Future Barney and Ted show up at MacLaren's to try and convince Ted to go to robots vs. wrestlers. Marshall and Robin see who's the better dancer.
This episode provides examples of:
- Acting For Six: Josh Radnor and Neil Patrick Harris playing as three aspects of Ted and Barney respectively.
- The Cast Showoff: All six of Ted and Barney singing "For the Longest Time" in perfect harmony.
- Foregone Conclusion: Ted already said that Coat-Check Girl wasn't the mother at the end of "Okay Awesome".
- Foreshadowing: Ted's imagined, tearful speech to his future wife about how they will meet soon, and how he wishes they could have that time together as well, hints at the Mother's untimely death in Last Forever: Part Two.
- Mood Whiplash: Things go from the wacky shenanigans of Marshall and Robin having a dance-off straight to The Reveal that Ted is sitting by himself because his friends were too busy with their own lives, imagining the whole evening, and its capped off by an imaginary Barney's Wham Line reminding him that he's alone.
- Nested Story Reveal: In the end, it's revealed that Robin and Marshall's sub-plot is just a memory from years ago, and Ted imagined the time travelers. In reality, he's spent the entire evening sitting alone in the booth because his friends were too busy.
- Our Time Travel Is Different: Type 4, Unseen Time Travel. It's never made known exactly how all the future versions of Barney, Ted and Coat-Check Girl traveled through time. This trope is actually zig-zagged; it turns out that the entire episode was part Imagine Spot (the titular time travelers) and part flashback (the "Minnesota Tidal Wave" story). So, it's initially played straight, then subverted, but the subversion means that it's averted overall.
- The Reveal: Ted is alone at the bar, imagining that Barney's convincing him to go to Robots vs. Wrestlers, and remembering a funny story about Marshall, Lily and Robin.
- Wham Line: By Barney.Look around, Ted. You're all alone.
