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Architect of Destruction
HIMYM episode 6x05 (117)
Architect of destruction - wizard billboard
First aired:
October 18, 2010
Director:
Pamela Fryman
Writer:
Carter Bays
Craig Thomas
Barney's Blog

Images (5)

Ted reconsiders being head architect of the new GNB building when he meets a girl who wants to save the old building being torn down to make room for it. Marshall is uncomfortable while hearing the way Robin and Lily share intimate details about their men.


Recap[]

Ted enjoys working on the new GNB headquarters with Barney until he learns that the site of the new building is the location of an old hotel called the Arcadian. He tells Barney he can't work on the project.

The Arcadian was a grand hotel in its day, but now it is falling apart. Plus, it is in a neighborhood populated with many prostitutes. Ted claims that the Arcadian is an architectural landmark, but Barney insists that "new is always better" and assures Ted that it is a good idea to tear down the old hotel.

Barney wonders why Ted has turned down the new GNB project and realizes that it must be because of a girl. Ted admits that he met a hot girl named Zoey while checking out the building. Zoey, an architecture nerd, bonds with Ted, then asks him to sign a petition to save the Arcadian. Rather than tell Zoey that he is behind the project, Ted lies to Zoey and tells her that he is a veterinarian.

Barney points out that Ted doesn't really care about the Arcadian. This is typical of Ted, he says, who has been known to change his personality for women in the past. Ted insists this isn't the case and that he really cares about the Arcadian.

Barney takes matters into his own hands. When Ted goes to tell Zoey that he plans on helping with the Arcadian, a large sign is lowered onto the building with Ted's face announcing his involvement with the project. Ted confronts Barney (and his new bunny Cottontail) and Barney reminds Ted that having control over this project was Ted's dream. Considering this, Ted hits the drafting table and returns to Zoey's protest with new plans to show Zoey: Ted has redesigned the facade to incorporate the iconic elements of the Arcadian into the new building.

While studying the plans, Zoey takes off her glove, revealing that she is wearing a wedding ring. Upon discovering that Zoey is married, Ted realizes that Barney was right: it wasn't about the building. It was about the girl. Ted throws out the new plans and heads home. Sitting by the window, he wonders if he will ever see her again, until Zoey and a gang of protesters begin pelting his window with eggs.

Meanwhile, Lily and Marshall are working to conceive a baby. Chatting, Lily mentions that Robin hooked up with Max. She says that the two bonded over hockey, Max has a small penis, and the two couples will be going on a double date soon. Marshall is horrified how Lily is able to casually mention Max's penis. He can't believe how explicitly women discuss such things.

On the double date, Marshall can't stop fretting about Max's small penis. When Max leaves the table, Lily warns Marshall to behave. Marshall blames his awkward behavior on Lily and Robin's "salty sailor talk" and Robin points out that men are just as bad with their locker room talk. Marshall says that men actually keep to themselves in locker rooms. Things are even worse, however, when Marshall realizes that Lily also tells Robin details about him.

In bed that night, the idea of Robin and Lily judging him makes Marshall so nervous he storms out. Later, on the phone, Lily tells Robin that Marshall came back in with renewed vigor and performed outstandingly. Robin, of course, realizes that Lily is being fed lines for the story from Marshall.

The next day, in the locker room, Max tells Barney, Ted and Marshall that he is breaking up with Robin. He explains that Robin likes to do something in bed that he isn't comfortable with. While Barney and Ted, who dated Robin, know exactly what he is talking about, Marshall asks for details. Max, however, reminds Marshall that they are in a locker room and won't go into detail. When Barney, Ted, and Max leave, Marshall asks Murray if he has any idea about what Max was talking about. He just shrugs.

