Ted sees a beautiful woman sitting alone at the bar reading a book. He and Barney argue on who gets the privilege of approaching her. After Ted wins the battle, he may change his mind as he soon finds out that she is a friend of an old girlfriend, Cindy, with who their relationship ended very badly. But Ted also remembers that Cindy's roommate - who Ted only saw the back of - could actually be Ted's soul mate. Will Ted risk approaching this woman while receiving the wrath of Cindy on the chance that that woman is Cindy's roommate? Meanwhile, Robin has had a difficult summer trying to get over Don, and the way she looks shows it. And Lily and Marshall have scheduled tonight as the first night they will try to conceive a child. Marshall has even saved himself for two weeks in preparation. But someone may get between Marshall and Lily getting together this evening: Marvin Sr., who is a little too involved in Marshall's life for Lily's liking. Written by Huggo

Barney is devastated to learn that his mother is selling the Staten Island house in which he grew up, which means packing up and putting away all his happy childhood memories. He convinces his friends to help him, his mother Loretta and his brother James pack up the house. When the gang are packing things up, what they see and learn is that Loretta told Barney and James what to them are obvious lies about their growing up period. While James quickly learned that they were lies when he was younger, Barney always believed and still believes everything Loretta told him. What Barney and James also find is an unmailed letter, the contents of which could affect one of their past and one of their future. Meanwhile, Lily and Marshall argue about what things they will tell their children about such issues as Santa Claus. And Robin tries to find a good balance of how to sell Ted to one of her girlfriends. Written by Huggo

When Barney tells Ted that the new GNB headquarters building project is back on and that the job is his once again, Ted declines, preferring his quieter life now as college professor as opposed to his previously horrible experience working at GNB. Ted and Marshall realize that Barney's resulting unusual behavior is him making the moves on Ted like he makes the moves on the women he's trying to pick-up. Meanwhile, Robin catches a bit of Don's new television show. She tells the gang that she was all right seeing Don again despite their bad break-up, but Lily is certain that there is more to the story, what she calls the poop. Lily discovering what Robin actually did leads to a showdown of contact entries in Robin, Lily and Marshall's respective cell phones. Written by Huggo

Their friend Max spotting Woody Allen at Gregor's restaurant downtown gets the gang discussing what constitutes a real New Yorker. They all feel that Robin isn't one, while she believes she knows the city better than the rest of them. That starts an impromptu race to Gregor's seven miles away, with Robin believing taking a taxi is the fastest, Lily the subway and Ted the bus. Barney has a special plan which involves a leisurely steak meal. And Marshall needs to run the seven miles, which he really doesn't understand why until later in the day. But each really needs to win this race to compensate for something happening in their respective life. As the five go through the process of trying to get to Gregor's, talk show host Maury Povich factors into the equation of being a New Yorker for all of them. Written by Huggo

Despite believing it his big break, Ted tells Barney that he is quitting his job designing the new GNB headquarters since he has learned that the site of the building is where the old Arcadian Hotel stands. The Arcadian, a once grand building, has fallen into disrepair of late. The gang believe that Ted's stand is probably not because of a want to save the building but because there is a woman involved. They are correct, the woman being Zoey, an activist, for who saving the Arcadian is only one of many of her causes. But being a beautiful architecture nerd is what turns Ted on about her. As Barney does whatever he can to make Ted change his mind or have someone else change his mind for him, some further information about Zoey may really bring into light whether Ted is doing this for the Arcadian or for Zoey. Meanwhile, Robin has started dating Marshall's friend Max. When Lily tells Marshall some news about Max that Robin passed onto her, Marshall may never be able to look at Max the... Written by Huggo

When Claudia and Stuart have a baby, Marshall and Lily come to the realization that they have yet even to talk about a name for their future first offspring. Marshall and Lily's individual lists outline one fundamental difference between their wants, which dawns upon Marshall: he wants a boy and she wants a girl. As the Eriksens seem to have a long history of producing boys, Marshall has to decide if he will heed the unusual advice of his father to get what he wants. Unknown to Marshall, Lily's actions may thwart his own plans. Meanwhile, Robin hates her new co-anchor, Becky, a helpless woman who acts more like a little girl than a woman. Robin learns that the little girl act turns men on, much to her chagrin. But what bothers Robin even more is that Becky is turning on one guy in particular. And as Robin and Lily believe that the little girl act turning on guys is creepy, Barney appoints his new challenge to be to pick up a woman using only a little boy act. Completing the challenge ... Written by Huggo

When Zoey enrolls in Ted's class, she manipulates his students into taking her side in the fight to save the building being torn down to make room for his project. Meanwhile, Marshall and Lily spot Robin marching in the Halloween parade of shame. Written by CBS Publicity

