



When Barney suffers from the world’s worst hangover the morning of his wedding, the gang tries to figure out the far-fetched ingredients to concoct the Stinson Hangover Fixer Elixir.





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Plot

In the beginning we can see The Mother and Ted going to a New Year's Eve party in a limo in 2021. We discover that The Mother wrote a book that, according to Ted, could end poverty in our time. When Ted wants to "go big tonight", The Mother says that he is going to be hungover the next day. In response to that, Ted mentions the vow he took the day of Barney and Robin's wedding.

After that, the show flashes back to the day of the wedding and we see the gang trying to fight Barney's hangover to make it to the family wedding pictures since the time is 8:00 am (10 hours until the wedding) and they start at 10. Ted suggests the Weekend at Barney's play, but Robin is against it. But they then remember that Barney makes the Stinson's Hangover Fixer Elixir that can cure any hangover, but can't figure out what the secret ingredient is.

Seeing how miserable Barney is, Marshall vows not to get that drunk again as sure as he is never going to lose his hair. We can immediately see a flashforward to the day he broke his vow. We see him competing with Brad Morris to the New York State Supreme Court in 2020. Brad has a lead over Marshall. We also find out that in the very stressful three weeks of the campaign Marshall lost his hair. Four hours later, Marshall wins the election, but by that point he has become very drunk, reacting to the news with: "Come again for Judge Fudge?" and telling the reporters how proud he is to be the next commissioner of Gotham City.

Back on the day of the wedding, Ted and Marshall pick up the ingredients for Stinson's Hangover Fixer Elixir which is shown to have helped the gang in their hangovers. Meanwhile, Robin and Lily try to wake Barney up to find out the secret ingredient of the elixir. Lily and Robin accidentally throw Barney down the stairs. When that doesn't wake him up, Robin decides to use some of her father's methods for waking her up to school: she puts his head in a bowl of ice-cold water, tries to scare him with a footage of a wild bear and threatens to cut his tie.

At that moment Lily vows to never get that drunk again. We can immediately see a flashforward to the day she broke her vow. It was the day Marvin went to college (Wesleyan University). After lecturing him about not drinking under age, she and Marshall go to a nearby bar to get drunk. After a shot, they see Marvin coming into the same bar. Marvin's reaction is: "You son of a bitch" and Lily's reaction is: "You son of a me".

Back on the wedding day, we see Marshall and Ted having picked up almost all of the ingredients for the Stinson's Hangover Fixer Elixir. This list includes ginger, bananas, Funyuns, and Tantrum. The next ingredient is grease which turns out to be hard to obtain in the kitchen because the menu is organic, as told by the chef. The only grease is bacon grease which is thrown out. The chef says that they won't make any more bacon that day unless someone eats the whole prepared bacon before the breakfast is over. Ted expects Marshall to step up to the task because he was able to eat an eight-pound block of fudge in 12 minutes when he got accepted to Columbia (that's how he got the nickname Big Fudge). Ted also states that he is allergic to bacon, but Marshall tells him that his mother was lying to him to get him to eat healthy. After finding that out, Ted eats the whole batch of bacon himself and gets a stomach ache. Future Ted says that it was the first and the last time he ever ate bacon.

Upstairs, Robin vows not to get that drunk again. We can immediately see a flashforward to the day she broke her vow. It is in Argentina in 2016. Barney and Robin wake up on the floor and decide to stay quiet for the rest of the day. At that moment, a baby starts crying. Barney smiles and says that this happens every time, and Robin picks up the baby. After a moment, she realizes that she doesn't know whose baby is it and an Argentinian woman comes into the room and throws Barney and Robin out.

