Romeward Bound

"Romeward Bound" is the 21st episode of the eighth season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, and the 181st episode overall.

Plot

The Captain announces he is moving to Rome, and asks Lily to come with him to work as his art consultant for a year. Lily turns him down, reasoning that Marshall is perfectly happy in his current job at Honeywell & Cootes and won't want to move. She discusses this with the gang, who argue that Marshall would be happy at the chance to move to Italy, but Lily stands by her decision. When she visits Marshall at work, she finds most of the office empty and learns that after the case against Gruber Pharmaceuticals, the firm lost a lot of business and he is one of only two workers remaining who spend all day doing nothing. Lily is furious that Marshall has kept the truth from her and tells him of the offer she just turned down. Marshall concurs that he would love to move to Rome and runs off to speak with the Captain. However, when the Captain offers the job again, Lily turns him down.

At the bar, Ted and Barney spot a woman wearing a large puffy coat. The woman, Liddy, attends the same yoga class as Ted and has a body that Ted describes as "ridonkulous". While Barney's schemes for Liddy to remove her coat fail, Robin arrives and reveals that Liddy is Barney and Robin's wedding planner. Robin is also curious about what's underneath the coat and when Liddy goes to the bathroom, Barney bemoans the fact that Marshall isn't present. Barney reasons that because Marshall is firmly attached to someone, women would not be suspicious of his motives. When Robin points out that the same applies to Barney, he hesitantly asks and succeeds at getting Liddy to remove her coat, leaving Robin and Barney astounded by her figure. After Robin and Liddy leave the bar, Ted expresses his concern that Robin will not be happy with Barney's behavior. In response, Barney becomes angry with Ted for presuming that Ted knows more about Robin than he does, and Ted apologizes when he realizes he's overstepped the mark. After Barney gets home that night, he finds Robin waiting for him wearing nothing but the coat, causing him to quickly turn up the thermostat.

Meanwhile, Marshall is excited about moving to Italy when Ted informs him that Lily turned down the job again. When he and Lily talk, she admits that after her bad experiences in San Francisco, she is apprehensive about such a big move, especially since they'll have no friends and can't speak Italian. Marshall assures Lily that she'll be fine and they'll have each other for support. Lily decides to take the job.

Barney's Blog

Barney makes a list of words that have run their course and should no longer be said, such as "epic fail" and "awkward" (said in a sarcastic tone).^[1]

Cultural references

• Ted uses the word "redonkulous" as a term of high praise that he has only ever used to describe Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol. He also describes Liddy's body as so attractive that Indiana Jones wouldn’t look at her, because she has a body that would melt a Nazi's face, referring to the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark.
• While goofing off at work, Marshall and Bernard are shown reading the John Grisham novel The Client.
• Lily and Marshall's fantasies of living in Rome include Marshall watching an Italian version of The Price is Right.
• Marshall wears an outfit similar to Don Fanucci in The Godfather Part II.
• Lily mentions that a new Shake Shack opened by their apartment with no line. Shake Shack is a popular burger chain in New York City that regularly has long lines at each location.

Critical reception

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

Max Nicholson of IGN said the episode explores some intriguing territory between Ted and Barney, while delivering a so-so A story, and in the end he gave the episode a 6.7 over 10.^[3]

TV.com's Bill Kuchman said the episode was one of the "buzzkill episodes at the most unfortunate times" by pointing out recycled plot hooks from earlier in the season. ^[4]

Alan Sepinwall of Hitfix.com critiqued the episode as a "sampling" of problems that have appeared in the season at the expense of off-the-mark jokes. ^[5]

References

External links

• "Romeward Bound" at the Internet Movie Database