Definitions

Season 5, Episode 1, Aired
go
Netflix
Subscription
Amazon
Buy
iTunes
Buy
VUDU
Buy

Episode Summary

EDIT
8.0
out of 10
EPISODE RATING: Great
488 votes
  • Your Rating: 10
    "Perfect"
  • Your Rating: 9.5
    "Superb"
  • Your Rating: 9
    "Superb"
  • Your Rating: 8.5
    "Great"
  • Your Rating: 8
    "Great"
  • Your Rating: 7.5
    "Good"
  • Your Rating: 7
    "Good"
  • Your Rating: 6.5
    "Fair"
  • Your Rating: 6
    "Fair"
  • Your Rating: 5.5
    "Mediocre"
  • Your Rating: 5
    "Mediocre"
  • Your Rating: 4.5
    "Poor"
  • Your Rating: 4
    "Poor"
  • Your Rating: 3.5
    "Bad"
  • Your Rating: 3
    "Bad"
  • Your Rating: 2.5
    "Terrible"
  • Your Rating: 2
    "Terrible"
  • Your Rating: 1.5
    "Abysmal"
  • Your Rating: 1
    "Abysmal"
Rate Now!
The rest of the gang uncovers Barney and Robin's clandestine romance. Ted fights his nerves over his impending teaching debut at Columbia.
WRITE A REVIEW FAN RECAP

Cast & Crew

See All EDIT

Watch Online

Netflix
Subscription
Amazon
Buy
iTunes
Buy
VUDU
Buy

Fan Episode Reviews (15)

See All

  • It's Ted's first day as a teacher.

    9.0
    "Superb"
    By Jon_MW_14, Aug 27, 2011
    "Definitions" is a great season premiere of How I Met Your Mother season 5. I love how this season begins with Ted's first day of teaching. I love how Ted is in the wrong classroom and he completely embarrasses himself in front of the class. I love Lily's obsession with defining the relationship. I love how she locks Robin and Barney in a room so they can define their relationship. I love how they fake their definition of their relationship and Lily is satisfied because even though they think they're tricking Lily, Lily knows they secretly meant what they said. Did that make any sense? I give this episode a 9/10.moreless

  • HIMYM is back

    7.0
    "Good"
    By avi01, Feb 15, 2011
    HIMYM was at one time a show I considered as the best sitcom i`ve ever watched along with Friends, I even thought the storytelling was much better than friends. But that was the first 3 season, they were simply brilliant but then came season 4. An average season with still a couple of great episodes but overall inconsistency reigned. The show was no longer fresh, most characters (apart from Barney and probably to an extent Lily) became pretty much annoying and the writing was terrible at times. So I was hoping the show would be back on track. Did it? No but still it was an enjoyable premiere.
    So the Barney-Robin relationship is going to happen. It is interesting and brought some depth into the Barney character last season but to be honest, i have my reserves. While Barney was still good here, didn`t find him awesome. I fear they might change him a little bit too much.
    Ted is not really the funniest character but he was pretty good in here and his scenes were mostly enjoyable.
    Marshall was meh. He used to be my favorite but been pretty dull since season 3 and no, screaming not good enough while whipping won`t help imo.
    Overall, it is a decent start but still the weakest premiere of the show, which is worrying. However there are new interesting angles developed here and if explored well might bring this show on track again. **Fingers cross***moreless

  • Robin and Barney figure out what their relationship status is, while Ted struggles with the kind of prof(f..fe..ff..e?)essor he will be.

    10
    "Perfect"
    By bracara, Oct 12, 2010
    This was such a funny episode, one of my favourites so far. It had me laughing the entire time. Robin and Barney together in a relationship is so perfect in a completely messed up way. They are both horribly afraid of commitment as well as the status of boyfriend and girlfriend that they will always do anything to avoid the inevitable talk which will label them once and for all. Additionally, Ted trying to find out what kind of professor to be was very amusing and entertaining.
    I really loved the way this episode was set up, it was a really good one and definitely a favourite of mine, although it may be because i am a huge fan of barney and robin's "relationship(?)"moreless

  • I really enjoyed this one, and I seem to be the one one (or one of very few at least).

    9.5
    "Superb"
    By amazing_race, Aug 10, 2010
    This episode featured a very interesting storyline, which made it for me, and I absolutely loved Lily breaking the door knob and locking them in there. That was terrific!

    I also thought that the idea of Ted walking into the wrong lecture was hilarious, and I thought that they had executed that flawlessly, especially when he says, if you don't want to be an architect, then leave!

    Robin and Barney together, I think that is great, but I wonder how long it will last.

