Life Among the Gorillas

Season 1, Episode 17, Aired
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Episode Summary

Marshall interns at the corporation where Barney works and finds that he is becoming a shallow jerk as he tries to fit in with his Barney-like coworkers. Meanwhile, Ted feels guilty when he receives several gifts from Victoria while he hasn't sent her anything.
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Fan Episode Reviews (13)

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  • Marshall tries to fit in at the workplace.

    8.5
    "Great"
    By Jon_MW_14, Aug 16, 2011 Report Abuse
    "Life Among the Gorillas" is a great How I Met Your Mother episode. Marshall's plot is so cute. I love how he hates his job because he can't fit in with the rest of the guys at his new workplace. It was so cute how he tried to change to fit in, but Lily doesn't like that. I love how he went back to his normal self and sang karaoke with Lily at the end of th episode. I love the cliffhanger ending with Victoria emails Ted saying they need to talk and so Ted's expecting a phone call from Victoria. I give this episode a 8.5/10.moreless

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    1 0

  • Victoria & Ted continue their long distance relationship.

    8.5
    "Great"
    By Canogaparkcindy, Apr 18, 2010 Report Abuse
    A good episode, with a GREAT cliffhanger. Victoria & Ted continue their long distance relationship, which seems like a bit of a waste since we already know it's not going to work out, thanks to Bob Saget for ruining it for us in the last episode. Robin helps Ted out through the whole episode with his tribulations with Vicotira. Victoria sends him a letter, he assumes she's going to break up with him, so he just waits for the phone to ring, for her to call. Meanwhile Marshall tries to fit in with his new co-workers once he starts working at Barney's corporation. He has to act like them in order to win them over, which is upsetting Lilly since it's changing Marshall dramatically. Everything is pretty much resolved in the end though. Lilly & Marshall talking about "the package" was absolutely hilarious. Them singing together at the end was a good end to their plot. By itself this episode was just okay, but then something happened: As Ted was waiting for a call from Victoria, he gets a call... from Robin. She asks if he wants to come over at 2 in the morning. What does he do according to Bob Saget: "Go". So a pretty big cliffhanger, and definitely a lot of development in their relationship. HIMYM continues to get more interesting. The cliffhanger brought the rating for this episode way up. Good episode, great cliffhanger.moreless

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  • How many cupcakes did Ted eat in this episode?

    8.2
    "Great"
    By Johnny2544, Mar 08, 2007 Report Abuse
    Ted eats a severely high number of cupcakes in this episode, but that is not what makes this episode so great. The aspects that stand out here are the solid acting and writing. The actors seem to know their characters very well and know what works with them. Marshall working at Barney's work is a great storyline and causes for a lot of laughs. The way Marshall receives peer-pressure from his co-workers is pretty funny. This episode may very well make the phrase "steak sauce" famous. The Ted story where he thinks Victoria may break up with him is not great initially, bit once Robin gets involved it gets very interesting. This episode ends with a 'to be continued' type moment which keeps you wanting more. Recommended.moreless

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  • This show just gets more and more interesting.

    9.5
    "Superb"
    By xmano9, Mar 30, 2006 Report Abuse
    Barney gets Marshall and internship where he works, and Marshall soon discovers that he is working with a bunch of morons. I order to get acceptance he too starts acting like them and eventually offends Lilly when he starts acting like his co-workers at home. When he discovers what he has become he quickly realizes that his action are hurting his fiance and that he must change. So he goes up on stage at a local karaoke bar and starts to sing his and Lilly's favorite song even though his co-workers found that to be very lame he decides Lilly is more important then social importance. Ted continues to receive gifts from Victoria and feels like a total pig because he has not done the same for her. Ted also realized that this whole long distance thing was not such a good idea.moreless

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  • I love this show. Also, what does barney do?

    10
    "Perfect"
    By ishboo39, Mar 30, 2006 Report Abuse
    I cannot get enough of this show! I base my self-esteem of the week on whether it is a re-run ar new installment of this show. I don't know why but this show just sucks you into it and I think it will be around for a while. The next time you see a tennis ball, wonder "What does Barney do!!!"

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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  • Trivia

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    • When Marshall looks in the mirror, his guilt makes him imagine his reflection as a gorilla. The shots alternate between the imaginary gorilla reflection and the real Marshall standing in front of the mirror. However, you can clearly see that someone had to stand in front of the mirror wearing a gorilla mask to give off the reflection. Edit
    • At the karaoke bar, we see a shot of Lily closing the karaoke song book and placing it on the table. In the next shot of Barney and Marshall's coworkers, we can see in the corner Lily again closing the karaoke song book and placing it on the table. Edit

  • Notes

    ADD NOTES
    • The German episode title is "Leben unter Gorillas", and the French title is "La Vie parmi les gorilles", both exact translations. The Italian title is "Insieme ai gorilla", meaning "With the Gorilla". Edit
    • International Airdates: Czech Republic: December 24, 2009 on Prima COOL Edit
    • Jason Segel originally tried to incorporate a Big Foot walk into a shot in "Okay Awesome." While the walk was not used in that episode, it is used in this episode when Marshall first arrives at Barney's office. Edit

  • Quotes

    ADD QUOTES
    • Barney (to Marshall): Look at you. You suited in an unmistakably upward direction. Edit
    • Barney: Marshall, I should feel tremors of psych-itude rock my body like a seizure. That was like a declawed, pregnant cat on a porch swing idly swatting at a fly on a lazy Sunday afternoon. Marshall: Wow, that was really specific. Edit
    • Barney: (To Marshall) You're different. Now I suppose you could learn to love yourself for the unique little snowflake you are or you could change your entire personality – which is just so much easier! Edit

  • Allusions

    ADD ALLUSIONS
    • The professor in the beginning with young Marshall, resembles Sigourney Weaver, who played Dian Fossey in Gorillas in the Mist, who spent time with gorillas in the wild to study their way of life. Edit

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