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How I Met Your Mother

Brunch

Season 2, Episode 3, Aired Oct 02, 2006

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9.0

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Ted's parents visit New York for their anniversary, and he learns a family secret, while Robin worries that they won't like her. Lily and Marshall try to adjust to the new format of their relationship now that they are no longer together.moreless

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Cast & Crew

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GUEST STAR
Noel True

Waitress

Neil Patrick Harris

Barney Stinson
Josh Radnor

Ted Mosby
Jason Segel

Marshall Eriksen
Cobie Smulders

Robin Scherbatsky
Alyson Hannigan

Lily Aldrin

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Fan Episode Reviews (10)

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The gang reveals three sides of a simple brunch with Ted's parents.

8.5

"Great"

By pudgebyrd722, Apr 30, 2012

In what I think was one of the best episode formats the writers have thrown at us all season or series, we meet Ted's parents for the first time. We get to see the Marshall & Lily side, Ted & Robin side, and Barney side, which all have something to do with the fact that Ted's parents are secretly not married anymore, which obviously upsets Ted in the end when he finally finds out. While Marshall & Lily are mainly competing to make each other jealous, Barney snaps when his new wingman in Ted's dad is caught making out with another girl. Barney assumes he's cheating but when Ted confronts his parents at the memorable brunch, his parents admit they've been separated for quite some time. Kinda sad that Ted had to find everything out this way although the laugh track proved otherwise. However, it was my favorite episode at that point of the young Season 2, making me excited to see more between Ted and his parents and Marshall vs. Lily. They're having sex mighty fast again, so it obviously won't be long again before they start dating.moreless
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The gang and Ted's parents have brunch.

10

"Perfect"

By Jon_MW_14, Aug 16, 2011

"Brunch" is an amazing How I Met Your Mother episode. This is the first episode I saw of How I Met Your Mother. I love the beginning of this episode where a picture is taken of the gang plus Ted's parents and it looks like the perfect pictures but it's not. I love how Ted tells the story of how they got to taking that picture. I love how Ted and Lily try to make each other uncomfortable at brunch. I love how Lily wears tighter clothing while Marshall is flaunting his calves. I love how they go to the bathroom to have sex. I love how Ted introduces Barney to his parents and he thinks Barney's going to be inappropriate but he's super nice to them. I love how Ted's dad becomes Barney's wingman and Barney catches him kissing Wendy, so he takes a picture and shows Ted. I love how Ted warns Robin that his parents may ask her about having children, and then they don't ask her about children. It's so funny how Robin wants Ted's parents to want her to have Ted's children even though she doesn't want children. Anyways, I love how Ted finds out his parents are separated. I give this episode a 10/10.moreless
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Clever.

9.0

"Superb"

By Canogaparkcindy, Oct 11, 2010

A great well executed episode with a lot of twists along the way. Sounds like How I Met your Mother was definitely up to par this week. A great concept that deals with Ted's parents and how it affects the whole gang. I'm liking the Marshall/Lilly development. Them fighting and having a quickie in the bathroom because of Marshall's calves was hysterical. Robin trying to impress Ted's parents was a bit too predictable for my liking, but it definitely developed in to something more serious. First we think Ted's dad is cheating on Ted's mom. Then Robin finds out they're divorced, which definitely makes branch uncomfortable. All the plots tied together perfectly which is what I love about this episode. We find a lot of similarities between Ted's parents & Ted and Robin. Looks like we definitely know they're not going to end up together, and if they stay together, they're just going to end up like Ted's parents which was sad to see but still awesome development. An amazing episode, funny at times, editing was great.moreless
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great episodes in three acts

9.5

"Superb"

By hitzlibutzli, Oct 01, 2009

this episode was told from three different points of view which i found was nice. season one had an episode with similar viewpoints. the one where lilly sat on the wedding cake.
th episode was funny, i liked how they brought marshall and lilly closer together again. lillys thing for his calves was hilarious. i also really laughed at the grandma lines, the parents were great.
what struck me as amazing is how they hinted at ted and robin not being the perfect couple, when the parents told why they got divorced. great way of putting doubts into teds head.
sorry for the spelling, im german :-)moreless
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Great episode, lots of funny lines!

