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Vesuvius
HIMYM episode 9x19 (203)
Vesuvius
First aired:
March 3, 2014
Director:
Pamela Fryman
Writer:
Barbara Adler
Barney's Blog

Images (2)

On the morning of the wedding, Lily and Robin have a fight and Barney freaks out about which suit to wear. Meanwhile, the gang watches a movie Ted has forbidden them to see.


Recap[]

The Mother and Ted are sitting in the bar at Farhampton Inn in 2024, being waited on by Curtis. Ted tries to tell The Mother stories like he tells his children, but they both discover they've told each other every story they have, finally considering themselves "an old married couple." Thanks to Curtis, Ted figures out one story which he believes The Mother doesn't know yet: the story of the lamp.

In 2013, Robin and her sister are playing hockey in their hotel room and Robin hits the lamp with a puck. Lily then walks in, and, feeling nostalgic, shows Robin a scrapbook of her and Barney's love life, which Lily had made. Robin is bored by this, however, leading Lily to believe that Robin isn't processing the fact that today is her wedding day very well. Lily tries to get her to feel more anxious to make sure she realizes what the day is, but Robin gets excited when she sees The Wedding Bride Too on her TV, frustrating Lily enough to leave.

Lily tells Marshall, but when she tells him Robin is watching The Wedding Bride Too, he rushes to watch it. Lily still believes that Robin isn't processing her emotions, so she puts on the wedding dress she planned to wear for pictures to try scaring Robin, but it doesn't work. Meanwhile, Ted catches Barney secretly entering a room, and finds out that the room belongs to someone named Susan Tupp - leading him to suspect Barney is cheating on Robin. Ted breaks in, but finds out Barney actually rented out the room as storage for all his suits. Barney is panicked about which suit to wear, evidently because he is getting cold feet about being married. Ted suggests different suits to Barney, to no avail. Finally, Ted tells him to try on the suit his tailor made for the wedding day. Barney dislikes it, claiming it looks and feels terrible. Ted explains to him that this is simply because the suit is new, but once he gets out there on the dance floor, with the "suit", he will feel it is a perfect fit. This relaxes Barney, and he signs off on the suit, becoming more relaxed about the wedding. Ted and Barney then go to Barney and Robin's room, where the gang realizes that it will be their last day together, as Ted is moving to Chicago the next day. Lily continues watching The Wedding Bride Too with Robin and Katie. Katie isn't worried about Robin's attitude towards marriage and Lily observes that some people just don't have the "Holy crap, this is my wedding" moment. Robin goes to get more ice for the room and, on the way, she runs into her mother who is just arriving. They tearfully embrace.

As Ted finishes telling this story to The Mother in 2024, when he calls Robin's mother showing up a "surprise ending", she asks rhetorically, "Is it really a surprise ending? What mother is going to miss her daughter’s wedding?" Ted goes silent and becomes overwhelmed with emotion. The Mother realizes what she's said and is quick to change the subject, asking Ted to focus on another story - how Barney came to be wearing a scuba suit during a certain Playbook stunt. Ted realizes he never told The Mother how Barney got the suit (he stole it), which leads into a lively discussion about missed smaller details as the episode ends.

Continuity[]

  • The film the gang watched is The Wedding Bride Too!, the sequel to The Wedding Bride. The Wedding Bride was first introduced in The Wedding Bride.
    • No Pressure showed there's a third movie, and a hit Broadway play, which runs for 96 weeks.
  • The Mother lists a number of snow-related stories that Ted has told her including ones from Arrivederci, Fiero​, Three Days of Snow​ and Symphony of Illumination.
  • Katie Scherbatsky appears for the second time; her first appearance came in First Time In New York.
  • The Mother, and Lily, talk about Marshall and Lily's wedding day, which occurred in Something Blue​.
  • Barney's magic is referenced.
  • Ted and Marshall mockingly call Barney Swarley.
  • The Mother brings up the time that Barney went into the bar wearing a scuba suit, a key plot point in The Playbook.
  • Barney has two hotel rooms just for his suits. In World's Greatest Couple, Lily criticized Barney for not allowing her to stay with him despite having a second bedroom just for his suits.
  • Barney begins worrying about not taking his cornflower blue tie with him to Farhampton, which is seen in a flashforward in Farhampton. Barney also asks Ted his opinion on the tie he's wearing in Challenge Accepted.
  • The story of Ted and the thermos from A Change of Heart​ is subtly explained in the Wedding Bride Too!.
  • Marshall mentioned that he had the worst haircut ever on his wedding day, as seen in Something Borrowed.
  • The Mother and Ted high five in excitement over being an old married couple. Ted showed an interest in skipping to this part of life and being old throughout the series, mostly in Murtaugh.
  • Lily's inability to keep a secret resurfaces after she inadvertently blurts out to the Gang that Ted was going to Chicago (although Ted already previously told Robin and Barney about it).

