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ā€œThe Drunk Trainā€
HIMYM episode 7x16 (152)
101422 D0006b
First aired:
February 13, 2012
Director:
Pamela Fryman
Writer:
Craig Gerard
Matthew Zinman
Barney's Blog

Images (16)

For Valentine's Day, Lily and Marshall invite Robin and Kevin on a weekend getaway to Vermont, where Kevin and Robin discussing taking their relationship to the next level. Meanwhile, Barney realizes he has finally met his match.


Recap[]

The episode begins with the gang sitting at the bar and Lily showing off her unborn child's "kicking abilities." Marshall and Lily say that they should get going or they will end up having to ride the "Drunk Train", the last train to Long Island with all the drunk people on it. (Later, Barney and Ted would ride this train). Marshall and Lily take Robin and Kevin to Vermont for Valentine's Day and they mention that a secret for a healthy relationship is to listen the other person's opinion, and never to keep score (which they actually do).

Back in their room, Kevin casually proposes to Robin, to which she responds "I need to think about this." The next night, Robin reveals to Lily and Marshall that she will never be able to have kids. She reveals this to Kevin and he proposes a second time, to which Robin says yes. Back at the apartment, Kevin tells Robin that his mother has set a date for the wedding. He tells Robin that there are other ways to have children, but Robin tells him that she doesn't want kids. Kevin persistently says that he still wants to marry Robin. But Robin says that Kevin always wanted kids, and she can't owe this to him for the rest of their lives. Kevin then ends things with Robin.

Meanwhile, Barney and Ted revisit their previous night at a club in which Ted's date with Randi went badly but Barney ended up secretly connecting with Quinn. Barney and Ted ride the Drunk Train two days in a row, but fail to hook up with anyone. On the third night, they get drunk, and two drunk girls ask them to come with them, but Barney passes. Ted then realizes that Barney likes Quinn, who he's been complaining about the entire time. Barney reveals to Ted that he and Quinn slept together at his apartment. Ted tells Barney that he is on the Drunk Train because he has no one he can't stop thinking about, but Barney does and he is wasting his time on the train. Barney denies that he has feelings for Quinn, and takes one of the drunk girls home, but he tells her he can't do this and when she asks if he has a girlfriend, he tells her that maybe sometime he will.

At the end of the episode, Robin is shown smoking and crying on the apartment's rooftop. Ted comes outside and she tells him everything. She tells him that she was finally ready for something serious, but Kevin couldn't look past this. When she says that no one will ever be able to look past this, Ted says that he can, and tells her that he loves her.

Meanwhile, Quinn and a friend are shown doing their makeup in a bathroom. Quinn's friend tells her that she has been talking so much about Barney lately that she thinks she likes him. Quinn replies that she liked his apartment and his "move downtown," but not him. It is then revealed that the two girls are actually strippers at the Lusty Leopard and Quinn's stage name is Karma.

Continuity[]

  • Robin finally reveals she cannot have children to Marshall and Lily, and later Ted. Robin first learns of this condition in ā€‹Symphony of Illuminationā€‹.
  • Barney mentions he has "Enormous Penis Syndrome" to Quinn at a party. This lie was first used by Barney as Lorenzo Von Matterhorn in The Playbook.
  • Marshall mentions Lily dragging him to an experimental theatre piece. Lily previously performed in one such play in Stuffā€‹ā€‹, dragging the gang along to watch it.ā€‹
  • Lily says Marshall accidentally killed her cousin's dog by letting it eat chocolate. Marshall also accidentally killed Lily's mother's cat in The Sexless Innkeeper.
  • Barney uses his Legen-wait for it-dary catchphrase, but this time he messes it up and says "It is Epic... wait for it... dary! No wait that isn't right."
  • For the second time, one of Barney's big romantic partners appears around Valentine's Day. Nora first met Barney on February 13th in Desperation Dayā€‹ā€‹.
  • Barney claims to have gone to MIT. Ted first argues that Barney didn't, but then admits he has no idea where Barney went to college, one of many mysteries about his life that Barney keeps even from his closest friends. Other examples include none having visited his apartment until World's Greatest Coupleā€‹ā€‹ and being surprised when meeting his mother and fake wife and son in The Stinsons. The biggest mystery is Barney's job, something even Marshall and Tedā€”who worked with him at GNBā€”do not know.
  • This episode marks the first appearance of Quinn.

Future References (Contains Spoilers)[]

  • Robin tells Barney that she can't have kids in the fall of 2012, as shown in ā€‹The Lighthouseā€‹ā€‹.
  • Barney reveals more about his attendance at MIT, and details of his job, in Unpause.

Gallery[]

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

Memorable Quotes[]

Marshall: Itā€™s hard for the little guy to perform under pressure.
Barney: Top 10 things Marshall said on his wedding night.
Kevin: Itā€™s small, but I think I feel something.
Robin: Top 10 things Lily said on her wedding night.
Marshall: Stop laughing at it, Lily.
Everyone: Top 10 things Marshall said on his wedding night.

Robin: Iā€™m going to close my eyes 'till itā€™s all over.
Kevin: Top 10 things Lily said on her wedding night.

Notes and Trivia[]

Goofs and Errors[]

  • During the scene where Marshall and Lily are on a couples retreat with Kevin & Robin, the camera alternates back and forth between Robin twisting her wine glass & playing with a spoon.
  • In the flashforward where Marshall and Lily are debating who will check the baby, they are at their house in Long Island. Marshall and Lily move back to the apartment before their baby is born, clarifying that their child never spent a night in the house in Long Island.

Allusions and Outside References[]

Music[]

Other Notes[]

  • Marshall mentions that Barney is a Scorpio in a restaurant. That means Barney's birthday must be in between October 24th and November 22nd.
  • A stripper named Karma was previously mentioned in The Bracketā€‹ā€‹. Quinn and the Karma previously mentioned are likely not the same person because in Karma Quinn tells Barney that she has only worked at the Lusty Leopard for one year.
  • Until 2014 certain trains in the metro NY area had bars onboard. They were shut down because they didn't bring in enough revenue, although there are still vendors inside the train stations where you can buy alcohol before getting on the train.

Guests[]

Podcast[]

Featuring an interview with Becki Newton.

Reception[]

  • The episode received 9.10 miilion viewers. [1]
  • Donna Bowman of the AV Club gave the episode a B+, stating that Marshall and Lily's story inter-cutting with Kevin and Robin's made it a "return to form" after the disappointment of the previous episode. [2]
  • Alan Sepinwall of Hitfix.com said Robin's breakup with Kevin and Ted's admission of feelings for her is part of Victoria's warning at the end of Ducky Tie coming true. [3]
  • IGN rated the episode with an 8/10.[4]
  • Ethan Alter of Television Without Pity gave the episode a C-, stating that he dreaded the consequences of Ted's confession to Robin for the rest of the season.[5]
  • The St. Petersburg Comic Review gave this episode 8.5 out of 10 stars. "...lack of awareness..."

References[]

External Links[]


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