You’re probably tired of all the legen…wait for it…dary jokes over the years of every person quoting the show. However, we can’t help it if it’s still pretty awesome, okay? So yes, let us look at some of the best episodes from How I Met Your Mother. This show went on for nine seasons, so it’s bound to have some fun and memorable moments that will live on in our memories forever.
Let’s have a look!
1. SLAP BET (SEASON 2, EPISODE 9)
The episodes that include the running gag of Marshall slapping Barney are hilarious. Still, the original episode is one of the best episodes from How I Met Your Mother. It also includes our introduction to Robin Sparkles, Robin’s Canadian pop star alter ego, which turns into another running gag in future episodes.
It starts with the gang finding out that Robin never goes to malls while refusing to explain her reasons. Speculation ensues, with Barney betting that it’s a secret related to pornography. At the same time, Marshall thinks it’s because she got married in a mall in Canada. The winner of the bet gets to slap the loser.
Neither is correct, but since Barney slaps Marshall prematurely, Marshall gets the chance to slap Barney five times whenever he chooses to. This results in Barney getting slapped randomly throughout the show. Seeing his face get smacked out of the blue and learning about Robin Sparkles is hilarious, which is why Robin never goes to malls.
2. THE NAKED MAN (SEASON 4, EPISODE 9)
This time, the gang puts a new seduction technique to the test. After Robin tells the group about Mitch, who gets naked to seduce her, and it works, Ted and Barney test the theory. If you ever try this in real life, you would likely end up like Barney’s scenario, so be warned.
It does end up in a raunchy storyline with their naked bodies covered by strategically placed furniture. Still, we do get the gang discussing the role that sex plays in their lives. But hey, the naked man thing works 2 out of 3 times, so do what you will with that information.
While this is all going down, Ted is heartbroken from being dumped by Stella and is now attracted to the woman with whom he shares a lift. He proceeds to try the seduction technique on her, and surprisingly, it works!
3. THE PINEAPPLE INCIDENT (SEASON 1, EPISODE 10)
Ted wakes up after a wild night to a pineapple on his nightstand, a sprained ankle, a girl in his bed, and a phone number written on his arm without recollection of what happened. Throughout the episode, he asks the group to help piece his drunken adventure together. Still, in the end, the pineapple remains a delicious mystery.
It also showcases the show’s signature nonlinear storytelling as we flashback to Ted’s night out and the events that unraveled. By the end of it, everyone thinks the mystery girl in Ted’s bed is Robin, but it turns out to be Trudy, a random girl he drunkenly met at a bar. But in true Ted fashion, when he tries to prove to Robin that he’s moved on, he finds his bed empty as Trudy has left through the fire escape.
As such, no one truly believes his story about the girl. She never replied to his messages or returned his calls after all that, anyway.
4. GAME NIGHT (SEASON 1, EPISODE 15)
A witty episode that took an emotional turn, Game Night starts with a made-up game by Marshall called Marshgammon. But Lily says she met a woman named Shannon who gave her a videotape. Barney destroys the tape, but Lily says it’s a decoy and starts playing the original, with Barney weeping while singing to a woman named Shannon.
Later, after listening to Barney’s story of getting cheated on and dumped, the gang feels bad and starts a round of embarrassing stories from everyone in the group. The highlight is Ted returning to Robin’s place after their disastrous first date to kiss her and vomit over her front door carpet instead. Robin is unaware of this, and Ted’s new girlfriend, Veronica, feels taken aback by it.
Barney finishes his story by saying he got the last hurrah as he got his revenge on Shannon and enjoyed the freedom of being a bachelor. But this episode gave us an insight into why Barney is the way he is and another notch in the Ted and Robin situation.
5. ARRIVEDERCI, FIERO (SEASON 2, EPISODE 17)
The Pontiac Fiero is Marshall’s beloved car, and here we are about to celebrate its 200,000-mile benchmark when it ultimately gives out in the middle of the road. While the gang is at the mechanic waiting for news on Fiero’s condition, they decide to reminisce all the memories with the car and how it brought each of them closer as friends.
Marshall tells the story of getting dared by his brothers to order hot coffee at a drive-through, completely naked, and they jumpscared him, causing him to burn himself. As such, he enforces the no food or drink rule in the Fiero. Ted tells the story of them getting lost in a snowstorm and cuddling in the Fiero, only to wake up to people staring at them.
