Something Old

"Something Old" is the 23rd episode of the eighth season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, and the 183rd episode overall.

Plot

In 1994, Robin and her father visited New York (on what Robin Sr. called a 'father-son bonding trip') with Robin determined to move to the city one day. While in Central Park, Robin buried a locket intending to return for it before her wedding so it could be her 'Something Old'. Visiting the park with her father again in 2013, she intends for the two to find the locket, only for Robin Sr. to quickly leave to join Barney (who he has bonded with to the point of nicknaming him 'B-Dog') for a round of Lasertag. The two initially get along well against the children also playing, but soon get into an argument and organize the children into their own teams to take each other on. After a hard-fought battle, the two agree to end the argument and happily get back to shooting the other kids.

While Robin searches for her 'Something Old', Lily and Marshall prepare for their 'Something New' by packing up for their move to Italy. However, since neither can bring themselves to leave anything behind, they call in Ted (who believes himself to be an expert after travelling around Mexico for two weeks with only a fanny pack) to help segregate what goes with them and what goes in the "Bermuda Triangle." Ted agrees to help despite having an important meeting, but he proves to be more of a hindrance, as he packs seemingly useless stuff while intending to leave more valuable things (including a guide book to Italy) in the Triangle. Eventually, Marshall and Lily call Ted out of this when he wants them to take an old and leaking bean-bag chair to Italy with them and when Ted refuses to relent they claim to have changed their minds and send him out to buy them a couple of fanny packs. When he gets back, he finds Marshall and Lily about to leave the bean-bag in the Triangle and begs them to keep it, sitting down in it and refusing to move even if it means missing the meeting. He admits the chair means a lot to him as it was the first piece of furniture they bought after moving into the apartment. When he admits his worry that their friendship will deteriorate if the two aren't around, Marshall and Lily promise that it won't happen. They decide to leave Ted alone, and after a few seconds' thought about holding on to the past, Ted hails a cab and later sees that the bag is gone.

Robin discovers that the locket isn't where she thought she buried it. She frantically digs up several holes in an attempt to find it. When this proves fruitless, she calls Barney in the middle of his laser tag battle but when he asks if it's important, she just responds that it's "stupid" and Barney goes right back to playing. She calls Ted who is on the way to his meeting and gives the same response when he asks if she has something important. Despite this, Ted turns up at Central Park to help Robin dig and she admits her fears regarding marrying Barney, particularly because Ted implicitly knew she needed help and Barney did not. When Robin does find the locket box, she thinks finding it is a sign she should push through with the wedding - and when the box turns up empty, she laments about Barney not being meant for her, further thinking that a fresh downpour was indeed a sign. Ted suddenly gets a picture message from Marshall and Lily revealing that they have the bean-bag chair and are taking it with them, however Ted encourages them to get rid of it (much to their relief). Ted reminds Robin that she's usually skeptical of this sort of thing and maybe signs don't exist; but then Robin takes Ted's hand. The episode ends with Robin holding Ted's hand as the rain eases off - but continues around them.

Production

The episode incorrectly associated mariachi with Spain. After fans complained, reruns were modified to depict Ted as having traveled to Mexico instead.^[1]

Critical reception

Donna Bowman of The A.V. Club gave the episode a B.^[2]

Max Nicholson of IGN scored the episode 7, stating that the episode featured a strong comedic A story, a weak B story and an intriguing but mostly hollow end.^[3]

References

External links

• "Something Old" at the Internet Movie Database