Air Date: December 5, 2011
Robin deals with unexpectedly bad news while Marshall tries to hang Christmas lights with the help of his neighbor.
The episode provides examples of:
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: List of Robin’s achievements: a famous journalist, a successful businesswoman, a world traveler and a bull fighter.
- Brand X: Barney volunteers himself and Robin to go to We B Babies with Lily.
- Brick Joke: Marshall wanted to set up a musical Christmas lights display, Ted ends up setting one up for Robin in the living room.
- Call-Back:
- The Framing Device of the series with the kids on the couch.
- No, it’s not/Yes, it is.
- Although it's played for laughs, Barney's response to Robin's pregnancy is actually consistent. Remember his 180 on James's marriage when he learned they were adopting ("There's gonna be a baby?!"). Then there's his recent infatuation with babies as part of his Character Development. Finally, there's the fact that he wants to get back together with Robin.
- Once again, sandwiches return, though not lampshaded by Future Ted this time. After Scott pulls down the ladder and strands Marshall on the roof, he walks inside, turns on the stereo, and pulls out a sandwich to taunt Marshall with.
- Chekhov's Gun: Robin’s love for AC/DC.
- Daydream Surprise: The scenes with Robin’s future kids.
- Don't You Dare Pity Me!: Robin’s reason not to tell her friends her secret.
- Double Standard: Abuse, Female on Male: Robin hitting Barney, though he kind of deserves it.
- Fainting: The emotional variety. Subverted twice by Barney. He wakes up on the floor and asks if he passed out, twice. Turns out Robin punched him out both times. Then played straight immediately afterwards when Robin faints.
- Foreshadowing: When she steals the Framing Device from Future Ted, Robin imagines her future children as a brunette girl and a blonde boy, with the girl dressed like Robin and the boy dressed like Barney, sitting on a couch in Barney's apartment, even though she's still with Kevin.
- Friends with Benefits: Barney invokes this trope, but Robin defies it.
- Gendered Outfit: Subverted. Ted’s stepfather plays Santa as a woman, but he keeps the beard. The result, according to Ted, is disturbing.
- Good Girls Avoid Abortion: Robin is clearly terrified by the idea of having a baby, but the option of abortion is never brought up. Ultimately irrelevant since it turns out she's not only not pregnant but also infertile.
- Imagine Spot: Robin imagines her friends’ reaction to her infertility.
- Irony: Robin goes from hating children and not wanting to have them to being told by a doctor that she can never have children.
- Karma Houdini: Scott traps Marshall on the roof, has a party in his house, makes Lily send a rather interesting picture and gets paid afterwards.
- Law of Inverse Fertility: Inverted. Robin doesn't want kids but is devastated when she learns she no longer has the option. She explains that there's a difference between not wanting something and learning that you can never have it.
- Leave Me Alone!: Robin’s reaction when Ted tries to help.
- Like a Son to Me: Marshall feels like this towards Scott, which he soon regrets.
- Manipulative Bastard: Scott pretends to be a sweet kid who wants to put up Christmas lights, but the second he sees an opportunity, he strands Marshall on the roof, trashes his house, and cons Lily into sending him tit pics.
- Mood Whiplash: After Robin runs out of We B Baby crying, Barney confirms that vaginal numbing spray works because he used it on his mouth.
- Pregnancy Scare: Barney and Robin panicked when they thought Robin was pregnant. Thankfully, she isn't.
- Running Gag: Someone fainting.
- Spontaneous Choreography: The dance at the doctor’s office.
- Switching P.O.V.: Rare for the series, the large majority of the episode is Robin, and not Ted, talking to her children. The same children that don't exist.
- This Is for Emphasis, Bitch!: "You can't fire me. I'm union, bitch."
- They're Called "Personal Issues" for a Reason: Ted is fine with Robin not telling him what’s wrong, but he'll be damned if he lets her chase him away.
- Twisted Christmas: This is one of the most depressing episodes of the whole series and it just has to take place during Christmas.
- Wham Line:
- "I can't have a baby?"
- "And that's why I'm glad you guys don't exist." Real glad.