Lily and Robin come clean about when they spilled Thai food in the Fiero and smoked the cigars intended for the 200,000-mile celebration. Barney doesn’t understand their sentiments, and Ted remembers trying to teach Barney to drive while he freaks out. After all the sweet reminiscing, the gang finds out that it costs too much to repair the car and tries to push the Fiero to its 200,000-mile mark but gives up. Arrivederci Fiero indeed.
6. HOW I MET EVERYONE ELSE (SEASON 3, EPISODE 5)
Until now, the question of how the gang came to be has never been answered, except for Robin’s appearance, as she was Ted’s first romantic interest that we met. So we head down a series of flashbacks and timeline jumps. This episode also introduces Barney’s Hot/Crazy scale, an iconic moment in HIMYM history.
Marshall, Ted, and Lily met on the first day of college, while Ted and Barney met in the bar’s bathroom. He introduces Barney to everyone else the next day. But the focus is on the first three, as Ted remembers drunkenly making out with Lily. Still, Lily says she only met him the next day when Marshall introduced them.
Marshall becomes the deciding factor as he says he witnessed them making out with different people. As all this goes on, Ted’s latest girlfriend gets jealous and leaves him. Ted is unbothered and unconvinced until we flash forward to their college reunion in 2020, where a girl comes up to him and tells him she was the one he made out with, proving Marshall right.
7. LEGENDADDY (SEASON 6, EPISODE 19)
We get another insight into why Barney is the way he is and the childhood trauma that comes with it. We also get a wholesome moment between friends and an insight into how beautiful a close friendship can be.
Barney gets reunited with his real dad, who is the exact opposite of who Barney is – a lame suburban driving instructor. After the gang hosts an intervention for him to visit his dad and give him another chance, we get a scene where Barney meets his dad’s new family. It starts and ends terribly, with him leaving and attempting to steal the basketball hoop attached to the house.
We get the heartbreaking line, ‘Because if you’re going to be some lame suburban dad, why couldn’t you have been that for me?’ This dialogue should be enough to award this as one of the best episodes from How I Met Your Mother. Plus, we get a final scene where the gang points out everything they’ve never learned to make him feel better.
8. BAD NEWS / LAST WORDS (SEASON 6, EPISODES 13 AND 14)
This heartbreaking episode comes before the Barney one, and we can feel it throughout several episodes in the season. The back-to-back episode starts with Marshall and Lily, who are concerned about being unable to get pregnant and visiting a specialist. From the beginning of the episode, we get an ominous countdown until we get the bad news, as featured in the title.
We find out the bad news is a surprise twist where Marshall’s dad has a fatal heart attack. It hurts more because Marshall was trying to reach his dad to tell him good news, but he wasn’t picking up. We also get a short scene prior, where his parents come for a surprise visit, and his dad gives him advice while reassuring him that they love him no matter what.
The Last Words episode is the funeral, set in Marshall’s hometown and filled with Marshall’s relatives. The episode deals with grief and anxiety as Marshall finds out his dad left one final voicemail on his phone. After much nervousness and wanting to deliver a good speech for his dad, he listens to the voicemail, which starts as a pocket dial and ends with his father saying he loves him. Cue the heartbreak.
9. HOW YOUR MOTHER MET ME (SEASON 9, EPISODE 16)
We finally get to meet The Mother in the 200th episode of the show, so of course, we have to add it as one of the best episodes from How I Met Your Mother. This episode highlights all the missed encounters and connections Ted could have had with his future wife and how they eventually met. It is also an episode dedicated entirely to her and what has happened in her life.
The episode starts with her disastrous 21st birthday at a different MacLaren’s Pub with the untimely death of her boyfriend. Throughout the episode, we see the Naked Man in effect, Ted being part of several conversations and near misses of meeting each other in every iconic location in the show.
By the end, she is singing La Vie en Rose with her ukulele on the balcony of her inn, and that’s when Ted hears her but gets distracted when he finds Barney missing. Another near miss, but it was his first time being drawn to her presence. This episode highlights the idea of fate and destiny playing an essential role in everyone’s life, which Ted strongly believes in.
10. SYMPHONY OF ILLUMINATION (SEASON 7, EPISODE 12)
Another emotional episode, this time starring Robin. It is a continuation of the previous episode, which ends in a cliffhanger. This episode opens with Robin talking to her kids instead of Ted, telling them that this is how she revealed to their dad that she was pregnant. Cue the screaming since this is a couple of episodes after she and Barney have just had a one-night stand with more drama that ensued.
