Lily fears that she and Robin are growing apart since Lily's been obsessed with talking about baby stuff and Robin wants nothing to do with it. The gang then learns of her former best friend from her pop star days.
This episode provides examples of:
- Armor-Piercing Question:Lily: Wow. You dumped her just because you had a baby? That's cold.
Jessica Glitter: Didn't you do the same thing? Minus the baby? - Bait-and-Switch: For most of the episode, the gang assumes that Robin is no longer friends with Glitter because the former dumped the latter after Glitter had a child. However, it's revealed that it was actually the other way around.
- Brief Accent Imitation: When Robin is complaining about Punchy to Ted, she talks like him, even calling him "Shmoesby."
- Call-Back: Mistaking Space Teens for a pornographic movie, Barney prepares to slap Marshall (who is already recoiling because he's also convinced).
- Chekhov's Gun: "The Beaver Song".
- Fanservice: Space Teens features an extended sequence of the girls bouncing in place to create the illusion of the spaceship hitting turbulence. It inexplicably shifts into slow motion for a few seconds.
- LOL, 69: One of the math questions the girls have to answer is "What's 23 times 3?".
- My God, What Have I Done?: After learning from Jessica Glitter that she dumped Robin, rather than the other way around and that she just did the same thing, Lily jumps up to run apologize to Robin.
- Not What It Looks Like:
- Just like with "Let's Go To The Mall", Barney (and Marshall) mistake Space Teens for porn. Not that you can blame them.
- Robin didn't dump Jessica as a friend because of her having a baby, Jessica dumped Robin.
- Once More, with Clarity: We see the scene with Punchy and Ted's conversation a second time, with Punchy talking to his fiancée about how he's worried about Ted. He didn't fly out to NYC to visit Times Square and be a douche, he came to cheer up his friend and ask him to be his best man.
- Parental Bonus: In the worst possible way. Space Teens is supposed to be a show about teens solving crimes in space using math, but it's basically soft-core porn, starring two teen girls and Alan Thicke.Alan Thick: What's 23 times 3? [Smash to Black]
- Rage Quit: Robin puts an end to the Space Teens viewings once they reach "The Beaver Song" to prevent further dirty comments.Robin: No! You don't get to hear "The Beaver Song"! It is a sweet song about friendship, and you guys are being disgusting, and beavers are adorable!
Barney: No arguments here. - The Reveal: This episode both confirms where Robin Sparkles came from and who "Jessica" is.
- Smash to Black: Barney turns off the DVD (just before the kids can tell Alan Thicke what 23 times 3 is) so they can draw out the experience. Robin later shuts it off to stop Ted and Barney comparing it to porn.
- Spit Take: "Hey, Jessica, how's your beaver?"
- Shout-Out: When Barney tells Ted to dump his friend Punchy, he rattles off the catch phrases from over a dozen reality and game shows, including The Weakest Link, America's Next Top Model, Hell's Kitchen, and Big Brother.
- Stylistic Suck: It's Robin Sparkles 3, what do you expect?
