Ted, on a date to the movie The Wedding Bride, realizes that its loosely based on his relationship with Stella, framing Ted as the bad guy, and that the screenplay was written by her husband.
This episode provides examples of:
- Adaptational Angst Upgrade: The Wedding Bride paints Stella as
The Woobie in her relationship with Jed. - Adaptational Attractiveness/Adaptational Curves: The Wedding Bride made Tony tall, handsome and well-built.
- Adaptational Heroism: The Wedding Bride paints both Tony and Stella as the good guys.
- Adaptational Villainy: The Wedding Bride paints Ted as the bad guy.
- Adapted Out: Robin, Marshall, Lily and Barney are not in The Wedding Bride.
- As Himself: The Fake Movie Real Trailer credits Malin Åkerman, Jason Lewis and Chris Kattan.
- Borrowed Catch Phrase: Ted uses Jed Mosley's "No-can-dos-ville, babydoll." Movie!Stella also says "Can-dos-ville, babydoll," at the end of the movie.
- Bowdlerise: Apparently, Barney was not saying "kiss" at the end.Barney: Kiss her Ted! Kiss her!
(Berney is later approached by theater security for 'inappopriate' behavior)Barney: Who the kiss are you? - Call-Back: Bordering on Continuity Porn, as the entire episode serves as this to the duration of Ted's relationship with Stella, referencing several instances from their relationship as well as other moments from previous episodes. Specifically:
- Ted and Stella's disagreement over her moving into his apartment in "I Heart NJ"
- Ted's proposal to Stella in "Miracles".
- Ted and Stella's two-minute date in "Ten Sessions".
- Ted's butterfly tramp stamp, which he got in "Wait For It".
- Ted's red cowboy boots, first introduced in "Everything Must Go".
- Ted's pretentious pronunciation of "encyclopedia" from "Intervention".
- Ted getting beaten up by Missy the goat in "The Leap".
- And of course, Tony coming to Ted and Stella's wedding, and Stella leaving Ted at the altar in "Shelter Island".
- Deconstruction: Once again, the show takes apart the things that are usually portrayed as amazing and romantic, all the events of Ted's and Stella's relationship are reversed, with The Wedding Bride showing Ted's romantic gestures as aggressive or abusive, and Stella's and Tony's reunion as a perfect happy ending. We know that the warp-speed their relationship took was terrible, but Ted certainly wasn't an abusive Jerkass, and Ted getting left that way really damaged him and hurt his relationships moving forward.
- Funny Background Event / Freeze-Frame Bonus: At the end, at least three women have baggage that reads "Slept with Barney". One man has a package that reads "Elvis is alive."
- Gilligan Cut: Lampshaded by Future!Ted. The gang swear up and down that they won't see The Wedding Bride.Future!Ted: Kids, you know where this is going.
- Groin Attack: Jed Mosley gets kicked in the balls by one of Tony's students.
- Incest Subtext: Royce, Ted's Girl of the Week, shares a bed with her brother.
- Ironic Echo: Ted uses Jed Mosley's Catchphrase.
- I Take Offense to That Last One:Robin: You can't treat New York City like it's the small, friendly, crime-free, inbred, backwoods, Podunk, cow-tipping Minnesota hickville where you grew up!
Marshall: Crime-free? Crime free? - Minnesota Nice: Marshall being too friendly for New York is attributed to him growing up in Minnesota.Lily: He's from Minnesota. His high school mascot was a hug.
- Race for Your Love: Both Ted and Movie!Tony did this near the end. Though it's downplayed in Ted's case since, as he notes, he and Royce are three dates in and she just seems nice.
- Rocky Roll Call: Ted runs into the theater looking for Royce at the same time Movie!Tony shows up at Jed and Movie!Stella's wedding, resulting in a funny exchange:Ted: Royce!
Movie!Tony: Stella!
Royce: Ted?
Movie!Stella: Tony!
Jed: Tony?!?
Barney: Ted?
Ted: Barney?
(Barney slurps his drink) - Rooting for the Empire: In-Universe with Barney, as usual. He claims The Wedding Bride got everything about Ted and Stella's break up correct, and presumably sympathizes with Jed Mosely in the movie. Keep in mind that Barney is Ted's self-proclaimed best friend and did feel bad for him after Stella dumped him.
- Rousing Speech: Tony's student gives him one in the climax of The Wedding Bride.Karate Kid: You can do it, sensei! Go give love a roundhouse kick! Right in the heart!
- Secondary Character Title: In-Universe; The Wedding Bride's main character is Tony.
- Series Continuity Error: While The Wedding Bride apparently references Ted getting beaten up by a goat, this occurred in "The Leap", which happened long after he and Stella broke up in "Shelter Island", so it's unclear how Tony would have found out about it to include it in the movie.
- Show Within a Show: Or movie within a show in this case.
- Stylistic Suck: The Wedding Bride is cheesy and ridiculous, full of slapstick comedy and awful lines.
- Take That!: The entire Wedding Bride movie is this to Ted.
- Ungrateful Bastard: Tony certainly comes off as one, writing a movie which makes Ted out to be a moronic Jerkass after Ted helped him and Stella get back together despite Stella leaving Ted at the altar for him. Stella also seems like one, to some extent, seeing as she must have told Tony about many of the details in the movie, though admittedly she didn't actually produce it.
- Very Loosely Based on a True Story: In-Universe with The Wedding Bride, which twists all the major events from Ted and Stella's relationship to make Ted look like the bad guy.
