TV.com

How I Met Your Mother

The Platinum Rule

Season 3, Episode 11, Aired Dec 10, 2007

Next
Episode Previous
Episode

Episode Summary

EDIT

8.8

EPISODE RATING: Great

362 votes

Your Rating: 10

"Perfect"
Your Rating: 9.5

"Superb"
Your Rating: 9

"Superb"
Your Rating: 8.5

"Great"
Your Rating: 8

"Great"
Your Rating: 7.5

"Good"
Your Rating: 7

"Good"
Your Rating: 6.5

"Fair"
Your Rating: 6

"Fair"
Your Rating: 5.5

"Mediocre"
Your Rating: 5

"Mediocre"
Your Rating: 4.5

"Poor"
Your Rating: 4

"Poor"
Your Rating: 3.5

"Bad"
Your Rating: 3

"Bad"
Your Rating: 2.5

"Terrible"
Your Rating: 2

"Terrible"
Your Rating: 1.5

"Abysmal"
Your Rating: 1

"Abysmal"

Rate Now!

Ted's upcoming date with his doctor leads the gang to give him their own examples of why dating someone you already see regularly is a bad idea. Marshall and Lily want a couple to be friends with. Barney's last venture endangers the group's hangout.moreless

WRITE A REVIEW FAN RECAP

Cast & Crew

See All EDIT

GUEST STAR
Kristen Schaal

Laura Girard
GUEST STAR
John Sloan

Michael Girard
GUEST STAR
Hayes MacArthur

Curt "The Ironman" Irons

Jason Segel

Marshall Eriksen
Josh Radnor

Ted Mosby
Neil Patrick Harris

Barney Stinson
Alyson Hannigan

Lily Aldrin
Cobie Smulders

Robin Scherbatsky

Watch Online

Fan Episode Reviews (8)

See All

Barney tells the gang about The Platinum Rule

9.5

"Superb"

By Jon_MW_14, Aug 21, 2011

"The Platinum Rule" is a great How I Met Your Mother episode. I love how Ted says that he's getting his tattoo removed and he mentions asking out the doctor and everyone disapproves of it. I love how he uses Marshall and Lily getting too close to a neighbouring couple, Robin dating a fellow news anchor, and himself trying to sleep with Wendy the waitress, as examples of The Platinum Rule. I give this episode a 9.5/10moreless
DO YOU AGREE?
1 0

Flag
Share Hide
A classic episode that lets one realize that real sit-coms are still alive and kicking!

9.8

"Superb"

By njbiograd, Mar 10, 2011

This is a classic episode in the Seinfeld vein of tv comedy. The platinum rule is dead-on and well thought out, with each tenet of the rule flashed on screen in a possible nod to Frasier. This show has been a favorite of mine since it came on, but it has been in a way a take it or leave it show, that I could have survived if they did not renew. This episode changes that passive indifference and reveals "How I Met Your Mother" to be an important part of today's tv diorama. The fallout from this episode is clear: this show is a must-add to your tivo list!moreless
DO YOU AGREE?
0 3

Flag
Share Hide
Barney goes through 'The Platinum Rule' - why you should never date someone you have to see regularly, and the whole crew uses examples from their past to convince Ted not to date the lady removing his tattoo.moreless

9.0

"Superb"

By gotgold, Nov 23, 2010

Easily the strongest episode of this season, comparable in hilarity to 'How I Met Everyone Else'. It seems like when Bays and Thomas try to make a new story to add to the narrative they fall over badly, but when making up stories to fill in the gaps, they are positively brilliant. The writing this season has been of a terrible standard, but it's episodes like these that make HIMYM worth watching.

What I enjoyed most was the fact that Barney was the real driver of the episode - I think Neil Patrick Harris is the only actor out of them with the gravitas to do that. Using the recurring chain of events and the identical reactions of Barney, Robin and Lily and Marshall as a couple was not only incredibly hilarious but very intelligent. From the Barney parts, he was back to his usual chauvinistic, insensitive best in his dealings with Wendy the Waitress. Especially the line, 'she's gullible and I'm bored, we're a perfect match'. The way he dumps her is also pure gold. The way he slapped the burger out of Marshall's hand like it was a bomb going off was a real highlight.

Kurt 'The Iron Man' Irons proved anything but an iron man with his neediness and sensitivity. Robin's line of 'if he was missing teeth I would have already hit that' was a classic. Cobie Smulders better have a good sense of humour, because the amount of Canada bashing on that show is incredible - and perhaps justified too. What the writers really haven't explored are the secondary faux pas that occurs by being married. Buying that house together is probably the only new ground that they've managed to look at with Lily and Marshall as a couple, but it was good to see them go through new territory with 'dating' other couples to do grown-up kind of things. The obsession married couples have with charades is something that really needed to be examined. You usually need to be drunk to enjoy charades. I don't know if this part was added in purposely or slipped in because this was the last episode for a while, but the line from Ted 'that was it with Stacey - for now' maybe hinting at something else in the future. The writers have stopped trying to drop Barney and Robin hints, and maybe they're focusing back on the actual plot of the series - finding the mother.

The best part of the episode for me is seeing the dichotomy between Barney and Ted. Barney with all his rules, and how he thinks he has life worked out as opposed to Ted who believes in romantic ideals such as fate and random chance. Even though Barney is so outrageous, he is probably far more representative of everyone else in his attitude to life, and Ted is a real dreamer, who lives his life hoping to find the right woman. The writers hadn't explored enough of that this season, possibly because they thought they were on a roll from last season and tried to keep it going. But what made the first season strong amongst its weak episodes was the continual storyline of Ted looking for love, and his hopeless romanticism. If HIMYM doesn't want to be canceled, it needs to re-examine this in the post-Robin context and I'm sure they can get some stronger episodes out.moreless
DO YOU AGREE?
1 2

Flag
Share Hide
Fantastic episode!

