3.1 - Wait for It

 

Episode Summary: When Robin arrives home with a hunky Argentinean boyfriend, Ted decides to go out with Barney for a "legen...wait for it...dary!" night to forget about Robin moving on. 

 

This Week P Stands For: Pith

 

Stuff to Track: First and second pop stars to guest star on the show, this is step two in the process of meeting The Mother: getting a lower back tattoo. 

 

Writing Prompt: Describe three of your minor characters in as few words as possible

 

​

​

​

3.2 - We’re Not from Here

 

Episode Summary: After seeing girls swoon for Robin's boyfriend, Gael, because of his foreign charm, Barney and Ted try to pull themselves off as out-of-towners in order to meet girls. Marshall and Lily write letters which are to be read after their death, while Robin begins to lose her relaxed self she had when she vacationed in Argentina.

 

This Week P Stands For:  Pixie

 

Stuff to Track: Lily’s PIN spells out “Lily” on the keypad, Future Marshall has a framed newspaper article that says “NYC Lawyer Captures Nessie”, the soundtrack is Enrique Iglesias’s music

 

Writing Prompt: Pick another Manic Pixie Dream Girl story and write an alternate ending in which the MC ditches the MPDG and goes back to his/her real life. 

 

​

3.3 Third Wheel

 

Episode Summary: Ted bumps into an old one-night-stand and is presented with the possibility of a threesome. Robin's personal rules for a first date backfire.

 

This Week P Stands For:  Preciouses

 

Stuff to Track: Trudy is back (and Ted was cradling a pineapple while he hooked up with her, apparently)

 

Writing Prompt: Justify your darling. Write yourself a letter or an essay detailing all the reasons your darling must stay in your story. At the end, you’ll either have a plan on how to make it work or you’ll see how ridiculous you sound. 

 

​

3.4 Little Boys

 

Episode Summary: Robin dates a single dad, and to her surprise, bonds with the man's son, which causes her to worry that the relationship is too serious. Meanwhile Ted and Barney compete to see who has more 'game'.

 

This Week P Stands For:  Prevarication

 

Stuff to Track: This is the same little boy who spoiled the Super Bowl for Marshall last year

 

Writing Prompt: Pick one character, and have each of your other supporting characters list that one character’s “but”

 

​

3.5 How I Met Everyone Else

 

Episode Summary: Ted's new girlfriend becomes jealous that the story about how Ted and his friends met is better than how she met him, resulting in her ranking on Barney's "crazy scale" to go through the roof.

 

This Week P Stands For:  Postadolescence

 

Stuff to Track: Future Ted, Future Marshall, and Future Lily all confiscate weed from an undergrad while attending their 20-year college reunion in 2020; weed didn’t become legal in CT until 2021, so the show accidentally maintained continuity to have weed illegal in 2020. Future Ted wears a wedding ring and asks “Where’s my wife?” when he’s stoned. 

 

Writing Prompt: Take an episode of an adult sitcom and re-write it as a YA story. A sitcom episode should only be about 20 pages long, so this is definitely short, but really pay attention to the ways the characters’ behavior would change, especially if you can have a realistic teen decision create a significant change in the story (you can set it in the time of the sitcom, or now, and see how social media/phones change the story, too) 

 

​

3.6 I’m Not That Guy

 

Episode Summary: When a law firm tries to recruit Marshall, executive Jefferson Coatsworth (John Cho) is able to win him over, forcing Marshall to stray from his dream to save the Earth. Meanwhile, the gang finds out that a porn star is named after one of them.

 

This Week P Stands For:  Purpose

 

Stuff to Track: Nicholson, Hewitt & West is the same firm Barney’s nemesis worked for in Season 1; it is also named after three dorms at Wesleyan, one of which was Marshall, Lily, and Ted’s dorm

 

Writing Prompt: Your antagonist has a motivation already. Brainstorm three other possible reasons that she could be doing what she's doing. Plot out how those different motivations would change her behavior or her actions.

 

​

3.7 - Dowisetrepla

 

Episode Summary: Lily and Marshall make a rash of irresponsible decisions when buying an apartment in the "Dowisetrepla" neighbourhood, while Barney uses this opportunity to hook up with women without giving away his address. Marshall learns about Lily's secret.

