Say Cheese

Season 5, Episode 18, Aired

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7.8
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Lily's furious when Ted brings a date to her birthday dinner, and a review of her photo album shows all the girls Ted's brought to events because he thought they were "the one". Meanwhile, Robin desperately tries to take a bad picture of Barney.moreless
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Fan Episode Reviews (6)

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  • It's Lily's birthday.

    9.0
    "Superb"
    By Jon_MW_14, Aug 30, 2011
    "Say Cheese" is an awesome How I Met Your Mother episode. I love how this episode because it makes a point that you shouldn't bring dates to best friend events. I love Lily in this episode because I feel the same way as her. I love how she looks through an album explaining how Ted has ruined every special event they had as friends by bringing a date. I love how Barney never takes a bad picture. I love how Robin tries to get a bad picture of him and she doesn't succeed until the end of the episode. I give this episode a 9/10.moreless

  • an unnecessary addition

    10
    "Perfect"
    By jinson_cme, Jun 25, 2011
    The episode never really adds on to what they've said time and again. Ted brings home his new girlfriend to Lily's birthday, and Lily does not want her to be part of the group picture. Marshall runs around trying to plan the perfect birthday for Lily while Robin notices how Barney has the same (awesome) pose in every picture.
    Firstly, Lily's apprehensiveness over Ted's new girlfriend's appearance in her birthday photo is not new, and it is understandable. Hence Ted's defending it as though it were a new subject seems off. Moreover, how she could screw the cake up so bad, I'll never know.
    Second, (SPOILER ALERT) Marshall talks of how he's had to talk to all of Ted's girlfriends after he (Ted) broke up with them and be the shoulder they could cry on. It just seemed odd that Ted broke up with so many girls in his apartment when getting rid of them from there would be the obvious hassle, hence men tend to avoid breaking up in their own house.
    Third, What is the point of the whole Robin-Barney photo thing? I don't see how Barney's looking good in photos has anything to do with anything. Moreover, the impossible shots just take away from the reality of the show without adding anything to it. I was unimpressed by that and though they did flesh out Robin's role as the maybe that stayed, I did not much care for it.
    Overall, a dismal performance on a dismal storyline. It has been a while and the mother is almost entirely forgotten. One other thing i can't stand is how Older Ted is saying all this to his kids and they still listen to this without yelling at him to "Bring out the mother, already!'.moreless

  • A nice look at the past girlfriends Ted has had.

    9.0
    "Superb"
    By Canogaparkcindy, Jun 04, 2011
    I thought this episode was enjoyable even though it wasn't eventful. It's Lilly's birthday, and Ted brings a girl, Amanda. Lilly doesn't want Amanda in the picture due to the other girls Ted has had in Lilly's pictures that he soon broke up with. I love how Lilly ridicules Amanda throughout the whole episode, when she's in the other room. We take a gander at the past, and two past girlfriends from past episodes make an appearance. We've got Anne Dudek as Natalie from the third episode of the firsts season, and of course, we have Karen (Laura Prepon): Ted's college girlfriend. While all of this is happening, Robin tries to find a way to take a bad picture of Barney since he says he's never had a bad picture. We learn that Marshall never takes good pictures. Marshall was the only negative in this episode, god he was so annoying. Him & his stupid guitar, and his stupid singing. I wanted to shoot my brains out every time he started talking. I liked how he told off Amanda though, Amanda ends up messing up the cake and calling Lilly: Lori, and mistaking her age for 42 when she was turning 32. All is forgiven by the end, and they take the group picture with Amanda once Lilly remembers that Marshall & Ted took a picture with her when they first met her. So everything is resolved, and Robin gets a bad picture from Barney. Sure nothing important happened, but I enjoyed it and it was funny. Good episode.moreless

  • Haha! I loved the concept of Robin trying to take a bad photo of Barney!

    10
    "Perfect"
    By amazing_race, Mar 20, 2011
    This was a funny episode, and it was without doubt one fo the best ones of this current season. The episode was quite good in a ll aspects, and it certainly awas an interesting episode in every way, in both main storylines.

    I loved Robin trying to atake a bad photot of Barney, and I thought that was really funny. It was also a gtreat way to end off the episode! I loved it!

    Also, Lily's albbum of Ted's 'the one's' was funny, and I really thought they did excellently with that storyline as well!

    Overall, a great episode. I'd highly reocommend it, as it was really funny and the storylines were senstational!moreless

  • It's Lily's 32nd birthday and the gang is getting ready for the annual celebration. Just the five of them. Except Ted shows up with a date which it seems he does quite often based on Lily's tirade. Things go downhill from there.moreless

    7.5
    "Good"
    By jyarter, Nov 04, 2010
    Not the best episode of How I Met Your Mother I have seen. Maybe the worst of the season matter of fact. The premise was cute, but the actual production of the episode was full of very tired and embarrassing moments.

    Unfortunately you could predict the moments that were going to awkward long before they happened and they pretty much went by rote. Ted showing up with a date. Ted not getting the cake Lily wanted. Lily and her walk down memory lane. Marshall trying to stop the negativity.

    Now on the positive side there were some very cute and funny moments. The Midnight tiara, the breakfast in bed guitarist, the fact you couldn't take a bad picture of Barney, Marshall's funny games, and the usual banter between the gang.

    There were just too many negatives to really rate this episode any higher than I did. It was almost painful to watch at times and I wanted to fast forward through some spots. You know you are in trouble when that happens. There's always next week! Thanks for reading...moreless
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  • TRIVIA (1)

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    • In this episode, it is stated that Marshall can never take a good picture. However, in the opening sequence, Marshall is in several pictures, all of them decent. In contrast, it is stated that Barney can never take a bad picture. In the opening credits, however, we can see that he doesn't look perfect in all pictures.

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  • NOTES (2)

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    • The italian episode title is "La foto di gruppo", meaning "Group Photo".

    • International Airdates: Australia: July 22, 2010 on Channel 7; United Kingdom: September 23, 2010 on E4; India: October 27, 2010 on Star World; Czech Republic: January 3, 2011 on Prima COOL; Germany: February 9, 2011 on ProSieben; Slovakia: November 28, 2011 on JOJ Plus

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