Zoey has written an op-ed piece in the newspaper criticizing Ted by name, calling him and his friends fat cats. Offended by the piece, Ted feels he and his friends are definitely not fat cats, despite their all attending, courtesy of GNB, a black-tie fund-raiser at the Natural History Museum. There, Lily learns that Marshall has aspirations to be a fat cat, which she has to reconcile with her own feelings of what she wants from her husband. Barney and Robin go on a quest to touch as many do not touch objects they can in the museum. Along with a past trip by Barney to the museum, their quest has an unexpected consequence concerning Barney's life. And Ted meets one of the fund-raiser's primary benefactors, George Van Smoot - self-nicknamed The Captain - who happens to be Zoey's rich, older husband. The interaction between the Captain - who actually likes Ted - Zoey, and Ted leads to slightly altered positions in the Ted/Zoey fight, and not just over the Arcadian. Written by Huggo

Barney has found a DVD of Robin's Canadian television show, Space Teens, which featured Robin Sparkles and Robin's BFF on and off the show, Jessica Glitter. Robin considers it a children's educational show about two teen-aged girls solving crimes in space using math. As the others watch the show, they feel that it more closely resembles porn wannabe. Despite stating that she and Jessica were BFF's, Robin hasn't been friends with Jessica for about five years. Ted deduces that Robin's friendship ended when Jessica had a child, which makes Lily believe the same thing will happen to her when she and Marshall have a baby. Since Robin won't talk about it, the only other person who could tell the gang the full story is Jessica Glitter herself. Meanwhile, Ted wants to prove that unlike Robin and Jessica, he and his old friend Punchy truly are BFFs. But when Punchy unexpectedly takes Ted up on an offhanded offer, Ted's assertion is tested. Written by Huggo

For his friends, Ted is planning on cooking his first ever Thanksgiving dinner - featuring his own spin on a turducken - but it quickly promises to turn into a disaster for him primarily because of a visit by his, Marshall and Lily's college friend, Steve Henry aka The Blitz. The nickname The Blitz was handed down through the ages at Wesleyan to the person who always missed seeing amazing occurrences once he left the room. Steve has been saddled with the nickname and the curse ever since their days at Wesleyan. But because Ted left MacLaren's early the initial night of the Blitz's visit, the curse and thus the nickname seems to have passed itself from Steve to Ted. What's even worse for Ted is that that night at MacLaren's, Lily, Marshall, Robin, Barney and Steve couldn't help but befriend an unexpected bar patron, Ted's arch nemesis Zoey, who ends up figuring prominently in the group's Thanksgiving festivities much to both Ted and Zoey's chagrin in more ways than one. Written by Huggo

Since no one else in the group can make it, Zoey and Ted are going out to a function by themselves. Lily sees this date as dangerous territory for the two of them since Zoey is a married woman, and they all think Zoey's husband, George van Smoot who Zoey and by association the gang call The Captain, has a sinister air about him. It becomes even more awkward for Ted when Zoey lies to the Captain, she telling him that she is out with friends plural. Lily believes the only way for Ted's friendship with Zoey to continue is if he includes the Captain in their outings. But when Zoey can't make the planned outing - a sailing trip - Ted is afraid for his life having to spend 6 long hours alone with the Captain in open water. Meanwhile, Robin and Marshall, who realize they never spend time alone together, decide to go out to dinner without the others. Their evening could not be more awkward, which they both realize. Marshall attributes the awkwardness and the two of them never spending ... Written by Huggo

Initially excited Lily and Marshall get a positive reading on a home pregnancy test, but find out 36 hours later from Lily's gynecologist that she is in fact not yet pregnant. Those 36 hours not only affect Lily and Marshall who have differing emotions about life as a threesome, but Barney and Robin as well, each who reflect on their immediate futures, the major decisions they are contemplating which could also turn on a dime as quickly as Lily and Marshall finding out about the false positive. Robin has to decide whether to take a high profile job as a game show model, or to take a less prestigious and hard behind the scenes research job at a cable news network. Barney, who just received a huge Christmas bonus, has to decide whether to spend the money selfishly on himself by buying a diamond encrusted suit, or the use the money for more philanthropic purposes. Through it all, Ted feels like he has to be the voice of reason, he who is also dealing with his high school friend Punchy's ... Written by Huggo

