"The Possimpible" is the 14th episode in the fourth season of the television series ''

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 78th overall. It originally aired on February 2, 2009.

Plot

Robin finds a work permit notice from

Immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

stating that if she does not get a job in the next seven days, she will be

deport Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. The term ''expulsion'' is often used as a synonym for deportation, though expulsion is more often used in the context of international law, while deportatio ...

ed back to Canada. She first tries for a position on the News 10 channel but fails since she has no

catch phrase A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...

to end her broadcast and simply strings together weird phrases (finishing with "wear a

condom A condom is a sheath-shaped barrier device used during sexual intercourse to reduce the probability of pregnancy or a sexually transmitted infection (STI). There are both male and female condoms. With proper use—and use at every act of in ...

"). After

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 ...

laughs at

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 ...

's basketball record listed on his resume, Marshall defends himself by mentioning a medical condition he has that prevents him from playing. It is later revealed that the condition is actually " dancer's hip", a

malady A disease is a particular abnormal condition that negatively affects the structure or function of all or part of an organism, and that is not immediately due to any external injury. Diseases are often known to be medical conditions that a ...

common among

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

dancers. The gang jokes about it, much to Marshall's dismay, but he later admits to

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 ...

that he does dance "more than you know".

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 ...

shows his "awesome

video résumé Video résumé or video resume is a recording promoting a job seeker. History Video resumes, sometimes called Visumé or Video CV, were first introduced in the 1980s for use and distribution via VHS tape, but the idea never took off beyond the v ...

"; after seeing it, Robin requests to have one made. Robin notices that Barney's video resume uses meaningless

buzz word A buzzword is a word or phrase, new or already existing, that becomes popular for a period of time. Buzzwords often derive from technical terms yet often have much of the original technical meaning removed through fashionable use, being simply used ...

s, such as "the Possimpible" to describe the

nexus NEXUS is a joint Canada Border Services Agency and U.S. Customs and Border Protection-operated Trusted Traveler and Border control#Expedited border controls, expedited border control program designed for pre-approved, low-risk travelers. Members ...

between the Possible and the Impossible. She does not agree with his method of getting a new job (including breaking 15 bricks with her forehead and wearing an Amazon warrior outfit). Her last remaining choice is the Lottery girl job. After Robin is turned down from that job, Ted, Marshall, and Lily are there for her in her last hours in the US. Barney finishes Robin's video résumé without her and it gets her a job at channel 12 hosting a new morning show. Meanwhile, Ted, Marshall, and Lily reflect on the unnecessary additions to their

résumé A résumé, sometimes spelled resume (or alternatively resumé), also called a curriculum vitae (CV), is a document created and used by a person to present their background, skills, and accomplishments. Résumés can be used for a variety of re ...

. Ted still includes his stint as a supposedly controversial DJ (a persona he named "Dr. X") at WESU, Marshall includes his basketball dunking championship from

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

and Lily includes her victory at a

hot dog A hot dog (uncommonly spelled hotdog) is a food consisting of a grilled or steamed sausage served in the slit of a partially sliced Hot dog bun, bun. The term hot dog can refer to the sausage itself. The sausage used is a wiener (Vienna sausag ...

eating contest Competitive eating, or speed eating, is an activity in which participants compete against each other to eat large quantities of food, usually in a short time period. Contests are typically eight to ten minutes long, although some competitions c ...

(29 dogs in eight minutes, with a nickname of Lily "The Belly" Aldrin). None of these "achievements" have anything to do with their current careers. While Ted and Marshall delete their "special" entries from their résumés, Lily updates hers after eating 33 hot dogs in eight minutes at MacLaren's in front of a cheering crowd.

Critical response

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 an A rating. Joel Keller of

TV Squad Weblogs, Inc. was a blog network that published content on a variety of subjects, including tech news, video games, automobiles and pop culture. At one point, the network had as many as 90 blogs, although the vast majority of its traffic could be ...

praised the episode for its stealthy

subtext Subtext is any content of a creative work, which is not announced explicitly (by characters or author), but is implicit, or becomes something understood by the audience. Subtext has been used historically to imply controversial subjects without ...

, how the episode was a subtle way to show more of Barney's growing love for Robin while superficially being about Robin staying in the country and the "weak-ass crap" the others still kept on their resumes.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Possimpible How I Met Your Mother (season 4) episodes 2009 American television episodes