Marshall and Lily have a housewarming party, and Future Ted explains how everything went wrong in a mere five minutes by recapping the events in each individual room.
This episode provides examples of:
- Berserk Button: Mr. Cootes freaks out when he thinks Ted eats the only vegan item on the menu.
- Call-Back: Mickey tries to be a beekeeper as his new job. Lily tried the same thing in Season 2 after returning to New York and trying to discover a new dream job.
- Continuity Nod: Ted brings up his preference for kicking during a fight.
- Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: Lily gets this gem as her party unravels.Lily: And I can't have a life where it's just one crisis after another! Oh, God. This is parenthood, isn't it?
Ted: So they say. - Extremely Short Timespan: One of the biggest examples in the show, if not the biggest: most of the episode encompasses five very chaotic minutes.
- Five-Second Rule: Played for Laughs. Lily makes a cheese fall on the floor so no one can eat it, but Robin reminds her about the 5 second rule. Lily then stomps the cheese into pieces, and Robin tells her that the 5 seconds have passed anyway.
- I Need A Drink: Lily tells Barney what Geraldine, their neighbor whom Barney was wooing, did to her ex-boyfriend with a cheeseknife. After examining a cheeseknife in a kitchen, disgusted Barney storms into dining hall and downs Marshall's glass of wine.
- Laser-Guided Karma: After causing the misunderstanding with Mr. Cootes and Ted and banging a woman in Lily and Marshall's house, said woman turned out to be insane and Barney opts to get out of the house while it's infested by bees.
- Man on Fire: Cootes gets this when he tries to attend the oven while wearing Mickey's bee-keeper suit. Cootes enjoyed the adrenaline rush.
- Married to the Job: Cootes orders Marshall to return to the office right in the middle of his housewarming party. Right after an accident with Mickey's bee-keeper suit, Cootes recovers his lost excitement and gets over this phase.
- Once More, with Clarity: The entire episode is five minutes replayed over and over.
- One Drink Will Kill the Baby: Averted. Barney pours a panicking Lily a drink, commenting that even though she's pregnant, she obviously needs it. Hey, Dr. Sonya did say "just a little bit" of wine was okay.
- "Rashomon"-Style: Future Ted tells the story over and over, one room at a time.
- Serious Business: Cootes goes over the top about vegan spring rolls. Ted eventually responds in kind. Cootes eventually agrees to look for other vegan food.
- Shout-Out: Ted references Galaxy Quest, then it turns out he was mocking Robin misquoting Sun Tzu early.Ted: I believe it was Sun Tzu who said, "Never give up, never surrender!".
