How I Met Your Mother: “The Goat” Recap

Posted by Mike

HIMYM_The Goat

Before we get started, it’s worth mentioning that the “Sandcastles in the Sand” music video from last week is currently available as a free download at the iTunes Store. So go get it before they start charging for it. We’ll wait till you get back.

OK, so, it’s Ted’s 30th birthday and he’s got a big story to tell about a goat. Wait till you hear it. It’s incredible. But first, there’s another story that needs to be told. One that started at the end of last week’s episode, when Barney and Robin made out. Well, they slept together. Big shock. But here’s where it gets interesting. When they wake up in bed together the next morning — both in a state of shock — they agree to pretend that nothing happened and go back to normal. But not before Barney lifts up the covers to check out naked Robin one last time. “Right click, save as, into the BPEG folder, and OK.” Could it really be that easy? Well, it takes Barney all of a few seconds to brag about scoring with Robin — to Robin. “So, Robin, guess who nailed the chick from Metro News 1 last night.” Classy.

But things get considerably harder once Barney leaves Robin’s place. Despite the fact that Robin is the one who has to deal with being the latest “sad, self-loathing idiot who climbed into bed with Barney Stinson,” it’s Barney who seems ready to crack when the gang meets up later at McLaren’s. He mistakes conversation about Ted turning 30 for talk about sleeping with Robin, even after Marshall seems to say he’ll be “hitting it soon” and Lily suggests she wants a clown around when she does it. Why is Barney so shaken? Because he broke The Bro Code.

The Bro Code is an extensive list of dos and don’ts for Bros, including:

Article 1: Bros before hoes

Article 89: The mom of a bro is always off limits, but the stepmom of a bro is fair game if she initiates it and/or is wearing at least one article of leopard print clothing

Article 34: Bros cannot make eye contact during a devil’s three-way (which — as Barney so delicately puts it, while extending his index finger and pinkie and making the devil horns/heavy metal hand gesture — means a three-way involving two dudes)

Article 87: A bro shall at all times say yes (even if it means claiming in front of a really hot girl to be a pre-op transsexual nightclub singer who used to be a member of the Russian mob)

Article 29: A bro will, in a timely manner, alert his bro to the existence of a girlfight

Article 53: A bro will, whenever possible, provide his bro with protection

Barney hires Marshall as his lawyer, to find a loophole in The Bro Code, that will make it OK that he slept with Robin. All this despite the fact that Barney himself is the author of The Bro Code. Of course, he claims it dates back to 1776, when Benjamin Franklin and George Washington were having a drink in a Philadelphia bar, discussing whether or not it was wrong for GW to codpiece-block BF with a wench on whom he’d called dibs. They decide that there should be a set of rules that govern the way bros comport themselves among other bros. But with GW needing to pose for the dollar bill and BF needing to fly some kites or something, who should write such a document? Why Barnabus Stinson, of course — but not before it’s implied that BF and GW have participated in the same devil’s three-way. Nice.

While Marshall gets to work on finding a loophole in the “No sex with your bro’s ex” article, Barney deals with his guilt in his own unique way — buying crap from SkyMall. Among other things, he’s already gotten a paper shredder that can chew up a bicycle in 17 seconds and this awesome Pop-Up Hot Dog Cooker.

Here’s where Missy the goat comes in. Farmer Frank, a guest at Lily’s kindergarten class whose breath smells like medicine, brings Missy in to show the children. He then horrifies them with a story about how Missy will be slaughtered, prompting Lily to bring the animal home with her until animal rescue can pick her up after the weekend. After both Robin and Marshall display an uncanny ability to identify a goat turd, that’s the last we hear about Missy for a while.

Marshall can’t find a loophole and, worse yet, he lets Robin find out that he knows about her and Barney. The only way Barney is ever going to feel better about what he’s done is to tell Ted what he’s done. He decides to hijack Ted on his way to his 30th birthday party, take him to Vegas and spring the news on him when he’s in the best possible mood. But Robin’s already beaten him to it. Ted initially acts like it’s no big deal, but it is. He even punches Barney in the groin when offered a free shot. He tells Barney that he’s been getting rid of things he has no use for anymore — and that maybe Barney is one of those things. Not only does Ted not want to be bros anymore, he doesn’t want to be friends. And that’s how the episode ends.

Oh, except for the goat. Turns out Missy the goat was part of Ted’s 31st birthday. So, after all that setup, the goat story will have to wait.

Other Highlights: The return of Ranjit the cab/limo driver; Robin thinking that having a musk ox in the living room would be absurd, but a goat is perfectly normal; Lily wanting to know if Barney is “all smooth down there.”

Best Barneyism: “I have six self-cleaning litter boxes, and I don’t even have a kid.” — Barney on his poorly though-out SkyMall purchases and his complete lack of parenting skills

Photo: Sonja Flemming/CBS ©2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.

5 Comments

  1. can anyone please tell me if knows that what was the music while Ted and Barney was debating on limo?

  2. Apparently none. But to answer Barney’s question, “Who punches someone in the groin?” —  I’m pretty sure Eddy Curry did it to Brendan Haywood a few years ago.

  3. While watching the first time, I didn’t necessarily take that to mean that Ted and Robin were back together necessarily, but now that you mention it, there probably is more to it. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

  4. I think you missed the most important part about the goat-reveal at the end. He said it was Robin’s towel/blanket that the goat was chewing on. But that it was from his 31st birthday, because she wasn’t living with Ted when he turned 30.

    Which means, next year, Robin is once again living with Ted for some reason.

    BTW, sounds like Barney and Ted will be feuding for a while. In a few weeks, Britney will be back on the show. And it looks like Barney is attempting to turn her against Ted, as well.

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