Now We're Even
| "Now We're Even" | |
|---|---|
| How I Met Your Mother episode | |
| Episode no. |
Season 7 Episode 21 |
| Directed by | Pamela Fryman |
| Written by | Chuck Tatham |
| Production code | 7ALH20 |
| Original air date | April 16, 2012 |
| Guest actors | |
|
Becki Newton (Quinn) | |
"Now We're Even" is the 21st episode of the seventh season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, and the 157th episode overall. It aired on April 16, 2012.
Plot
Ted begins to get accustomed to his life alone in his apartment. He shares his experiences with Marshall, particularly being able to walk around naked with nobody taking offense and eating takeout food he saved for himself. Seeing an opportunity to excite Ted, Barney invites him to "make every night legendary" by doing many things like establishing a Mariachi band and bringing a horse inside MacLaren's. Before long, Ted resists Barney's invitations and shuns his offer to bungee-jump off the Statue of Liberty. Barney locks Ted out of the apartment to make him go out on the town, but Ted just heads down to MacLaren's to call his apartment superintendent for help. When pressed by Ted, Barney admits that he needs to get his mind off Quinn during her shift at the Lusty Leopard. Remembering an earlier conversation from 2010, Ted takes up a dare to get a woman's number while wearing a sun dress.
Meanwhile, Marshall is distraught upon learning that Lily has had a sex dream about someone else, lamenting that she has often told him about her dreams over the years. As they go out on a fancy dinner date, he finds out that Ranjit is the one Lily dreamed about and confronts her on the road. Lily angrily leaves him and seeks advice from Quinn. Later over dinner, Marshall and Ranjit talk about the dreams and Ranjit counsels him that part of being a good husband and father is remaining calm while everyone else acts crazy. Marshall realizes that all the men in Lily's sex dreams were all great fathers. Back at the apartment, Marshall and Lily make up, though Lily keeps her wildest sex dreams a secret.
Although Robin has been promoted at World Wide News, she is disappointed that the front desk guard does not recognize her, while letting everybody else through without requesting ID. Sandy Rivers asks her to deliver the night-time traffic reports from a network helicopter, where the pilot suffers a stroke. She successfully lands the helicopter with help from the ground as the incident is covered live (the other characters are also clued in to the footage). Future Ted reveals that the incident made Robin an instant star - which resulted in her meeting Mayor Michael Bloomberg, appearing on Letterman, and having a special deli sandwich named after her. As she goes home, she receives a text message from Ted telling her that, even though they are not talking, he is glad to know she's okay.
Conception of the Green Dress/Now We're Even storyline
Show co-creator Craig Thomas and writer Chris Harris spoke about the situation set up in "The Mermaid Theory" in the podcast for the episode "Tick Tick Tick". Harris said that Ted's character was set up in that way to "set challenges up for ourselves in the future ... purposely boxing ourselves." In "The Goat", for instance, Thomas said, "... we have a few ideas; but I'll be honest ... when we did it, it was just 'lets push ourselves into a corner' ... it was just a challenge to future us". Harris added, "And we know he has to say 'Now We're Even'". Thomas admitted that it was puzzling approaching the story at first since Ted (Josh Radnor) seemed excited saying "Now We're Even", instead of being miserable, "like a real big gotcha".
Barney's blog
Barney gives advice to a reader on how to have legendary nights every night.[1]
Cultural references
- Barney says he spent five years trying to "Inception" Lily; when Marshall points out the movie is only two years old, Barney does not appear to recognize it.
- Lily's previous sex dreams include George Washington and a threesome with Bill Cosby and Papa Smurf. Future Ted mentions she also had a dream involving Frankenstein and the teacup from Beauty and the Beast.
- Barney mentions how Ted once convinced the gang to watch the movie Norbit, during which Lily did not recognize that one of the antagonists was portrayed by Eddie Murphy.
- When Ted refuses to join Barney on a night out, he mentions plans to watch Sanford and Son and eating a Stouffer's frozen meal.
- One of Barney's proposals for Legendary nights concerns seeking out Phil Collins to help him reunite Genesis including Peter Gabriel.
Reception
Donna Bowman of the AV Club gave the episode a B.[2]
Michelle Profis of Entertainment Weekly lauded the episode for its "eclectic mix" of multiple elements.[3]
Robert Canning of IGN gave the episode an 8 out of 10.[4]
Ethan Alter of Television Without Pity gave the episode a D+ explaining that "spinning its wheels is really the only thing this show is consistently good at anymore".[5]
References
- ↑ "Barney's Blog: Barney's Mail Sack (HEH)". April 17, 2012.
- ↑ Donna Bowman (April 16, 2012). "How I Met Your Mother: "Now We're Even"". The A.V. Club. Retrieved June 28, 2014.
- ↑ Michelle Profis (April 17, 2012). "How I Met Your Mother recap: Those Legendary Nights". tvrecaps.ew.com. Retrieved June 28, 2014.
- ↑ Robert Canning (April 17, 2012). "How I Met Your Mother: "Now We're Even" Review". ign.com. Retrieved June 28, 2014.
- ↑ Ethan Alter. "How I Met Your Mother TV Show - How Green Was My Dress". televisionwithoutpity.com. Retrieved June 28, 2014.
External links
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