Challenge Accepted

Last updated
"Challenge Accepted"
How I Met Your Mother episode
Episode no.Season 6
Episode 24
Directed by Pamela Fryman
Written by
Production code6ALH23
Original air dateMay 16, 2011 (2011-05-16)
Guest appearances
Episode chronology
 Previous
"Landmarks"
Next 
"The Best Man"
How I Met Your Mother season 6
List of episodes

"Challenge Accepted" is the 24th and final episode of the sixth season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother and the 136th episode overall. It aired on May 16, 2011.

Contents

Plot

With the Arcadian, Barney and Ted argue who is going to press the button to blow up the building. Ted mentions that he ran into his ex-girlfriend Zoey after breaking up and she asked to get coffee, which Robin and Barney say is a signal that she wants to get back together.

The episode flashes-forward to September 2011. Marshall is feeling down, so Lily decides to get them both some of their favorite soup from a filthy rundown restaurant, but Lily gets ill and begins throwing up presumably from terrible food poisoning. Desperate to stop Marshall from eating any, she runs from the school to their house, where she stops him before he takes a spoonful of his third bowl. Marshall has a business meeting with a prospective employer and has figured out the time when he will begin vomiting. After disgusting images and stories, Marshall runs out of the room to vomit. He comes home and lies down to get some rest before his "countdown" finishes. He wakes up the following morning to find out that he was not ill and Lily is pregnant.

Ted is distraught about the lighting for the new building and decides that this warrants getting back together with Zoey. He decides to meet her and buys an orchid like he first did, but Barney and Robin stop him. While on their way to stop Ted, they have a tender moment, but decide they need to move on. Barney lets Ted press the button to blow up the Arcadian, and Barney meets Nora again, and asks her to coffee, which Nora accepts. Robin becomes upset as she sees that Barney wants to get back together with Nora. The episode flashes-forward to the wedding first seen in "Big Days", where Ted and Marshall are sitting outside the church, and Ted is then called in by Lily. Ted goes inside to check on the groom, who is Barney.

Production

It was such an honor to be able to use music from a Beatle (and one of my favorite albums of all time All Things Must Pass is definitely on my 'desert island' albums list). We bookended the season with this song ["Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp (Let It Roll)" by George Harrison], which was the first time it was hinted at that the place where Ted ultimately meets 'The Mother' was at a wedding. It certainly wasn't easy to secure the rights to the song, but it was well worth it.

Andy Gowan, How I Met Your Mother music supervisor talking about "Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp" [1]

According to show co-creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas, a majority of this Season 6 finale takes place in September instead of May "so we can pick up Season 7 exactly where we left off". [2] Said Thomas, "This is the first time in the history of our show we're doing a finale that is not set in May. We jump ahead to September, basically to the beginning of next season." [3]

This episode was shot with extra security because of the two major revelations at the end: Lily being pregnant and Barney being the groom at the future wedding. [2]

Reception

Donna Bowman of The A.V. Club gave the episode a B. [4] IGN gave the episode a rating of 7.0 out of 10.0. [5]

Related Research Articles

<i>How I Met Your Mother</i> American sitcom (2005–2014)

How I Met Your Mother is an American sitcom, created by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays for CBS. The series, which aired from September 19, 2005, to March 31, 2014, follows the main character, Ted Mosby, and his group of friends in New York City's Manhattan. As a framing device, Ted, in 2030, recounts to his son, Luke, and daughter, Penny, the events from September 2005 to May 2013 that led him to meet their mother. How I Met Your Mother was a joint production by Bays & Thomas Productions and 20th Century Fox Television, and syndicated by 20th Television.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lily Aldrin</span> Fictional character on the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother

Lily Aldrin is a fictional character in the CBS television series How I Met Your Mother. Lily is portrayed by American actress Alyson Hannigan. She is married to Marshall Eriksen and is the best friend of Ted Mosby, Robin Scherbatsky and Barney Stinson. Lily is a kindergarten teacher and an amateur painter. In the eighth season, she gets a job as an art consultant. Lily is also the only member of the original main cast of the series who has not appeared in every episode because Alyson Hannigan took leave after giving birth to her first child.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robin Scherbatsky</span> Fictional character on the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother

Robin Charles Scherbatsky Jr. is a fictional character created by Carter Bays and Craig Thomas for the CBS television series How I Met Your Mother, portrayed by Cobie Smulders.

