History HIMYM / TropesSeasonEight

** Nick. At the beginning of the season he's depicted as just a hot guy without much personality, but generally presented as mature [[DeadpanSnarker and even having subtle snarker tendencies]]. Then we learn he's "girly", overly sensitive and has [[AcceptableTargets rather dorkish]] [[GranolaGirl Granola Guy]] tastes. And as for the sixth episode, he's TooDumbToLive. Attempted justification, that he's been an idiot all along, [[MrFanservice but was just too hot for Robin to notice that]], is offered, but it's not very convincing.

* [[SurprisinglyGoodForeignLanguage Surprisingly Good Spanish]]: In "Something Old". Despite the blatant {{Spexico}} in the way it's delivered, "el ganso con la riñonera" DOES mean "fanny pack dork". Although it's a rather bland mocking by Spaniard standards, the translation is completely sound and even has some {{Woolseyism}} involved: "ganso" literally means "goose", but figuratively can mean also "dork" depending on the situation. Plus, the sentence is simplified to make it flow better in English (a more word-for-word translation would be "the dork with the fanny pack").

* WillTheyOrWontThey: Barney and Robin. An odd example because [[spoiler: it's revealed in the seventh season finale that TheyDo since Robin is the bride at Barney's wedding. But now it's really just a matter of when and how]].
** [[spoiler: "The Final Page Part 2".]]

* PlayingGertrude: Lily and Robin are shown in scenes from various points of the future in the sixteenth episode. Hairstyles change, the wardrobe gradually becomes more suitable for middle-aged ladies, yet not much effort is made to actually make the actresses look older. Despite the fact, that the last scene takes place seventeen years later, when both characters are ''fiftish''.

* ShesGotLegs: [[spoiler: The mother]]

** In "Something New", when Marshall is trying to find a way to simultaneously be in Rome and [[spoiler: be a judge]], he offers the possibility of doing the "[[{{Superman}} Jor-El head thing]]" to be a [[spoiler: judge]] from long distance, referencing "The Fortress" where it's revealed that Barney has such a contraption in his apartment.

** Marshall wins a class action lawsuit against a pharmaceutical company, but the judge was unwilling to hurt the company by fining them the intended 25 million dollars and so reduced it to 25 ''thousand'' (.1% of the original, and in fact only ''$500'' more than the company had already offered out-of-court). Marshall is very upset, as more was probably spent on court fees and lawyer paychecks for each side. [[spoiler: This inspires him to apply to be a judge so he had more influence on the system]]. It gets taken UpToEleven later in the season when we found out that [[spoiler:the judge's refusal to award costs ended up financially wrecking Marshall's law firm, who are eventually left with just Marshall and one other employee, have had virtually no cases since the lawsuit, and almost certainly go bust after Marshall leaves to join Lily on her trip to Italy]].

* ForeignRemake: Klaus' favourite show is pretty clearly a German remake of ''Theatre/TheOddCouple''.

* WorldOfCardboardSpeech: Ted, [[CharacterDevelopment appropriately,]] gives one at the end of ''Something Old.''

* CliffHanger: Two in The Stamp Tramp: [[spoiler:after Marshall and his boss find out their opposing lawyer knows their entire strategy, Marshall is told, "Win this case or lose your job!" Also, Barney and Robin have a BigDamnKiss, only for Robin to freak out and leave.]]

-->'''Quinn:''' Do you trust me?
-->'''Barney:''' [[spoiler: [[WhamLine No]].]]

* BatmanGambit: [[spoiler: "The Robin", the final and [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome most legendary]] entry in The Playbook.]]

** In the German dub, Klaus and his sister are speaking with a [[GermanDialects Saxon accent]]. This leads to a (for German viewers) rather surreal moment of hearing Barney utter the very Saxon expression: "Ei verbibbsch!"

* MeaningfulBackgroundEvent: Now, while TheStinger of "The Ashtray" reveals that [[spoiler:Barney ''was'' with the guys (sans Marshall) despite them all claiming otherwise]], Lily's version of the story actually gives it away sooner: While she and The Captain were looking at his painting, Ted can be heard screaming from the living room. If you recall, Ted was under the assumption (due to a "sandwich") that The Captain was threatening him (which Robin's version of the story confirms; he was just making some adjustments to his DVR). But how can he be "threatening" Ted in the living room ''if he and Lily were in his bedroom''? Was Ted just seeing a hallucination, [[spoiler:or was it ''Barney'' messing with the remote]]?

* ArkhamsRazor: [[spoiler:Which tale of teen rebellion is true? Only kindergarten teacher Lily's, where she painted herself as basically an {{Expy}} of [[TheWire Omar]] and the scourge of the neighborhood.]]

