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How I Met Your Mother

Mosbius Designs

Season 4, Episode 20, Aired Apr 13, 2009

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8.6

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Ted goes out on his own as an architect and hires an intern to help get things started, but all he helps himself to is Robin. Meanwhile, news of impending layoffs at GNB has Marshall looking for a schtick to make him indispensible.moreless

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Cast & Crew

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GUEST STAR
Edward Flores

Food Guy
GUEST STAR
Joel Spence

Toy Guy
GUEST STAR
Ryan Sypek

PJ

Josh Radnor

Ted Mosby
Neil Patrick Harris

Barney Stinson
Alyson Hannigan

Lily Aldrin
Jason Segel

Marshall Eriksen
Cobie Smulders

Robin Scherbatsky

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Fan Episode Reviews (13)

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Ted decides to make his own business.

8.0

"Great"

By Jon_MW_14, Aug 26, 2011

"Mosbius Designs" is a great How I Met Your Mother episode. I love the beginning of this episode with Barney telling Lily a joke and she just leaves for 4 weeks. But that's because Alsyon Hannigan was having her baby. It was so cute how Ted wanted to create his own business and hires this guy named PJ. I love how Robin has thing for PJ because he has some authority, but once PJ gets fired, Robin shows no interest in him until he gets hired again. I love how Marshall created a fantasy football league at work. My favourite scene is when his carrying all this money in his briefcase and he's all paranoid. I give this episode a 8/10.moreless
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How a good sitcom became a stupid show with pathetic characters.

2.0

"Terrible"

By goa103, Jul 07, 2011

I stopped watching the show during season 2 but decided to watch this episode because of its entrepreneurship topic. In fact its summary reminded me of the "Ted Mosby : Architect" episode even if I wasn't expecting it to be as funny. The only thing I was afraid of was the usual Marshall dumb arc. To sum things up the episode confirmed I was right in the first place to give up on the show. First the whole Marshall story was as stupid as most of his lines. There's nothing interesting nor funny about him. Second the Ted arc was really disappointing and only a fifteen seconds long scene between him and Robin deserved our attention. At the beginning she said something about procrastination then Ted mentionned how hard it was to actually work freelance and was wondering if he would ever managed to realize his dream. The rest was dead boring and most of the scenes even pathetic. Last but not least I was amazed that the writers managed to turn the beautiful and smart Robin from season 1 into an empty shell. And what about Lily ? We saw her like two seconds and then she just vanished.

Considering how bad this episode was I really wonder why the show hasn't already jumped the shark. It's even sadder when you think of great episodes like "Mary the Paralegal". A few years ago I also remember posting on a forum about how watching it could be seen as a personal development therapy. It used to be so interesting and funny, even creative at times. It seems the writers just gave up on it probably like so many viewers. Enduring its twenty minutes was so painful that I think I will never go back to it, even if the story seems inspiring.

So I strongly recommend newcomers not to waste their time and long time fans to move on because there're far better series out there. What about Being Erica for example ? Its protagonist should help you remember how great our favorite Canadian reporter used to be !moreless
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Ted starts his own firm and hires a new assistant that Robin begins sleeping with. Meanwhile Marshall is fearing being fired as Barney suggests he needs a thing to seem irreplaceablemoreless

8.0

"Great"

By huntercal, Jun 17, 2010

This episode continued in the same vein as the previous episode. It was funny as well as it feels like the show is moving forward again. Definitely not reacing the heights of the previous 3 seasons but really trying to come back to some really funny material.

This week opens with Barney telling Lilly a dirty joke that the other guys profess is only man humour and women would just be offended. When Barney ignores this Lilly is so upset and says they can't be friends anymore. This seems like an out so that Allison Hanigan can go off and have her baby and the crew don't need to make anymore lame attempts to cover up what is a VERY pregnany woman.

The main two arcs of this ep centre around Ted in one and Marshall in the other. Ted finally decides to start his own firm after being fired from his old job, thus Mobias Enterprises is born. He is stalling so that he never actually has to start up the firm but to make things look like they are moving he ires PJ. PJ is a young man that Ted decides to mentor to the great annoyance of Robin as her life is turned upside down by Mobias being based out of the apartment. Soon she becomes turned on by the snooty PJ and begins to sleep with im much to the disgust of Ted and even more so Barney. In the other arc Marshall is afraid that his job is under threat as there are talks of layoffs at GNB. Barney says how hard he works makes no difference, instead he needs to have a thing. Basically the thing is supposed to make everyone love him and therefore refuse to fire him no matter how expendible he is. Marshall decides to become "sports Guy" where he runs a fantasy Baseball League at GNB. This works a treat but he is pressured by all the work it takes to run it as everyone is involved. Marshall needs to find a way to still be sports guy but without the responsibilities.

Both story arc provide good laughs that keep you watching to see where they are going with these stories. The last scene tends to make you believe that as this season goes on inroads will be made into finding out who Ted's wife is. Lets just hope we don't go back to another group of filler eps while Lilly is out of action!moreless
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Classic

9.5

"Superb"

By The-A-Man, Jun 17, 2010

Okay. This episode is a perfect metaphor of the entire show.
Ted, our hated main character has an annoying self-obsessed and worst of all boring storyline. Robin gets dragged into it, and her terrible acting is propped up by her sex appeal and brilliant writers.
Barney has a fantastic run on his own, ably supported by Marshall. Lilly does have minimal input in this one, but that is just on account of her being pregnant.

