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ā€œThe End of the Aisleā€
HIMYM episode 9x22 (206)
Teota5
First aired:
March 24, 2014
Director:
Pamela Fryman
Writer:
Carter Bays
Craig Thomas
Barney's Blog

Images (12)

With only a half-hour to go, both Barney and Robin have panic attacks about their upcoming nuptials. Meanwhile, Marshall and Lily rewrite their old wedding vows.


Recap[]

At Sunday, 5:28 p.m., just 32 minutes before the wedding, Barney and Robin are suffering panic attacks. Robin considers escaping through the window, as Ted and Victoria had from Victoria's wedding a year earlier. After she brings up how she wishes that Barney had found her locket as a sign of his reliability, Ted secretly brings her locket, which he retrieved from the river, to Barney and instructs Barney to take credit for finding it. When Robin realizes the truth, she remembers Barney's dishonesty and begins considering that Ted is the right person for her after all. She tells Ted that she thinks she should be with him. Ted says that he doesn't want to hear that. She then offers to run away with him to Chicago. Ted refuses to run away with her, recognizing at last that he and Robin aren't the same people who loved each other once and that she and Barney are meant to be together. Unconvinced, Robin decides to run away on her own and crashes into the wedding band's bass player - the event that Future Ted describes to his kids as "how your Aunt Robin met your mother."

Teota12

Meanwhile, Marshall and Lily manage to calm Barney down, but find that he is struggling to write his wedding vows. When Lily points out how selfish and easy his vows are to accomplish, Barney counters by remarking about how Lily and Marshall have broken all their marriage vows over the years. They are disappointed to realize that Barney is right. However, they spend a moment at the altar to update their vows and promise to keep updating them as they need to instead of making perfect vows. Barney witnesses the moment and goes to find Robin.

Robin apologizes for knocking over the Mother, who sees that Robin is trying to run away. Because they do not know each other well, the Mother does not persuade Robin not to flee and encourages Robin take three deep breaths instead. The Mother slips away as Robin follows the Mother's suggestion and Barney appears. He promises to make only one vow to her: he will be honest with her from now on, and begins with revealing that Ted had found her locket.

As the wedding ceremony begins, Barney has one last panic attack, which Marshall ends with the final slap of the slap bet. The ceremony goes through without any trouble, even with the arrival of a bear as the ring bear, (also present was a flower gorilla, which Barney cancels at the last moment) and concludes with Robin and Barney married before their family and friends.

Continuity[]

  • Ted mentions he refuses to participate in a third "runaway bride situation", referring to Stella in Shelter Island and Victoria in The Magician's Code - Part Two and Farhampton.
  • Marshall gives Barney the final slap, officially putting an end to The Slap Bet, which was first introduced in Slap Bet.
  • Barney did indeed arrange a ring bear, as suggested in earlier episodes (Unpause, The Locket, Farhampton).
    • It is also implied that Barney arranged a flower gorilla, however Barney cancelled this before the gorilla was seen.
    • Barney breaks his vow when he lies to Robin about the flower gorilla, just liked he said Marshall and Lily broke all of theirs.
  • Marshall and Lily talk about when Lily first peed in front of him, which occurred in Zip, Zip, Zip.
  • Barney and Robin's wedding finally took place, as foreshadowed since Big Days.
  • Robin finally receives her locket. Robin wanting to find her locket was first established in Something Old.
  • While talking about the vows, Barney recalls the recent fight between Marshall and Lily (Unpause). Then they call Barney "son of a bitch", as Lily uses to do in similar occurrences.
  • Ted's search for the locket was previously seen in Sunrise.
  • Robin's dislike towards Patrice has been shown in the past.
  • Talking about the previous decade, Marshall mentions Myspace. A similar reference was made in Sunrise.
  • Robin walks down the aisle to an instrumental piano version of Sandcastles in the Sand. In the episode Sandcastles in the Sand Barney and Robin's romance first began while watching the video for this song.
  • Ted mentions Barney's rehearsal dinner for Robin, as seen in The Rehearsal Dinner, as well as his proposal to her, as seen in The Final Page - Part Two.
  • The Mother mentions she was "a bit of a detective" as a kid, much like her future husband Ted. This is mentioned in many episodes, including The Pineapple Incident and Daisy.
  • Marshall's love for the Minnesota Vikings is mentioned; this has been mentioned in numerous past episodes, such as Last Cigarette Ever, Little Minnesota, and Jenkins.
  • Robin mentions the Blue French Horn which was seen in quite a few previous episode. 
  • Marshall's wordplay jokes were shown in Rally. No one laughs at his jokes yet he still continues due to him being Most Outgoing in high school which was mentioned in Weekend at Barney's.
  • In a flashback to Something Borrowed Barney is seen crying at Lily and Marshall's wedding. He also cries at Clint and Virginia's wedding in Home Wreckers.
  • Robin mentions she hates when Barney lies to her (The Rehearsal Dinner, Weekend at Barney's).
  • In a flashback to Lily and Marshall's plane ride to their honeymoon, Marshall is seen wearing a hat to cover up his shaved head, which happened in Something Borrowed. Marshall is also wearing a Loch Ness Monster t-shirt, because he and Lily are traveling to Scotland as they decided in Columns.

