The Wedding Bride

"The Wedding Bride" is the 23rd episode of the fifth season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother and is the 111th episode overall. It originally aired on May 17, 2010. Guest stars include Judy Greer, Jason Lewis, Malin Åkerman, and Chris Kattan.

Plot

Future Ted talks to his kids about how everyone in their 30s tends to have "baggage", which then manifests itself in Ted's mind when he discovers it, and labeled baggage is shown onscreen. He talks about dating a girl named Royce who seems to have no baggage, despite several false starts in his apartment. The gang discusses their own baggage; Marshall's, for example, is that he's too nice and trusting. When Ted watches the new movie The Wedding Bride with Royce, he discovers that it is based on his relationship with Stella and was written by Tony, the man she left him for at the altar; the character based on Ted, "Jed Mosley", is portrayed in a negative light. He points out several of the aspects which were initially romantic, but twisted so that he comes off as a jerk. Royce helps Ted realize that he has his own baggage, having been left at the altar. His friends also tell him that he should tell Royce the truth, but Ted believes he can ignore it despite the movie becoming the fifth-highest grossing movie of all time. When Royce's friends talk about going to see the film again, he becomes upset and walks out on her.

Marshall ultimately helps him cope with it, reminding Ted that he is fundamentally a good person. Ted rushes to the cinema where Royce is again watching the film and admits that the film is based on his life. He kisses Royce in front of the screen displaying a kiss scene from The Wedding Bride and takes her back to his apartment for pancakes. Royce reveals her "baggage": She was left at the altar three times, has a gambling addiction, and shares a bed with her brother. Ted orders her to leave.

Barney's blog

Barney reviews the film The Wedding Bride.^[2]

Cultural references

• Barney alludes to Sesame Street and the character Big Bird, by describing a place where Marshall's geniality is normal as a street where a giant yellow bird lives.
• Ted mentions Adolf Hitler during the bar scene with Royce and her friends.
• According to Robin, former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il ranked The Wedding Bride as his second favorite movie.
• Marshall said that he thought that the 1987 film Spaceballs was about him.
• Marshall mentions that he wanted to see Avatar again to hide the fact he had seen The Wedding Bride.

Critical response

Donna Bowman of The A.V. Club rated the episode grade B-.^[3]

Amanda Sloane Murray of IGN gave the episode a grade of 9.3. She stated that the concept of a romantic comedy within a romantic comedy was a challenge for the writers, given the task of creating a fictional movie for the episode and casting actors who have themselves played characters in romantic comedies.^[4]

DeAnn Welker of Television Without Pity gave the episode a B- rating.^[5]

References

External links

• "The Wedding Bride" at the Internet Movie Database
• "The Wedding Bride" at TV.com
• Official "The Wedding Bride" website
  • How I Met Your Mother - The Wedding Bride on YouTube