10 Worst ‘How I Met Your Mother’ Episodes, Ranked
One of the defining titles of sitcom entertainment through the late 2000s and early 2010s, How I Met Your Mother is famous for its irreverent sense of fun, its referential gags, and its uncanny nature to pack an emotional wallop. Told through narrated flashbacks as Ted Mosby (Josh Radnor) recounts the elaborate story to his children of how he met their mother, the series focuses on the experiences of him and his friends as they navigate life in New York City.
While the series is full of excellent episodes that highlight its heart and humor, it also includes a number of missteps that were difficult to watch and are almost impossible to revisit. Interestingly, while many series find weaknesses in early-season blunders, almost all of How I Met Your Mother’s weakest episodes come in the latter half of its tenure. From the misguided to the mundane, and even to the morose and moronic, these 10 episodes represent the worst of HIMYM.
10
“The Time Travelers”
Season 8, Episode 20 (2013)
How I Met Your Mother was always eager to experiment. This appetite for new and unusual ideas is one of the show’s great strengths at large. However, it erred drastically with the Season 8 episode, “The Time Travelers.” With Ted and Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) at odds concerning whether they should attend “Wrestlers vs. Robots,” the duo are visited by versions of their future selves to guide them through the decision. Meanwhile, Marshall’s (Jason Segel) invention of a new cocktail leads to conflict with Robin (Cobie Smulders), who may have pioneered the drink first.
For all the episode’s daring, it is ultimately undone by its erratic plotting, its lack of relevance to the series’ overarching story, and its uncharacteristic lack of good humor. However, despite these striking pitfalls, the episode does end on a beautifully bittersweet note as Ted realizes he has been left behind by his friends while the narration reflects on his love for the future mother of his children and the yearning to have spent more time with her when he had the chance.
9
“Hooked”
Season 5, Episode 16 (2010)
Part of the beauty of HIMYM is how it is willing to give its characters a lot of leeway, enabling the series to embrace and explore their flaws while still depicting them as lovable characters. Some episodes, however, do stray too far and suffer because of this. Season 5’s “Hooked” is a prime example. While Ted is often led to absurdity through his pursuits as a hopeless romantic, his decision to persist with Tiffany (played by Carrie Underwood) even though he knows she is stringing him along is utterly ridiculous.
Making matters worse, the advice he gets from the gang is not only unhelpful and even harmful at times, but wildly inconsistent as well. The fact that the episode doesn’t come to any meaningful conclusion, nor address the toxicity of its focal relationship, just makes for a frustrating and ultimately wasteful installment that misses out on what could have been a worthwhile analysis of one-sided and manipulative relationships.
8
“Knight Vision”
Season 9, Episode 6 (2013)
Unfortunately, the final season of How I Met Your Mother is one that contains several of the series’ weakest episodes. “Knight Vision” isn’t altogether bad, per se, but it is a monotonous slog that fails to reach any meaningful conclusion. It sees Ted’s efforts to hook-up with someone at Barney and Robin’s wedding lead to him being saddled with Cassie (Anna Camp), who becomes a dependent and distraught mess as her life unravels through a series of revelations. Meanwhile, Barney and Robin find their wedding jeopardized when Lily (Allison Hannigan) exposes how the couple actually met, leading to the minister’s refusal to convene the ceremony.
While Barney and Robin’s experiences present some solid moments, Ted’s story is flat and uninspired. No new discoveries come from his ill-fated union with Cassie, and the journey of his aspirations of having sex ending in dismay are nothing new. While there is a nice touch with the idea that it all worked out given his lack of success with Cassie ultimately led to his romance with the Mother, “Knight Vision” is a listless and inconsequential entry to the series.
7
“The Wedding Bride”
Season 5, Episode 23 (2010)
No good deed goes unpunished, it would seem, a notion cruelly explored in the woefully misguided Season 5 episode, “The Wedding Bride.” While Ted is prone to wearing ridicule and humiliation for many of his ill-advised romantic pursuits—often not undeservingly so—the punishment heaped upon him by Stella (Sarah Chalke) and Tony (Jason Jones) is not only venomous and petty, but also quite illegal.
The episode transpires as the release of a new movie—one made by Tony that demonizes Stella’s past romance with Ted and depicts him as a corrupt jerk—devastates Ted’s life as the fan hysteria surrounding it ensnares not only the gang, but Ted’s new girlfriend, Royce (Judy Greer). Many HIMYM fans consider it a rage-inducing injustice to Ted’s character and a horrendous exploration of the theme of relationship baggage that is difficult to revisit.
6
“Who Wants to be a Godparent?”
Season 8, Episode 4 (2012)
Through the series, HIMYM has incorporated many different plot structures to maintain a sense of freshness and energetic spontaneity. The use of a games show-style outline in “Who Wants to be a Godparent?” is notable as a wild deviation from the set formula that is confounding more so than comedic. Following a near-death experience, new parents Lily and Marshall are determined to find the ideal legal guardian for their baby. In a bid to find the perfect candidate, they hold a series of parenting challenges that fast becomes an intense competition between Ted, Barney, and Robin.