Continuity[]

  • When Marshall tells Lily that he can't get her and Robin out of his head, she responds that it's happened to her before, an example of Lily's bisexuality and attraction to Robin.
  • In one of the flashbacks showing Ted changing his personality to fit a girl's, Barney is seen performing a card trick. Barney's enthusiasm for magic tricks has been referenced numerous times, including in The Scorpion and the ToadTen Sessions, and Intervention.
  • Barney lets slip that GNB put snakes inside the Arcadian to drive out the residents. GNB engaging in acts of (likely illegal) corporate sabotage has been referenced previously, as seen in The Goat and Woooo!
  • Ted forces Barney to choose between a glass of Glen McKenna whiskey and Jumbo Jim's Grape Scotch in order to disprove his "new is always better" theory. The gang were previously seen drinking 50 year-old Glen McKenna in Intervention.
  • Barney previously used a rental swivel chair in Little Minnesota, to surprise the gang and meet Ted's sister.
  • Ted, Marshall, and Barney start working together again for the first time since Ted got fired from GNB in Old King Clancy.
  • Max considers breaking up with Robin over a "weird thing" she likes to do in the bedroom, which both Ted and Barney agree "is not for everyone". In Old King Clancy, it is revealed that Robin once ruined a potential hook-up by asking him to give her an "Old King Clancy."
  • Ted previously expressed a desire to be old in Murtaugh.
  • Ted claims to not change his personality for girls in The Three Days Rule and Double Date.
  • Lily exclaims, "Damn baby, be cool!" to Marshall during their double date, as she did to Robin in Robin 101.
  • Robin and Max started dating in Subway Wars.
  • In Subway Wars, Ted points out the Arcadian to the driver of his bus while freaking out over a negative review a student gave about his lectures.
  • This episode marks the first appearance of Zoey.

Future References (Contains Spoilers)[]

  • Future Ted mentions that he would see Zoey again, as they remain sworn enemies until she becomes friends with the gang in Blitzgiving. However, the Arcadian continues to be a source of conflict between them, even after they start dating in Oh Honey.
  • The gang meets Zoey's husband in Natural History.
  • In Garbage Island, Barney figures out that it has been 18 weeks since Robin has had sex. After breaking up with Max here, Robin isn't seen dating anyone else by that point, which occurs exactly 18 weeks later.
  • Ted, Marshall, and Barney continue working together until Marshall quits GNB in The Exploding Meatball Sub.
  • Ted and Zoey visit the Arcadian in The Perfect Cocktail, and he briefly switches to her side. However, Ted eventually testifies against the Arcadian to the Landmarks Preservation Committee in Landmarks, resulting in him and Zoey breaking up, and the Arcadian being destroyed in Challenge Accepted.
  • The Pre-Nup has another possible explanation for the weird thing Robin likes that causes Max to break up with her.
  • Barney brings up his "new is always better" rule again in Challenge Accepted and Weekend at Barney's.
  • Barney names and connects with another rabbit in Band or DJ?
  • In Landmarks, Ted and Zoey reminisce about the first time they met, including Ted mistaking her for a cross-dressing prostitute.
  • Lily threatens Pete Durkenson in The Naked Truth by warning that she is friends with three girls he dated in college, and "girls tell each other everything. Every tiny detail."
  • Ted has his own pair of unusual slipper socks, as mentioned in Desperation Day.

Gallery[]

For a listing of all images on the wiki tagged as being from this episode, see Category:Architect of Destruction images.

Memorable Quotes[]

Barney: Because new is always better.
Ted: And this theory applies to everything?
Barney: Everything.
Ted: So, those new Star Wars movies... Those are better than the old ones?
Barney: Yeah. The first three barely mention the intricacies of intergalactic trade law.
Ted: And when you're at a Guns N' Roses concert, you're like, "yeah, yeah, Paradise City, whatever. When are they gonna rock me some Chinese democracy"?
Barney: Axl's really matured as a songwriter, Ted.

Ted: I can't do this if it means tearing down the Arcadian. It's an architectural landmark. Plus, people live there. How does GNB plan to get hundreds of residents to just up and leave?
Barney: Snakes.
Ted: Did you just say snakes?
Barney: I don't recall saying snakes.

Ted: Did GNB really put snakes in the Arcadian?
Barney: No. Technically they were eggs
Ted: Did you just say eggs?
Barney: I don't recall saying eggs.

Barney: Don't you get it, Ted? We're tearing down the Arcadian either way. It's a stupid old piece of crap, run down, snake infested dump!
Ted: Ok, are there or aren't there snakes?
Barney: Who mentioned snakes! And stop shouting, you're scaring Cottontail.
Ted: You named the rabbit?
Barney: You took longer to get her than I thought. We bonded. I'm keeping her.

