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Sweet Taste of Liberty
HIMYM episode 1x03 (3)
Sweet Taste of Liberty
First aired:
October 3, 2005
Director:
Pamela Fryman
Writer:
Chris Miller
Phil Lord
Barney's Blog

Images (10)

Barney convinces Ted to pick up girls somewhere new. Lily and Robin go for a girls' night out. While Marshall is studying, he keeps receiving calls from Ted and Barney.


Recap[]

Barney has decided that it is time to break Ted out of his habit of going to the same bar. He tells Ted that he wants to do something "Legendary." Barney pulls Ted into his cab, and tells him that he needs to pick someone up at JFK airport. However, Ted did not realize that Barney meant that he was going to the airport to pick up chicks. Barney tells Ted that they are posing as international businessmen who have just returned from a lucrative trip to Japan. However, Barney then decides that they should fly to Philadelphia just because two beautiful women are also heading there. Barney calls Marshall to come to Philadelphia in the Fiero, because it is going to be "legendary." However, Ted and Barney eventually find out that these two girls have boyfriends who are linebackers for the Philadelphia Eagles. When they get off the plane in Philadelphia, Ted and Barney are taken into custody by airport security, since they left luggage on a carousel in JFK and purchased last minute plane tickets with cash. They are held there for a while, but are released when Barney's luggage at JFK is revealed to contain only condoms and a PowerBar. They then go to Sascha's house (Sascha was a security guard at the airport), which is not much of a party (although Barney also claims that this will be "legendary"), mostly because her grandfather is sleeping upstairs. Barney, upon meeting someone who works security for the Liberty Bell, decides that it would be "legendary" to go lick the Liberty Bell. Ted initially declines, but after Barney tells Ted that he is his best friend, Ted agrees to go with him. During this whole time, Ted and Barney call Marshall, with Ted telling him to turn around and go back home because nothing exciting is happening, and Barney telling him to come because it will be "legendary."

Meanwhile, Lily and Robin go to the bar for a girl's night out. Lily becomes jealous of Robin because Robin is single, and gets hit on and has guys buy drinks for her. She calls Marshall and tells him about her night, to which Marshall assures her that she isn't being hit on because she is wearing her engagement ring. Marshall suggests that she take off the ring so that she can gain some attention. Lily then tries to attract guys, but is still unsuccessful, getting only a gay man who told her that she sat on a grape. Robin is annoyed by the change in Lily's behavior, and convinces Lily that she has what most single women want: a good boyfriend. The gay man offers to help remove the grape stain, and Marshall walks in just as he is doing so. Marshall, who came only because he had second thoughts about Lily removing the ring for the night, was ready to fight the guy, but gave the guy a hug when he found out he was gay and admits to never having been in a fight before. However, after seeing Marshall hug the gay man, the gay man's boyfriend (who was the jealous type) begins to fight Marshall.

Ted and Barney return to New York after licking the Liberty Bell, and Ted realizes that he hangs out with Barney because, while he never got where he thought he wanted to go, he always got a great story out of it.

Continuity[]

  • This is the first episode to depict Barney teaching a fake history lesson. Ted's quick reaction implies that he has heard such lectures before.
  • Marshall's Pontiac Fiero first appears.
  • Barney first says "BTW" instead of "by the way".
  • Marshall's habit of singing what he is doing is established.
  • Robin is not yet a member of The Gang, especially since she does not fully reciprocate Ted's interest; as in Purple Giraffe​, Lily is still her connection to the others.
  • Barney's willingness to spend large amounts time and money on elaborate schemes to seduce women with is established.
  • This episode establishes Barney's tendency to often describe things as "Legendary". As with the fake history lesson, Ted indicates that Barney has often used the word in the past.

Future References (Contains Spoilers)[]

  • Marshall's ringtone in The Limo​​ and Best Prom Ever has the same tune as the song he sings while trying to study here.
  • In Nothing Good Happens After 2 A.M., Barney references licking the Liberty Bell as something good that happened after 2 A.M.
  • Marshall eventually loses his Fiero in Arrivederci, Fiero​​.
  • Marshall's habit of singing everything is one of the annoying traits the gang argues about in Spoiler Alert.
  • Upon discovering that the guy attempting to clean Lily's skirt was gay, Marshall says he is thankful because he has never been in a fight before. However, he insists that he has been in plenty of fights with his brothers in The Fight​​, eventually demonstrating his prowess by beating up Doug the bartender.
  • Barney claims that cute girls are not from Buffalo. He mentions his opinion on girls from Buffalo again in The Magician's Code - Part One​​.
  • Barney again refuses to change his story when questioned by airport security in The Magician's Code - Part Two​​.
  • Lily finds herself ignored by men while wearing her engagement ring. Robin faces the same problem in Ring Up.
  • In Last Forever - Part One, while saying goodbye to Barney, Ted refers to the time they licked the Liberty Bell, which Barney has apparently forgotten.