"Something Blue" is the 22nd and final episode in the second season of the television series How I Met Your Mother. It originally aired on May 14, 2007.

Barnabus Stinson is a fictional character portrayed by Neil Patrick Harris and created by Carter Bays and Craig Thomas for the CBS television series How I Met Your Mother (2005–2014).

"Architect of Destruction" is the fifth episode of the sixth season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, and the 117th episode overall. It originally aired on October 18, 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ted Mosby</span> Fictional character on the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother

Theodore Evelyn Mosby is a fictional character and the protagonist in the American sitcom How I Met Your Mother, portrayed by Josh Radnor. He serves as the show's narrator from the future, voiced by Bob Saget, as he tells his children the "long version" of how he met their mother.

"Oh Honey" is the 15th episode of the sixth season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother and the 127th episode overall. It aired on February 7, 2011. It features Katy Perry as a guest star, playing Honey, the gullible character that the episode is named after.

"Desperation Day" is the 16th episode of the sixth season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother and the 128th episode overall. It aired on February 14, 2011. As the story approaches Desperation Day, new tensions and bonds form between the characters.

"Garbage Island" is the 17th episode of the sixth season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother and the 129th episode overall. It aired on February 21, 2011.

"The Exploding Meatball Sub" is the 20th episode of the sixth season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother and the 132nd episode overall. It aired on April 11, 2011.

"The Perfect Cocktail" is the 22nd episode of the sixth season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother and the 134th episode overall. It was aired on May 2, 2011.

"Landmarks" is the 23rd episode of the sixth season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother and the 135th episode overall. It aired on May 9, 2011.

"The Naked Truth" is the second episode of the seventh season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, and the 138th episode overall. It first aired on September 19, 2011.

"Tick Tick Tick..." is the tenth episode of the seventh season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, and the 146th episode overall. It aired on November 14, 2011.

"The Magician's Code" is the hour-long final episode of the seventh season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother. It aired in two half-hour parts on May 14, 2012.

The Mother (<i>How I Met Your Mother</i>) Fictional character on the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother

Tracy Mosby is the title character from the CBS television sitcom How I Met Your Mother. The show, narrated by Future Ted, tells the story of how Ted Mosby met his children's mother. Tracy McConnell appears in eight episodes, from "Lucky Penny" to "The Time Travelers", as an unseen character; she was first seen fully in season 8 finale "Something New" and was promoted to a main character in season 9. She is played by Cristin Milioti.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Last Forever</span> 23rd and 24th episodes of the 9th season of How I Met Your Mother

"Last Forever" is the series finale of the American sitcom television series How I Met Your Mother. The episode, written by series creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas and directed by Pamela Fryman, serves as the 23rd and 24th episodes of season nine, and the 207th and 208th episodes overall; the episode's two parts are classified as two separate episodes. It originally aired in the United States on CBS on March 31, 2014, and was watched by 13.13 million viewers in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marshall Eriksen</span> Fictional character on the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother

Marshall Eriksen is a fictional character on the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, portrayed by Jason Segel. Series co-creator Craig Thomas explained that he based Marshall and Lily on himself and his wife Rebecca.

References

  1. "'How I Met Your Mother' Music Supervisor Reveals Show's Top 10 Music Moments". The Hollywood Reporter . 29 March 2014. Archived from the original on June 22, 2014.
  2. 1 2 "How I Met Your Mother's Carter Bays and Craig Thomas on Last Night's Finale and Their 15-Year Partnership". New York Magazine. 2011-05-16. Retrieved 2011-05-21.
  3. "How I Met Your Mother's Craig Thomas: Don't Miss the Last Two Minutes of the Finale". TV Guide. 2011-05-15. Retrieved 2011-05-21.
  4. Bowman, Donna (17 May 2011). ""Challenge Accepted" · How I Met Your Mother · TV Review How I Met Your Mother: "Challenge Accepted" · TV Club · The A.V. Club". Avclub.com. Retrieved 2015-12-26.
  5. "How I Met Your Mother: "Challenge Accepted" Review". IGN. May 17, 2011. Retrieved May 31, 2014.