Ted: This wouldn't work. Zoey, the Arcadian was really great building once, but it's falling apart and full of snakes.
Zoey: Snakes?
Ted: I don't recall snakes, thanks.

Ted: I loved your idea about a giant rooftop ring of fire you can jump through with a motorcycle. But I tweaked it slightly and—this is still super badass—it's now a patio garden where you can bring a nice bag lunch.
Barney: Sick!

Protestor: Dude. Why are you dressed like a wizard?
Ted: ... She was really hot, okay?

Lily: Barney, every time I mention a woman you don't know, the first thing you say is "Boobs?" Not the complete sentence, "Does she have big boobs?"—which also would not be great—just "boobs?"
Barney: I do not!
Lily: My friend Laurie, from work—
Barney: Boobs? Dammit! But, seriously: Boobs?

Marshall: How’s it going with Robin?
Max: I think I have to break up with her.
Marshall: Why?
Barney: You with her?
Max: Yeah, well, there’s this kind of weird thing she likes to do in the bedroom. It just makes me uncomfortable.
Barney: I get it.
Ted: Yeah, that is not for everyone!
Marshall: What’s not for everyone? (Everyone looks at him awkwardly) Guys, come on! What is it?
Max: Come on, bro! It’s the locker-room!

Notes and Trivia[]

Goofs and Errors[]

  • Barney references "intergalactic trade law" in relation to the Star Wars prequels, however "intergalactic" implies multiple galaxies, the Star Wars narrative transpires entirely in a single galaxy meaning the correct phrase should be "interstellar trade law," or just "galactic trade law."
  • It is mentioned when Max is at dinner with Robin, Lily and Marshall that he quit GNB, but he is later shown in the GNB locker room with Barney, Ted and Marshall.

Allusions and Outside References[]

  • When Ted walks into his apartment, Barney turns around in the swivel chair, stroking a rabbit. This is a reference to the James Bond villain Blofeld who iconically stroked a white cat in a lush swivel chair.
  • The Guns N' Roses album Appetite for Destruction is mentioned. Ted and Zoey also mention the band's 2008 album Chinese Democracy. Zoey was arrested after one of the band's concerts in 2009.
  • The title of the episode is a play on words referencing Guns N' Roses album Appetite for Destruction.
  • Barney mentions that the newer trilogy of Star Wars is better as they had explained the "intricacies of intergalactic trade law", referencing the trilogy's use of the Trade Federation as a plot vehicle.
  • Ted uses the line "I'm Batman!", and the first four notes of Tim Burton's 1989 Batman theme can be heard.
  • In a flashback, Ted is seen dressed as an Union soldier. He also mentions that they are going to Gettysburg.
  • Ted mentions that Lily and Marshall are fans of the Indigo Girls.
  • Robin says that the penis of Barney or Ted looks like Winston Churchill.
  • In Marshall's mind, Robin mentions his style of love-making is like the character Lennie from Of Mice and Men.
  • Also in Marshall's mind, Robin and Lily discuss the love-making as they are drinking cosmopolitans, mimicking the television series Sex and the City.
  • One of the signs in the rally reads, "Gotham's Newest Bully", a reference to the fact that one nickname for New York City is "Gotham".
  • Another sign reads "Goliath! David's coming to get you!" which is a reference on the Biblical tale of David and Goliath.

Music[]

Other Notes[]

Jennifer Morrison is best known for playing one of the main characters in the tv series House, in which she plays the role of a doctor. Actress Sarah Chalke who plays Ted's previous girlfriend Stella is also best known for playing one of the main characters in thr tv series Scrubs, where she also plays a doctor. Her character Stella in this series is also a doctor.

Guests[]

Podcast[]

How_I_Met_Your_Mother_-_'Architect_of_Destruction'_Podcast

How I Met Your Mother - 'Architect of Destruction' Podcast

Podcast for the episode

Featuring an interview with Stephen Lloyd and Robia Rashid.

Reception[]

  • This episode premiered to 8.049 million viewers.[1]
  • Donna Bowman at the A.V. Club gave the episode a C+.[2]
  • DeAnn Welker at Television Without Pity gave the episode an A-.[3]
  • Robert Canning at IGN gave the episode an 8 out of 10.[4]
  • The St. Petersburg Comic Review gave this episode 8 out of 10 stars. "...mostly just queens..."

References[]

External Links[]


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