Stuff that was totally Classic HIMYM:

BARNEY!!!!

"I'm ... wait for it
In ... wait for it
Love ... wait for it
With ... wait for it
A ... wait for it
Certain... wait for it"
"I know you're in love with Robin!"

Barney: "Really? That's so sweet. But let's be clear! I don't love her ... okay? I just ... miss her when she's not around I think about her all the time and I imagine us one day running towards each other in slow motion and I'm wearing a brown suede vest."
Marshall: "You gonna tell her how you feel?"
Barney: "NO!!! Maybe. NEVER! I don't know. (Downs empty glass). I just need to get that PJ idiot away from her. If Lilly were here, she'd know exactly how to get rid of him"
Marshall: "Maybe I can help"
Barney: "Marshall you're no Lilly. Lilly is a diabolical puppet master suddenly manipulating every situation to get exactly what she wants. She's pure Evil, Marshall. You've got a good one. Hang onto her."

Marshall: "(food guy goes past)Hey food guy! (Toy guy roller skates past)Hey toy guy! (ninja sneaks past) Who's that guy?"
Barney: "He doesn't work here. I think we should leave the building."
Marshall: "Really?"
Barney: "Yeah. This has happened before."
(both slowly get up and run away)moreless
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Marshall thinks of ways to retain his job. Ted hires a new assistant.

7.5

"Good"

By sequoa84, Jun 17, 2010

Assistant?again??. Rings a bell doesn't it?

We've had a string of episodes in another CBS show - rules of engagement employ this assistant storyline and now its HIMYM. The second unoriginal part was the 'weird back-rub guy', a character lifted straight off a Scrubs episode. Not that I really care about, but I wonder why the crew tries to hide Lily's baby bump with handbags, sweaters, beer pitchers, and doesn't really bother to do the same thing with Robin.

As said and done, this installment was a huge improvement over the previous episodes. There were some really funny sequences like the "food guy", "toy guy","fantasy guy". These crazy concepts are some typical characteristics of the show that made it funny in the first place. Yes, for most part this was a fun episode. But Ted and Robin still need a few touchdowns in the laughs department.moreless
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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (0)
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QUOTES (7)
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- Marshall: (sees a guy dressed as a ninja) Who's that guy?
  Barney: He doesn't work here. I think we should leave the building.
  Marshall: Really?
  Barney: This has happened before.
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- Barney: You need that thing that makes you a guy.
  Marshall: Oh, I have that thing that makes me a guy. Maybe even a guy and a half.
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- Ted: It's like I'm giving up before I even get started. Robin: You wanna talk about giving up? I used to describe my ideal guy as funny, smart, passionate, challenging. Apparently, now I will settle for in my apartment. Do you ever think you'd have it all figured out by now? Ted: Are you kidding? By thirty, I was supposed to be annoyingly successful, married to the perfect woman, maybe a kid on the way. Instead I'm just a guy sitting in his apartment having a staring contest with his phone—and losing.
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- Ted: What if I don't think of the books? Robin: Excuse me? Ted: There's this famous architecture story about this architect who designed this library. It was perfect. But every year, it would sink a couple inches into the ground. Eventually the building was condemned. He forgot to account for the weight of the books. This company, it's just me. What if I don't think of the books?
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- Barney: Okay, since Lily's not talking to me there's something that I have to tell you, and it isn't easy to say, alright? I'm... wait for it... in... wait for it... love... wait for it... with... wait for it... (sighs) a... wait for it... certain... wait for it— Marshall: (shouting) I know that you're in love with Robin! Lily told me.
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- Barney: Marshall, you're no Lily. Lily is a diabolical puppet-master, surreptitiously manipulating every situation to get exactly what she wants. She is pure evil, Marshall. (pause) You've got a good one; hang onto her.
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- Barney: Let's be clear: I don't love [Robin], okay? I just... miss her when she's not around, think about her all the time, and I imagine us one day running towards each other in slow motion and I'm wearing a brown suede vest.
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NOTES (3)
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- Alyson Hannigan only appears in the opening scene for this episode. The story plot of the gang not seeing her for four weeks because of a dirty joke is to convenience her temporary absence from the show due to maternity leave.
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- The German episode title is "Mosbius Designs". The French title is "L'architecte". The Italian title is "La paura del futuro", meaning "Fear of the Future".
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- International Airdates: Australia: June 1, 2009 on Channel 7; Germany: February 6, 2010 on ProSieben; United Kingdom: April 22, 2010 on E4; Czech Republic: November 24, 2010 on Prima COOL
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ALLUSIONS (3)
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- Ted: "Oh, my God, the call is coming from inside the house!" This is a reference to the 1979 horror movie When A Stranger Calls, in which a babysitter notifies the police about several creepy phone calls she receives, only to find out when the police trace the call, "it's coming from inside the house."
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- Fantasy Guy was wearing black robes with blue lining, the same as the Game Masters from the MMORPG World of Warcraft.
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- One of Marshall's proposed ways to be indispensible in the office is to become "Monty Python Guy," which Barney nixes with, "We are the Knights Who Say You're Fired!" referring to the Knights Who Say Ni, encountered by King Arthur and Sir Bedevere the Wise in Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones' 1975 film, Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
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