 

This Week P Stands For:  Pigheadedness

 

Stuff to Track: Meg comes back in a later episode, Marshall and Lily’s disagreement over how many kids to have

 

Writing Prompt: Pick the very smartest decision your MC makes. Brainstorm terrible alternatives to this decision and how those alternative choices would change the outcome of the story.

 

​

3.8 - Spoiler Alert

 

Episode Summary: An annoying habit in Ted's new girlfriend causes the gang to point out their own bad habits which are unnoticed by the group. Marshall turns to Barney for help after forgetting his password to check his bar exam results.

 

This Week P Stands For:  Password

 

Stuff to Track: Ted’s new girlfriend is literally a “Chatty Cathy”, Marshall is awaiting his bar results (which have been teased out on three previous episodes), Marshall was seen singing nonsense in season 1 while studying

 

Writing Prompt: Write a short story - like the B99 cold open length - in which you give the audience the lede but then bury it immediately and circle back right at the very last second.

 

​

3.9 - Slapsgiving

 

Episode Summary: Lily and Marshall have their first Thanksgiving as a married couple; Barney is tortured by the slap bet countdown clock, worrying about when the slap will be dished out.

 

This Week P Stands For:  Private Joke *salutes*

 

Stuff to Track: “I guess we’re not done with that yet”, Slap #3 is doled out

 

Writing Prompt: Write the moment in which a private joke is born between your main character and a person close to them. Then skip forward and write a scene in which they are “in” on the joke and everyone around them feels lost and annoyed.

 

​

3.10 - The Yips

 

Episode Summary: After the gang joins a gym, Barney sees Rhonda (the woman who took his virginity) there. After learning that his performance with her was poor, he loses his ability to approach women. Barney loses his 'mojo' and heads to the Victoria's Secret Fall Fashion Show party to try to get it back, but he's put to the test when he meets Heidi Klum.

 

This Week P Stands For:  Panties

 

Stuff to Track: Barney’s virginity story was brought up already in “First Time in New York”, Barney’s brother is back

 

Writing Prompt: Write Rhonda's story. She used to be promiscuous, now she gambles. What made her change? 

 

​

3.11 - The Platinum Rule

 

Episode Summary: Ted's friends try to discourage him from going on a date with his tattoo-removal doctor, a person he sees regularly, by telling their own bad experiences.

 

This Week P Stands For:  Platinum

 

Stuff to Track: Step four in meeting the mother: Getting the butterfly tattoo removed

 

Writing Prompt: Read Cloud Atlas

 

​

3.12 - No Tomorrow

 

Episode Summary: Ted decides to take on Barney's lifestyle for St. Patrick's Day, which would likely include activities which are very un-saintly. Robin and Marshall don't know how to tell Lily that something is wrong with their new apartment.

 

This Week P Stands For:  Paddy’s

 

Stuff to Track: Ted picks up a yellow umbrella the next morning; Episode 3.1 references ‘the thing with your mother’s yellow umbrella’ and it is referenced again at the end of the episode when Ted decides he’s really over Robin

 

Writing Prompt: Write the opposite of fan fiction: take a scene/story arc in which a protagonist/character is depicted doing something shady but it was presented as good and now reframe it as something bad. Don't change the actions, just change the audience's reaction to it

 

​

3.13 - Ten Sessions

 

Episode Summary: While Ted is repeatedly rejected for a date by his dermatologist, Stella (Sarah Chalke), her receptionist, Abby (Britney Spears), becomes interested in him.

 

This Week P Stands For:  Problematic

 

Stuff to Track: This concept comes back around in a later season and gets dubbed “The Dobbler/Dahmer Effect”, The third famous pop singer guest stars on the show (this isn’t the last we see of Britney Spears), Ted speaks French

 

Writing Prompt: Write a scene that is either completely adorable or completely toxic, depending on how you feel about the person

 

​

3.14 - The Bracket

 

Episode Summary: A mysterious woman is sabotaging Barney's attempts to hook up with other women, forcing him to use a tournament bracket to narrow down a group of 64 women who have a reason to hate him.

 

This Week P Stands For:  POV

 

Stuff to Track: Karma, Britney Spears is back, Ted Mosby is a Jerk

 

Writing Prompt: Write about your antagonist from someone else’s point of view, rather than from your protagonist’s

 

​