** When the gang flashes back to their "badass" teen years, Badass!Teen!Lily bore a striking resemblance to everyone's favorite [[TheWire BadassLongcoat stick up man]]

* ActorAllusion: In "P.S. I Love You" the gang watches a Canadian version of Vh1's Behind the Music devoted to Robin Sparkles. Among the people they interview is Dave Coulier. At one point in his interview he says his classic catch phrase "Cut. It. Out!" complete with gestures. Future!Ted remarks [[Series/FullHouse "I always did like that joke."]]

** [[TheKarateKid Ralph Macchio]] and more importantly ([[RootingForTheEmpire for Barney]]) [[spoiler:William [[InvokedTrope Zabka.]]]]

* FunnyBackgroundEvent: The clown joins in with Barney in hating Ralph Macchio. Becomes a MeaningfulBackgroundEvent when it's revealed that [[spoiler: the clown is Johnny from the Cobra Kai Dojo, Ralph's rival in ''Film/TheKarateKid''.]]

** In "The Bro Mitzvah", [[spoiler: the whole "Barney's worst night ever" was planned by Robin and his friends. And the clown is [[RootingForTheEmpire Barney's favorite]] [[InvokedTrope actor]] in TheKarateKid, William Zabka.]]

* [[ActuallyPrettyFunny Actually Pretty Brilliant]]: In "The Fortress", Robin admits that she actually thinks some of the devices Barney has in his apartment (originally intended for his days as a bachelor) are genius.

* ArkhamsRazor: See {{Badass}}. [[spoiler:Which tale of teen rebellion is true? Only kindergarten teacher Lily's, where she painted herself as basically an {{Expy}} of [[TheWire Omar]] and the scourge of the neighborhood.]]
* {{Badass}}:
** [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] in "Twelve Horny Women". Ted, Robin, Barney, and Lily all brag that they were a "Badass" in their youth, and by "Badass" they mean, "Rude juvenile delinquent". None of it's true, of course. [[spoiler:Except for Lily.]] In that same episode, Lily calls Marshall a Badass when he [[spoiler:comes up with the trick that helps him win his case.]]
** Invoked in "Lobster Crawl," when Robin appears at the Laser Tag game dressed as [[Franchise/TombRaider Lara Croft]].

* [[TrailersAlwaysSpoil Social Networks Always Spoil]]: Right after the SeasonFinale, the {{Facebook}} page of the show put a picture of [[spoiler:Cristin Milioti as the Mother, with her face in full display]]. That spoiled the hell out of the people who hadn't watched the episode yet. Specially the audience from outside the US (which is pretty big).

* ActorAllusion: In "P.S. I Love You" the gang watches a Canadian version of Vh1's Behind the Music devoted to Robin Sparkles. Among the people they interview is Dave Coulier. At one point in his interview he says his classic catch phrase "Cut. It. Out!" complete with gestures. Future!Ted remarks [[FullHouse "I always did like that joke."]]

* HeyItsThatGuy[=/=]CastingGag: The guy who Alyson Hannigan's character runs into right after returning to the college after 15 years? It's [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer Oz]]!

* CreatorBreakdown: Robin, when writing her ObsessionSong.

* PyrrhicVictory: Marshall wins a class action lawsuit against a pharmaceutical company, but the judge was unwilling to hurt the company by fining them the intended 25 million dollars and so reduced it to 25 ''thousand'' (.1% of the original). Marshall is very upset, as more was probably spent on court fees and lawyer paychecks for each side. [[spoiler: This inspires him to apply to be a judge so he had more influence on the system]].

* JadeColoredGlasses: [[ScrewDestiny Enough is enough.]] [[SnakesOnAPlane Ted has had it with these motherfucking signs from the motherfucking universe. Everyone strap in. He's gonna make some fuckin' decisions on his own.]]

*** However, since Barney is unable to talk due to the Jinx, his "scream" is done [[TalkingWithSigns with his notebook]] a la [[LooneyTunes Wile E. Coyote]].

*** Since Barney is unable to talk due to the Jinx, his "scream" is done [[TalkingWithSigns with his notebook]] a la [[LooneyTunes Wile E. Coyote]].
** In "Nannies", as Lily and Marshall are freaking out over Marvin's disappearance.

--->[[spoiler: '''Barney''': "I do know what I want" ''opens the door wider to reveal who's in his apartment'']]

--->'''Step 16''': [[spoiler: Hope she says yes.]]

*** Soon followed by: "Step 2:Choose the completely wrong moment to make a drunken move after hanging out in a strip club...and get shot down [[spoiler:on purpose.]]"

--->'''Barney:''' (''voiceover'') [[spoiler: Step 10: Prove your loyalty to Patrice by burning The Playbook. And actually burn it. You don't need it anymore.]]

** Robin, to the camera: ''Incredible guy, isn't he?''