(S04E13) Something that's been missing for most of this season of HIMYM is the unique Bays-Thomas method of storytelling. If you're a fan of the show, you know what I'm talking about: you think the story is going one way, you even think that you're keeping up with the time-shifting and story fragments. Then, when the guys finally reveal where they were going with the story, you get a surprising but funnier or more emotional impact. This year, we saw a lot of the time shifting, but not many stories where everything came together at the last minute to make you smile.

Until this week, that is. We got the kind of episode that HIMYM die-hards have been craving all year. I just wish the stories that all came together at the end were just a skosh stronger.

Still, it was fun to see the three stories that supposedly all happened at the same time -- Lily's and Marshall's separate quests to keep up their airport meeting tradition, and Ted and Barney running McLaren's for a night -- end up really happening during each day of the three-day blizzard. The only problem is that the Ted/Barney story didn't link up well with the Marshall/Lily story, making for an awkward transition from Tuesday to Thursday. The Ted/Barn story essentially was there to introduce a marching band into the mix, which is a long way to go to explain that little detail of the story.

I will say that L and M's cutsey rituals don't sound that outlandish; my girlfriend and I tell each other what we ate that day all the time (yeah, I know, we're edgy folks, aren't we?), and I'm more on Marshall's side about that than Robin's. We know that Robin's not a complete emotional robot (heck, her robot impression isn't even that good), but she is more alpha male than girly-girl, so her stance is consistent with who she is. I can't see her petulantly pulling over the car in a blizzard just because Marshall said she's emotionless. That was just put there to have the car buried by the plow.

Not really much to say about the Ted/Barn plot. It really wasn't funny enough to make up for the fact that it didn't do well as the connective tissue of this episode. There were moments, of course: Party School Bingo (this week's Best Barneyism); the Cocktail montage, complete with the Beach Boys' "Kokomo" as a soundtrack; Barney calling "dibsety, dibsety, dibsety" on the girl with daddy issues; and the five words every guy should say (though for me, it's actually seven words, since I substitute "hot dog truck" for "bar").

More fun stuff:

• Good to see Ranjit again, though that poor woman he was going to pick up probably doesn't like him too much. Who knew that the man can lift a full keg with one hand?
• How adorable is it that Marshall writes "Lilypad" on the sign he uses when he plays chauffeur?
• Interesting how the entire Scooby gang was never in the same place for this episode, even in the flashbacks. That tends not to work well, but it didn't really hurt this episode.
• If anyone can list the names of the beers Lily bought, I'd appreciate it. There were some good ones in there.
• All you need to know to run a bar: "serve the hotties first."
• Marshall sure has a talent for translating cutesy / dirty talk into work-safe legalese. Not bad for a guy who gets relationship advice from Cosmo Girl.