While the basic idea for the episode has a certain appeal, it never rises to be anything more than a shallow gimmick full of forced gags that ultimately feels contrived and lazy. There is also a point to be made that Barney and Robin—whose relationship is partially built on their shared reluctance to have children—should not be so invested in the focal competition. The end result is an unenthusiastic episode that is almost entirely unfunny and feels completely out of place with the rest of the series and its characters.
5
“Zoo or False”
Season 5, Episode 19 (2010)
Perhaps more recognizable to fans as ‘the episode where Marshall gets mugged by a monkey,’ “Zoo or False” is a bewildering display of absurdity and slapstick that doesn’t do either comedic pursuit any good. Marshall confides to the gang that he was mugged in Central Park, leading Lily to apply for a gun licence. Horrified at the thought of Lily wielding firearms, Marshall tells her the story was all to hide the fact that his wallet was actually swiped by a monkey in the Central Park Zoo. As his conflicting stories escalate, Marshall finds himself under enormous pressure when he agrees to be interviewed by Robin on television.
The episode’s forays into slapstick comedy are neither zany enough to inspire laughs through wacky, creative abundance nor clever enough to charm viewers into fits of laughter. Meanwhile, Marshall’s monkey business buys neither hysterics nor intrigue. It ends up being a forced premise that makes it impossible for the cast to perform natural reactions yet doesn’t commit to its absurdity enough to enable them to go all out on the bizarre qualities of the episode.
4
“The Burning Beekeeper”
Season 7, Episode 15 (2012)
Another lively idea that fell flat on its face, “The Burning Beekeeper” is an admirable attempt to spin the multi-layered intrigue of Rashomon into a story of Marshall and Lily’s housewarming party. The episode sees Ted narrating events that transpire simultaneously in different rooms over the course of five minutes. Marshall feels he is overworked, Lily fears the housewarming party is a disaster, Barney sweet-talks an erratic woman, and Robin and Ted’s feud sees both of them acting strangely. It all culminates with a man in a beekeeper suit running through the house on fire.
Though the premise is enticing, the execution leaves plenty to be desired. It doesn’t capitalize on the intrigue of the handover moments between characters and rooms in the five-minute window, and it fails to marry everything together in a tidy fashion, resulting in an episode that is convoluted, clunky, and bereft of comedic punch. On a Reddit Ask Me Anything, series co-creator Carter Bays stated that “The Burning Beekeeper” was the episode he most regretted, and wished the production had more time to bring the creative vision to fruition.
3
“Slapsgiving 3: Slappapointment in Slapmarra”
Season 9, Episode 14 (2014)
Fans who adore the Asian Kung-Fu movies of the 1970s may have had the time of their lives watching “Slapsgiving 3: Slappapointment in Slapmarra.” Few others would be able to share in their elation. Playing on the series’ long-running slap-bet gag, the episode sees Marshall reflecting on his mythic journey to learn how to perform the ‘Slap of a Million Exploding Suns’ as he prepares to deliver a devastating slap to Barney.
The episode’s enthusiastic incorporation of Asian stereotypes and its references to the martial arts B-movies of yesteryear saw the series besieged by accusations of racism, leading to #HowIMetYourRacism trending on Twitter and a swift clarification of what the episode was intended to be, along with an apology from co-creator Carter Bays. The hysteria of the fallout was perhaps overly aggressive in hindsight, but that doesn’t mean the episode is any less flawed. It should have been more careful with its basis, but it should also have been more connected to the overall plot of Season 9 and the looming union of Ted and the mother.
2
“Last Forever: Part Two”
Season 9, Episode 24 (2014)
It is no coincidence that many of the worst HIMYM episodes are ones that betrayed the tone of the series and the traits of its characters in some way. In many ways, “Last Forever: Part Two” is the most egregious episode in this regard, and it is understandable why so many view it to be not only the worst episode in the series, but one of the worst TV series finales of all time.
Having told his children how he met their mother, Tracy (Cristin Miloti), and with the series revealing that he has been telling them these stories because she has recently passed away, Ted is suddenly spurned on by his kids to go and be with Robin as they realize his stories were really all about his feelings for her. It is cheap and unbecoming, actively undermining the development of both Ted and Robin and delivering a meek final twist where the series should have been bold and assertive.
1
“Bedtime Stories”
Season 9, Episode 11 (2014)
Another nothing episode in the final season, and another experimental premise that doesn’t land like it should have, “Bedtime Stories” is the most painful and cringeworthy episode that How I Met Your Mother ever produced. Stuck in traffic on a bus en route to Barney and Robin’s wedding, Marshall decides to come up with three nursery rhymes to help young Marvin get to sleep. His stories cover a possibly romantic rendezvous between Ted and a co-worker, Robin’s theft of a former spouse’s wedding cake in a fit of heartbreak and rage, and Barney’s brethren of city-side sleazebags and their bizarre society.
The rhyming gimmick of Marshall’s narration does not work in the slightest despite the creative feat of the writing team, while each of the individual stories he focuses on fail to live up to be of any relevance to what was the final season of the show. While some Season 9 episodes indicated the season’s 24-episode run may have been excessive, “Bedtime Stories” is the one that feels most like a lazy and strenuous filler episode. Frankly, How I Met Your Mother would be better off had it never aired.