Gallery[]

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

Memorable Quotes[]

Barney: It's going to be legen...wait for it...and I hope you're not lactose-intolerant 'cause the second half of that word is...DARY!

Carl: Compliments of that guy. (lifts drink towards Robin and Lily)
Lily: Really? Sweet.
Carl: (to Lily) Oh, for you, it's $6.

Ted: Barney, I am going to kill you.
Barney: Don't say you're gonna kill someone in front of airport security. Not cool.

Robin: Lily's phone.
Marshall: Robin, where's Lily? Is she talking to some hot guy? Well, you can tell me, it's totally cool, it was my idea. Hell, I told her she could take the ring off.
Robin: Really? I thought it was kinda weird, but if you're cool with it, yeah, it's off and she's talking to some guy. Do you want me to go over and...
Marshall: No, don't interrupt, it's awesome. So, the ring's really off. Awesome. Well, just tell her I called. And tell her that she's… awesome. (Hangs up phone and starts singing) Really, really awesome. Our relationship is built on mutual trust. Can't breathe.

Marshall: Back off, hombre. I'm not that afraid to fight you. You wanna test this, guy? Be my guest.
Lily: Marshall, he's gay.
Marshall: Oh, thank God. (hugs the guy) I've never been in a fight before.

Lily: (to Robin) I guess I just wanted to throw this net back into the ocean and see how many fish I could catch. So far one, one gay dolphin.

Ted: If you want to go lick the Liberty Bell, just go lick it yourself.
Barney: No, it has to be the two of us.
Ted: Why? Why do you need me?
Barney: Because you're my best friend, all right? You don't have to tell me I'm yours. But the way I see it, we're a team. Without you, I'm just the dynamic uno.

Barney: Now, Ted, you can either put the bags on the carousel, or you can wait and listen to me give you a really long speech convincing you to put the bags on the carousel. (Ted doesn't move) ...Ted, since the dawn of time, Man has struggled... (Ted takes the bags and puts them on the carousel)

Random guy: So where are you from, heaven?
Robin: That's right, I'm a ghost. I died fifteen years ago, kinda like that pick-up line.
Lily: Hey-Oh!

Barney: Ted, get in the cab. Marshall, you too.
Marshall: Uh I wish I could but I think me and Lily...
Barney: I understand. (to Ted) Come on!
Ted: Why can Marshall say no?
Barney: Uhh, because he's getting laid.
Marshall: (to Ted) Consistently.

Ted: (to Barney) Wait, so when you said we were going to pick someone up at the airport you meant you were going to pick someone *up* at the airport?

Future Ted: I had no idea how Barney redirected the cab without me knowing but we got out, Dana let us in, and by God, we licked the Liberty Bell. And, you know what it tastes like? (cut to MacLaren's)
Girl: What?
Ted: Freedom. No, actually, it tastes like pennies.
Girl: My God. Did you guys really do that?
Future Ted: We really did. And that was when I realized why I hung out with Barney. I never got where I thought I wanted to go, but I always got a great story.

Robin: Guys are like the subway. You miss one, another comes along in five minutes.
Lily: Unless it's the end of the night, then you get on anything!

Marshall: (Singing) Studying law. Making a responsible choice for my future. On a Friday night... Being a lawyer had better be awesome. (Phone rings, still singing) What's up Ted?
Ted: Are you alright?

Barney: Look, our forefathers died for the "pursuit of happiness," okay? Not for the "sit around and wait of happiness." Now if you want, we can go to the same bar, drink the same beer, talk to the same people every day or you can lick the Liberty Bell. You can grab life by the crack and lick the crap out of it.
Taxi driver: That was beautiful, man.

Barney: You're in a rut.
Ted: I'm not in a rut. I have a routine.
Barney: Ted, what is the first syllable in rut-tine?

