

While the gang hangs out at MacLaren's, Marshall learns that his friend Max from law school has just spotted Woody Allen at a restaurant downtown. While Robin is interested in seeing him, the rest of the gang isn't, saying they've seen him plenty of times and teasing Robin about not being a "real" New Yorker, as she's from Canada. Robin tries to impress them by saying she has seen Maury Povich, but the gang is again unimpressed, as they have all seen him many times as well. The group debates about what it takes to become a "real" New Yorker; Ted states it's stealing a cab from someone who needs it more than yourself, Lily argues it's crying on the subway and not caring what others think, while Marshall believes it's killing a cockroach with one's bare hands. Robin admits she hasn't done any of those things, but Future Ted says that by the end of the day, she would have done all three. The group then begins arguing on what the fastest way to get to the restaurant would be, and quickly decide to race each other there: Ted rides the bus, Lily takes the subway, Robin opts to hail a cab, Marshall decides to run there on foot, and Barney claims to have the fastest method of all, even while enjoying a steak first.

Barney's plan is revealed to be faking a heart attack at a restaurant after eating the steak, then using the ambulance ride to a hospital right next to the restaurant as his quick transportation. His plan backfires, however, when the ambulance takes him to a hospital uptown, and he is forced to contact Ranjit for a ride. Meanwhile, Lily misinterprets the subway conductor's announcement that the subway is undergoing maintenance, and soon after exiting the train, it departs. Robin hails a cab, stealing it from a woman carrying bags who then angrily leaps on top of the windshield. Robin and the cab driver are freaked out, so Robin abandons the ride, and later rides along with Barney in Ranjit's car. During the ride, Robin angrily reveals to Barney that she had tried to talk to him about how low she was feeling recently (due to her break-up with Don and feeling shunned and forgotten due to her overly-enthusiastic new co-anchor, Becky) yet he ignored her and tried to use her as a decoy while he eyed up a woman at the bar. Barney realises what he did and tells Robin he's listening now, but she isn't interested and leaves the car. Ted rides the bus, and attempts to impress others riding with his knowledge of New York architecture, though he mainly bores and annoys them. Marshall is at first enthusiastic and confident that he can outrun everyone, though he soon begins to lose energy. Future Ted discusses why each of them personally felt the need to win the race. Lily had been feeling dejected after having been unable to conceive a baby with Marshall for two months, Marshall was feeling the same, believing it to be his fault, Ted had been stunned after receiving a negative review on a teacher rating website (despite having received many positive ones), Robin was feeling bad after the terrible year she'd had, while Barney really didn't have a reason to win as at the time his life was perfect.

Halfway through the race, the group all coincidentally meet up, and though Ted proposes they declare a tie, they immediately continue the race. Robin takes the subway, where she sees a poster up for her news show, with her co-anchor's face taking up much more space then hers. Enraged, Robin rips it down, only to see an older poster behind it with one of her and Don. Robin breaks down crying, snapping at the other passengers when they look in her direction. Lily spots her and comforts her, though she quickly abandons her and calls Ranjit in favor of the race. Barney rides a pedicab, though he quickly changes places with the driver to bike there himself. Lily has Ranjit pick up Marshall on the way, and the two discuss their concerns about not conceiving a baby yet. They then agree there is really no rush to become parents, and promptly decide to head to Coney Island to have fun. Ted, Barney, and Robin race for the finish; however Barney trips over taking Ted down with him and allows Robin to win the race. Future Ted tells his kids that, while Barney constantly denied it, he knew that Barney had spotted that Robin had been crying earlier, and purposefully tripped Ted and himself so Robin could win. Robin enjoys a meal with Max while Ted thanks Barney for letting Robin win although Barney, as Future Ted had stated, claims that the trip was an accident. Max points out Woody Allen to Robin, who in fact turns out to be Maury Povich (the group had inexplicably seen him several times throughout the episode). Future Ted stated that Robin did see Woody Allen a couple of months later, but became a "real" New Yorker that day. Robin then kills a cockroach on the table with her hand, thus fulfilling all three tasks.

ContinuityEdit

• Lily is frustrated about not being pregnant and Robin is depressed due to being overshadowed by Don's replacement, Becky. This is picked up from the plot of Doppelgangers, where Lily decided to have a baby with Marshall and Robin broke up with Don due to him leaving the show for an anchor job in Chicago.
• Robin is often teased for being Canadian. Her being a true New Yorker is tested in this episode as her being American was tested in Duel Citizenship.
• A little Marshall taunts Lily when the pregnancy test shows that it is negative. Two of the main cast have been shown to do this in Little Boys, where a little Barney and little Ted taunt each other during their respective dates with the same girl. Also, in Not a Father's Day, Barney said that pregnancy tests should have a little Barney giving a thumbs up when they come out negative.
• The episode hints that Barney may still have feelings for Robin since their breakup in The Rough Patch, like in Of Course and Twin Beds.
• As Lily is heading towards the bathroom to pee on the pregnancy test again Marshall is seen having trouble opening a champagne bottle as he has had in Pilot.
• Lily's disciplining of Barney by making him sit in another booth was first done in Ten Sessions.
• Ted points to the Alberta building to a fellow passenger, where he previously attended Jefferson Van Smoot's party in Robots Versus Wrestlers.
• When pointing the Alberta building, Ted says to his fellow bus mate "here's a fun fact". Ted loves Architecture "fun facts" as it's first seen in First Time In New York.
• Ted points out the Arcadian to the bus driver. In Architect of Destruction, GNB decided to bring the building down to make way for their own headquarters.
• Ranjit first became Barney's personal driver on-call in Rabbit or Duck.
• Barney breaks the fourth wall by winking at the audience as he did in The Playbook.
• It is shown again how Marshall loves writing songs. We saw in Slapsgiving, Spoiler Alert, Slapsgiving 2: Revenge of the Slap, Of Course and Unfinished.
• Marshall is always nice with people, even when he walks down the street. We learn that in The Wedding Bride and we see in this episode again.
• Lily uses her ability to translate a subway conductor again in Challenge Accepted.
• The Eriksens' high fertility is mentioned again, first brought up in Belly Full of Turkey, when Marshall's dad claims the Eriksens' 'swimmers' have two tails and a drill bit for a head.
• Maury Povich was originally going to be referenced again in Ducky Tie but the scene was shortened, cutting out the reference.