9.5

"Superb"

By WolfgalX, Jul 07, 2009

This episode is more or less divided into parts. The Marshall and Lily part was great, good lines, and their going to the bathroom together was hilarious! I especially loved the way Marshall showed off his calves. The Barney part was amazing, because his attempts to impress Ted's parents were exactly like a potential girlfriend's would be. It's sad that he thinks he has to try to impress his best friend's parents, though. And I loved the way Ted reacted to dicovering his dad was kissing a waitress.

But to me, the best parts were at the brunch. Some particulars:
-Marshall zipping his pants
-The big reveal
-Robin's line after Ted and his parents talk outside
-Where's Grandma?moreless
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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (2)
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- Marshall and Lily argue over who gets the U2 box set after they break up. Actually, at the time this episode aired there had not yet been a physical box set released by U2 for them to have fought over.
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- In this episode Ted points out to Barney that everytime he makes up a statistic he uses 83%. He has used other numbers: the only two times he has made up a statistic during a show were in "Mary the Paralegal," one was one in eight, the other was 75%. Although in his blog, not mentioned in the show, he mentioned that 83% of surveys are accurate.
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QUOTES (8)
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- Virginia Mosby: Oh, Barney. You're just delightful. Barney: No, you're delightful. I'm delighted. And he's just Ted. I'm just making this stuff up. I don't know where they're coming from.
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- Barney: No one is turned on by a man's calves! They're a completely unerotic body part. Marshall: You would say that because of those chicken legs. Barney: I'll be waiting by the phone for your apology.
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- (after having sex in the bathroom) Lily: Really wasn't expecting that to happen. Marshall: Yeah, me neither. That kinda complicates things, doesn't it. Lily: Yeah it does. Why did you have to throw your magnificent calves at me? You know you have a punter's leg. Marshall: Well, why did you have to throw your beautiful boobs at me? You know you have...boobs.
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- Marshall: Are you wearing a push-up bra? Lily: Did you Mystic Tan your calves? Marshall: I withdraw the question.
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- Barney: Robin, I'm his best friend, that's a commitment. You're just his girlfriend. That's like a bad flu, out of your system after a couple of weeks in bed. High five!
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- Barney: But I'm your best friend. Ted: No, actually Marshall is my best— Barney: I'm the most important person in your life Ted: Actually, Robin is the most import— Barney: How could your parents not know about me? I'm delightful!
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- Virginia: Oh, I forgot to tell you. Your cousin Jimmy had a wonderful time at the spa he visited. Ted: You mean that spa the judge ordered him to go to, to quit cocaine? Virigina: Coffee?
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- Lily: I wish your face would melt off. Marshall: I wish your eyeballs would explode. Lily: I hate you! Marshall: I hate you more!
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NOTES (2)
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- The German episode title is "Brunch", the French title is "Le brunch", and the Italian title is "Il brunch".
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- International Airdates: Czech Republic: January 7, 2010 on Prima COOL
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ALLUSIONS (1)
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- Ted: (to Mr. Mosby in akward moment) You think Cerrano has a shot at the RBI title? "Cerrano" is an allusion to Pedro Cerrano, the fictional character played by Dennis Haysbert from the movies Major League (1989), Major League II (1994), and Major League: Back to the Minors (1998). Cerrano was a Cuban defector who was famous for his power hitting, inability to hit a curveball, and Voodoo beliefs. He played right field for the Indains and was one of their best players during the movies. It was stated two episodes before ("Where Were We") that Ted (and most likely his father) is a Cleveland Indians fan. He is also most likely from somewhere in Ohio as his parents clearly don't live in New York and Ted tells a story about being trapped under a rock in a mall in Ohio when he was 7 years old in "Slap Bet".
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