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How I Met Your Mother

Shelter Island

Season 4, Episode 5, Aired 10/20/08

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Episode Summary

Deciding to wed in three days, Ted and Stella suddenly see their plans shattered by exes.

8.8

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Cast & Crew

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Josh Radnor

Ted Mosby
Neil Patrick Harris

Barney Stinson
Alyson Hannigan

Lily Aldrin

Fan Episode Reviews (28)

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It's Ted and Stella's wedding day.

9.0

"Superb"

By Jon_MW_14, Aug 22, 2011 Report Abuse

"Shelter Island" is a sad How I Met Your Mother episode. In this episode, Ted and Stella are supposed to get married. But then they make a big deal about inviting exes. Ted invites Robin, but Stella doesn't want Robin to be invited. It was cute how Ted invited Tony to the wedding to prove a point to Stella. But then it was heartbreaking when Stella left Ted for Tony. I give this episode a 9/10.moreless

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1 0
"Your the most romantic guy I know, you stole me a blue french horn, you tried to meake it rain. I did make it rain. It was a coincidence."

6.5

"Fair"

By CIMor11, Aug 05, 2010 Report Abuse

This episode was bitter sweet to me because it was nice how after all the big decisions they all made in the end their lives almost went back to normal. But on the other hand I really wanted Ted to marry Stella. I couldnt believe in the end Stella left Ted right before the wedding to go back with her x. But I would like to see Ted and Robbin's relationship grow and even get back what they once had eventhough Barney want her to. Also im happy to see that Ted doesn't go to New Jersey and hopefully moves back into their old apartment. In the end this episode wasn't my favorite but it was very important to the plot of the series.moreless

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3 12
Complex, bittersweet story with painfully unoriginal jokes.

8.5

"Great"

By sandybadlands, Jul 15, 2010 Report Abuse

This show really hasn't been the same since season two: the characters seem more and more mainstream, and the jokes feel like they could have been written by any sitcom writer from the past 20 years. But at least the stories remain true to the series voice. This episode is a prime example of the thought-provoking sitcom plots I'm used to seeing on this series, and a fitting end to a long plot arc that kind of needed one.

Once again, the jokes in this episode were nothing new, mostly centering around either crazed brides (so unoriginal there's even a humorous term for it in the dictionary) or vegans (again, too easy). It would be nice to see the dialogue play against typical gender roles sometimes, whether we're talking about weddings or meat-eating. However, the story weaved behind this episode's story, capped by the poignant ending, reminded me what I used to love about this series. I hope it keeps going this way.moreless

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3 0
Dare I say a great episode of How I Met Your Mother?

8.0

"Great"

By thefanof, Jun 20, 2010 Report Abuse

I can't believe I'm writing this but How I Met Your Mother really delivered last night with the best episode since pre-strike Season 3. The emotional moments felt really, even if the only time Ted is funny is when he's not supposed to be being funny. I never saw the ending coming, and that's the sign of a well-written episode.

Barney was great here as usual, Lily was kept to a minimum and Daneel Harris as Stella's sister Nora was pretty funny as well. It was clear that How I Met Your Mother is not producing the same quality episodes it once was so the solution, go back to the format it once had. Whether Robin and Ted get back together or not, it will be better than Ted and Stella together.moreless

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1 1
Good but not the best HIMYM Episode

7.5

"Good"

By rickytux22, Jun 20, 2010 Report Abuse

I like episodes with Stella in general. This episode was just okay though, it was not particularly funny, there were funny points but not as quality as usual. I did enjoy the development shown when Ted and Lucy. They bond in a nice little moment after Ted and Stella fight. I like Ted and Stella as a couple and hope that she is the mother, this episode was decent just because it showed the progression of the relationship between them. Marshall also has some good moments revealing his feelings about NY. Robin has some decent moments due to her Metro 1 news job. Overall this episode was good but nothing spectacular seemed like a good filler episode.moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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Trivia
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- When Barney is hatching his plan to get back Robin, one of the posters on his office wall changes. When he is seated at his desk, the poster to the right of the "TEAMWORK" poster shows multiple fighter jets and is entitled "PERFECTION". But when Barney is at the drawing board, the same poster changes to a single fighter jet and is now entitled "AWESOMENESS". Edit
Notes
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- The German episode title is "Unerwünschte Gäste", meaning "Unwelcome Guests". The French and Italian title is "Shelter Island". Edit
- International Airdates: Australia: February 16, 2009 on Network 7; Germany: December 12, 2009 on ProSieben; United Kingdom: January 14, 2010 on E4; Czech Republic: October 28, 2010 on Prima COOL Edit
- Music: "Waiting For An Invitation" by Benji Hughes. Edit
Quotes
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- Ted: Robin and I already had our backslide. It was last Thanksgiving, not even that long ago.
  Stella: Did you make a large bet against yourself in this argument?
  Edit
- Lily: There's no meat.
  Barney: There's no alcohol!
  Marshall: It gets worse. I'm 90% sure that guy you were talking to used to be lead singer of Spin Doctors. Edit
- Nora: I can't believe this. We're together for three years, and he runs off with a vitamin consultant from Whole Foods? I gave up makeup for him. I gave up showering for him. I gave up shaving my armpits for him. Ted: Wow, hard to see where it all went wrong. Edit
Allusions
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- Barney's meticuluous code-cracking montage is very similar to Robert Langdon's code-breaking scenes from Ron Howard's 2006 movie version of Dan Brown's 2003 novel, The Da Vinci Code. Edit