- Robin gives romance a second try with an old boyfriend, only to have him break her heart...again.
- Robin is excited about seeing her first boyfriend, Simon, again, he who is coming into town for a visit. In reality, Robin wants to prove that she's done better than him since he dumped her ten years earlier. On paper, she knows she's done better, and even in person it is obvious to Robin's friends that she's done better, as he is just an older, balding version of his immature teen-aged self. But Robin comes down with a case of what Marshall calls revertigo: turning back into one's old self in the presence of friends from that era. Robin, not seeing what the others do, falls head over heels for Simon all over again. Beyond wanting to date Simon again, Robin gets another case of ten year old déjà vu. Meanwhile, the gang discuss and don't discuss Ted and Lily's cases of revertigo, Ted's in relation to his friend Punchy and Lily's in relation to her friend Michelle. And Barney makes it his mission to find Robin Sparkles' second music video which Robin had never mentioned previously even existed.—Huggo
- Robin rekindles a spark with Simon. Robin tells the gang how Simon had dumped her as a teenager for a girl whose parents had installed a swimming pool. Robin's friends tell her that she is more successful than Simon and that she shouldn't go out with him. Robin, however, accepts a date with him. Later, when Simon ditches Robin, she is consoled by Barney.—Robrog8999
- The episode begins with a montage of Robin, as Future Ted explains how much she has changed since her days as bubblegum pop star Robin Sparkles. At the bar, Robin announces that her former boyfriend, Simon (James Van Der Beek), plans to meet up with her later on at the bar. Robin tells the gang the story of how Simon broke up with her: He waited until she had loaded all of his band's equipment into their van to tell her that he was leaving her for Louise Marsh, whose parents had a pool.
The group agrees that every time old friends come together, there is a clear winner and a clear loser. They begin to tally the points for Robin and Simon's reunion. Robin receives two from Barney for her breasts, one from Ted for Simon still living with his mother, one from Lily because Simon never became a rock star, and a final one from Marshall because Simon now works at a water park that doesn't even have a wave pool. Robin says there is no way he could come back from this 5:0 deficit, unless he got more attractive. Simon walks in and it is immediately clear that Robin should be the winner: he is balding, overweight, and wearing clothes that weren't even in style back in the 80's when he got them. While the whole group looks excited as to how much better Robin has done in the time since she and Simon were together, the camera pans to Robin, who is giggling uncontrollably and obviously still smitten.
After watching Robin's reunion with Simon, the group retires to Marshall and Ted's apartment and begins criticizing the way Robin handled the meeting. Several flashbacks follow, including Simon's refusal to pay $4 for a beer, and instead pulling one out of his cargo pants; his bragging about his job at a water park (he claims he is saving lives); his claim that his band, The Foreskins (4 guys in a band, who play without shirts), are about to take off (just 4-5 gigs away from really exploding); and ending with the story of how Simon and Robin met - he starred in her second music video, "Sandcastles in the Sand." Upon hearing this, Barney instantly leaves, claiming that he will not sleep until he has found this video.
When Robin attempts to defend herself, the group discusses how being around someone from your past can cause you to revert to the person you were when you knew them, a phenomenon Marshall dubs "re-vertigo." Marshall and Ted tell Robin that Lily suffers from this more than anyone else; to prove it, they have Lily invite her high school friend, Michelle, to hang out with them. Michelle (Ryan Michelle Bathe), who is almost done with her dissertation to get her Ph.D. in behavioral psychology, later states that the psychological term for re-vertigo is associative regression.
The group is hanging out at MacLaren's the next day, when Robin tells them how Simon came to her apartment the night before claiming that breaking up with her was the biggest mistake of his life, and he asks her out on a date, which she accepts. The next night, Simon demands that Robin play a demo of his band on the news the following day at work. Immediately after this, Michelle arrives, and Lily immediately begins speaking in the most unrealistic but highly amusing urban style imaginable. The group continues to discuss other members' "re-vertigo", which includes Ted's high school buddy Punchy (Chris Romano). Ted becomes his high-school self with Punchy around.
Marshall and Lily forbid Robin from seeing Simon again, but Robin behaves like a rebellious teenager and says they are just like her parents and can't understand her feelings as they were in love a billion years ago. Robin leaves to attend Simon's show and declares her intention to have sex with him later that night.
In another scene almost identical to the story Robin tells at the beginning, Simon once again breaks up with Robin in the back of his van - once again for Louise Marsh, whose parents have put in a Jacuzzi. Robin tells the rest of the group and they all do their best to console her, but are ultimately unsuccessful and they all have to leave. Robin remains in the bar to drink alone until Barney arrives to complain about not being able to find the music video. Upon realizing what Robin is upset about, Barney consoles her until she asks him back to her place so that she can show him the music video. They watch the video over and over, making fun of the teenage Robin until, at the end of the scene, Robin and Barney begin kissing each other on the couch.
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