Nothing Good Happens After 2 A.M.

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“Nothing Good Happens After 2 A.M.”
How I Met Your Mother episode
Episode no. Season 1
Episode 18
Written by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays
Directed by Pamela Fryman
Guest stars Lyndsy Fonseca (Daughter), David Henrie (Son), Ashley Williams (Victoria), George Kee Cheung (Korean elvis), Wajid (Cab Driver #2), Lawrence Mandley (Cab Driver #1), Alexis Denisof (Sandy Rivers), Shaheed Rasheed (Little Girl #3), Alyssa Shafer (Little Girl #2), Cailey Blair Jones (Little Girl #1)
Production no. 1ALH17
Original airdate April 10, 2006
Episode chronology
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"Life Among the Gorillas" "Mary the Paralegal"
List of How I Met Your Mother episodes

"Nothing Good Happens After 2 A.M." is the 18th episode in the first season of the television series How I Met Your Mother. It originally aired on April 10, 2006.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Robin, feeling depressed and alone, invites Ted over at 2 a.m. Earlier in the day, she spoke at Lily's kindergarten class about her career. One of the children asked her about her romantic life and Robin felt threatened when she has to answer that she doesn't have a boyfriend. That evening her coworker, Sandy Rivers, told her that they should have sex, making it clear that he has no interest in pursuing a relationship with her. She came home, drank a very large glass of wine, and finally called Ted.

Ted agrees to come over, even though he knows that Robin might be asking for more than just a friend. He tries to rationalize the situation on his way to Robin's apartment and he has conversations with his subconscious, which appears as Victoria. He tells Victoria that nothing will happen, but Victoria doesn't believe him. Ted calls Marshall for a second opinion, and Marshall tries to convince him not to go, reminding him of what his mother says: nothing good happens after 2 a.m. When Marshall's attempts to dissuade Ted do not work, Lily takes the phone and tells Ted that he can't go to Robin's, something will happen because Robin has feelings for Ted. Ted is stunned that Robin likes him and tells Lily that he won't go to Robin's apartment. Lily hangs up the phone thinking that she convinced Ted, but Marshall and Barney both know that Lily just helped convince Ted to go to Robin's. Ted arrives at Robin's and they make awkward small talk. When Robin asks how his conversation with Victoria went, Ted lies and says that they broke up.

At the karaoke bar, Lily urges Marshall to go home, but Barney decides to prove to Lily and Marshall that good things can happen after 2 a.m. Barney invites a Korean Elvis impersonator to come with the group to MacLaren's. Marshall calls Ted to invite him, and Ted admits to Marshall that he is at Robin's and just lied about breaking up with Victoria. Marshall and Lily convince Ted that he needs to leave before he starts a relationship with Robin while still involved with Victoria. Ted tries to leave, but as he and Robin say good-bye they kiss.

Ted and Robin make out on the couch and Robin asks if they should move into the bedroom. Ted excuses himself and goes to the bathroom to call Victoria. His imaginary Victoria appears and asks him if he really thinks it's a good idea to break up with his girlfriend with the woman who he is about to have sex with in the next room.

While Ted wrestles with his conscience, Marshall and Lily try to head home from MacLaren's, but Barney again pleads with them to stay because they have done something legendary yet. Korean Elvis also tries to convince them to stay, whispering something into Lily's ear, which causes her to knee him in the groin. After a few seconds of silence, Barney then proclaims that the night has become legendary by asking "Hey you guys, remember the time that Lily kicked Korean Elvis in the nards?"

Back in Robin's bathroom, Ted acknowledges to Victoria that he owes her a real break-up call. But when Victoria asks if Ted is going to go home, he asks if it will really matter if he sleeps with Robin the night before he breaks up with Victoria. He is tired of pretending that he isn't in love with Robin, and he admits that he just wants to get laid. Just as he has convinced himself that sleeping with Robin is OK, Ted realizes that he has Robin's phone. When he emerges from the bathroom, Robin is hanging up his phone, having just finished talking with Victoria. Upset, Robin gives Ted his phone telling him to call her back. As Ted heads back to his apartment, he calls Victoria and breaks up with her.

[edit] Music

[edit] Trivia

  • Alexis Denisof, who plays Sandy Rivers, is married to Alyson Hannigan. The two also worked together on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. In the DVD commentary, Craig Thomas and Carter Bays say that they had to convince Denisof that they were fans of his work and weren't offering him the guest role because of his relationship to Hannigan.
  • For a visual joke, Alexis Denisof wanted to not apply make-up that creates Sandy Rivers's tan to his neck so that it would be much paler.
  • Jason Segel and Neil Patrick Harris ad libbed the shouting match between Marshall and Barney, and Jason Segel says something about having boxed in the Army.
  • It should be noted that if Ted was supposed to receive a call at 10 P.M (it is mentioned that it is 4 hours late at 2 A.M.) and his girlfriend should have called him, it would have been 4 A.M. in Germany where she was.
  • The episode starts off following Robin's day twenty hours earlier. She goes to Lily's school and talks with the students about her job. Later, she tells Ted that it's Saturday night.

[edit] Continuity

  • When Robin is offered the opportunity to anchor the news in "The Wedding," she asks, "What happened to Sandy?" Anchor Sandy Rivers appears in this episode.
  • Barney mentions the Liberty Bell incident that occurs in "Sweet Taste of Liberty" as something good that happened after 2 a.m.

[edit] Barney's Blog

  • Because of problems with hooking up with the Taller-Than-You Chick, Barney annulled the Taller-Than-You Chick's victory in the 2006 NHCA Women's Hotness Championship, and simultaneously announced as replacement co-winners High School Lacrosse Champion and Recently Released Female Convict.

[edit] External links