Robin: You stole the blue french horn for me.
Ted: I would have stolen you a whole orchestra.
Ted: I would have stolen you a whole orchestra.
Barney finds out that Ted and Robin have been hiding a secret, and he is stunned when they recount the whole experience to him.
This episode provides examples of:
- Accidental Proposal: Robin finds out that there was an engagement ring found in her champagne, which Ted claimed it was not his. Turns out was actually from the next table. Still, Ted's alarm at Robin being so horrified by the prospect of marrying him sparks a serious talk about their relationship, leading to their breakup.Ted: Even though you don't want to get married, I'd like to think the fact that we've been together for a year and that we love each other might get me a gentler reaction than, "No. No, no, no, no, no, no. Ted, you cannot do this to me. No. No, no, no!"
- Brick Joke:
- The setup: in the previous episode, Barney asked if he could officiate the wedding, because it would subconsciously convince the female guests that "when Barney Stinson asks you a question, you say 'I do'." After learning that Ted and Robin broke up, Barney asks if Ted wants a wingman again, and Ted responds, "I do."
- During the run-up to the wedding, Lily constantly mentions not doing all the "Wedding Cliches," like a Conga line, or the Macarena. By the end of the episode, Drunk!Lily has done them all.
- Book Ends: For the season as a whole. The first episode started with Barney finding out that Ted and Robin got together and Lily and Marshall breaking up. The finale ends with Ted and Robin revealing to Barney that they broke up before Lily and Marshall's wedding.
- Broken Record: "Tell people what? Tell people what? Tell people what?..."
- Continuity Porn: The episode calls back to a very brief scene in "Showdown" where Ted and Robin returned to the apartment covered in tomato sauce and Barney jokes that they did something dirty together. This episode has flashbacks to right before "Showdown", showing how they ruined their clothes and broke up, but decided to keep it a secret until after the wedding was over.
- Differing Priorities Breakup: Ted and Robin realize they need to break up after they both admit to wanting very different things out of life, and staying together would only make them miserable in the long run.
- Dinner and a Breakup: At the restaurant at their date, Robin freaks out over an engagement ring inside a champagne glass mistakenly handed to them at their table, when it's from another table, and Ted argues with her regarding the future status of their relationship, given Ted's desire to have a family, and Robin's career and commitment issues. Before they could end their relationship, the waiter recognizes Ted for stealing the Blue French Horn, and Ted and Robin make a run for it, and they properly end their relationship back at the apartment.
- Foregone Conclusion: The audience already knew Ted and Robin were going to break up eventually, or else Ted wouldn't have children with another woman by 2030.
- Foreshadowing:
- Barney's second guess about what Ted and Robin are going to tell people after the wedding was that they broke up.
- Marshall and Lily jokingly mentioning having a son and a daughter.
- Future Ted mentioned several countries that Robin will visit during the duration of the series such as Argentina (Season 3), Japan (Season 4), and Russia (Season 7).
- The Maiden Name Debate: The host announces the newlyweds by their original names, instead of "The Ericksens". Lily keeps her last name after marrying Marshall, though they do consider both adopting a brand-new last name (with candidates "Skywalker," "Hasselhoff," and "Awesome").Marshall: "Have you met the Awesomes, Marshall and Lily, their son Totally, and their daughter Frickin'?"
- Mistaken for Pregnant: Barney thinks that Robin is pregnant with Ted's child after seeing her order a bottle of water during the reception and also because a flashback showed her and Ted having unprotected sex on the couch. Robin confirms that she isn't pregnant and appears to have just wanted some water.
- Rapid-Fire "No!": Done with exact precision when Barney thinks Ted and Robin are engaged, leaving him in the dust.Barney: No. No, no, no, no, no, no. Ted, you cannot do this to me. No. No, no, no!Ted: That's What She Said.[cut to the restaurant]Robin: No. No, no, no, no, no, no. Ted, you cannot do this to me. No. No, no, no!
- Ted then quotes it back to her word for word when
- Realistic Diction Is Unrealistic: Ted repeating the same dialog when he and Robin had an on-the-house champagne, only for Robin to find out what's in the glass, after Lily and Marshall interrupted them.Ted: Right. So the waiter comes up with two glasses of Dom. He says, "Champagne?" "We didn't order any champagne." "Compliments of the house." "Wow-"Barney: You said that already!
- Red Herring: Because of Ted and Robin constantly ending their story at misleading points, Barney is led to believe that, in order (respectively), they got engaged, broke up, are moving to Argentina, and are expecting a baby. He was right the second time.
- The Reveal: Why were Ted and Robin covered in pasta sauce in "Showdown"? Long story short, they just broke up.
- Running Gag: Marshall and Lily trying to find food at the reception.
- Season Finale: The second one.
- Sexual Euphemism: Subverted with "get the horn back to the bistro".
- Vomit Discretion Shot: At the burger restaurant, Marshall tells the guy from the cash register that they just got married, and he points at Lily, who is just vomiting inside a trash can. Marshall can only look at her in awe after someone refers to her as "his wife" for the first time.
- With This Ring: Robin finds an engagement ring in her champagne glass during dinner and promptly freaks out. Turns out the glass was meant for a couple at another table. In a sweet bit of
Reality Subtext the couple in question were friends of the producers who arranged it so the man could actually propose on set. The woman didn't know what was coming, her "yes" and her tears were real (as were Cobie Smulders' tears), and so was the applause. If you listen, you can hear the significant change in audio for the "yes", because the woman was so emotional it came out garbled.
