Lily and Marshall's first Thanksgiving together as a married couple is starts off rocky when Barney worries about the countdown to his next slap from his and Marshall's slap bet wearing thin, and Ted and Robin have tension when Robin brings her boyfriend Bob to dinner.
In the cold open, Ted recounts that he and Robin used to share a private joke when they were still dating: They salute every time someone inadvertently mentions a phrase including a word which is also used as a military rank during conversation (i.e. "General Knowledge," "Corporal Punishment," and "Colonel Stuck-in-my-teeth"), however, they find it awkward and difficulty to do after they have broken up. It even gets worse when they discover that they can't stand being alone together.
Back in the bar, it was mid-November and Marshall and Lily invited the rest of the Gang over to celebrate their first Thanksgiving as a married couple. Marshall repeatedly
This episode provides examples of:
- Accentuate the Negative: Ted exaggerated Bob's age from his perspective, even almost name-dropping this trope.Future!Ted: Okay, kids, the truth is, Bob probably looked like this: (Imagines a middle-aged guy with salt and pepper hair.') But when your ex is dating someone new, your mind tends to accentuate their flaws. (Imagines a gray-haired, aged senior citizen)
- Ted later took nasty potshots about Bob's age to Robin.
Ted: The only reason I am jealous of Bob is that we can only talk about the first Thanksgiving, but he was actually there. The only reason I am jealous of Bob is because I heard Noah gave him shotgun in the ark. The only reason I am jealous of Bob is that I am just an architect, but he discovered fire. How do you top that?Robin: He's 41! Why are you bashing on him so hard? - Amicable Exes: Meticulously subverted with Ted and Robin.
- Call-Back: It's right there in the title.
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The Cast Showoff: Jason Segel displays his musical talent at the end of the episode, with Neil Patrick Harris doing "back-up vocals". - Chekhov's Gag: The Private Jokes Running Gag discussed at the beginning of the episode is what gave Ted and Robin a reason to be actual Amicable Exes.
- Continuity Nod: Ted's new-found promiscuity, which he mentions aspiring to in the Season 2 finale (claiming to want to "get out there and have fun"), is pointed out by Robin. She adds that it resulted in him getting a butterfly tattoo, as seen in the season premiere.
- Event Title: The title is a Portmantitle of Slap (as in the third slap in Marshall and Barney's Slap Bet) and Thanksgiving.
- Foreshadowing: Events in this episode will be essential in a number of episodes in Season 5;
- The gang doing a Raised Lighter Tribute
will suddenly make sense since the gang will eventually be revealed as smokers in the episode "Last Cigarette Ever".note - Lily displays her dislike of people who are not members of the gang appearing in photos of major occasions. This will be an important plot point in the episode "Say Cheese", where Robin, despite not appearing very understanding of it here, agrees with her.
- The gang doing a Raised Lighter Tribute
- Laser-Guided Karma: With Lily having revoked Slapsgiving for the day, and Marshall, having had a Jerkass Realization and now being more sympathetic to the stress Lily is going through, Barney attempts to still rub it in by bringing up his countdown and mocking that it will now be for nothing, even when Lily tells him to put it down. When he doesn't, Lily gives Marshall back the right to slap Barney for the day, and Marshall does so right as the clock's timer reaches 0.
- May–December Romance: Robin and her Guy of the Week, Bob. Ted exaggerated Bob's oldness from his perspective.Ted: Robin is dating Orville Redenbacher!
- My Friends... and Zoidberg:Future!Ted: That first Thanksgiving turned out to be a wonderful dinner with the four people I love most in the world. And Bob.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Had Barney just stopped mocking Marshall that he won't be able to slap him that day, Lily, the Slap Bet Commissioner, might not have allowed her husband to proceed.
- Paranoia Gambit: Barney tries to tell Marshall that he blew it by telling him the exact time of the slap, thus taking out the terrifying suspense of a true Paranoia Gambit. Eventually Barney admits the opposite is true: The anticipation is destroying him.
- Portmantitle Of Slap and Thanksgiving.
- Raised Lighter Tribute: Done at the Sudden Musical Ending.
- Running Gag: The episode marks the debut of the Private Jokes.
- Skewed Priorities: Even as things fall apart between Ted and Robin due to how awkward things are between them and threaten the gang's Thanksgiving, Marshall is still more concerned with slapping Barney than anything else. Lily, stressed out, calls him out on it and says that as Slap Bet Commissioner there won't be any slapping for the day. Marshall takes the hint over his behavior and is more supportive to Lily for it.
- Sex with the Ex: Ted and Robin.
- Shout-Out:
- When Ted goes to make pies with Robin and Bob, Robin mentions that Bob "went to see Green Day".
- In a Flashback, Barney dresses up as the titular Borat.
- Ted mentions Pierce Brosnan being his favorite James Bond to cover his "guy talk" with Barney and Marshall when Robin passes by. note
- Speaking Like Totally Teen: Bob tries to fit in with the younger group by using young people's slang and substantially overshoots his intended demographic. The effect is exaggerated by Ted exaggerating Bob's age.
- Sudden Musical Ending: It is revealed in the end that Marshall composed a song just for this occasion.
- Thanksgiving Episode: For Season 3.
- Trilogy: This episode will eventually be succeeded by two more "Slapsgiving" episodes, specifically in Seasons 5 and 9.
- Unresolved Sexual Tension: Ted and Robin.
