Ted finds out that Marshall and Barney have been constructing an on-going elaborate lie to keep him from figuring out that he's lost an important job.
This episode provides examples of:
- Bad Boss: Bilson shot down every idea Ted gave because he wanted the employees to not be reminded of the world outside work, like natural light. He even fired Ted because he proposed a "nurturing space" for the firing room.
- Chairman of the Brawl: After being cruelly fired by Bilson, Ted retaliates by hitting him over the head with a chair.
- Comic Sutra: The aforementioned Old King Clancy. A tie-in (now defunct) website called "canadiansexacts.org" was created to mention other Canada-referenced sex positions featuring Alan Thicke holding "still under construction" signs.
- Just Between You and Me: This exchange between Marshall and Louisa the lunchlady.Marshall: (at the cafeteria) Louisa, I need your help with something, but you can't tell anybody.Louisa: No hablo Inglés. (I don't speak English.)Marshall: Exactly. This is a big secret. How do you say "secret" in Spanish?Louisa: ¿Albóndigas? (Meatballs?)Marshall: Ah. Yes, albóndigas. This will be our little albóndigas. Hey, can I have a couple of meatballs, please?
- The actual Spanish word for secret is "secreto".
- For the Evulz: Bilson fires Ted after he proposed a "nurturing space" for the firing room merely out of spite.
- Language Barrier: Luisa, the lunch lady from GNB, only speaks in Spanish, and only tagged along when Marshall approached her to play along with the Task Force. When she and Ted kiss, she says that she can't be with him because she is going to marry Barney, while Ted thinks they it's because they are at work.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Marshall and Barney thought they were protecting Ted's feelings by creating "The Task Force" and hiding from him that GNB cancelled his project, which put Ted on thin ice after wasting one month for his agency, and that eventually led him to quit and open his own design business.
- Noodle Implements: How the Canadian Sex Acts are done. The implements are there, (the Old Kind Clancy is like the 'Sacramento Turtleneck' with maple syrup), but the positions are not mentioned.
- Noodle Incident:
- Robin sleeping with a Canadian celebrity using the Old King Clancy.
- It's never explained how Barney convinced Luisa they were going to be married.
- Tranquil Fury/The Dog Bites Back: Ted hitting Bilson with a chair after firing him at the Employee Transition Room.
- Unreliable Narrator: According to Robin, Frozen Snowshoe wanted to perform an "Old King Clancy". The real flashback reveals that Robin was the one who suggested it and Snowshoe asked her to leave.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Subverted with Ted being mad at Marshall and Barney. At first he's mad that they wasted his time on a dead project when he could've been finding new work for his firm. After getting fired by Bilson, he realizes he's grateful that they made up the task force since it reminded him how much he can enjoy his job when not dealing with corporate clients like GNB.