Robin goes for a specialist checkup to find out she isn’t pregnant. In fact, she finds out later on that she is unable to conceive. She struggles to tell the gang this, so she lies instead. As she is visibly upset by something but won’t disclose it, Ted tries to cheer her up throughout the episode. This ends with a Christmas light show in her apartment.
The most heartwrenching part of this is when she sits alone on a park bench as it snows, and we find out that the kids she was talking to at the beginning were figments of her imagination. She was speaking to herself alone on the park bench the whole time, trying to come to terms with her infertility.
11. THREE DAYS OF SNOW (SEASON 4, EPISODE 13)
In these three days of snow, three different plotlines unfold. We have Ted and Barney taking over McLaren’s, chaotically fulfilling their dream of owning a bar. While on the way to the airport, Marshall and Robin talk about romantic rituals, and Lily scrambles to find a six-pack beer for Marshall as per their tradition.
As with most HIMYM episodes, this one features a nonlinear timeline. We found this out later when we discovered that Lily’s flight had been canceled, and Marshall had arrived at the airport two days early. This moment was a surprising twist as their stories were initially presented in a parallel timeline.
Anyway, Marshall surprises Lily with a marching band playing Auld Lang Syne at the airport, which is a wholesome moment for the couple. This episode has much to love, from the rare Marshall and Robin team-up to the ridiculous telepathic conversations between Ted and Barney.
12. SWARLEY (SEASON 2, EPISODE 7)
The title of this episode comes from a running inside joke where a barista mishears Barney’s name and writes Swarley on his coffee cup. This scene prompts the gang to continue calling him Swarley throughout the episode. The show Cheers also inspired a moment at the end of the episode where Barney walks into the bar, and everyone shouts, ‘Swarley!’
The boys discuss ‘Crazy Eyes’ in this episode, which refers to the wild look in a girl’s eyes, which indicates that they are crazy. As Marshall starts dating a new girl again to move on from Lily, the boys think his new girl has ‘Crazy Eyes,’ but he doesn’t see it. The relationship doesn’t get far, as Lily surprises them before anything can happen.
Marshall chases after Lily, and they get back together. After some celebrations, they return to a ransacked apartment with Marshall’s ex-new girl standing in the mess. This moment proves their ‘Crazy Eyes’ theory to be true. We’re just glad our favorite couple are back together, though.
13. COME ON (SEASON 1, EPISODE 22)
Since we touched on Marshall and Lily’s breakup, let’s talk about the episode where it happened. This episode is one of the best episodes from How I Met Your Mother, showcasing an interesting parallel where Ted wins back Robin while Marshall and Lily break up.
Ted works hard to win Robin back, but she’s on the fence about dating him. At the same time, she is ready to go on a company camping trip with Sandy Rivers. This trip leads to Ted trying a rain dance, which works. He rushes over to Robin’s, and they become a couple. On the other hand, Marshall and Lily have been fighting about her going to an art fellowship in San Fransisco while their wedding is weeks away.
As Ted returns home, he finds Marshall sitting in the rain as Lily has broken off the engagement to go to San Fransisco. It does beg the question of what you would choose in Lily’s situation – would you stay for the love of your life, or would you leave to chase your dreams?
14. GIRLS VERSUS SUITS (SEASON 5, EPISODE 12)
It is an episode with a musical number about suits and when Ted nearly meets his future wife, who is roommates with the girl he’s dating – Cindy. After numerous attempts at getting her to date him, the situation concludes when Ted picks out three items in Cindy’s apartment to explain how much they have in common.
The problem is that the items he picked out all belong to Cindy’s roommate, who he doesn’t even get a glimpse at. In another plotline, we have Barney trying to hit on MacLaren’s newest bartender, who hates men in suits. As such, he starts wearing casual clothes, which is weird for Barney.
A whole musical number ensues when he accidentally rips a suit and cremates it with real tears in his eyes. Ultimately, he lies to the girl about throwing away his suits and sleeps with her, so he wins in a Barney way.
15. SANDCASTLES IN THE SAND (SEASON 3, EPISODE 16)
We get another episode that features our favorite Canadian pop star, Robin Sparkles. It starts with Robin announcing to the group that she will meet with her ex-boyfriend Simon, who dumped her. Naturally, the team turns it into a game of who is the winner in the breakup. A balding, ugly Simon shows up, and Robin is entirely smitten, which confuses the group.
