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Something Borrowed
HIMYM episode 2x21 (43)
Something borrowed
First aired:
May 7, 2007
Director:
Pamela Fryman
Writer:
Greg Malins
Barney's Blog

Images (3)

Marshall and Lily are about to get married but the wedding is becoming one disaster after another.

Recap[]

Marshall and Lily are about to get married, however Lily's ex-boyfriend, Scooter, shows up at the wedding having been invited by Lily's family and tries desperately but unsuccessfully to win her back. A string of other mishaps threaten to ruin the wedding. The florist calls to tell them that the flowers will not arrive in time for the ceremony. The harp player goes into labor right before the ceremony. The photographer can not take pictures and Lily's veil was ruined. Lily, who had been looking onto the bright side, finally falls apart when she can't find her bridal panties that say Property of Marshall.

Meanwhile, Barney discovers that he can get people at the wedding to do anything he wants without question simply by telling them "it's for the bride." He uses this trick to get drinks and a girl's phone number, among other things.

Marshall is also having a bad time, one of Lily's relatives gave him highlighted tips in his hair, and in an attempt to correct it, he shaves off a patch of hair. The guys try to come up with a plan to hide the bald spot. When Marshall and Lily see each other outside, and are ready to admit defeat, Ted comes up with a plan. Since both Marshall and Lily always wanted a small wedding in a park, Ted suggests that they go outside, hold a small ceremony like they always wanted, and then go perform the ceremony in front of all of their guests. With Barney recently licensed to marry people, the gang borrows a hat from a passerby and a person starts to play a guitar.

Outside, Lily and Marshall are married by Barney in front of only Ted and Robin. Then, without a worry about how the big ceremony will proceed, they go inside, and hold another ceremony in front of family and friends.

Continuity[]

  • Lily asks Barney if Scooter looked "like someone who tried to be an umpire and failed." Scooter's dream of being an umpire was previously referenced in Best Prom Ever.
  • As Lily and Marshall discuss consummating their marriage in the bathroom, Ted, revealed to be in one of the stalls, says "please don't", which is reminiscent of their first time together, as seen in First Time In New York.
  • Robin shares a pack of cigarettes with Lily; in Moving Day, Barney tells Ted that Robin smokes to get him not to move in with her, and she also has a cigarette while Ted is out with Barney, as her "last hurrah."
  • In the flashforward to Ted's best man speech in Showdown​​, Marshall is seen wearing a hat, the reason for which is explained here.

Future References (Contains Spoilers)[]

  • Marshall shaving his head at his wedding is referenced again in DowisetreplaFalse Positive​​, and Vesuvius.
  • Lily would reveal in The Best Burger in New York that Marshall got his wedding vows off the internet.
  • Barney discusses the occupations of the girls he has slept with again in Girls Versus Suits.
  • Robin uses the "it's for the bride" trick, during her wedding weekend, on Barney in Coming Back, and attempts to use it on Ted in Sunrise.
  • Marshall would remind Lily in Hooked that Scooter admitted he still had feelings for her and as a result, Marshall would help Lily take Scooter off her "hook."
  • Lily would bring her wedding dress to Robin and Barney's wedding and would wear it again in Vesuvius.
  • A fresh flashback from Lily and Marshall's wedding where they recite their vows would be shown in The End of the Aisle.

Gallery[]

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

Memorable Quotes[]

Ted: Barney, unless you have one in your car, stop suggesting Native American Headdress!

Ted: Dude you shaved your freaking head.
Marshall: Yeah, yeah but it's good. I'm gonna shave it all off. What a great solution! Just go bald cause it's cool, right? Bruce Willis, Michael Jordan, Britney Spea... OH GOD WHAT DID I DO! How could you let me shave my head?!?
Ted: What!?!?!
Marshall: You're the worst best man ever! I HATE YOU! I'm not going out there. I'm leaving and I'm never coming back. I'm gonna find that money under the rock by that tree and go live with the guys on the beach in Zihuatanejo.
Ted: Duse, those guys are criminals.
Marshall: Only Red, Andy was falsely accused.

