Recap / How I Met Your Mother S 7 E 03 Ducky Tie

Air Date: September 26, 2011

After Ted runs into an old girlfriend, he tries to make amends with her since he cheated during their relationship. Meanwhile, Marshall and Lily make a bet with Barney that could force him to wear Marshall's ducky tie.

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The episode provides examples of:

• Added Alliterative Appeal/Overly Long Gag/Tongue Twister: The following conversation between Ted and Victoria:
  Ted: When you were living in Germany and we were doing the whole long-distance thing, wasn't there a Klaus in your class?
  Victoria: There was a Klaus in my class.
  Ted: And you and Klaus were close.
  Victoria: Not that close.
  Ted: Yes, yes, you and the Klaus from your class were quite close.
  Victoria: Kind of close.
  Ted: Was that your Klaus?
  Victoria: My Klaus?
  Ted: In your class.
  Victoria: In my class?
  Ted: Is your Klaus the kind-of-close Klaus from your class?
  Victoria: Yes.
• Amicable Exes:
  • Actually discussed by Ted and Victoria. Ted tries to defend this relationship between him, Robin and Barney; while Victoria tells him it's eventually going to fall apart.
  • Played straight with Ted and Victoria, as they get along quite well, even when discussing how they both ended up cheating during their long-distance relationship.
• Batman Gambit: Turns out Barney has been planning the bet for nearly 5 years by planting the seeds meticulously.
  • 1. He gradually conditioned Marshall to go to Shinjitsu every time he sneezed.
    Marshall: When you were sick for a week last year, I had Shinjitsu like six times!
  • 2. He spent 6 months commuting back and forth to Hoboken, New Jersey to learn teppanyaki techniques.
  • 3. He waited until Lily's boobs got bigger so he could get the opportunity to get Marshall and Lily make the bet.
  • 4. If Lily and Marshall decided to call off the bet, he could also depend on Marshall and Lily assuming he was invoking Reverse Psychology and keep the bet. Even if they did call it off, he could still get a consolation prize to see them for 30 seconds.
    • All this is Lampshaded by Robin:
      Robin: Lily, are you really suggesting that Barney spent six months commuting back and forth to Hoboken to learn a signature cooking style of a restaurant he doesn't even like so he could win a bet he hadn't even made yet? (Beat) Yeah, the whole thing stinks.
• Continuity Cavalcade: Barney, Lily and Marshall mention a small list of six women whom Ted has flirted or slept with or dated, all of whom have appeared on the show. This includes Stella, Zoey, Karen, Natalie, the girl who beat Ted up, the girl who ruined a photo with Slash, and Amy, the girl who made Ted get a butterfly tattoo. CBS themselves released an extended cut which lists 36 women, leading to this fan edit years after the show had ended, with a later comment from the fan revealing Ted's final number by the finale to be 87.
• Boob-Based Gag: Lily develops "pregnancy boobs", distracting everyone with them.
  Ted: Geez, Lily, it's like you have a butt in your chest!
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: Victoria later realizes she accidentally misled Ted when she invited him to "wash her dishes."
  Victoria: No, that was me. I let you come wash my dishes. I said, "My oven needed cleaning"! I invited you into a porno!
• Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: How Marshall finally uncovers Barney's Batman Gambit.
  Marshall: No, it's not possible, all right? I was the one who said "Let's go to Shinjitsu." [Barney sneezes] Bless you. How could Barney have—? [beat, dramatic sting] You brilliant bastard.
• Hidden Depths: Barney reveals that he has been taking lessons of teppanyaki in Hoboken, New Jersey so he could get to touch Lily's boobs.
• Oh, Crap!: Lily's and Marshall's gets progressively worse as Barney reveals more and more about his learned skill as a hibachi chef.
• Once Done, Never Forgotten: Lily laments she won't be able to live with herself knowing Barney has touched her boobs. Robin soon reassures her she knows that feeling, as Barney keeps sending reminder mailings so they won't forget it.
• Pyrrhic Victory: For both sides: how does Lily manage to make Barney lose his bet? Flashing her boobs.
• Side Bet: While Ted is telling how his encounter with Victoria went, Marshall, Lily and Barney bet that if Barney can't do the Teppenyaki tricks, he would wear Marshall's Ducky Tie for a year. If Barney wins, he would be able to touch Lily's boobs for one minute.
• The Silent Bob: Takumi, the teppanyaki chef, who doesn't have a single line throughout the episode.
• Unnecessary Time Precision: When Ted asks Victoria how long she was single after they broke up, she starts by noting the month of the break up before revealing it was less than two days.
  Victoria: Oh, how long? Um, well we broke up in April, so… day and a half.
• What's a Henway?: Victoria informs Ted that she thinks her boyfriend is going to propose, describing the really nice night he has planned, then suggesting that "You should go."
  Ted: I dunno, it sounds pretty intimate.