(S05E04) Let's get this notion out of the way right here: Couples "dating" other couples isn't exactly a new idea in the sitcom world. Countless comedies have had the episode where the lead couple is blown off by another couple they really like, and they go through the same process that a someone goes through when he or she is jilted after a first or second date. This week we saw all of that.

But, it was done with some funny touches, not the least of which is a photo montage, website, and music video (embedded after the jump) that gave the tired story a unique spin. And there was enough other fun stuff packed into this episode to make you forget that the main plot has been done since at least the days of Sam and Diane.

Where to start? Why not with the music video? You knew that as soon as Barney mentioned the site ItWasTheBestNigtEver.com, you were going to go looking for the site. But who would have expected the Mother gang doing a take-off on Extreme's "More Than Words," complete with Jason Segel sitting next to Nuno Bettencourt? The song itself was pretty inspired, especially, Marshall's desperate entreaty to Barney and Robin that they're available "Saturday. But Friday and Thursday are good. Or just about any other day."

The photo montage, already put to good use by Cougar Town (and The Hangover) this year, got a bit of a freshening up here. It shows you how high Marshall and Lily were on their own supply that they didn't notice the "I want to kill myself" faces on Barney and Robin in all those photos. The better photo montages, though, were the ones Marshall sent just for the heck of it; I almost spit out my iced tea when I saw the "cat funeral" montage right after seeing the end of the "cat sitting" montage.

What was the most intriguing part of the whole "couples date" story wasn't the Gouda, or the fact that L&M dumped that "perfect" other couple for the "bad boy... and girl." It's that this is the most domesticated we've seen Barney and Robin since they started this whole relationship dance. Even though Robin tried to use the "we can barely get it together to date each other" excuse to break up with L&M, and seemed sincere, it really looked like they were already in the relationship groove.

But just as I was wondering if we were going to see a kinder, gentler Barney -- and how I felt about that -- we got the tale of the Sexless Inkeeper (the idea and Barney's original ditty about it is my Best Barneyism of the week). Through all the Colonial imagery and the guffaws at the idea that Ted's douchey professor outfit was giving women the idea to crash at his place without having sex with him, Barney was still lording his sexual prowess over Ted.

But as soon as Ted was able to land someone, the roles started to switch a bit, and we hear Barney closing the episode with the words "What have I done?" We know this is going to be explored in the near future, because a domesticated Barney isn't a very funny one; I'm sure he'll yearn to break free at some point.

More fun stuff:

• More music: I'd imagine "All By Ourselves" was sung by NPH and Cobie Smulders. Which leads me to the perfect nickname for their characters' coupling, a name that's been circulating on the internet for a while: Swarkles. I want to use it, but I need to give the right person proper credit for it, so if you know who originated it, let me know.
• Swarkles seems to have a very coordinated "blow my brains out" pantomime going. Robin fires the gun and Barney wipes off the blood and brains from his face.
• As Robin stated, you can't do a Tabooty call after midnight. It's just not fair to that other couple. And Taboo's an annoying game, anyway.
• Oh, and why didn't we (or Robin, for that matter) see the overbearing couples dating behavior from L&M when Ted and Robin were dating? My theory: because they were all living under one roof at the time, so there was no opportunity for a such an evening. Either that or Ted knew what to expect and kept them from subjecting Robin to it.
• Nice line from Robin: "It's (usually) the innkeeper that offers turndown service."
• I'm trying to figure out if the rain in the scene were Swarkles gets back together with L&M is a call-back to another episode; didn't Marshall and Lily break up in the rain?
• Lily to Marshall: "You're a sturdy cheese-bearing cracker."
• Even Ranjit couldn't handle L&M's suffocating couple dates.

Here's the video of Marshall's song:



[Watch clips and free episodes of HIMYM at SlashControl.]