"Challenge Accepted" is the 24th and final episode of the sixth season of the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

How I Met Your Mother ''How I Met Your Mother'' (often abbreviated as ''HIMYM'') is an American sitcom, created by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays for CBS. The series, which aired from September 19, 2005 to March 31, 2014, follows the main character, Ted Mosby, and his ...

'' and the 136th episode overall. It aired on May 16, 2011.

Plot

With the Arcadian,

Barney Barney may refer to: People and fictional characters * Barney (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Barney (surname), a list of people Film and television * the title character of ''Barney & Friends'', an American live actio ...

and

Ted TED may refer to: Economics and finance * TED spread between U.S. Treasuries and Eurodollar Education * ''Türk Eğitim Derneği'', the Turkish Education Association ** TED Ankara College Foundation Schools, Turkey ** Transvaal Education Depa ...

argue who is going to press the button to blow up the building. Ted mentions that he ran into his ex-girlfriend Zoey after breaking up and she asked to get coffee, which Robin and Barney say is a signal that she wants to get back together. The episode flashes-forward to September 2011.

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia * Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Islands * Marshall Islands, an i ...

is feeling down, so

Lily ''Lilium'' () is a genus of Herbaceous plant, herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs, all with large prominent flowers. They are the true lilies. Lilies are a group of flowering plants which are important in culture and literature in mu ...

decides to get them both some of their favorite soup from a filthy rundown restaurant, but Lily gets ill and begins throwing up presumably from terrible

food poisoning Foodborne illness (also foodborne disease and food poisoning) is any illness resulting from the spoilage of contaminated food by pathogenic bacteria, viruses, or parasites that contaminate food, as well as prions (the agents of mad cow disease) ...

. Desperate to stop Marshall from eating any, she runs from the

school A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compuls ...

to their house, where she stops him before he takes a spoonful of his third bowl. Marshall has a business meeting with a prospective employer and has figured out the time when he will begin vomiting. After disgusting images and stories, Marshall runs out of the room to vomit. He comes home and lies down to get some rest before his "countdown" finishes. He wakes up the following morning to find out that he was not ill and Lily is

pregnant Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring develops (gestation, gestates) inside a woman, woman's uterus (womb). A multiple birth, multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with twins. Pregnancy usually occur ...

. Ted is distraught about the lighting for the new building and decides that this warrants getting back together with Zoey. He decides to meet her and buys an orchid like he first did, but

and Robin stop him. While on their way to stop Ted, they have a tender moment, but decide they need to move on. Barney lets Ted press the button to blow up the Arcadian, and Barney meets Nora again, and asks her to coffee, which Nora accepts. Robin becomes upset as she sees that Barney wants to get back together with Nora. The episode flashes-forward to the

wedding A wedding is a ceremony where two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes. Most wedding ceremonies involve an exchange of marriage vo ...

first seen in " Big Days", where Ted and Marshall are sitting outside the

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

, and Ted is then called in by Lily. Ted goes inside to check on the

groom A bridegroom (often shortened to groom) is a man who is about to be married or who is newlywed. When marrying, the bridegroom's future spouse (if female) is usually referred to as the bride. A bridegroom is typically attended by a best man an ...

, who is Barney.

Production

According to show co-creators

Carter Bays Carter Loard Bays (born August 12, 1975) is an American author, composer and television showrunner. Bays co-created the CBS sitcom '' How I Met Your Mother'' where he served as showrunner, writer and executive producer for all nine seasons. Th ...

and Craig Thomas, a majority of this Season 6 finale takes place in September instead of May "so we can pick up Season 7 exactly where we left off". Said Thomas, "This is the first time in the history of our show we're doing a finale that is not set in May. We jump ahead to September, basically to the beginning of next season." This episode was shot with extra security because of the two major revelations at the end: Lily being pregnant and Barney being the groom at the future wedding.

Reception

Donna Bowman of ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

'' gave the episode a B.

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

gave the episode a rating of 7.0 out of 10.0.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Challenge Accepted How I Met Your Mother (season 6) episodes 2011 American television episodes