Marshall dubs the situation a ‘revertigo,’ which means a person regressing to their past selves when around people from their past. Robin spends the night with Simon, even as the gang keeps telling her how horrible he is. In the end, she gets dumped the same way as before.
But from this, we get the start of Barney and Robin, as the two watch her Robin Sparkles breakup song music video together on repeat while making fun of it. The episode ends with them making out on the couch, which sends everyone at home screaming. So, of course, this has to be one of the best episodes from How I Met Your Mother!
16. TEN SESSIONS (SEASON 3, EPISODE 13)
It’s a cute episode where Ted has a crush on his dermatologist, Stella, and repeatedly asks her on a date. She keeps refusing him due to their patient-doctor relationship. Still, in the end, Ted takes her on a 2-minute date, which goes exceptionally well. This episode is just the beginning of the Ted and Stella relationship arc.
At the same time, we have Britney Spears guest starring in the show as Stella’s receptionist, Abby. Abby has a crush on Ted, but when she finds out that he is interested in Stella, she feels led on and ends up sleeping with Barney instead by the end of the episode.
The Ten Sessions title refers to the ten sessions that Ted has to go through for his embarrassing lower back tattoo removal with Stella before he can date her. It’s a simple and adorable episode that truly showcases Ted’s determination regarding his feelings and love.
17. SLAPSGIVING (SEASON 3, EPISODE 9)
Marshall and Lily host their first Thanksgiving dinner as a married couple, which continues to be a yearly tradition. This episode showcases the events leading up to Thanksgiving and the day itself, which ended up being a somewhat chaotic experience that only this friend group could have had.
Lily is stressed out trying to prepare food for dinner. At the same time, Marshall taunts Barney about slapping him, which causes Barney to be all jittery and jumpy. There’s also an awkwardness between Ted and Robin, but they bond over a private joke, which shows that their friendship is still intact.
The highlight is Marshall slapping Barney at the end after all the taunting because he didn’t see it coming. The satisfying slap sent Barney flying across the room, making this one of the best episodes from How I Met Your Mother, hands down.
18. SOMETHING BLUE (SEASON 2, EPISODE 22)
We open with Marshall and Lily’s wedding reception in full swing. While this continues, Barney discovers that Ted and Robin secretly hide something from the group. As they explain everything to Barney, we are brought back into flashbacks and plot twists.
At this point, Barney is one with the audience as we are all waiting to be filled in on the drama. Ted and Robin were celebrating their first anniversary when the waiter mistakenly sent a ring to their table, which surprised them both. This leads to them discussing what they want out of life, their dreams, and if they want kids. The two soon realize they want different things and decide to break up.
Apparently, they decided to hold off telling the group about their breakup not to overshadow Marshall and Lily’s wedding announcement. It does feel like a repeat of the ‘Come On’ episode, but this time, it’s a happier and amicable ending.
19. INTERVENTION (SEASON 4, EPISODE 4)
As everyone is packing to move and start a new chapter of their lives, they reminisce about hosting numerous interventions in the apartment, from stopping Lily’s fake British accent to Barney’s excessive party tricks. It is a funny and heartwarming episode that turns emotional when Ted finds a new intervention banner stashed away.
The group admits that it’s actually for his engagement to Stella. We get Marshall reading his heartfelt letter on why he thought Ted was making the wrong decision. Marshall then explains that he no longer feels that way, and Stella is fantastic. It foreshadows Ted and Stella’s inevitable breakup in the coming episode.
Later, everyone heads down to MacLaren’s and decides to save some money for the expensive bottle of Scotch. We get a flashback a year later of them drinking the Scotch and heading back upstairs to the apartment, which means that one of them ends up living there (more foreshadowing).
20. THE PLAYBOOK (SEASON 5, EPISODE 8)
A heartbroken Barney decides to go back to his degenerate playboy ways by sleeping with any woman he comes across. To try to teach him a lesson, Lily decides to steal his playbook. The playbook contains all his strategies and methods to con a girl into sleeping with him.
This episode is a wild ride as we discover that Barney has tricked everyone by using one of the ploys in his Playbook, which involves a scuba diving suit, a fake breakdown, and using Lily’s disgust in his favor. He fooled them all, and he got a girl to sleep with him. Yet again, Barney wins.
On the other hand, Robin decides to focus on her career after the breakup. Ted and Marshall warn her that people who focus on their careers after a breakup typically end up getting married. As she meets her new co-host, Don, she realizes their theory may be right after all. The two truly showcase opposite spectrums of dealing with heartbreak.
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