Desperation Day

Season 6, Episode 16, Aired

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8.3
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Barney names February 13th "Desperation Day" in honor of desperately lonely women. Meanwhile, Marshall is surprised by a visit from Lily, Ted and Zoey work through their feelings for one another, and Robin gets together with her girlfriends.
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Fan Episode Reviews (5)

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  • Future Ted tells the story about meeting Wendy the Waitress in an airport in 2021.

    8.5
    "Great"
    By Jon_MW_14, Sep 05, 2011
    "Garbage Island" is a great How I Met Your Mother episode. I think it's cool how Future Ted tells a story about meeting Wendy the Waitress in an airport 2021 which leads to the story of how she and Meeker got together. I love how Marshall got all environmental in this episode and got Meeker fired. Then Meeker meets Wendy and it's a happy ending for them. I love how Robin tricks Barney into admitting that he has feelings for Nora. I find the whole The Captain/Zoey/Ted thing to be entertaining. I give this episode a 8.5/10.moreless

  • 616

    6.7
    "Fair"
    By Canogaparkcindy, Jun 16, 2011
    Kind of a throw away episode for me, some of the jokes here really weren't all that great, and the show seemed to have regressed with this episode entirely. The only upside was Zoey & Ted getting together in the end which kind of was the same ending as the last episode, but I'm glad that Marshall finally dealt with his father's death.

    Some jokes just didn't fly, like the pillow replacing Marshall, or the predator bit, but it was still an entertaining episode overall. I liked that Barney's character has been developing especially with having a "date" on Valentine's. Fair episode overall.moreless

  • Desperately average...

    5.0
    "Mediocre"
    By AjMc91, Jun 11, 2011
    Nothing really happened in this episode of How I Met Your Mother. Or, no rather nothing funny happened. It seemed somewhat like the writers weren't trying to be funny at all this episode and so if you ignore that aspect of the show, this episode wasn't entirely bad. There was some story progression I suppose, although what happened didn't need to take an entire episode at all. This could have been 5 minutes scattered throughout an episode in which much funnier and more significant things happen. Ted and Zoe(y) have gone from not even being aware that they are in love, to in a serious relationship in about 4 seconds, Marshall admits to himself that he isn't dealing with his Dad's death as well as he would like (and this was probably the better part of the episode, reminding you that, despite the silly nature of most of the show, these people are, in fact, people) and Barney sort of likes a girl. Whether or not this girl Barney likes is going to return and thus making this episode the beginning of a more significant story is not established, so as for now, that might be not all that important or particularly interesting (given that he has done the entire love/not being such a womaniser thing all before). In reflection I guess this wasn't the worst thing you're going to look at over some 20 minute period of your life. If you've been in it from the get go and you are invested in these characters, you'll probably take something away from "Desperation Day", but as a one time view, this is one of the least funny episodes that I've seen in a while. That said it has at least added to the slightly more serious (we're not children anymore/the whole point of the episode) nature of the more recent parts of the series, and might lead to more significant character arcs as time progresses.moreless

  • Nicely done "tribute" to Valentine's Day

    8.5
    "Great"
    By bobfrapples8, Mar 31, 2011
    I thought this episode opened with a bang after the Ted and Zoey first kiss. The banter at the bar followed by the ancient Rome skit were great. Barney as his invented St. Desperatius delivered the goods with the Roman numeral puns -- Her body is an X(10) followed by St. Valentine(Ted) saying, "High V(5)". Corny I know but Barney always pulls it off. We learn that Marshall has been in Minnesota grieving the loss of his father under the pretense that he is helping his mother. This is not the case and Lilly comes to see him. Not much comes from this segment. Then we get to the best part of the episode with Barney doing the "predator stalking" of the women on Desperation Day which leads to the pursuit of Nora. She is not easily influenced by his charms and Robin becomes the ultimate bro when she sets Nora and Barney up for an evening of his favorite hobby--laser tag.

    Back to Ted and Zoey. Feels like too much, too fast, too soon.moreless

  • I expected more.

    9.0
    "Superb"
    By amazing_race, Mar 31, 2011
    This was a Valentine's Day episode, and when you consider a program which has a character like Barney Stinson on it, Valentine's SDya is certainly an exciting prospect!

    The term'Desperation Day' referred to the day befroe Valentine's Day - I enjoyed Barney's ancient Roman explanation on what Desperation Day is, and that was very funny!

    However, the episode went downhill from that point forth. It was not very interesting as the episode eventuated, and I didn't enjoy the whole scene with Robin and her female freinds. It was not enjoyable at all.

    As fo r Marshall, I hopef that he won't disapper again, because it wasn't interesting with a character in another city. Glad to have everyone back in New York City.moreless
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  • TRIVIA (1)

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    • When Lily was lying on the couch at the end of this episode, main entrance to her apartment was behind her head. When Marshall came in to the living room he came from the kitchen direction, without his jacket and with glass of wine and there was no possibility that Lily didn't see him before, but she was surprised to see him.

  • QUOTES (2)

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    • Barney: Every woman wants a date on Valentine's Day. That neediness reaches its climax— what up—on February 13th, a magical night when a ten has the self-esteem of a four and the depraved enthusiasm of a two.

    • Barney: Weddings were forbidden under ancient Roman law, so St. Valentine performed them in secret, under threat of death. Ted: That's actually true. Barney: Wait, there's more. Ted: This won't be.

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  • ALLUSIONS (1)

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    • Barney's 'hot girl vision' and accompanying guttural noises are a play on the infrared vision and noises of the title hunter in John McTiernan's 1987 film Predator, which is also the film that Marshall and Lily watch as their Valentine's Day tradition.

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