Last Forever - Part One

Recap
Beginning with a flashback to September 2005, after Robin attempts to set Ted up with a girl at the bar, she mentions that she has no friends in New York. The gang quickly state that now she does, and Lily mentions that the only way she'll let anyone have sex with Robin is if someone marries her. The show then flashes forward to the wedding reception, and Barney and Robin are dancing. In between them, Ted sees the Mother for the first time.

Barney notices the bass player as the person who convinved him to get the girl, and asks her if she is still dating Louis. When she shakes her head no, Barney realises that he should introduce her to Ted, so he quickly rushes over and attempts to get Ted to listen. Ted, on the other hand, mentions that he's got to go.

After a teary goodbye with the gang, Ted sits at the train station waiting for the train which is forty-five minutes late. Next to him, to whom he has been telling the story, is Bernice, an old lady that encourages him to go back to the wedding to find the bass player. She asks Ted that if there was a sign for him to go and speak to her, would he? And then reveals that the bass player from the wedding is standing not too far away.

Bernice is excited and encourages Ted to go and talk to the girl under the yellow umbrella, but he says that he'll be in Chicago in twenty four hours so there would be no point. The show then flashes forward twenty four hours in time, Marshall and Lily enter McLaren's saying that they can feel Ted's absence. Ted, however, is sitting at the booth; he mentions that he didn't move to Chicago because he met a girl, which he reveals to be the bass player at the wedding. Ted calls her and asks her out, and then walks away from the booth whilst talking on the phone to her. Marshall mentions that Ted does this all the time, falls in love, but Lily says that it is different this time.

The show then flashes back to the train station, and Ted and Bernice are still discussing whether or not he should go and talk to her. Bernice tells him to go, and then says it will be all because of her that they get married and have a big wedding; to which Ted responds and says that big weddings are a "young man's game", and questions who would have a big wedding in their thirties. Flash forward to 2015 in the bar, Ted finishes telling Barney and Robin about the hot air balloon he has planned as his big exit at the wedding (contradicting what he told Bernice). He asks Barney how he and Robin are doing, which Barney overcompensates his response saying that "it's great" with regards to her never being at home due to her job. Then the Mother rushes in to the bar, excitedly, and tells Ted that she doesn't think they can get married in September because she wants to fit into her dress, the implication being that she is pregnant.

The show flashes forward to May 2016, at Ted and the Mother's house the gang are all together (seen for the first time by the audience) and it is revealled that Marshall wound up back in corporate law which he does not like. The Mother asks Barney how he and Robin's trip to Argentina was, where they reveal that they got into an argument (presumably one of many) because Robin is travelling a lot and she does not have time for Barney, and Barney does not like it when she is gone. Robin then refers back to Barney's "Highway Theory" about relationships, and offers him an exit at the three year mark. After getting drunk and having sex repeatedly, they discuss the proposition of divorce and then reveal to the gang that they got divorced. Everyone is shocked, but Marshall asks if it's what they both really want, which they respond yes to. Lily says that they'll only be okay with it if it means that the gang still hangs out, but Barney counters this with the question of do they hang out anyway. But they all agree to be there for the big moments. Incidentally, that gathering is a big moment because Barney notices Lily's breasts and the fact that Marshall has been drinking Lily's champagne all night; she is pregnant with her third child.

The show then flashes forward to October of 2016, and Marshall and Lily are finding their living arrangements too cramped. They both agree on moving to a bigger place, so they have a Halloween/Farewell, Apartment party. From the dialogue, it is the first time that the gang have seen Robin in a while; she does not dress up in a costume and, as she feels she is being ousted from the group, she leaves the party early. Lily sees her leaving and says that this is a big moment, the gang is all together, but Robin says that "the gang" to her is: a married couple that she never sees, about to have their third child; her ex husband hitting on slutty police officers right in front of her; and the person she probably should have ended up with, talking to the beautiful mother of his child. This saddens Lily, who then asks whether it means that their friendship is over. Robin says no, but it will be different which doesn't have to be a bad thing.

