“The Barney Simpson Missile Crisis” begins with Robin sharing her feelings, something that rarely happens due to her long-stemming daddy issues. Of course, this is not something she does voluntarily, but rather she’s in a court-mandated therapy session with a shrink played by Kal Penn (who tradedhis role on House for a spot in the White House a couple of years ago but is apparently back to portraying doctors on television). Scherbatsky, it seems, has been driven crazy by Barney’s constant wooing of Nora at work and goes on a tangent to explain how she assaulted an initially-unnamed woman, beginning not with her own story but that of “Team Baby.”
Meanwhile, an overzealous Ted, team founder and sole willing member, sticks his nose into Lily and Marshall’s baby business, prompting Lily to insist he’s always been a little too involved in their personal lives and that he needs to back off. Always a bro, Marshall tells Lily that he values Ted’s input in their incubating child’s life. The two attend a birthing workshop minus the mother-to-be—which, as a class meant for couples, forces them to be uncomfortably close. Ted ultimately admits to being clingy, because, well, he wishes he could be a dad, too. He apologizes to Lily by finally giving her and Marshall the space he’s withheld their entire friendship.
As per Robin’s suggestion to their boss, Nora is sent to France on-assignment for the weekend, leaving Barney to struggle with reverting back to the sleazy pickup artist he once was. Robin altruistically (ha) offers to help put his long-term cons to rest—an obvious attempt to woo him in Nora’s absence. But before she can seduce Barney, Nora returns home early from her trip. Robin sends one last gullible woman after them to break them up, but, learning from Ted’s selflessness, she accepts an age-old adage: sometimes, when you love someone, you have to let them go. She intercepts the girl with a fairly intense catfight, earning Robin the therapy.
While this episode had some overly cutesy moments—honestly, Barney Stinson should never, ever call someone “babe” without an ulterior motive— it involved Ted and Robin actually thinking outside of themselves for a change, even though they may end up alone because of it. But, hey, now that they’re both decidedly single, it wouldn’t be too far of a stretch for them to take one last doomed shot at a relationship!
Highlights
“Lily, I hate to play this card, but if you don’t come to this class, I’m withholding sex.” – Marshall
“Jack Fantastic”- A surprisingly impressive Barney play of past, in which he pretends to be a gay, possibly Southern hairdresser and sets his customers up with his “extremely attractive straight twin brother.”
A gag reel of Ted’s unnecessary additions to Lily and Marshall’s couple costumes of Halloweens past: Salt, Pepper and Cumin; Lady, the Tramp and their bowl of spaghetti; C-3PO, R2-D2 and the robot Luke’s Uncle almost bought from the Jawas—thus fulfilling the HIMYM seasonal Star Wars reference criterion.