Back on the wedding day, Robin says that there is one thing they haven't tried to wake Barney up. She suggests that Lily and her "make out" which makes Lily very excited. Robin tries to make the moment special for her by acting sexy. She compliments her looks and continually strokes her hair and cheek, then leans in for a passionate kiss. They stop when Barney abruptly wakes up and begs for more action and reveals that the elixir was actually a lie that was supposed to make them all believe that they could rally in the hardest moments. The gang realizes that Barney loves them and they decide to lie to him, telling him that they did Weekend at Barney's for the family pictures, when in reality they had to cancel the photos, and Robin Sr. got so angry he kicked Barney in the his crotch. When Robin and Lily walk up to the bar to get more drinks, Robin says that she felt bad about Ted and Marshall missing it, and suggests that they do it together, tied up. Lily says no, saying that once was enough. Robin then asks Lily where they should do it, to which Lily replies admitting that it felt weird for her and leaves. Robin then implies that she enjoyed the experience and would like to do it again.

At that moment, Ted vows never to get that drunk again. We can then see a flash forward to the New Year's day 2022. The Mother wakes up with a horrible hangover and Ted brings her the Stinson's Hangover Fixer Elixir, reassuring her that it really works. After she takes a few sips, Penny and Luke run into the bedroom and The Mother starts hugging them.

In the last scene, When Robin and Lily walk up to the bar to get more drinks, Robin says that she felt bad about Ted and Marshall missing it, and suggests that they do it again, and this time, tied up. Lily says no, saying that once was enough. Robin then asks Lily where they should do it, to which Lily replies admitting that it felt weird for her and leaves. Robin then implies that she enjoyed the experience and would like to do it again. That leaves Robin feeling "stupid, so stupid...".

Continuity

Future References (Contains Spoilers)

We will learn the context of Barney and Robin's 2016 Argentina flashforward in Last Forever - Part One .

Gallery

For a listing of all images on the wiki tagged as being from this episode, see Category:Rally images.

Memorable Quotes

Robin : Found him! Ted : (Walks and sees Barney with his crotch under a vase and his left leg is hanging on a plant along with a "Do Not Disturb" sign while hugging a fire extinguisher) You know, he looks better than I thought he would. Robin : Rise and shine... Up and at 'em, let's do this... There's a gas leak!... The building's on fire!... Your shoes don't match your belt! (Robin and Ted pull back on impulse but Barney still doesn't wake up) Ted and Robin : Uh-Oh...

Robin : My father's recipe for a Bloody Mary trades out tomato juice for wolf's blood. Marshall : Bloody Mary? Sounds more like a bloody scary.

Narrator : We'll go to Judge Eriksen for a live statement in just a few minutes. Marshall : (Absolutely drunk and slurring) Come again for Judge Fudge?

Lily : Ok. So accidentally throwing Barney down the stairs did not wake him up. Robin : Nor did banging his head on each step as we dragged him back up here.

Lily : What's the secret ingredient in Stinson's hangover fixer elixir? Robin : Come on, stay with us. Barney : The secret ingredient is...Nothing. All : Huh? (With Ted saying: I ate too much bacon} Barney : Stinson's hangover fixer elixir is a lie. That's the secret. (Lies down) Ted : You know, I could use a little lie down myself.

Robin : So Stinson's hangover fixer elixir is a lie? Lily : Why would you lie about that? Ted : Just to mess with us? Like that one jerk in every high school who brings in fake mushrooms just to see who's gullible enough to think they're tripping? Marshall : Damn you, Ollie Gunderson. I knew those shrooms tasted like Sea-Monkeys. Ted : How do you know what Sea-Monkeys taste like? Marshall : My older brothers are not... the best people.

Lily : Okay, here's the plan. Marshall, you and Ted go gather the ingredients we do know. Robin, you wake up Barney long enough to find out the secret ingredient. And I'll race down to the spa to keep my 8:15 mani and pedi. Okay, let's do this! Robin : Bitch? Walk out that door and I tag in Zabka as my maid of honor.

Ted : I finally found "The One" Marshall, and her name is bacon.