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Continuity

 * The first scene in this episode is a direct continuation of the last scene in, all the characters are dressed in the same clothes.
 * Ted looking at the mother for the first time at the wedding reception was previously revealed as a flashforward in
 * Barney says "Grape Scotch!" (a variation of the exclamation "Great Scott!",) a reference to when he wound up drinking grape scotch in while trying to prove to Ted that 'New is always better'.
 * Ted and Robin salute each other, like they were shown doing in the past after someone said 'general', 'private' or 'major'.
 * Ted mentions how he and Barney licked the Liberty Bell seen in . Barney forgot about this and says "Uh, I've done a lot of cool stuff, Ted", mimicking his line "I got a lot of stuff going on" in Something Blue (when he forgot about Ted and the Blue French Horn).
 * Barney mentions the time he ran into The Mother, seen in.
 * Ted, after his and Barney's "high infinity", says "Worth it", similar to when Barney said this after high fiving Marshall in Miracles.
 * After performing the "high infinity", both Ted and Barney have bandaged hands, thus explaining the appearance of Ted's bandage in.
 * Marshall tells Ted not to call The Mother and mentions the Three Days Rule, first seen in the episode of the same name.
 * Ted says he has a "castle guy", and Barney says he has "like three castle guys". Barney talks about having "guys" for everything in The Rebound Girl.
 * When the gang meet up at Ted and Tracy's house (first seen in ) they have a conversation in the same den where Future Ted of 2030 talks to his kids, as seen throughout the series.
 * Barney's blog has been running alongside the show for years, and Barney has mentioned it on the show in the past before (e.g. Pilot, The Bracket).
 * Robin mentions The Freeway Theory when she says "...if there was an exit ramp at the 3 year mark..." - this theory was talked about in First Time In New York.
 * Barney vowed to always tell Robin the truth in The End of the Aisle.
 * A scene in set in 2021 shows that Barney and Robin are not wearing wedding rings, thus coinciding with their divorce in 2016.
 * Robin mentions the first time she and Barney broke up, which occurred in.
 * Ted mentioned the time his parents got divorced in secret, as revealed in Brunch.
 * Barney has joked about banging Ted's mom in many episodes.
 * In 2016, Barney deduces that Lily is pregnant again because of her increased chest size. The gang previously mentioned Lily's "pregnancy boobs" the first time she was pregnant in.
 * Marshall was seen drinking Lily's drink the first time she was pregnant, to keep it secret from the gang, in The Best Man.
 * The Cockamouse is a creature first seen in Matchmaker.
 * Ted keeps up his Hanging Chad costume tradition, previously shown in Slutty Pumpkin and The Slutty Pumpkin Returns. We also see a flashback to a scene from Slutty Pumpkin.
 * Barney accepts his final challenge (do a split in mid-air).
 * Marshall is seen paying Lily for the bet because Ted didn't get married with Robin, referencing the events from .

Memorable Quotes
"We'll always be friends. It's just never going to be how it was. It can't be. And that doesn't have to be a sad thing. Look, there's so much wonderful stuff happening in all of our lives right now. We've more than enough to be grateful for. But the five of us hanging out at MacClaren's, being young and stupid...it's just not one of those things. That period is over." - Robin

Goofs and Errors

 * In Farhampton Ted had a bandage on his hand but in here he has no bandage while talking to the lady.
 * In  Robin said she moved to New York in April, yet in the flashback at the beginning of this episode, which took place in September 2005, she said she've moved to New York two months ago.
 * In this episode, Robin states that she had no friends back then, but in the  she is with several girls including the dumped friend.
 * Ted calls Tracy on Monday (the day after the wedding) and sets up their first date ("dinner tommorrow") for Tuesday.  In, their first date is on Wednesday.

Allusions and Outside References

 * Ted and Lily shared an  goodbye
 * Ted and Barney pretends to be  and  from the movie.
 * At the Halloween Party of 2016, Marshall dresses up as, Lily as , Barney as , Ted as the Hanging Chad, and Tracy as a Floridian voter.

Music
Future Days - Pearl Jam

Other Notes

 * Most fans do not consider this epsiode canon.
 * The episode was set to air on April 28, 2014, but it was then changed to March 31, 2014.
 * This will be the first part of the series finale.
 * It has been stated in the past that the cast of How I Met Your Dad will make it's first appearance sometime during Part 1 or Part 2 of the finale.  However, contrary to the original concept, Craig Thomas later confirmed that the new characters will not be introduced in How I Met Your Mother series finale and it will be a standalone show.
 * Josh Radnor, who plays Ted, has revealed that he's known since Season 1 how the show would end, as Carter Bays & Craig Thomas let him in on the secret.

Guests

 * Judith Drake - Bernice
 * Marshall Manesh - Ranjit Singh
 * Joe Nieves - Carl
 * Saudia Rashed - Nurse
 * Courtney Hope Turner - Girl
 * Brooke Lynn Howard - Sexy Girl #1
 * Justene Alpert - Sexy Girl #2
 * Alexandria Skaltsounis - Erin
 * Patrick Kang - 22-Year-Old Guy
 * Kerrigan Milker - Girl

Reception
Donna Bowman on the gave this episode a B+.

Max Nicholson of gave the episode a 9.7 out of 10.