Gallery[]

Memorable Quotes[]

Ted: Love doesn't make sense! I mean, you can't logic your way into or out of it. Love is totally nonsensical! But we have to keep doing it, or else..we're lost, an-and, and love is dead and humanity should just pack it in. Because love is the best thing we do..Look, I know that sounds cheesy but it's just true. You love Barney, and he loves you.. and that doesn't have to make sense, to make sense.
Ted reminds Robin of how much she loves Barney

Future Ted: Kids, I won't lie...that was a long weekend. More ups and downs than I can count. It was a twisting, turning road that led to the end of the aisle and not everything along the way was perfect. To be honest, not everything to follow would be perfect either...but what is? Here's the secret, kids...none of us can vow to be perfect. In the end, all we can do is promise to love each other with all that we've got...because love is the best thing we do. And on that lovely spring evening, that's exactly what Barney and Robin vowed to each other...and it was legendary.
Ted witnessing the marriage of his two best friends.

Robin: I mean look me in the eye and tell me why you shouldn't be with that guy.
Ted: Because I'm not that guy anymore.
Robin: Then why did you work so hard to find me my locket?
Ted: It was a wedding gift!
Robin: Stop it! Ok, I know you better than that! It was more than a wedding gift.
Ted: Maybe it started out that way. Maybe some part of me thought...
Robin: ...That you still loved me.
Ted: Maybe. But the truth is..I don't love you like that anymore. And you don't love me. You love Barney. And if you think I'd ever be part of ever screwing that up like that then maybe you don't know me at all Robin.
Ted telling Robin that he's not "that guy" anymore.

The Mother: Sometimes three deep breaths can change everything.

*Robin takes three deep breaths.*

Robin: Barney?
Barney: Hey. I've been looking for ya. You ok?
Robin: Ah, yeah. I was just talking to the...band..about the..thing with the stuff. What are those?
Barney: My vows. I know it's bad luck to see the Bride right before the ceremony but I realized something. Marshall and Lily have broken most of their wedding vows but they're still the best couple I know. I think their biggest problem was that Marshall didn't tell Lily the truth...so..

*He tosses the papers onto the ground.*

Barney: I've decided to make only one vow to you because it's the only one that counts. Robin Scherbatsky from this day forward, I'm always gonna be honest with you. Because I love you. I'll see ya up there.

*Barney turns to go but then turns back.*

Barney: Oh and Ted got that locket for you. He's the one you should thank.
Robin: Barney wait. *They kiss and hug each other.*
Barney vowing to always be honest to Robin.

Robin: Ted, I should be with you.
Future Ted: There it was, the words that some deep, dark part of me always wanted to hear. But itā€™s funny. Once you actually hear those words out loudā€¦
Ted: I don't wanna hear that.
Ted realises he no longer loves Robin

The Mother: Ok, during that fall we did kinda get to second base with each other, and we'll always share that.
After Robin knocks her over while trying to escape the wedding.

Marshall: Maybe we just need some updated vows. So I thought maybe before this place gets too busy, we could borrow this altar for a minute. Lily Aldrin, I vow to stop shouting stuff at you when you're dumping out. You're the love of my life, and you deserve to make a deuce in peace. I vow to stop pointing out every dog erection we see when we walk through the park, even though they are incredibly weird looking.
Lily: Oh, just don't point and scream "maybe it's Maybelline.ā€ Marshall Eriksen, I vow to always tell you when you have green stuff in your teeth. You have green stuff in your teeth.
Marshall: Oh. (chuckles) I vow to always sit next to you and hug you, even if you're covered in vomit, whether it's yours or Marvinā€™s or-- in the case of what came to be known as spew year's eve 1998-- my own. Sorry.
Lily: I vow to stop getting so angryā€¦
Marshall: Ooh, I just thought of another one.
Lily: ..when you interrupt me.
Marshall: Mine was to interrupt you less, so that's good. I vow to finally stop petitioning Paul McCartney to let Weird Al record "chicken pot pie" to the tune of "live and let die." It's over. I'll let it go.
Lily: I vow To cry less during this pregnancy.
Marshall: I vow to cry less during this Vikings season.
Lily: Mm, with that secondary, I wouldn't make that promise.
Marshall: I vow to keep at least 80% of these vows.
Lily : That seems high.
Marshall: And I vow to keep updating them as we go. Because one set of vows, It can't cover a lifetime of growing and changing with you, of raising children with you, falling more and more in love with you every day, Lily Aldrin, which is what I vow to do for the rest of my life.
Lily: Crap. I already broke my crying vow.
Marshall: I'll forgive you.

