The Fortress (How I Met Your Mother)

"The Fortress" is the 19th episode of the eighth season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, and the 179th episode overall.

Plot

Robin asks Barney where they should live after the wedding. Barney said they are going to live in his apartment, but Robin refuses as she does not want to live in a place where he has bedded countless women. Barney agrees to find a new place with Robin, but also wants to make sure his apartment goes to someone who will appreciate it. When Ted rejects Barney's offer to accept the apartment, Barney tells Robin that he could not find anyone to take the apartment.

Upset that Barney will not sell his apartment after she sold hers, she arranges for an open house without his consent. Barney appears supportive of the open house as he goes about the apartment and explains the features there, while recounting his sexual escapades. Robin accuses him of trying to scare off potential buyers, which he denies. Despite his efforts a couple declares that they want the apartment.

In the meantime, Marshall is growing frustrated that Lily's new job as the Captain's art consultant is stopping them from spending time with each other and Marvin. Ted convinces Marshall to break his promise not to watch Woodworthy Manor, a British drama that Marshall, Lily, and Ted are addicted to, without Lily. When Lily arrives late to Robin's open house, she finds that Marshall and Ted are posing as a gay British couple with Marvin as their child to help encourage potential buyers. While maintaining his gay persona, the people on the room side with Marshall as they mistake his argument with Lily as her scolding him for being a gay man. The ruse begins to fall apart when Ted is caught making out with a woman who is attracted to Ted's good qualities, save that he is supposedly gay.

At the bar, Marshall scolds Lily for abandoning him. When Lily receives a call from the Captain about another assignment, she asks to put it on hold for now to reconcile with Marshall. Meanwhile, Barney agrees to sell the apartment because he wants Robin to be happy. She reveals she rejected the couple after learning they were going to tear the place down and rebuild it because she loves him, in spite of his strange contraptions. With everyone reconciled, the woman Ted met at the open house arrives and leads Ted away, claiming she will show how it's like to be with a woman. Barney congratulates Ted on his ploy by calling him "My son!"

The gang gathers at Barney's apartment to watch another Woodworthy Manor episode, but Robin and Barney use a secret chute in the kitchen to escape.

Critical reception

Donna Bowman of the A.V. club gave the episode an A−.^[1]

Popular Culture References

Woodworthy Manor, the show that Ted, Marshall and Lily watch, is an obvious spoof of Downton Abbey.

References

External links

• "The Fortress" at the Internet Movie Database