    Overall, I would recommend the episode fairly highly, but it could have been a little better. It's a worthwhile watch, but not overly spectacular, in my opinion.moreless

  • Ted's first day as a professor.

    8.5
    "Great"
    By Canogaparkcindy, May 03, 2010
    It seems like this show is getting back on track, a solid season opener that was genuinely funny. In this episode, we find out that Barney & Robin have started a relationship without admitting it. Marshall and Lilly urge them to have the talk and define their relationship. They end up being locked in a room together forced to have the talk by Lilly & Marshall. A hilarious situation! And I was excited seeing Barney & Robin together since we waited a whole year for this to happen. It felt relieving in a way. Like "yes finally!" Barney realizes that she might be his girlfriend when Robin gets asked out and he ends up punching the guy that asked her, then he realizes he does all the three things he stated 4 years ago that defines that someone is in a relationship. He avoids those feelings and decides to follow Robin's lead when she says they should lie again. They lie and say they're in a relationship. They don't know they weren't lying. As they were walking on the sidewalk holding hands about to have brunch; it felt so nice. Now that we're back on track with the mother, Ted starts teaching the class where the mother is supposedly in. When he starts teaching the class on the first day, it turns out he has the wrong classroom and he goes one for half an hour on architecture when it was an economics class. Another hilarious situation and Ted taught his real class by the end. A great solid season opener, that opened up a lot of possibilities and arcs for this season. Things seem to be looking up for this show.moreless
WRITE A REVIEW
 

Photos

See All

Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

See All

FILTER BY TYPE

  • TRIVIA (0)

    ADD TRIVIA

  • QUOTES (6)

    ADD QUOTES

    • Lily: We're at the point of physical violence! Now will you please have the talk? Barney: Because of that? I'm always punching my guys. That's my thing. I'll punch a girl; hell, I'll punch a baby.

    • Robin: Look, Barney's awesome. Barney: And Robin's more than awesome. She's awe-some-more. She's even awe-quite-a-lot.

    • Ted: You do realize they were lying, right? Lily: No, Ted. They don't realize they weren't lying.

    • Barney: How do you keep a girl from becoming your girlfriend? Simple! The rules for girls are the same as the rules for gremlins. Ted: Gremlins? Barney: Gremlins. Rule number one: Never get them wet. In other words, don't let her take a shower at your place. Number two: Keep them away from sunlight, i.e. don't ever see them during the day. And rule number three: Never feed them after midnight. Meaning she doesn't sleep over, and you don't have breakfast with her. Ever.

    • Barney: Maybe we should get back to being just friends. Robin: Maybe... but I don't want to stop having sex. Barney: Oh, good, me neither! (he leans on her to kiss her) Robin: Yeah, friends isn't gonna work. Barney: Nope. We're not good at being friends. We're not good at being in a relationship. What are we good at? Robin: I know something we're good at. Barney: I don't know. If we're gonna do it again we're gonna need some Gatorades. Robin: No, not that—lying.

    • Barney: Lily, why can't you just let us be happy? Lily: You're not happy! You just think you're happy because you feel happy. Barney: And that's not happy? Lily: Of course not!

  • NOTES (4)

    ADD NOTES

  • ALLUSIONS (0)

    ADD ALLUSIONS

How I Met Your Mother Forums


Add a Topic See All
Last Activity
Replies

Episode Clips

See All

Watch How I Met Your Mother Full Episodes

See All

Related Shows

Season 5 Episodes

See All
Ep 24
Doppelgangers
Ep 23
The Wedding Bride
Ep 22
Robots Vs. Wrestlers
Ep 21
Twin Beds
Ep 20
Home Wreckers
Ep 19
Zoo or False
Ep 18
Say Cheese
Ep 17
Of Course
Ep 16
Hooked
Ep 15
Rabbit or Duck
Ep 14
The Perfect Week
Ep 13
Jenkins
Ep 12
Girls Vs. Suits
Ep 11
Last Cigarette Ever
Ep 10
The Window
Ep 9
Slapsgiving 2: Revenge of ...
Ep 8
The Playbook
Ep 7
The Rough Patch
Ep 6
Bagpipes
Ep 5
Duel Citizenship
Ep 4
The Sexless Innkeeper
Ep 3
Robin 101
Ep 2
Double Date
Ep 1
Definitions

Contributors

Become a contributor
More
Less

TV Listings

Full Listings
TV.com Properties | Shows | Videos | News | Listings | Forums | People | Photos | TV.com Blog

CBS Entertainment | About TV.com | About CBS Interactive | Jobs | Advertise

© 2012 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy | Ad Choice | Terms of Use