How I Met Your Mother Wiki
Register
Advertisement
How I Met Your Mother Wiki


Ring Up
HIMYM episode 8x14 (174)
Ring Up
First aired:
January 21, 2013
Director:
Pamela Fryman
Writer:
Jennifer Hendriks
Barney's Blog

Images (7)

Even though Ted has nothing in common with her, Barney begs Ted to continue seeing his much younger, much wilder girlfriend, until he learns who she is. Meanwhile, Robin must adjust to the power of her engagement ring.


Recap[]

While the others are at the bar, Ted walks in and starts telling them how he saved an old lady pinned under a cab. However, the others are paying more attention to the leather wrist cuff he is wearing, which they start mocking. Ted tells them that he has a date because of the cuff, but she can't come to the bar, as she's only 20 years old. The others rush outside to see her, but Ted gets a text and tells them that she had to leave to go to a flash mob. Ted tells them that he met her when he went to a leather cuff shop where she is the saleswoman. Ted later tells the gang after the next date that it was a total disaster. He tells them that he didn't understand half the words she said, they ate snacks consisting of weird food combinations, and she perceived him to be much older than he really is. Although he thinks she is hot, Ted tells them that he has to end it. Barney repeatedly states that he is glad about not having one-night stands anymore, since now he finds them to be "disgusting."

While Ted is in bed, Barney comes to his bedroom and wakes him. He tells him that he has to sleep with the 20-year old. Barney explains that although he is in love with Robin and wants to be with her, his body is detoxing after years of one-night stands and that Ted has to proxy bang his girlfriend for him. However, Ted tells him that he has to connect with a girl at least a little before he hooks up with them. Barney begs Ted to find any connection with the girl. At their date, Ted tells Barney that he failed to connect with his girlfriend. However, when Ted is about to end things with her, he hears her R2D2 ringtone and realizes that she likes Star Wars, and even though she says she's "only into the new ones", Ted thinks that it is good enough. Later at the bar, Ted tells Barney that he hooked up with the girl. He shows Barney a picture of her and Barney is shocked to see that she is his half-sister Carly. He becomes furious at Ted, ends their friendship and storms out of the bar. However, he later calls Ted and apologizes for over-reacting. He forgives Ted and invites him to his apartment to smoke cigars. While Ted is at Barney's apartment, Carly also arrives there, leaving both of them confused. Barney then arranges a shotgun wedding for them. Ted tells him that they are not getting married. But Barney tells them that they have to, otherwise, Ted and Carly sleeping together is another "cheap, meaningless, disgusting" one-night stand. However, Ted realizes that Barney being opposed to one-night stands means that his detox is done and he is over one-night stands. Barney happily announces that he is free.

With Robin's engagement ring getting back from being re-sized, she starts wearing it in public. The next day she tells Marshall and Lily that while she usually gets free stuff, like her morning coffee and bagel, today was different; she had to pay for her stuff. Marshall and Lily tell her that her ring makes her invisible to men. Later at the bar, she has to wait her turn to get drinks (instead of guys letting her cut in front of them, as usual), which annoys her. She momentarily takes off her ring to get her drinks but becomes invisible to the men at the bar when she wears it again. She tells Marshall and Lily that although she loves Barney, not getting attention by wearing the ring sucks. However, Marshall and Lily tell her that nothing beats the rush you get when "that one special person" looks at you and everyone else becomes invisible. Later that night, Robin understands the true power of her ring when she looks at Barney and everything else becomes invisible when she looks at him. Marshall asks her how she is going to get a drink at the bar now, and she tells him that she knows a way that will last forever. She then asks Barney to get her drink for her.

Meanwhile, when Marshall wears Ted's leather wrist cuff, Lily asks him to take it off as he looks like some loser from a band. However, she gets turned on by it and they start kissing. Later at the bar, Robin notices that Marshall's wrist has swollen due to an allergic reaction to the cuff. She asks him why he doesn't take it off, but he replies that after having a child, anything that gets you close to having sex is worth the pain. Later, Lily notices Marshall's swollen hand and asks him to take the cuff off. Marshall says that he doesn't want to as it will stop the sex they have been having recently, but Lily tells him that he doesn't need a cuff for her to find him sexy. Later, Lily gets a pair of elastic waistband jeans by mistake. Marshall says that she looks like a suburban mom, which he gets turned on by and they start kissing again.