Despite only having tried for six days, Marshall and Lily are worried about not yet having conceived a child. So their doctor sends them to Dr. John Stangel, the best reproductive endocrinologist in New York City. He ends up being Barney's doppelgänger, although Lily is convinced that he's actually Barney in disguise. Both Lily and Marshall have problems going through the tests with Dr. Stangel for different reasons. They are both on tender-hooks as they await news from Dr. Stangel if there are any issues in them being able to conceive a child. Other news in their life may overshadow whatever Dr. Stangel might have to say. Meanwhile, Robin has just started her new job at Worldwide News. She hates it primarily because the anchor, her old co-host Sandy Rivers, divulges some facts and not so facts about Robin to the rest of the staff which make her the laughing stock among her colleagues. Ted helps her come up with a way to deal with this new embarrassing situation. Written by Huggo

Ted, Robin and Barney accompany Marshall and Lily to St. Cloud, Minnesota to support them at Marshall's father's funeral. At funerals, Robin always plays the role of vice girl. Ted and Barney come to a decision that the best way they can help Marshall is to make him laugh during the day. And Lily vows to help Judy through the day despite the two never having been that close. The day gets off to a shaky start when their regular priest, Father Platt, can't perform the service, leaving that task to his son, Reverend Trey Platt, who, during their growing up period, was Marshall's nemesis, despite a physical disparity between the two. In preparing for the service, Marshall is asked about the last words his father ever spoke to him. As Marshall remembers back to the last day he saw his father, all he can remember are meaningless words uttered instead of something profound. Marshall then realizes that he has yet to listen to his father's last words to him. He's not sure he can as he ... Written by Huggo

Marshall has stayed in Minnesota to help his mother following his father's funeral. Individually, all the gang telephone Marshall to relate a story to him regarding Ted. What they can all agree on in the story telling is that their new friend Zoey agreed to set Ted up with her cousin, who shall be called Honey (as that's the only name Ted can remember of her as he relates the story to his children in 2030, Honey only a pet name they all used to describe the type of person she was), the most gullible person in the world. By the end of the evening, Ted did not go home with her. His reason: he's in love with married Zoey. Ted never wants to see Zoey again which places the others in a bind as they've come to really like Zoey and don't want to lose her as a friend. But as Marshall gets more and more information from the others in the group about what is going on with Ted and Zoey, he is the only one who is able to see the entire picture. So from Minnesota, Marshall has to fix the ... Written by Huggo

It's approaching Valentine's Day 2011, and romance is not looking good for most of the gang. Robin and Barney have a laser tag date as friends on the actual day. Robin, single and proud of it, is spending the day before Valentine's Day with some single girlfriends in protest of the Hallmark day. Barney has renamed the 13th Desperation Day for all the single, desperate women who feel the need to hook-up with anyone by the end of the day so as not to be alone on the 14th. In his protest against this desperation, he vows to be home by midnight alone so that he say he doesn't have a date on Valentine's. Even Lily and Marshall are going to be apart on Valentine's as Marshall is still in Minnesota helping his mother after the passing of his father. Lily decides she needs to be with Marshall so makes an impromptu trip to Minnesota to be with her husband. What Lily sees at the Eriksen household is not quite what she expects. And Ted and Zoey have decided to take their relationship at a ... Written by Huggo

Zoey's husband, the Captain, doesn't know that Ted is the man for who Zoey left him. Intimidated by the Captain, Ted doesn't relish doing Zoey the favor of picking up a box of her belongings from her old apartment, but does it when she tells him that the Captain has left it with the doorman for her. So when Ted goes to pick up the box, he is dismayed to run into the Captain, who needs to talk to his good friend Ted about putting the man who stole Zoey away from him on the gangplank. Meanwhile, Marshall focuses his entire life on being good to the environment after watching a documentary on Garbage Island, this focus even to the exclusion of sex with Lily. Marshall finally opens up to his wife about why he has gone on this environmental bent. And Barney doesn't want to admit that his first date with Nora - his first ever date on Valentine's Day - resulted in him wanting another date with her. Robin tries to change that. Written by Huggo

Barney is going on his second date with Nora. He still denies that it means anything. But when Nora tells him up front that she only wants to date men that have the potential of being husband material, Barney does indeed tell her that he too is looking for a serious relationship. Does he mean it or is it all an act just to get her into bed? Barney himself may not even be sure, Lily is pretty sure she knows what he's really feeling for Nora, but only Barney's cardiologist may be able to tell for sure. Meanwhile, Robin is thinking about getting a dog again. Marshall tells her that her want for a dog is to replace the man missing from her life and that she really should go out and look for her next relationship. She follows Marshall's advice and picks up a guy she meets nicknamed Scooby, a fellow Canadian. But in Scooby, Robin may have gotten her original wish. Written by Huggo

