How I Met Your Mother – Episode 5-13 Review

Shows

For the last two weeks, Marshall’s been telling stories about his new co-worker “Jenkins.”  The guy sounds like a riot, everything from stripping at the bar to making obscene gestures behind the boss’s back. Everyone feels like they know him, but it’s not until Ted and Marshall meet Barney at a college bar that  Ted learns the most important thing:

Jenkins is a girl.  In fact, she’s Amanda Peet.

Ted admits to thinking Jenkins was a guy.  Especially after the whole “peed out the window of a cab” story which is significantly more impressive now that the anatomy tends to work out.  Marshall tells him that the reason he didn’t really say anything because when he told Lily about Jenkins the first night, she assume he was a dude, and he couldn’t figure out how to correct her.  Then, when they  consider the stories, Ted can see how it’s a problem.  So much of a problem that when Lily surpises Marshall at work, they try to cover up Jekins’ real identity, but Marshall blows it within seconds.

The weird thing, Lily doesn’t seem to be affected.  She doesn’t have to worry about Marshall with another woman.  According to Ted, it’s a whole “Reacher/Settler” dynamic.  One person reaches for someone out of their league while the other one settles.  With Marshall being the Reacher….

This is seriously upsetting news to Marshall.  He’s not a reacher, he’s the best thing Lily ever had!  He tries to ask Lily about who she thought was the reacher/settler in the relationship.  She keeps insisting that there isn’t one.  Finally, Lily admits that she thinks that she’s the settler.

Marshall sets out to make Lily believe that he’s not the reacher.  Barney thinks that he should sleep with Jenkins, after Barney does of course.  Ted admits that he thinks Jenkins is totally into him, anyway.  The next morning at work, she proves it by kissing him.  This totally freaks him out, and he runs, screaming from the room.  When he tells Lily, though, she doesn’t believe him. At All.  She thinks he’s making it up.  When she apologizes, it turns out she was playing the game the night before.

The good news is that Lily freaks and totally kicks Jenkins’ butt.

And what’s the game?  Well….

In other news, the gang’s visiting this college bar, and one of Ted’s students recognizes Robin from her show.  He also recognizes Marshall as Big Fudge, the guy who’s  been racking up the ski-ball scores.  This inspire Robin to start stopping by his classes and inviting people to start watching her show.  Turns out most of the class watches already.  Ted wants to know why, and the class tells him that they watch it for the drinking game.   It’s on so early that they’re all still out, and every time she says “But, um,” during an interview, someone has to drink.  Ted and Barney decide to try it out themselves, and get HAMMERED.  When Robin tells him that she’d be happy to read his lectures on air so that the kids would pay attention, he tells her that she’s a drinking game and that he threw up all over himself the night before (No more “vomit free since ’93,” I take it).

That night, Ted’s out with his students.  They’re playing the game while Robin’s conducting an interview.  Finally realizing that she says “But, um,” way too much, she starts saying it every other word just to get the game to stop.  Ted sees the trap, but the students insist on drinking.  The next day in class, everyone is hung over, and Robin stops by with a megaphone.  She thanks everyone for watching.

“But, um….”