Continuity[]

  • Lily has the same problem as Robin in Sweet Taste of Liberty​​​, where men ignored her once she got engaged.
  • Lily mentions her boobs are named "Snap and Crackle" and her vagina is named "Pop." Marshall mentions Lily's "lady parts'" nicknames in The Pre-Nup. Moreover Lily and Marshall refer to her liking "Honka Honka", as they did in the same episode.
  • A woman in the bar calls Barney "Your Highness" as he was leaving with Robin. It is a possible reference to when Ted mentioned that he pretended to be the "Prince of Norway" in The Bracket​​.
  • Barney breaks into Ted's room in the middle of the night. He did the same thing in Definitions, that time looking for condoms. Ted also dreamed that Barney broke into his room in Landmarks.
  • Barney says "Friendship Over!" to Ted when he finds out that Ted slept with Carly, much like how he said the same thing in Return of the Shirt when he found out that Ted dumped a pornstar.
  • Barney once again alludes to having been intimate with Ted's mother.
  • Barney tries to marry Ted and Carly, which he is legally able to do, much like how he married Lily and Marshall back in Something Borrowed.
  • Barney winks at Ted after "telling the truth" like he did in Bachelor Party​​​. Later, Ted and Carly do the same thing when they promise not to date each other again.
  • Marshall says "Oh, honey sweetie baby" to Robin as he did to Ted in The Autumn of Break-Ups.
  • Barney's father, Jerome, tells him that he had a daughter named Carly in college in Legendaddy​​​.
  • Ted changes his personality for a girl he likes, as in Architect of Destruction.
  • Like Girls Versus Suits, the episode has a song-and-dance number.
  • Barney advises Ted to avoid bringing up "weird poets or buildings" with girls. Ted often mentions his love of Pablo Neruda and architectural history.
  • Barney discusses in The Three Days Rule​​​ how girls named "Carly" and other names ending in "ly" are "always dirty."
  • Barney performs a "retraction five" on Ted.

Future References (Contains Spoilers)[]

  • Robin again mentions how she formerly did not have to pay rent in The Fortress.

Gallery[]

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

Memorable Quotes[]

The Ring: You're not precious.
Robin stares at her ring and imagines it talking

Ted: You slept with my mother.
Barney: No, I didn't. (winks)
Ted: You just winked.
Barney: No, I didn't. (winks)

Lily: Oh my God, Ted! Your wrist!
Ted: Oh, yeah. I guess it’s a little swollen. I must have strained it lifting.
Barney: No, I believe our dear friend Lily was referring to your other wrist. The one wearing the male birth control.
Robin: I was gonna go with “chastity bracelet”.
Barney: God! Is it possible to love you more?

Marshall: Do you think your super strength came from wearing Wonder Woman's magic wrist cuff?
Ted: I'll have you know that because of this cuff, I have a date.
Robin: With some hand lotion and the internet?
Barney: It is possible to love you more!

Ted: She is hot!
Lily: So why can't she come in, Ted?
Ted: She can come in! In six and a half months.
Robin: Wait... Are you saying she's...
Ted: Twenty. And a half. Almost.

Lily: (while looking at Robin's engagement ring) Oh, my God! Look at the size of that rock! Barney, you don't start with the "I got caught cheating" diamond. You give yourself room to grow!
Barney: It's a family heirloom.
Robin: Yeah, I got a few dirty looks from Barney's half-sister over Christmas. So I had to sit her down and explain very respectfully... that she can suck it!

Lily: (talking to Robin) Oh, sweetie, I know it's nice to be groped by strangers, but nothing beats the rush you get when that one special person looks at you.
Marshall: It’s true. Like, here, in this bar, there's only one thing that I see, and I see her brighter and more clearly than anything else in this world. You know what that is? That’s love. And possibly alcohol mixed with some very powerful antibiotics.
Lily: And that's how Barney sees you. And I know that's how you see Barney.
Lily and Marshall tell Robin how great life is when you find that one special person.

Ted: Now, before you say anything about the hat, this new girl's ass is phenomenal!!
Ted saying to Lily, Marshall and Robin about the new girl he dates

Future Ted: That night, even though she still couldn't get a beer, Robin realized the true power of the ring.
Marshall: Hey, Robin. Did you ever figure out how you're gonna get a drink at the bar now that you're engaged?
Robin: Oh, sure. I know a way that's gonna last forever. (to Barney) Scotch on the rocks?
Barney: Coming right up.
Robin realizes that Barney and her love each other according to Marshall and Lily's theory, after they glow when they see each other.