9.2

"Superb"

By nofeartina, Nov 23, 2010

This episode was fantastic, as everything worked in it! :) The time-switches where the friends uses examples from different mistakes to convince Ted that dating the doctor is a really bad idear was hilarious. You would think they would learn from eachother's mistakes, but apparently not... :)
Barney is just hilarious with all his rules, and this one really topped the cake. Imagine having an 8 step-rule for dating someone that you have to see every day... :) Somehow I wonder, if you put all the things together that has happened to Robin on the air, it's surprising she's still on television... ;)moreless
DO YOU AGREE?
1 1

Flag
Share Hide
Enjoyable format.

8.5

"Great"

By Canogaparkcindy, May 01, 2010

We didn't have to see this episode to know about the platinum rule. It's obvious not to get involved with people you see every day. Ted tries to go against all odds in this episode. Barney, Lilly, Marshall & Robin say otherwise and share their past experiences with the platinum rule. Barney briefly dated Wendy, the waitress and almost ruined the bar for everyone. Lilly & Marshall started "playing charades" with their new neighbors and become very attached only to find out they're crazy. Robin gets involved with an anchor from her work with some consequences. They all share their experiences hoping that Ted doesn't walk out the door to meet with his dermatologist who will be removing his tattoo (201). Who he has to see for 10 sessions, by the end he goes on the date anyway, and it turns out it wasn't a date, it's against the law to get involved with you're doctor. It's not just the platinum law. It was an an enjoyable format, but other than that: I didn't get that much laughs. I'm interested to see more of Stella since Future Ted said, that's enough of Stella "for now". So excited for the episodes to come.moreless
DO YOU AGREE?
0 0

Flag
Share Hide

WRITE A REVIEW

Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

See All

FILTER BY TYPE

TRIVIA (2)
ADD TRIVIA
- During a flashback scene from 2005, Barney uses his iPhone, which was not released until 2007.
  EDIT SHARE
- When Lily and Marshall try to sneak out of the house and almost get caught by Laura and Michael (the new neighbors) they run back to the apartment just by opening the door without using any key, but when Ted shows up a few seconds later he is not able to open the door because he forgot his keys.
  EDIT SHARE
QUOTES (12)
ADD QUOTES
- Marshall: God, we are such idiots! Barney: Yeah. Lily: Every time we step out the door they're out there waiting for us! Sometimes we send Ted out as a scout, nobody's out there. We go out a second later, there they are! Marshall: It's freaking supernatural. Are they ghosts? Can only we see them?
  EDIT SHARE
- Barney: What rule is there that I can't date a waitress at my favorite bar? Lily: I don't know, I'd expect you to have one. Robin: Yeah, with a catchy name.
  EDIT SHARE
- Lily: We're not gonna date them, we're just gonna be friends with them. Barney: That's the couple's version of dating. Robin: And you've got the couples version of the hots for them. You wanna have brunch with them, you wanna go to Pottery Barn with them, you wanna go antiquing with them, don't you? Oh, yeah, you wanna antique the crap out of them.
  EDIT SHARE
- Ted: This is New York City. We don't talk to the neighbors: we say hello as we pass them in the hall; we call the police when we haven't seen them for a while, and there's a weird smell coming from their apartment; and that's it.
  EDIT SHARE
- Barney: Put a bell around my neck, and scratch my belly, kids, for I am just a docile house cat now. Meow.
  EDIT SHARE
- (In 2005) Barney: (on dating Wendy the Waitress) Yeah, well... I think it'll be okay. (Flash forward to 2006) Barney: And it was a huge mistake. Marshall: (on befriending the neighbors) Yeah, well... I think it'll be okay. (Flash forward to 2007) Lily: And it was a huge mistake. Robin: (on dating a co-worker) Yeah, well... I think it'll be okay. (Flash forward to 2008) Robin: And it was a huge mistake. Ted: (on dating his dermatologist) Yeah, well... I think it'll be okay.
  EDIT SHARE
- Ted: Yeah, I don't have for time for this. I'm out the door as soon as I'm finished with my hair. Barney: Good, then we have a solid half hour.
  EDIT SHARE
- Barney: (to Ted) Dude, don't poop where you eat!
  EDIT SHARE
- Barney: Ted, look at the facts. I dump her, and she says, "no hard feelings." She's a psycho, what other explanation is there?!
  EDIT SHARE
- Robin: We can split a cab to work together, we always have a standing lunch date, and last night, at the hockey game, Curt got us into the locker room and I met Mason Raymond. (gang looks clueless) Left wing for the Vancouver Canucks! Barney: What's the opposite of name-dropping?
  EDIT SHARE
- Barney: (on Wendy) She's gullible, I'm bored. We're perfect for each other.
  EDIT SHARE
- Ted: (flashes his tramp-stamp) Say goodbye, kids, 'cause it won't be around much longer. Lily: Oh, but Ted, if you get rid of the butterfly how's everyone gonna know you're a stripper from Reno with daddy issues?
  EDIT SHARE
NOTES (2)
ADD NOTES
- The German episode title is "Die Platin-Regel", and the Italian title is "La regola di platino", both exact translations. The French title is "Pas d'exception à la règle", meaning "No Exception to the Rule".
  EDIT SHARE
- International Airdates: Australia: May 22, 2008 on Network 7; Czech Republic: October 5, 2010 on Prima COOL
  EDIT SHARE
ALLUSIONS (0)
ADD ALLUSIONS
- ADD ALLUSIONS from this episode.