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| "The Magician's Code" | |
|---|---|
| How I Met Your Mother episodes | |
| Episode nos. | Season 7 Episodes 23 and 24 |
| Directed by | Pamela Fryman |
| Written by |
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| Original air date | May 14, 2012 |
| Guest appearances | |
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"The Magician's Code" is the hour-long final episode of the seventh season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother . [1] It aired in two half-hour parts on May 14, 2012. [2] [3]
Lily starts going into labor, but refuses to go to the hospital until Marshall is there with her. Ted and Robin try to distract her with stories from their past until her contractions are four minutes apart, and Robin offers to deliver the baby for her, claiming that she has done this before, and Lily finally agrees to go to the hospital.
Meanwhile, Barney and Marshall are stuck in Atlantic City following the events of "Good Crazy" and must find a way back to Manhattan for the birth. Barney offers to help Marshall on the condition that Marshall's son has the middle name "Wait-for-It". Marshall agrees and Barney manages to secure two seats on a bus to New York—only for Marshall to realize that the destination refers to the state of New York and not New York City; its final destination is actually Buffalo. The two are left trying to find another way back to the city when several senior citizens on the bus, inspired by Marshall's predicament, claim to be having heart attacks to force the driver to take a detour to the hospital where Lily is giving birth.
Lily starts giving birth without Marshall, and Robin faints at the sight of the birth and while talking to Ted in the waiting room, expresses confusion since she had not fainted during prior deliveries. Ted reasons that it is different when it is someone she loves, and the conversation leads to them finally reconciling as friends. Marshall arrives just in time for his son to be born, whom Lily names after Marshall's late father and honors Barney's condition, and everyone welcomes Marvin Wait-for-It Eriksen into the world.
Part 2 begins with a flashforward to Barney's wedding, where Lily tells Ted that the bride wants to see him.
After the birth of Marshall and Lily's son, Robin tells Ted that all the women he has pursued in the past were the wrong person, with Victoria being the only exception. She convinces Ted to call Victoria; Ted eventually asks Victoria to meet him at MacLaren's, hoping to find out if she ever got engaged. She arrives in a wedding dress and asks him to run away with her, as she has never stopped thinking about him. After seeking advice from the others, he agrees and gets in the car with her, but Ted admits he cannot let Victoria leave her fiancé at the altar after what Stella did to him. He tells Victoria that he is taking her back to the church so that she can go through with her wedding. However, he begins reminiscing about their past relationship and drives past the church, the two hold hands as they drive off into the sunset together.
Marshall and Lily appoint Robin to take the photograph for baby Marvin's birth announcement, but she is unable to take a decent shot of the family together. Eventually the two fall asleep on their bed with Marvin between them, allowing Robin to get a perfect shot.
Barney returns to Quinn to find that she has re-decorated the apartment bright pink as an act of revenge for his leaving town after their fight, but Barney is glad that she has not left him and the two make up. On the way to Hawaii, Barney is stopped at airport security because of a mysterious box he has placed in his luggage, the contents of which he claims he cannot reveal due to "the Magician's Code". He and Quinn are taken in for questioning, where she reveals that she has quit her job for Barney and is now unemployed. After missing their flight, Quinn is ready to leave, forcing Barney to perform the trick contained within the box, which turns out to contain an engagement ring. He proposes to Quinn and she accepts. They return to Marshall and Lily's apartment to announce their engagement. As Quinn leaves the room to tell the story of the proposal, Barney asks Robin if she is okay with everything. Robin says that she knows how awesome he is, and that she is happy for him.
The episode closes with a flash-forward to Barney's wedding. Ted and Marshall stand in a hallway, with Marshall talking about how everything turned out for them. Ted enters a room where the bride is located, when the bride turns to face Ted, it is revealed to be Robin.
In an interview published after "The Magician's Code" originally aired, show co-creator Craig Thomas admitted that Barney's bride "had to be [Robin]", and it was decided, "literally years ago," that the two of them would get married after they originally broke up in season 5. [4] As for Lily and Marshall's baby's middle name, "Wait-for-It", Thomas said, "How often do you tell someone your middle name? ... Middle names aren't that useful and why not?". [4]
The season finale was viewed by 8.49 million viewers. [5]
Donna Bowman of The A.V. Club graded the episode a B, stating that much happened in the episode even if there were contradictions along the way while the outcomes of certain events are attempts at misdirection. [6]
Entertainment Weekly 's Michelle Profis stated the episode does not leave anything for the audience to contemplate before the next season but left some emotional moments such as the baby being named after Marshall's father. [7]
Ethan Alter of Television Without Pity gave part one a C+ and part two a C−. He referred to the episode as a "fake clip show" where "the fake clips here were funnier than anything else in the episode", and remarked that the show could have revealed Robin as Barney's bride with equal impact in the season premiere, thereby making the entire season redundant. [8] [9]
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.
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.
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.
"Slap Bet" is the ninth episode of the second season of the American sitcom How I Met Your Mother. The episode, originally titled "Robin Sparkles", first aired on November 20, 2006 on CBS; the title was changed in order to keep the episode's ending a secret. The episode received highly positive reviews and features in several lists of the best How I Met Your Mother episodes. The episode led to two recurring jokes and storylines in the show: "Robin Sparkles", Robin's teenage pop star career, and the Slap Bet, in which Marshall slaps Barney at various points throughout the series.
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).
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.
"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.
"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.
"Good Crazy" is the 22nd episode of the seventh season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, and the 158th episode overall.
"Now We're Even" is the 21st episode of the seventh season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, and the 157th episode overall. It aired on April 16, 2012. The episode ties up with the events indicated in "The Mermaid Theory" in Season 6.
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"The Over-Correction" is the tenth episode of the eighth season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, and the 170th episode overall.
"The Final Page" is an hour-long episode of the eighth season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother. It aired in two half-hour episodes on December 17, 2012.
"The Bro Mitzvah" is the 22nd episode of the eighth season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, and the 182nd episode overall.
"Sunrise" is the seventeenth episode of the ninth season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, and the 201st episode overall.
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.
