"The Wedding Bride" is the 23rd episode of the fifth 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 Entertainmen ...

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 is the 111th episode overall. It originally aired on May 17, 2010. Guest stars include

Judy Greer Judith Therese Evans (born July 20, 1975), known professionally as Judy Greer, is an American actress. She is primarily known as a character actress, who has appeared in a wide variety of films. She first rose to prominence in a variety of suppor ...

, Jason Lewis,

Malin Åkerman Malin Maria Åkerman (born 12 May 1978) is a Swedish actress. In the early 2000s, she had several small television and film parts in both Canadian and American productions, including ''The Utopian Society'' (2003) and ''Harold & Kumar Go to Whi ...

, and

Chris Kattan Christopher Lee Kattan () (born October 19, 1970) is an American actor and comedian. He was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1996 to 2003. He played Doug Butabi in '' A Night at the Roxbury'', Bob on the first four seasons of '' The ...

Plot

Future Ted Theodore Evelyn Mosby is a fictional character and the protagonist in the American sitcom ''How I Met Your Mother'', portrayed by Josh Radnor. He serves as the show's narrator from the future, voiced by Bob Saget, as he tells his children the " ...

talks to his kids about how everyone in their 30s tends to have "baggage". He talks about dating a girl named Royce who seems to have no baggage, despite several false starts in his apartment. The gang discusses their own baggage;

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, for example, is that he is too nice and trusting. When

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 ...

watches the new movie ''The Wedding Bride'' with Royce, he discovers that it is based on his relationship with Stella and was written by Tony, the man she left him for at the altar; the character based on Ted, "Jed Mosley", is depicted as an over-the-top antagonist and "the most corrupt architect in New York City". He points out that several instances of his and Stella's relationship that were romantic were depicted in the movie so that he came off as a jerk. Royce helps Ted realize that he has his own baggage, having been left at the altar. His friends also tell him that he should tell Royce the truth, but Ted believes he can ignore it despite the movie becoming the fifth-highest-grossing movie of all time. When Royce's friends talk about going to see the film again, he becomes upset and walks out on her. Also to his annoyance, his friends also become fans of the movie. Marshall ultimately reminds Ted that he is fundamentally a good person. Ted rushes to the cinema where Royce is again watching the film and admits that the film is based on his life. With

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 ...

's encouragement from the audience, he kisses Royce in front of the screen displaying a kiss scene from the film and takes her back to his apartment for pancakes. Royce reveals her "baggage": she was left at the altar three times, has a

gambling addiction Problem gambling or ludomania is repetitive gambling behavior despite harm and negative consequences. Problem gambling may be diagnosed as a mental disorder according to ''DSM-5'' if certain diagnostic criteria are met. Pathological gambling is ...

, and shares a bed with her brother. Ted orders her to leave. Meanwhile,

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 ...

and

Robin Robin may refer to: Animals * Australasian robins, red-breasted songbirds of the family Petroicidae * Many members of the subfamily Saxicolinae (Old World chats), including: **European robin (''Erithacus rubecula'') **Bush-robin **Forest rob ...

try to convince Marshall to be more assertive after he accidentally helps several thieves rob an apartment.

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 ...

'' rated the episode grade B−. Amanda Sloane Murray of

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 grade of 9.3. She stated that the concept of a romantic comedy within a romantic comedy was a challenge for the writers, given the task of creating a fictional movie for the episode and casting actors who have themselves played characters in romantic comedies. DeAnn Welker of

Television Without Pity Television Without Pity (often abbreviated TWoP) was a website that provided detailed recaps of select television dramas, situation comedies and reality TV shows along with discussion forums. These recaps were written with sarcastic criticism an ...

gave the episode a B− rating. Steve Marsi of TV Critic gave the episode 4.5 out of 5 and called it "Legendary".

Cultural references

Part of the soundtrack of the 2003 film ''

Love Actually ''Love Actually'' is a 2003 Christmas romantic comedy film written and directed by Richard Curtis. It features an ensemble cast, composed predominantly of British actors, many of whom had worked with Curtis in previous film and television proje ...

'' is used in the episode.

References

External links

*
Official "The Wedding Bride"
website {{DEFAULTSORT:Wedding Bride How I Met Your Mother (season 5) episodes 2010 American television episodes