How I Met Your Mother Wiki
Register
Advertisement
How I Met Your Mother Wiki
For the girl nicknamed "The Slutty Pumpkin", see Naomi.
Slutty Pumpkin
HIMYM episode 1x06 (6)
Slutty Pumpkin
First aired:
October 24, 2005
Director:
Pamela Fryman
Writer:
Brenda Hsueh
Barney's Blog

Images (11)

Ted goes to a Halloween party hoping to reunite with a girl he met four years ago. Barney tries to convince him to ditch that party for a better one. Marshall and Lily go on a double date with Robin and her boyfriend.


Recap[]

Future Ted tells his kids that Robin, who loves Halloween, used to dislike it and thought she was "too cool" to enjoy it.

At the bar, Lily and Marshall are excited that their Halloween costumes came in the mail. Barney mentions that he loves Halloween because women dress up in "slutty" costumes, such as a slutty witch, a slutty cat, and a slutty nurse. Robin then informs the group that she has been dating a guy named Mike for a few weeks, who the gang hasn't met yet. Lily suggests that they go on a double date.

Ted arrives at the bar and tells Robin that he will be waiting for the "Slutty Pumpkin", which he does every year on Halloween. Ted tells the story of how he met the Slutty Pumpkin four years earlier on Halloween night. He was at a party on the roof of his apartment building, where he met a girl who was wearing a sexy pumpkin costume, and made a drink she called a Tootsie Roll, which was a mixture of Kahlua and root beer. As Ted tells his story, Barney, Lily and Marshall continually interject, since Ted has evidently told this story many times. Ted continues, saying that he got the Slutty Pumpkin's phone number, but it was written on a Kit Kat wrapper, which Lily had unintentionally given away, causing Ted to lose her number.

At the apartment, Lily and Marshall show off their Halloween costumes: Lily is a parrot and Marshall is dressed as a Jack Sparrow-esque pirate; they are certain they will win the costume contest at the bar. Ted presents his costume, a hanging chad, which is what Ted wears every Halloween since it is what he wore when he met the Slutty Pumpkin. Barney then arrives at the apartment, dressed as a fighter pilot straight out of Top Gun. He tells Ted to join him at a Victoria's Secret Halloween party, but Ted insists he will go to the party on the roof to wait for the Slutty Pumpkin. Robin arrives next, but isn't wearing a costume. She tells Lily she and Mike had talked about wearing costumes, but they decided not to dress up. Just then, Mike enters the apartment dressed as Hansel. Robin admits that she was just joking about dressing up as Hansel and Gretel. Barney follows Ted up to the party on the roof, noting that there are only six women there. As an a cappella group begins singing, Barney starts drinking.

Lily, Marshall, Robin, and Mike are all eating at the bar. While Lily and Marshall enthusiastically share their food with each other, Robin does not want to share with Mike. Back at the roof party, Barney hits on a girl wearing a hula costume, but his crass pickup line fails.

In the women's bathroom, Lily asks Robin if she actually likes Mike. Robin insists that she just doesn't like couple-y stuff, but Lily tells her that it's the greatest thing in the world to be a part of. Lily tells Robin that she could lose Mike if she doesn't start acting differently, so she suggests that Robin share her dessert with Mike. Robin agrees.

After striking out with the hottest girl at the party, Barney changes his costume, now wearing a red devil costume, with hopes that he can make a "second first impression." Barney hits on the hula girl again, but he once again fails. Barney tells Ted that the Slutty Pumpkin is clearly not coming, so they must go to the Victoria's Secret party. Ted tells him that the Slutty Pumpkin represents hope for him.

Robin tries to share her sundae with Mike, but it immediately becomes obvious that she cannot which leads to her finishing off the sundae herself. Mike decides to leave the bar, saying that he doesn't get the impression that Robin enjoys being with him. Robin denies this, but Mike says she much rather prefers being alone, not wanting to engage in any couple-y activities. Mike then breaks up with Robin.

Ted sees someone dressed as a penguin, who mixes Kahlua and root beer, and wonders if this person is the Slutty Pumpkin. His hopes are quickly dashed however when it is revealed that it is Barney in the costume. Barney also reveals that he used this new costume to get the hula girl's phone number, but she realizes that he was the same guy from before, upset that he tricked her into giving him her number.

Robin is not very upset that Mike broke up with her, saying that he wanted to be a "we" while Robin wanted to be an "I." Carl then announces the winners of the costume contest: Lily as a parrot and Marshall as a gay pirate.

Robin then finds Ted still on the roof. She tells him about being dumped by Mike, and wonders if there's something wrong with her, that she's a cold person who cannot be head-over-heels for someone. Ted tells her that she just hasn't met the right person yet. Ted and Robin sit together under a blanket.

Continuity[]

  • Marshall and Lily's nicknames for each other (Marshmallow and Lilypad) are first used.
  • Barney uses his nickname, "The Barnacle" for the first time.
  • Barney's magic first appears.

Future References (Contains Spoilers)[]

  • Ted finally meets Naomi, the Slutty Pumpkin, in The Slutty Pumpkin Returns​, where them meeting in 2001 and her making Tootsie Rolls are referenced.
  • Ted reveals that Star Wars is his favorite movie. It would be a central theme in the episodes Do I Know You? and Trilogy Time.
  •  Lily's frequent urination problem comes up again in Duel Citizenship and Twin Beds.
  • In the flashback to Ted's first meeting with the Slutty Pumpkin, Marshall approves of her after hearing about her interest in penguins. In Say Cheese​, Ted reminds Lily of a fight she and Marshall had over Halloween when she, according to Marshall, called penguins lame.
  • Marshall and Lily wear matching costumes again at the Goliath National Bank Halloween party in Canning Randy, with Lily as a matador and Marshall as a bull. Also, in a flashback in The Poker Game, Lily is dressed as Paulie Bleeker from Juno, and gets annoyed at Marshall for not dressing as Juno MacGuff.
  • In The Poker Game, the Slutty Pumpkin is seen in the flashback to the 2007 roof-top Halloween party.

Gallery[]

Notes and Trivia[]

Goofs and Errors[]

  • Robin says she never played any team sports in high school, having only played tennis, but she mentions in Best Prom Ever that she missed her high school prom because it conflicted with her field hockey finals. Robin is also seen with her hockey teammates in Happily Ever After.
  • In the scene where Ted and Barney are in the apartment, Barney hangs his sunglasses on his flightsuit, and then does it again.
  • Mike is credited as "Mark".

Allusions and Outside References[]

  • Without making a specific reference, Ted waiting for the Slutty Pumpkin is very similar to Linus' annual wait for The Great Pumpkin.
  • Marshall reflects back to what they could have done better as Sonny and Cher. He says, "If I could turn back time" (Cher's popular song).
  • Marshall's pirate costume resembles Jack Sparrow from the Pirates of the Caribbean.
  • The hanging chad represented by the costume that Ted wears to this and other Halloween parties over the years became prominent when the results of the 2000 US Presidential Election in Florida were being manually recounted. 

Music[]

Other Notes[]

Guests[]

Reception[]

  • The St. Petersburg Comic Review gave this episode 8 stars out of 10: "Barney's series of costumes rocks! ... Ted disappointed, once again."

References[]


Previous episode
Okay Awesome
Slutty Pumpkin
(all episodes)
Next episode →
Matchmaker
Advertisement