Synopsis: Tired of spending all of his time on the train rather than spending it with his friends or with Stella, Ted convinces Marshall, Lily, Barney and Robin to spend a Saturday Night with him at Stella’s house in New Jersey. Like many New Yorkers, they detest New Jersey so Ted tries to convince them that it’s not so bad — until Stella makes it clear that she wants Ted to move there after the two of them get married and all of Ted’s latent hatred for New Jersey surfaces. Ultimately, he realizes he loves Stella and her daughter, Lucy, more than he loves New York and decides he’ll move to New Jersey to be with them.
Barney spends the bulk of the episode waiting desperately for a fist bump, after his lame joke about suckerfish and blowfish is met with indifference and he refuses to be left hanging. Meanwhile, Robin discovers that she only got an audition for the national anchor job she thought she had landed and tries crawling back to Metro News One — only to realize that she really doesn’t want to be there. It turns out that her audition is good enough to get her a new job, just not the one she wanted. Instead, she’s moving to Japan to work as a foreign correspondent, which leaves Barney devastated.
What We Liked:
– Ted dissing the Garden State euphemism style: “I might be a while. I gotta drop a massive New Jersey”
– Barney’s courtship of a lesbian named Doris
Barney: “I know I can land that lesbian plane.”
Marshall: “No snakes on that plane.”
– Barney adhering to the fist bump code: “I am not lowering this until someone gives me the respect of another person’s knuckles tapping against mine in a light but decisive manner.”
– Stella’s introduction of her basement bar with the phrase “Boom goes the dynamite.” Even if you’ve already seen it, this never gets old:
– The use of Bruce Springsteen’s song “Jersey Girl” during the scene where Ted decides he’ll move in with Stella and Lucy
– Stella’s assertion that New Yorkers romanticize their city to the point that they think “pigeon poop tastes like tapioca” there
– “Rock me like a furricane” — Marshall proving to Barney that it’s not so hard to get a fist bump after all
What We Didn’t Like:
– Seeing Barney reduced to tears over the fist bump thing: “They’re awesome, manly pain tears. They’re not emotional. … OK, they’re a little bit emotional.”
– Barney not learning his lesson after finally getting a fist bump for helping Robin, and trying for a high five
Best Barneyism: “Bump the barnacle” and “Knuckle up for safety” — Barney’s two ineffective attempts to get the fist bump he so craves
Photo: Eric McCandless/FOX ©2008 Fox Television. All Rights Reserved.