Marshall: Oh, honey-sweetie-baby.
Lily: It's the ring, Robin. The ring has power.
Marshall: When a woman puts on an engagement ring, it's like when Bilbo Baggins wears the One Ring in The Hobbit.
Robin: Okay, can you say that again but not in nerd?
Marshall: Sure. Uh, the ring is like the cloak that Harry Potter wears to sneak around Hogwarts.
Robin: Yeah, I don't speak virgin either.
Lily: The ring-- it makes you invisible.

Notes and Trivia[]

Goofs and Errors[]

  • In Field Trip​​, Ted's students didn't have problem going in MacLaren's even though they were only 18 year olds. This is inconsistent with Ted claiming that Carly is not allowed in MacLaren's because she is under 21. It may have depended on the time. At this time it is night but when he brought his students in it was 4:00 P.M. A lot of bars operate on a rule that after a certain time of night you must be 21 or over to enter.
  • During the opening scene Marshall takes his hand out of the bowl in one shot but his hand is still in the bowl in the next shot.

Allusions and Outside References[]

  • Marshall compares Ted's leather cuff with Wonder Woman's magic wrist cuff.
  • The things Carly said sounded like hipster Mad Libs to Ted.
  • Many references to Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit are made in the episode:
    • Marshall says that the engagement ring has the same power as the One Ring Bilbo Baggins wears.
    • The engagement ring whispers to Robin "You're not precious", similar to Gollum's catchphrase "My precious".
    • When Robin puts on the ring, she becomes invisible, just as the effect the One Ring has on whoever wears it.
  • Marshall also compares the ring to the cloak that Harry Potter wears to sneak around Hogwarts.
  • Barney does an impression of Sean Connery.
  • Carly mentions the news program 60 Minutes.
  • Ted and Carly share a love for Star Wars, even though she has only seen the new ones.
  • Carly thinks Ted is a Vietnam veteran.
  • After her engagement, Robin claims that New York—"normally the friendliest, most-affordable city in the world" is now "as rude and expensive as San Francisco", referring to its high gay population.

Music[]

Other Notes[]

  • This episode disproved the theory of Barney's sister being the mother. Carly was first mentioned in Legendaddy. He was told that his sister was in college. This lead to the belief of Carly being the mother.
  • Ashley Benson is the second Pretty Little Liars actress to star in HIMYM. The first one was Lucy Hale in First Time In New York as Robin's younger sister, Katie Scherbatsky.
  • The episode's title is a play on Barney's catchphrase "Suit Up!"

Guests[]

  • Ashley Benson - Carly
  • Jason Watson - Barista
  • Chauncey Jenkins - Business Man
  • Sachin Bhatt - Man #1
  • Zach Bandler - Man #2
  • Jason Heymann - Man #3
  • Nikki Tuazon - Hot Girl

Reception[]

  • The episode received 10.07 million viewers. [1]
  • Donna Bowman of The AV Club gave the episode a C+. She says that Barney’s long history as a character defined by his womanizing has to be a major focus of his post-engagement storyline. But “Ring Up” treats this history either as a source for lazy jokes, or as a story problem to be gotten past as quickly and sloppily as the show can get away with. The script is by Jennifer Hendriks, whose “Bad News​​” is a series low point for me, but she can’t bear the blame alone; the handling of Barney’s transformation into a one-woman man is something that comes down from a higher creative level. [2]
  • Max Nicholson of IGN gave the episode 4.9 out of 10. He says that Ted's arc was "an inappropriate story to tell your teenaged kids". Regarding Barney's arc, he says "there was no detox for Barney's previous engagement, so it seemed a bit odd that this would be a problem now." About Robin's arc, he mentioned that "it was a recycled storyline from Season 1, in which Lily went through the exact same problem following her own engagement to Marshall". However, he also called Robin's musical number "somewhat amusing". Moreover, He also called Marshall and Lily "the couple with nothing to do". In the conclusion of his review, he says that "no single story arc pulled through as particularly engaging or eventful, and there were seldom any laughs" and that this episode "was one of the bigger duds this season". [3]
  • Angel Cohn of Television Without Pity gave the episode a B, saying that although the episode was "not terrible, it wasn't fantastically funny either. ...While it didn't further any major plotlines, it at least had a lighthearted sensibility about it." He called the episode "not a total torture". [4]
  • The St. Petersburg Comic Review gave this episode 7 out of 10 stars. "...what's up with Ted's wrist band?"

References[]

External Links[]


Previous episode
Band or DJ?
Ring Up
(all episodes)
Next episode →
P.S. I Love You
Advertisement