"Weekend at Barney's" is the 18th episode of the eighth 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 the 178th episode overall.

Plot

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 ...

wakes up in the middle of the night, dreaming about a special play called the "Weekend at Barney's", inspired by the 1989 film ''

Weekend at Bernie's ''Weekend at Bernie's'' is a 1989 American black comedy film directed by Ted Kotcheff and written by Robert Klane, loosely based on the 1959 novella ''The Two Deaths of Quincas Wateryell'' by Jorge Amado. The film stars Andrew McCarthy and Jona ...

''. It angers

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 ...

, who knows he destroyed the Playbook. After returning the wedding invitation with

Jeanette Jeanette, Jeannette or Jeanetta may refer to: * Jeanette (given name), a given name (including a list of people and fictional characters with the name) Places * Jeannette, Ontario, Canada * Jeannette Island, Russia * Jeannette, Pennsylvania, U.S ...

as his plus-one,

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 ...

finds that Jeanette has impulsively trashed the apartment after reading a spam email message; she breaks up with him on the spot.

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 ...

and

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 ...

console him, but the gang is elated at the breakup. Learning of Ted's plan to win Jeanette back, Barney sees it as an opportunity to find a replacement plus-one by matching up Ted at the bar using the Playbook (the copy he burned was a "ceremonial" copy). Barney sets up a station at the apartment to guide Ted with the plays. Two attempts fall flat, but as Barney guides Ted with a Scottish-themed play, Robin appears at Ted's apartment. She storms out at seeing the Playbook, causing Barney to go after her, missing Jeanette making up with Ted at the bar. Barney explains to Robin that all his plays were definitely based on lies, but it helped him realize that he loves her, winning her over with a bouquet of paper roses. Marshall and Lily visit an art gallery where an up-and-coming artist named Strickland Stevens is showing his works. Since she is the Captain's art consultant, Lily scouts for new works while Marshall tries to crack art-related jokes. He fails with the jokes and later accidentally spills a bag of

Skittles Skittles may refer to: * Skittles (confectionery), a brand of fruit-flavor chewy candy, distributed by Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company *'' Skittles Commercial: The Broadway Musical'' * Skittles (sport), the game from which bowling originated * Skittles (ch ...

on the floor, embarrassing Lily. Marshall pledges to remain quiet, but a remark about

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' is an American media franchise created by the comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows Leonardo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Leonardo, Michelangelo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Miche ...

results in him and Lily hitting things off with Stevens. Ted returns to his apartment with Jeanette, who fumes at seeing the Playbook. His friends find him sitting on the street while she throws all his things out the window and destroys the place. As Jeanette tapes the Playbook to a batch of fireworks from Barney's prop trunk, Ted asks her not to blow it up, but Barney allows it to be destroyed. Erasing Jeanette's name from the invitation, Ted pledges to no longer date and is ready to settle down.

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 " ...

narrates that at that point for the first time in his life, he really meant it.

Critical 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 an A.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Weekend At Barney's How I Met Your Mother (season 8) episodes 2013 American television episodes