Things I Never Noticed While Watching How I Met Your Mother

We all have that TV show we will never get tired of and is forever our favorite. For me, that is How I Met Your Mother. This TV show follows the story of Ted Mosby as he tells his two kids the long story of how he met their mother (this lasts for nine seasons). While Ted is telling the story, we as an audience see the highs and lows he goes through with his friends during their 20s. This show has everything from romance to heartbreak to laughter to loss to triumphs and defeats. In this article, I will explain the little details I’ve noticed in How I Met Your Mother as I rewatch it. Note: spoilers ahead! 

1. The Countdown to the Death of Marshall’s Dad

    The HIMYM writers have been known to foreshadow certain moments of the show and this one was probably the most genius and heartbreaking of them all. In the episode “Bad News,” Marshall finds out his father Marvin died of a heart attack. Throughout the episode, you see numbers pop up in the background starting at 50 and ending at 1. Rewatching that episode and seeing the countdown made me even sadder than the first time watching it. 

2. Slap Bet for a Rainy Day 

    Throughout the series, Barney and Marshall have been in a slap bet with each other after they found out what Robin’s secret was (that she was a teenage Canadian pop star). The bet is that Marshall gets to slap Barney 5 times and gets to dish them out for as long as he wants. In the episode “Disaster Averted,” Marshall gains more slaps on top of the existing bet. He slaps Barney and says he will save the last one for a rainy day. The last slap is given on the day of Barney and Robin’s wedding which so happens to fall on a rainy day. 

3. Love Story Happening in the Background 

    As Barney and Robin are planning their wedding, Robin proposes that they have the wedding in Canada since that’s where she is from. This spawns the rest of the gang to roast the possibility of having a wedding in Canada. While this drags on, you can see a love story happening in the background (the couple go on a date, guy proposes to girl, girl becomes pregnant, they celebrate their son graduating, wife mourns her husband’s death and then moves on to another man). 

4. The Mother’s Death is Foreshadowed 

    In the first episode of season eight, Ted helps his ex-girlfriend Victoria flee her wedding to her fiance, Klaus. But before they can start their new life together, he has to stop by the Farhampton train station to ask Klaus something. Towards the end of the episode, we hear the song “The Funeral” by Band of Horses come on as the mother is walking up to the Farhampton Train Station under her yellow umbrella as Ted sits and reads a book. 

All seasons of How I Met Your Mother are available on Amazon Prime! I definitely recommend this show! 

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