How I Met Your Mother - Episode 6.20 - The Exploding Meatball Sub - Recap

It was nice to be able to turn on my television set to watch a brand new episode of How I Met Your Mother. The episode begins with the irony of Ted designing GNB headquarters as Zoey protested the headquarters, because GNB is going to tear down the Arcadian to do so. Ted feel her and Zoey are making it work, but Barney calls Zoey their archenemy, and Lily and Marshall question how Ted and Zoey can be okay with being on opposite sides of something so important. Ted counters saying that he felt the arguments just help them "grow," and that he and Zoey enjoy challenging each other.

Marshall realizes he has begun to truly hate everything about his job, and that he wants to quit. He was planning to quit the next day, but when he arrived he was hit by what Robin called "graduation goggles," which becomes a theme of the episode. Robin describes graduation goggles by saying "it's four years of bullies, making fun of all the kids with braces, even after the braces come off and they can walk just fine. But then on graduation day you get all misty, because you realize you're never going to see those jerks again." Robin goes on to say she had graduation goggles with Scooby, the guy she dated who was basically a dog. Robin convinces Marshall he's being fooled by graduation goggles, and Marshall decides he is positive he needs to quit. Marshall quits GNB and takes the job at the NRDC that ends up being a non-paying job, because the paid position had already been filled. Barney becomes uneasy with this fact and downright upset.

Ted and Barney are then told that Zoey was able to convince the Landmark Preservation Committee to agree to a hearing, and if they side with Zoey, and declare the hotel a landmark, the project is dead. Lily continues to tell Ted that his disagreements with Zoey aren't as great as he thinks them to be. Marshall then plans a fundraiser for the NRDC at their apartment, and asks Lily to pick someone up from the airport for the fundraiser. She asks Ted to come along convincing him that the man their picking up only knows Spanish, but at the airport Lily reveals she is going a little stir-crazy having to give marshall so much support, and she is taking a vacation in Spain without telling him.

Robin starts to realize how much it bothers Barney that Marshall no longer works at GNB. Forgetting that Robin is in the room, Barney calls Marshall apologizing for being a jerk about him leaving GNB and asks him to lunch. When Marshall says no, Barney freaks out and takes apart his desk. He then tells Robin about the amazing prank he has planned as revenge for Marshall: the exploding meatball sub. One time at work Marshall humiliated Barney by pointing out he had spilled maranera sauce on his tie. Barney then came up with the grand scheme to make Marshall's meatball sub explode and have him get maranera all over himself, but Marshall quite just before Barney could go through with it.

When Ted brings the man to Marshall's apartment for the fundraiser, he is ready to tell Marshall that Lily left, but just as he's about to Lily walks in. Ted plays it cool, but Lily tells Marshall she wants to talk. Marshall cuts her off and thanks her for everything, but says that he plans to search for a paying job, because he doesn't want to put the financial burden entirely on Lily. Zoey then spots Ted and call him over. He asks her why she's there, and she says she wants to support Marshall since it's important to him. Ted gets a bit heated and finally lets Zooey know how he feels about her lack of support for him. She then counters his argument--of course--but Ted then realizes he has to break up with her. As he's deciding this, his graduation googles kick in, and he gives up on the idea.

The final scene of the episode takes place in the future. Barney is at his deathbed and asks Marshall to eat a meatball sub. Marshall is confused, but he takes the sub. It explodes, and Barney laughs revealing that it was all a sham and that he neither sick nor dying. Ted then tells Barney he has some maranera sauce on his pyjamas.