In the aftermath of Stella leaving Ted at the altar, the gang discusses ways of avoiding people you never want to see again in your life while hiding from Stella in a restaurant.
This episode provides examples of:
- Bait-and-Switch Time Skip: Following Ted discovering Stella's note, we transition to him and the others at the bar, where he makes this speech about how he has finally gotten past the pain and has moved on. After an awkward silence, Lily informs him that the wedding was yesterday.
- Bittersweet Ending: Ted learns that Stella moved in with Tony and is utterly betrayed, but accepts that their new family is happy together.Future Ted: And that, kids, is the perfect ending for a perfect love story. It just wasn't mine. Mine is still out there, waiting for me.
- Call-Back:
- Ted remembering that Stella forced him to live in New Jersey but decided to live in New York upon getting back with Tony is what finally causes him to snap.
- Ted and his family's tendency to avoid conflicts is alluded back in Season 2.
- Comically Missing the Point: After Robin tells the gang about her difficult childhood and fraught relationship with her estranged father, Barney expresses his sympathy...for the fact that she had to grow up in Canada "with America right there."
- Continuity Nod:
- Marshall reveals to Ted that Stella hates Star Wars, as a reason to be upset with her.
- Don't You Dare Pity Me!: Ted invokes this to his friends when they're all trying to please him.
- Embarrassing Middle Name: Robin's complete name is "Robin Charles Scherbatsky".
- Embarrassing Nickname: Lily reveals she accidentally got her classmate Michael Sasser nicknamed "Gasser" when she blamed a fart on him her first day of high school. He ended up having to change schools.
- Freudian Excuse: Robin became girly and embarked on her career as a teen idol to spite her father, who wanted a son instead of her.
- I Have No Son!: Robin, Sr. disowns Robin upon seeing his daughter kissing her teammate.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Ted was just about to give Stella "The Reason You Suck" Speech, but then suddenly sees her hugging Tony and Lucy outside the front door and notices that they make a very happy family. He then realizes that Stella actually made the right choice and is meant to be with Tony, so he leaves without saying anything. Future!Ted even lampshades this:Future Ted: And that, kids, was the perfect ending to a perfect love story. It just wasn't mine.
- Imagine Spot: Ted imagines giving Stella a well-deserved "The Reason You Suck" Speech.
- Ironic Episode Title: The Bittersweet Ending above says it all.
- Moose and Maple Syrup: The flashbacks to Robin growing up in Canada feature her heavy Canadian accent and playing hockey. She also mentions that Canadians supposedly use hockey terms to discuss sex, like Americans do with baseball terms.
- Pay Evil unto Evil:
- The gang has been encouraging Ted to lash out on Stella and Tony.
- Marshall winds up revealing to the others that when Lily left him to go to San Francisco, Ted tried talking him into burning all her possessions.Lily: Seriously?! Oh, nice, thanks, Ted...
- Rage Breaking Point: Ted finally finds his inner rage when he realizes that Stella made him move to New Jersey, while she immediately moved to Tony's apartment in New York.
- Raised as the Opposite Gender: Robin had been raised by her dad as a boy until he saw her kissing a guy from her hockey team.
- Series Continuity Error: Robin's flashback contradicts many of her previous backstories from previous seasons except her Idol Singer days. namely;
- In a Season 1 episode, she said that she never played team sports. The flashback shows her playing hockey.
- In the Season 3 finale, a flashback shows her as a young girl dressed in feminine clothes. This episode "established" that she was Raised as the Opposite Gender.
- Take a Third Option: Lampshaded.Future!Ted: Kids, you may think that your only choice is to swallow your anger or throw it to someone's face, but there's a third option; you could just let it go.
- Tomboy: Robin reveals she hasn't talked to her father in three years after he forced her to be a tomboy growing up so he could pretend she was his son.
- Woman Scorned: Becca, the female prisoner Barney had been sleeping with until another prisoner caught his eye, has apparently sworn to violently murder him when she gets released.