Future References (Contains Spoilers)[]

  • Robin's mother arrives at the wedding, which is a focal point in Daisy.
  • Barney will freak out over forgetting his cornflower blue tie in The End of the Aisle.
  • The line "What mother is going to miss her daughter's wedding?" causes Ted to cry because of the revelation about The Mother in Last Forever - Part Two.

Gallery[]

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

Memorable Quotes[]

The Mother: Wow! You know every one of my stories.
Ted: ...And you know every one of mine. I guess it's official: we're an old married couple.
The Mother: Nice!
Ted: We did it!

Future Ted: It's got everything: intrigue, betrayal, lamps.

Barney: (In Room 9) Oh God, you're gorgeous! I can't wait to be inside you.
Ted: (Knocking on the door) Barney! Get out here, this is your wedding day! (Barney pulls Ted into the room) Where is she?
Barney: Who?
Ted: Look. I just grossly overpaid for some information about this room so I know it's accurate. This room belongs to Susan Tup.
Barney: Who? (with a smile)
Ted: Susan Tup!
Barney: ...Who? (smiles again)
Ted: Sue...Tup...Suit up.
Barney: I'm trying to!

Barney: I need you to help me pick the suit I'm gonna wear when I walk down the aisle.
Ted: Okay, Robin walks down the aisle, you wait at the end of it.
Barney: Okay, then the suit I'll be wearing as they all stand as I enter the chapel...
Ted: That's also her.
Barney: Really? (Ted nods) Man the fellas' sure do get boned in the whole wedding thing don't they?
Ted: Okay. Alright. Well let's, let's pick you a suit. Wha..what are the top contenders?
Barney: Well, after careful consideration, I have narrowed it down to these ones..and these ones..and the other ones in this room and all the ones in the adjoining room.
Ted: So you've narrowed it down to all your suits.
Barney: Yeah, we're screwed.

Lily: (looking through the love scrapbook) And this is a picture of the restaurant where you and Barney had your first date. (Starts crying) And now you're getting married. (Stops crying) And this is the receipt for the meal you and Barney ate at that restaurant on your first date. (Cries again) And now you're getting married.

Lily: I mean I know Robin's not the girliest girl but you think on her wedding day she'd be a little sentimental.
Marshall: Everyone deals with getting married differently. I got what I thought was the worst haircut ever until I fixed it with the actual worst haircut ever.
Lily: Which led to the worst wedding photos ever, but at least you had a wedding day freak out.
Marshall: Baby, don't worry. Any minute now Robin's gonna get smacked in the face with her own "Holy Crap, this is my wedding!" moment and then she's gonna "wedding" out all over the place, I promise. You can't force it has to just happen.
Lily: I don't know, I mean she bailed on my scrapbook when she found out The Wedding Bride Too is on pay-per-view.
Marshall: THE WEDDING BRIDE TOO IS ON PAY-PER-VIEW!?

Marshall: I can't believe Jed made us promise not to watch this.
Robin: Wait, you mean Ted.
Marshall: Whatever. Same guy.

Future Ted: And then I think it hit all of us. We didn't know the next time we'd be together. This was it. And it's funny. In a moment like that, when what's really happening is too intense to deal with, sometimes it's best...
The Mother: ...to leave it unspoken, and just enjoy each other's company instead.

