Mystery vs. History

Last updated

"Mystery vs. History"
How I Met Your Mother episode
Episode no.Season 7
Episode 6
Directed by Pamela Fryman
Written by Chuck Tatham
Production code7ALH05
Original air dateOctober 17, 2011 (2011-10-17)
Guest appearances
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Field Trip"		Next →
"Noretta"
How I Met Your Mother (season 7)
List of episodes

"Mystery vs. History" is the sixth episode of the seventh season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother and the 142nd episode overall. It aired on October 17, 2011. [1]

Contents

Plot

When Ted decides to date a woman named Janet MacIntyre without researching her, Barney and Robin attempt to intervene by researching Janet for him, which he insists that they do not. Ted explains to Kevin that Robin and Barney have researched many of the women he dated in the past and ruined the relationships by revealing unappealing background information on them. Before his date with Janet, he makes a deal with her that they will not research each other on the Internet, which she agrees to.

In the meantime, Marshall and Lily recruit Barney, Robin, and Kevin to help paint the room for their baby. Though they have obtained the information on the sex of their baby, they choose not to open the envelope containing the information so that the baby's sex will be a surprise when it is born. Barney disagrees with their decision and tries to convince them to open the envelope, arguing that there are advantages to knowing what the child's sex will be. When everyone begins arguing about whether "mystery" is better, Kevin breaks and calls them out on their meddling, dysfunctional, and violent behavior. He admits that while he did not want to analyze them, he has noticed that everyone in their group is unreasonably close and have been meddling too much in each other's lives. While Kevin's assessment appears to be true, it causes a rift between him and Robin, which he attempts to make up for by offering to paint the rest of the room by himself.

During the painting session, Barney and Robin have insisted on continuing their research on Janet for Ted. Through their research, they learn a number of startling things about Janet which they attempt to share with Ted. Marshall eventually allows Barney to learn the sex of the baby if he does not tell him and Lily, but Barney eventually convinces them to look, only to rip the card in half and refuse to give the half with the information back to Lily and Marshall. Barney agrees to give it to them if they look at what he and Robin have learned about Janet. When Marshall gets the card, he and Lily are unable to firmly decide if they want to know, and Marshall ends up throwing the card out the window for the sake of "mystery".

Meanwhile, Ted is having trouble conversing with Janet without the use of the Internet during their date. Despite initial attempts to resist everyone's insistence that he should look her up on the Internet, he gives in and learns that she is extremely accomplished, highly altruistic, and very wealthy. Ted becomes nervous and Janet leaves him, recognizing that his sudden change in behavior means that he has learned about all her achievements and he has become intimidated, as has happened with all her previous dating encounters. After he rejoins his friends, Ted tells them that he regrets giving in and that he would rather have "mystery" over "history" for his future dates. When Ted puts his foot up on a stool, Marshall notices that the card he threw out the window had stuck to Ted's shoe; he and Lily learn that their baby will be a boy.

Reception

Donna Bowman of the A.V. Club gave the episode a B+. [2] Chris O'Hara of TV Fanatic gave the episode 4 out of 5 stars. [3]

Robert Canning of IGN gave the episode 6.5, criticizing the writing and acting of the cast and crew. Mentioning such instances as that "Kal Penn's line delivery feels very sitcom-y, and I don't know if we should blame him or the writing. Or both.", and that "Kevin stands out like a sore thumb". [4]

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 2005 to March 2014, follows main character Ted Mosby and his group of friends in New York City's Manhattan. As a frame story, Ted recounts to his daughter Penny and son Luke the events from September 2005 to May 2013 that led to him meeting their mother.

"The Window" is the tenth episode of the fifth season of the CBS situation comedy How I Met Your Mother and 98th episode overall. It aired on Monday, December 7, 2009.

"Robots Versus Wrestlers " is the 22nd episode of the fifth season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother and 110th episode overall. It aired on May 10, 2010.

"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.

"Glitter" is the ninth episode of the sixth season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, and the 121st episode overall. It aired on November 15, 2010.

"The Stinson Missile Crisis" is the fourth episode of the seventh season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother and the 140th episode overall. It aired on October 3, 2011.

"Noretta" is the seventh episode of the seventh season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother and the 143rd episode overall. It aired on October 24, 2011. The gang realise that their partners bear some resemblance to their parents. Meanwhile, Barney and Nora's romantic evening is ruined by a string of disasters.

"Disaster Averted" is the ninth episode of the seventh season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, and the 145th episode overall. It aired on November 7, 2011.

"The Rebound Girl" is the 11th episode of the seventh season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, and the 147th episode overall. It aired on November 21, 2011.

"Symphony of Illumination" is the 12th episode of the seventh season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, and the 148th episode overall. It aired on December 5, 2011. The episode is a continuation of the previous episode, "The Rebound Girl".

"Tailgate" is the 13th episode of the seventh season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, and the 149th episode overall. It aired on January 2, 2012.

"The Drunk Train" is the 16th episode of the seventh season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, and the 152nd episode overall. It aired on February 13, 2012.

"The Burning Beekeeper" is the 15th episode of the seventh season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, and the 151st episode overall. It aired on February 6, 2012. The story of "The Burning Beekeeper" unfolds room by room at Lily and Marshall's housewarming party, mostly a bottle episode.

"No Pressure" is the 17th episode of the seventh season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, and the 153rd episode overall. It aired on February 20, 2012.

"Karma" is the 18th episode of the seventh season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, and the 154th episode overall. It aired on February 27, 2012.

"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 Pre-Nup" is the second episode of the eighth season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, and the 162nd episode overall.

"Unpause" is the fifteenth episode of the ninth season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, and the 199th episode overall. This is also the episode where Ted's future children's names are finally revealed; the daughter's name is Penny and the son is Luke.

<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. ↑ "Shows A-Z - how i met your mother on cbs". The Futon Critic . Retrieved October 6, 2011.
  2. ↑ Donna Bowman (October 17, 2011). "Review of "Mystery vs. History" at AV CLUB". The A.V. Club . The Onion . Retrieved October 18, 2011.
  3. ↑ Chris O'Hara. "Review of "Mystery vs. History" at TV FANATIC". TV Fanatic. Retrieved October 18, 2011.
  4. ↑ Robert Canning (October 18, 2011). "How I Met Your Mother: "Mystery vs. History" Review". IGN . Retrieved August 12, 2017.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.