Barney's biological father Jerry actually and surprisingly responds to Barney's letter - in person. Barney and Jerry have an evening out to get to know each other, but each has a slightly different telling of the events of the night and how each views whether they have a future as a family. When Barney's friends learn what actually happened that night, they feel that Barney needs to experience Jerry's life - which means meeting Jerry's current family - to come to terms with Jerry's life during Barney's growing up period versus Jerry's life now. Meanwhile, Barney blames his lack of knowing how to use tools to not having a father figure to show him how while he was growing up. The gang discuss the gaps in knowledge each of the others has, which each somewhat admit to when confronted. However, Marshall seems not to have any of these knowledge gaps... or so the others seem to imply. Written by Huggo

Despite Zoey still opposing the new GNB headquarters being built on the Arcadian Hotel site, Ted and Zoey's personal relationship is thriving. That issue is only one of the many disagreements in their life, which Ted likens to the two challenging each other mentally. On the other hand, he sees Marshall and Lily's relationship as being boring, as they agree on everything to the point of them almost melding into one person. Lily and Marshall, on the other hand, see their relationship as being supportive, the way that relationships should be, whereas they see Ted and Zoey's relationship as being too much work to the point of being mentally exhausting. But Marshall quitting his job at GNB to work in a non-paying volunteer position at the NRDC and Zoey managing to get the Landmark Preservation Society to agree to a hearing over the GNB project may change everything on both sides. Meanwhile, Barney seems to be taking Marshall leaving GNB the hardest. He admits to Robin that his anger ... Written by Huggo

Barney, still dismayed at his father Jerry's straight-laced suburban lifestyle, wants to show him that the old, crazy, never stop partying Jerry had a better life. He wants to show his father that his own life as a crazy Jerry clone is awesome. He enlists his friends' help to show Jerry that life in the fast lane is the way to go. Giving them each a new more exciting persona, Barney and his friends take Jerry out for a night of clubbing. How far will Jerry go in order to be the dad that Barney wants? Meanwhile, Marshall and Lily make a bet at the club on who can get five telephone numbers first. And Robin runs into an old secret crush there. Being single now, she wants to start something up with him. But in the Barney-issued persona of being Ted's girlfriend, can Robin get Ted to get out of character to allow her to hook up with her crush? Ted finding a little more about her crush may provide the answer. Written by Huggo

After Marshall leaves GNB to pursue a job with the NRDC, he finds that his chance to work there have been dashed by his ex-boss Arthur. Needing to find a job with a purpose, he gets an opportunity as the lawyer for the Save the Arcadian group headed by Zoey. This move places Marshall and Barney at odds with each other. Their feud escalates to the point of a fight which gets not only them but the rest of the gang banned from MacLaren's. The ban has the equally annoying result for Robin and Lily of relinquishing their booth to a woman who has been hovering and preying on it. Robin and Lily decide they need to mount a scheme to get Marshall and Barney back to being friends, the scheme which entails plying them with a myriad of different cocktails to get them into a specific mood at each stage of their reconciliation. Meanwhile, Ted has stayed out of the Marshall/Barney fray much as he has stayed out of the disagreement of the Arcadian with Zoey: they just don't talk about it. But as Ted ... Written by Huggo

It's days before the hearing in front of the Landmark Preservation Society. The issue of the Arcadian has placed a strain between Barney and the rest of the gang, especially now that Marshall is working as Zoey's lawyer and Ted, despite being the GNB headquarter's architect, is now siding with Zoey on the issue, more to support her than perhaps he truly feeling that the Arcadian is a building worth saving. Ted has second thoughts when he learns that Barney will lose his job if he states at the hearing that he supports keeping the building as a landmark. Ted's friends question him about the reason he is siding with Zoey and whether it will have the effect he desires. On the flip side, will Zoey support Ted regardless of what he states at the hearing? Lily believes she's come up with the solution to help Ted, Barney and Marshall. Written by Huggo

In the aftermath of Ted and Zoey's break-up, Ted is having second thoughts. He is freaking out about an issue with the GNB headquarters, and historically when Ted freaks out about something, he turns to dating an old girlfriend if only for something comfortable and familiar, however bad returning to that relationship ended up being. When Barney and Robin find out that Ted is going to meet Zoey to get back together with her, they have to try and figure out where that meeting place is so that they can stop him. Beyond piecing together this puzzle, Barney and Robin's quest leads to them discussing their own relationship. Meanwhile, Lily has come down with a case of food poisoning from some soup. Marshall eats the soup three hours later, which means that his symptoms of excessive vomiting will start three hours later than Lily's did. Marshall has a job interview with a major environmental law firm in a few hours, and he is just hoping that he can make it through the interview without ... Written by Huggo