Marshall: What, so this is gonna be, like, a thing now?
Barney: Yeah, It's gonna be a thing now, Narshall. Right? Narshall.
Ted: Dude, settle down, Swarley.
Marshall: Yeah. Yeah, Swarlize Theron, take it easy.
Barney: Man, this was supposed to be my special day.

Robin: ...Mom! (upon seeing her mother arrive at the Farhampton Inn for her wedding)

Ted: And that's the story right down to the surprise ending.
The Mother: It isn't really such a surprise. Of course she showed up. What mother is gonna miss her daughter's wedding? (Ted starts to cry)
The Mother: Oh hey..no...come on.
Ted: It's ok.
The Mother: (fighting back tears) Did Barney... really wear a scuba suit into the bar?
Ted: I've told you that story a million times.
The Mother: Yeah, but where did he get the suit?
Ted: He stole it.
The Mother: WHAT!?!
Ted: Yeah, I can't believe I forgot that. He walked into a sporting goods store and walked right out. He walked 20 blocks in that suit.

Notes and Trivia[]

Goofs and Errors[]

  • Whilst it was implied in this episode that Barney brought only one tie, The Best Man showed that Barney was having some trouble choosing which tie to wear.  
    • In The Best Man, he may have been talking about one of his many everyday ties.
  • When the lamp is smashed, the shade falls off the left side of the table. In the following shot, the lamp is resting on the right side of the table.
  • About five minutes in, when Ted and Barney are talking about his suits, you can see Neil Patrick Harris mouth the end of Ted's line, "Robin walks down the aisle, you wait at the end of it."

Allusions and Outside References[]

  • The episode's title references the volcano of the same name.
  • Marshall calls Barney "Swarleze Theron" a play on Charlize Theron.
  • Katie mentions Labatt Brewing Company and Timbits.
  • The scene in The Wedding Bride Too when Narshall ate the cake is a reference to Jason Segel's quote from the movie "This Is The End." 
  • The hockey jerseys worn by the Scherbatsky sisters are Atlanta Thrashers jerseys with all of the logos removed.
  • When Barney and Ted are trying to find Barney a suit Ted says, "Say yes to the suit." This is a reference to the TLC show "Say Yes to the Dress" in which brides try to find a wedding dress.

Music[]

Other Notes[]

  • In the episode Coming Back, Ted incorrectly assumed one of the words on his crossword puzzle is Vesuvius. 
  • ”The carpet matched the drapes” is a phrase used to signify if a woman’s pubic hair is the same color as the hair on her head, or in Barney’s case, the rainbow colored wig
  • Robin's mother is finally revealed.
  • Robin's mother is wearing a wedding ring, but there is no mention of Robin ever having a stepfather.
    • This could be the ring from when she married Robin's father.
  • This marks the first time in the series that Future Ted's (Bob Saget) voice was not heard while talking to his kids.
  • This also marks the first time in Season 9 with no timestamp as to how much time is left until the wedding.
  • The song playing when Lily opens Barney and Robin's love scrapbook is Sandcastles in the Sand.
  • Unlike The Wedding Bride where the main cast members of the fictionalized eponymous film were not credited during the relevant sequences, they were credited in The Wedding Bride Too!, but Akerman and Lewis did not make an on-screen appearance.
  • Barney’s anxiety about wearing the right suit symbolizes his anxiety of not knowing if Robin is the one for him, until Ted explains that he will realize that “the suit“ (Robin) is a perfect fit during the wedding ceremony.

Guests[]

Reception[]

  • Donna Bowman of the A. V. Club gave the episode a B .[1]
  • Max Nicholson of IGN gave the episode an 8.3 out of 10.[2]
  • Angel Cohn of Television Without Pity gave the episode a N/A, stating that being married to Ted Mosby would be "horror" and that the episode's title was misleading.[3]
  • The St. Petersburg Comic Review gave this episode 8 out of 10 stars. "...she's heard all the stories Ted's got to tell...and what did the episode have to do with a volcano?"

References[]

External Links[]


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