Ted: My friend does this thing where he goes to the airport and leaves fake luggage in order to meet women. That's all. That's all this is.
Airport Security Guard: Nobody's that lame.
Ted: He is. He is that lame. Barney, tell him you're that lame.
Barney: We are international businessmen!
Ted: (to Barney) Oh, come on!

Barney: Do you ever go behind the rope and touch it?
Dana: Only all the time.
Barney: Do you ever like, stick your head inside it?
Dana: Yeah.
Barney: Have you ever licked it?
Dana: Nope...I have never licked it.
Barney: I bet nobody in history has ever licked the Liberty Bell. If someone were to pull that off, I daresay it would be, what's the word?
Ted: (getting up to leave) Well, this is my stop.
Barney: LEGENDARY! Ted, LEGENDARY!

Barney: Are you ready? Because I'm about to drop some knowledge: Cute girls are not from Buffalo.

Ted's daughter: (excited) So, that girl you were talking to, that was mom?
Future Ted: Kids, every story in a man's life is like a dot in an Impressionist painting.
Ted's son: (disappointed) So that's a no?
Future Ted: Yeah, that's a no! What? Come on!

Notes and Trivia[]

Goofs and Errors[]

  • Lily takes off her engagement ring, but in the subsequent scenes, in which she drinks and spills her martini while trying to look sexy, she is wearing her ring.
  • Marshall says that he has never been in a fight, but in The Fight, it is revealed that he often fought with his brothers.
    • Marshall may not consider this real fighting because it's between brothers. (Even though it gets pretty intense).
  • Ted and Barney talk to Marshall on the plane even though the subsequent scene reveals that they have already taken off and are in the air (where a cell phone would have to be turned off). Certainly it's not impossible, or even implausible that they're using an Airphone which is allowed during flights.
  • In the scene where the guys are arguing whether or not Marshall should come to Philadelphia, he is shown turning to drive the other way, then turning around the other way, and then turning around yet another way. This would mean that Marshall was driving across 3 different lanes in a 'Z' shape.
  • When Ted and Barney are on the flight from New York to Philadelphia, the external shots of the plane are of a Boeing 747. 747s are used for long-haul international flights and are not used for domestic travel in the US, particularly not short hops between two relatively close cities like New York and Philadelphia.
    • While 747s are not usually used for short hops, airlines do occasionally use them on short flights when transitioning the plane to another location. Hypothetically the plane could have come out of a maintenance depot in New York and its next scheduled flight was out of Philadelphia. Instead of flying an empty plane the airline could have made it available as an extra segment.
    • However, it is clear that the interior of the plane is a single-aisle, narrow-bodied aircraft, whereas the 747 is a wide-bodied aircraft with two aisles.
  • When Ted and Barney take a taxi in Philadelphia to the Liberty Bell, twice we can clearly see that the stickers in the front window are the registration and safety inspection stickers of New York, not the safety inspection and emission inspection stickers of Pennsylvania.
  • At the end of the episode, Penny guesses that the girl Ted was talking to in the bar was The Mother. But later seasons establish that the kids already know the Yellow Umbrella played a big role in the story, and there was no yellow umbrella on the adventure to Philadelphia.

Allusions and Outside References[]

  • On the July 28, 2011 rerun showing of the episode, in the scene where Barney calls Marshall, there is a calendar edited in front of Marshall that says "The Smurfs: Summer 2011." Neil Patrick Harris stars in the summer 2011 movie The Smurfs.

Music[]

  • Between the scenes of Ted and Barney being arrested on the plane and the interview the Guitar riff for the transition resembles Good Times Bad Times by Led Zeppelin.

Other Notes[]

  • The series' opening sequence's pictures are taken while the cast/characters are hanging out at the bar in the end of this episode.

Guests[]

  • Earl Billings - Officer McNeil
  • Robb Derringer - Derrick
  • Joe Nieves - Carl
  • Tiffany Brouwer - Laura
  • Pedro Miguel Arce - Dana
  • Alyshia Ochse - Tatiana
  • Carla Toutz - Sascha
  • Gita Isak - Stewardess
  • Anna Zielinski - Cute Girl
  • Mark Edward Smith - Bomb Squad Guy
  • Sean Lucore - Sean - Guy #1
  • Chuck Carter - Guy #2
  • Dustin Lancaster - Guy #3
  • Floyd Vanbuskirk - Leonard - Cab Driver #2

Reception[]

  • The St. Petersburg Comic Review gave this episode 9.5 stars out of 10. "Philadelphia has never quite been this kind of vacation destination!"

References[]

External Links[]


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