Notes and Trivia[]

Goofs and Errors[]

  • This episode begins with the story told at the beginning of Farhampton, however there are some differences in these scenes. In particular, in Farhampton Robin is crying and says she "wonders how hard it is to climb out of the window", to which Ted replies "Climbing down it's easy, climbing in is the real challenge", and Robin remembers that this is the same window from which Ted climbed down at Victoria's wedding. However in this episode Robin's not crying and she asks directly to Ted "How hard it is to climb down this window?" to which he answers "Extremely difficult", and he had already mentioned Victoria's wedding in the speech.
    • This likely isn't an error as much as a deliberate change to improve the pacing of the story.
  • The Barney, Marshall and Lily subplot is about vows and they discuss the vows Lily and Marshall took during their wedding; the vows that are repeated are individual vows that they came up with; making promises to each other. In The Best Burger in New Yorkā€‹ā€‹ā€‹ā€‹ Lily says to Marshall "...and you got our wedding vows off the internet."
    • However, it is possible that his wedding vow in the actual wedding ceremony was from the internet, as Marshall's extemporaneously spoken vow was just in the vicinity of his nearest friends and not of all guests.
  • In a flashback we see Marshall and Lily at their wedding, and Lily is wearing her white veil. However we know from Something Borrowed that her veil got ruined by a car in the parking lot.
  • Barney told Robin that he realized it may be bad luck to see the bride in the wedding dress before the ceremony just before the ceremony began.  However, Robin was already wearing her wedding dress when Barney gave her the locket just a few minutes earlier.  Given that this was said in their second encounter, it can be assumed he didn't say this to her the first time.
    • It's possible he covered his eyes.

Allusions and Outside References[]

  • A flashback reveals a prank in which a passed out Marshall was dressed and photographed in a Wonder Woman costume.
  • When Robin is discussing with Ted if they should run away she mentions the Chicago Blackhawks, an American hockey team.
  • Marshall uses the word "vow" in "vowerpoint", a pun of Microsoft PowerPoint.
  • Barney mentions Lionel Richie.
  • After hearing how Marshall keeps his vow to always serve Lily breakfast in bed on Sunday (throwing a bagel and a schmear of cream cheese at her), Barney compares it to feeding Sloth from Goonies.
  • Marshall says he will stop petitioning Paul McCartney to let Weird Al Yankovic record the song Chicken Pot Pie, parody of Live and Let Die . While parodies are protected by copyright law and there's nothing Paul McCartney could do to legally prevent such a parody from being made, it doesn't make sense for Yankovic (or any other performer) from pissing off McCartney (a superstar and rather influential person in the music business). McCartney refuses to endorse the parody because he is a vegetarian and considers the parody "improper".
    • Weird Al also has a policy of getting permission before releasing parodies.

Music[]

  • Future Days - Pearl Jam
  • Sandcastles In The Sand (Piano)
  • The Robin - John Swihart (Score)

Other Notes[]

  • This is the last episode for Bob Saget doing the voiceover of Future Ted.
  • The title is a reference to the end of a wedding aisle, where a couple gets married.
  • They got a real bear for the episode. It was brought out from Colorado by trainers.
  • RSVP to the wedding
  • This episode shows Robin meeting The Mother, making Robin the fourth person of the group to meet her, with Ted obviously being the last.
  • The scenes first shown in Big Days and later in Challenge Accepted, The Best Man, The Magician's Code and Farhampton occur in this episode.
  • The score "The Robin" plays during this episode. It previously played in The Final Page - Part Two.

Guests[]

Podcast[]

Reception[]

  • The episode was viewed by 9.04 million people. [1]
  • Donna Bowman on the A.V. Club gave this episode a B. [2]
  • Ethan Alter of Television Without Pity gave the episode a B. [3]
  • Max Nicholson of IGN gave the episode a 7.8 out of 10. [4]
  • The St. Petersburg Comic Review gave this episode 10 out of 10 stars. "...finally, I mean, really. It's about time!"

References[]

External Links[]


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