Hopeless (How I Met Your Mother)
| "Hopeless" | |
|---|---|
| How I Met Your Mother episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 6 Episode 21 |
| Directed by | Pamela Fryman |
| Written by | Chris Harris |
| Production code | 6ALH22 |
| Original air date | April 18, 2011 |
| Guest appearance(s) | |
|
John Lithgow as Jerry Whittaker |
|
John Lithgow as Jerry Whittaker
Michael Trucco as Robin's Secret Crush
Will Shadley as J.J. Whittaker
"Hopeless" is the 21st episode of the sixth season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother and the 133rd episode overall. It aired on April 18, 2011.
The episode starts with Barney and his father, Jerry, parting in 1983. Back in the present, Barney is disappointed in Jerry's normal suburban lifestyle, and decides not to pursue any further contact. However, Barney is surprised by a call from Jerry, who invites Barney to go fishing with him and his son JJ. Barney declines, and tells the gang he resolves to take his dad out to lead him back to his old "party hard" lifestyle. He creates alternate identities for the group so as to impress Jerry: Marshall is a playwright in an open marriage with Lily, while Robin and Ted are dating. The next night, the group meets Jerry at MacLaren's where, after a brief discussion on which club to head to, they decide on one called Hopeless. Jerry is reluctant to get drunk, as he is going fishing with JJ the next day, but finally agrees and begins downing several shots. Jerry and Barney begin having a great time, eventually roaming the streets of New York and pulling various pranks, such as picking a fight with a heavyset biker and yanking out a parking meter.
Meanwhile, Marshall and Lily make a bet to see who can pick up five numbers from people at the club the fastest, with either winner getting to have sex in the bathroom. Lily ends up winning, though Marshall claims to have “won the race” of the prize. Robin runs into an old crush of hers at the club; before she has a chance to ask him out, Ted claims to be dating her, to keep up the ruse for Jerry. Robin had met the man several years before at a clothing store; Ted realizes he and Robin had been dating at the time, and promptly decides to announce to everyone in the club that he and Robin are to get married, thus ruining any chance Robin has with the man. Robin points out Ted had bought his red cowboy boots that day because another woman had told him he would look good in them, and tells him to get off his high horse. As Marshall, Lily, Ted and Robin are heading home, Lily says that she is sorry that Robin's secret crush didn't work out. Robin replies that it is okay, and maybe it wasn't meant to be. Lily asks her why she is smiling and she says she doesn't know. Just as Robin and Ted are entering their building, Robin's crush passes by and is talking to someone on his cell phone saying that he met "that" girl again and that she is engaged to Ted. Future Ted hints there would be more between them later.
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