Marshall: Hat! We thought of authentic Native American headdress before we thought of hat.

Robin: I thought you hated marriage. Why do you want to officiate the ceremony?
Barney: Because it subliminally implants the suggestion that whenever I ask a question, the answer is always, "I do."

Barney: Can I have your number?
Woman: I don't think so.
Barney: It's for the bride.
Woman: Oh, okay. I'll go get my pen.
Barney: The bride also wants you to walk slower.

Barney: Excuse me, you gentlemen dropped something... your jaws! Because Barney Stinson is about to aid and abet in a marriage.

Notes and Trivia[]

Goofs and Errors[]

  • Lily says that her dad owes a man whose daughter plays the harp, and therefore they are having a harp player at the wedding. However, in Slapsgiving 2: Revenge of the Slap​​​, it is found out that Mickey wasn't even invited to the wedding and Lily had been estranged from him for years.
  • In this episode, it is established that Marshall and Lily have farting contests with one another. However, in Zip, Zip, Zip​​​, Lily claims to cover up her farts in front of Marshall with a cough.
  • Lily and Marshall are shown planning their wedding "eight months" prior to getting married in May 2007. This would place the flashback in September 2006, but they did not get back together until Swarley, which takes place in either late October or early November.

Allusions and Outside References[]

  • After shaving his head, Marshall says he's leaving and never coming back. He's going to go "find that money under the rock by the tree and go live with the guys on the beach in Zihuatanejo." Ted says that they are criminals, but Marshall corrects him saying that Andy was falsely accused. This is a reference to The Shawshank Redemption.
  • Marshall's wig-out about his hair is inspired in part by the viral video Bride Has Massive Hair Wig Out.
  • The song played on guitar during the impromptu outdoor wedding is Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring.
  • The piece played on piano during the opening of the episode is "La Réjouissance" from Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks.
  • The harpist plays the first two measures of the Minuet in G major by Christian Petzold (formerly attributed to Bach).
  • After Lily's cousin gives Marshall's hair cool tips, Marshall states that he looks like one of the Backstreet Boys.
  • While trying to win Lily back, Scooter quotes the Guns N Roses song November Rain.
  • This wedding takes place during May, like almost all weddings on television shows. November, February, and May are "sweeps months" where the ratings determine how much a show can charge for commercials. As a consequence shows have stunts to increase ratings during those periods.
  • Marshall is wearing an Oregon State University shirt in a flashback before the wedding.

Music[]

  • Love Song - Haunt

Other Notes[]

  • The episode was originally titled " Mr and Mrs Eriksen" .[1]
  • This episode actually marks the second and third time that Marshall and Lily get married. The first was in Atlantic City, but since they were "un-pronounced", they didn't count that as actually getting married.
  • The title of this episode, and the following episode (Something Blue), is a reference to the wedding tradition which proscribes that a bride should have "something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue." "Something Old" and "Something New​​​​​" are names of the last two episodes of Season 8.
  • "Something Borrowed" could reference the hat and the toupee Marshall needs after he shave his head in a freak out.
  • Scooter is played by David Burtka who is Neil Patrick Harris' real life husband. Like all of the main cast's spouses, they had an interaction.

Guests[]

Reception[]

  • Staci Krause of IGN gave the episode a 9.5 out of 10, stating that Marshall and Lily's wedding "was everything that we hoped it could be, and we were trying not to tear up as much as Barney was."  She praised both Marshall and Lily's storyline saying that they were both having terrible days, that would eventually bring them closer.  She also enjoyed Barney's 'superpower', saying that it "was definitely something that we'd expect of Barney, although he surprised us later in the episode." [2]
  • The St. Petersburg Comic Review gave this episode 9.5 out of 10 stars. "Sometimes you slip on placenta during the recessional."

References[]

External Links[]


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