Robin : Barney made up the Stinson's Hangover Fixer Elixir so we would all believe that we could rally. I mean, even though it's fake, it-it worked. Like-like Dumbo's feather. Barney : Dum-BRO's feather. (Faints) Robin : A placebo. Barney : Place-BRO. (Faints) Robin : A sugar-pill. Barney : (... can't think of a bro word and faints)

Barney : Stinson's Hangover Fixer Elixir, the most effective post-bender, head's-too-tender ender from here to Denver.

Notes and Trivia

Goofs and Errors

There are aging inconsistencies within the episode and in relation to other episodes. 2022 Ted and The Mother seem not to have aged at all since 2013 and look significantly younger than 2020 Marshall and Lily. Also, 2022 Ted looks younger than 2020 Ted ( How I Met Everyone Else ​) and 2021 Ted ( Garbage Island ). Marshall also said at one point in the episode that he lost his hair when he ran for supreme court judge, at the time Lily looked much older, but when they introduced Marvin to college, Lily looked a lot younger, while Marshall still didn't have a full head of hair.

​) and 2021 Ted ( ). Marshall also said at one point in the episode that he lost his hair when he ran for supreme court judge, at the time Lily looked much older, but when they introduced Marvin to college, Lily looked a lot younger, while Marshall still didn't have a full head of hair. The woman that is supposed to be Argentinean speaks Spanish with a Mexican dialect and uses some words that are not common in Argentina ("Americanos").

Lily says “Once was enough” about her kiss with Robin, but she also kissed her in “Best Prom Ever” in the first season. The first kiss was rather chaste and thus might not really count in her mind (it was initiated by Robin as Lily's "lesbian experience").

Ted tells his kids that their cousin Marvin is 6'7" earlier this season. However, Marvin is shorter than Marshall in the flashforward.

In the episode it is considered Ted's first time eating bacon. However, in the 46 Minutes ​, Mickey makes 2 plates of pancakes and bacon, which are taken by Ted and Barney. Ted could have given them to someone else, as he stated he was allergic and may have passed them off.

​, Mickey makes 2 plates of pancakes and bacon, which are taken by Ted and Barney.

Allusions and Outside References

Music

Just Try - Mason Jennings

Other Notes

How I Met Your Mother - Cleaning House - Deleted Scene

It's the second time that Barney has taken a bad picture, after the one at the end of Say Cheese ​.

​. Barney's elixir's known ingredients include Tantrum soda, bananas, Funyuns, ginger, and grease.

Ted's story about how his mother told him he's allergic to bacon was previously established in a deleted scene from the episode Cleaning House ​. However, in this episode, he says that it is the first and last time he ate bacon, but in the deleted scene it is said that he first ate bacon in college. Just in that moment, both the cook and Marshall break the fourth wall by looking straight to the audience.

​. However, in this episode, he says that it is the first and last time he ate bacon, but in the deleted scene it is said that he first ate bacon in college. In the flashforward to 2016 in Argentina, two of the Spanish-speaking woman's lines are not subtitled: "Give me my daughter!" and "Goodbye!"

Guests

Reception

The episode was viewed by 9.28 million people. [1]

Donna Bowman of the A. V. Club gave the episode an A. She says that the episode “manages to be a fond look back within a stylish final-season package that makes time for almost everything that makes HIMYM great. There are flashbacks, flash-forwards, nested and rhyming structures, in-jokes, even sly misdirection, all in an unrushed but snappy twenty-two minutes. It’s the Russian nesting doll of sitcom episodes.” [2]

gave the episode an A. She says that the episode “manages to be a fond look back within a stylish final-season package that makes time for almost everything that makes HIMYM great. There are flashbacks, flash-forwards, nested and rhyming structures, in-jokes, even sly misdirection, all in an unrushed but snappy twenty-two minutes. It’s the Russian nesting doll of sitcom episodes.” Max Nicholson of IGN gave the episode a 7.5 out of 10. [3]

gave the episode a 7.5 out of 10. The St. Petersburg Comic Review gave this episode 8 out of 10 stars. "...the elixir is a lie..."

References