GalleryEdit

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

Memorable QuotesEdit

Barney:	(Looking at girl) I cannot stop staring at that girl's face.
Ted:	Face? That's your weirdest nickname for boobs yet.
Barney:	No Ted. I am really looking at her face.
Lily:	Aaaw. That's really sweet.
Barney:	Puffy cheeks, smudged mascara, slightly red nose. That girl was just crying! She is so sad and defenseless... Anybody got a condom?

---

Barney:

And, firing half my department freed up the money to double my own salary. And this chick from Boston was wicked hot in bed last night. And I'm getting more muscular even though I've stopped working out. And I've got this amazing poker group... And I smell incredible!

—Barney doesn't actually need a win.

---

Lily:

You've had a rough year. But you're tough. And I love you like crazy. If you left, I'd have to follow you. And Marshall would follow me. And Ted would follow him. The only upside is that we might get rid of Barney.

—Lily comforts Robin

---

Calculator man:

Sound's like you need to clear everything, subtract the negativity and add some perspective.

---

Future Ted:

If you can't spot the crazy person on the bus, it's you.

---

Notes and TriviaEdit

Goofs and ErrorsEdit

• Most underground subway stations have no (or very little) mobile phone reception, yet Lily makes a phone call inside the station with no difficulties.

Allusions and Outside ReferencesEdit

• This episode featured several plugs for Microsoft
  • All maps are from Bing, which can be clearly seen when Ted first shows the map on his laptop
  • Ted pulls out a laptop brandishing the Windows logo
  • Ted searches for "grade my teacher" on Bing
  • Maury Povich is carrying a new Xbox 360 and Kinect when he bumps into Ted and Marshall with giant calculator^[1]
• Marshall references American folk hero John Henry in contemplating his race against the machines
• Marshall remembers bringing a jukebox back to life with his "Fonzarelli arm", a reference to Fonzie from Happy Days who could turn a jukebox on by simply hitting with with his arm
• The five split screens of Ted, Robin, Lily, Marshall, with Barney on the center screen has a similar reference to 24 as this episode has real time constraint with the same parallel adventures of different characters just as 24 does.
• Marshall references the Playboy channel and the Spice Channel.
• Both the use and design (the Windsor font, white text on black backgrounds and smooth jazz) of the intertitles alludes to the films of Woody Allen. Moreover, the jazz piece features a clarinet, which Woody Allen plays.
• The typeface used whenever Robin completes one of the defining experiences of being a New Yorker is "New Yorker" (so named because it's the font used for the cover of "The New Yorker" magazine).

MusicEdit

• Marshall versus the Machines

Other NotesEdit

• Barney effects a Boston accent when claiming he slept with a girl from there (see quote above).

• The website Ted looks himself up on is grademyteacher.net is not an actual professor rating website though it is clearly based on sites like www.ratemyprofessors.com. However, visiting the site will show a mock profile and rating for Ted.
  • After the events of this episode, there are now hundreds of ratings for "Ted Mosby" on RateMyProfessors.com, however. Several reviews reference this episode, and the series at large. 
• Josh Radnor suggested that this episode may have had the most scenes of all the episodes shot thus far.^[2]
• This episode was not filmed on location in NYC. It was filmed on a Universal Studios lot.^[2]
• Neil Patrick Harris claimed it was fun to film because, "I don't have to memorize much. I just have to worry about shin splints."^[2]

GuestsEdit

• Marshall Manesh - Ranjit
• Maury Povich - Himself
• Geoff Stults - Max
• Laura Bell Bundy - Becky
• Shaughn Buchholz - Waiter
• Jan Bryant - Mildred
• Steve Rizzo - Giant Calculator
• Toussaint Waterman - Paramedic
• Nick Toren - Tourist
• James Price Jr. - Large Man

PodcastEdit

Podcast - How I Met Your Mother - 'Subway Wars'(14:21)
50 views

Featuring an interview with Pamela Fryman and Chris Harris.

ReceptionEdit

This episode premiered to 8.480 million viewers.^[3]
Donna Bowman at the A.V. Club gave the episode a B+.^[4]
DeAnn Welker at Television Without Pity gave the episode a B+.^[5]
Robert Canning at IGN gave the episode a 9 out of 10.^[6]

ReferencesEdit

External LinksEdit

• Subway Wars at the English Wikipedia
• Subway Wars at the Internet Movie Database
• Subway Wars at TV.com
• Subway Wars at CBS Press Express.
• grademyteacher.net - Fictional professor rating site

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