Sweet Taste of Liberty

"Sweet Taste of Liberty" is the third episode in the first season of the television series How I Met Your Mother. It originally aired on October 3, 2005. The episode was written by Phil Lord & Chris Miller and was directed by Pamela Fryman.

Plot

Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) decides that it is time for Ted (Josh Radnor) to get out of his routine of going to the same bar. Promising Ted a "legendary" night, Barney pulls Ted into his cab and tells him that he needs to pick someone up at the airport. Only when they reach the baggage claim does Ted realize that Barney meant that he was going to JFK to pick up women. Barney tells Ted that they are posing as international businessman who have just returned from a lucrative trip from Japan. Upon meeting two attractive women en route to Philadelphia, Barney impulsively purchases two tickets on the same flight for himself and Ted, and calls Marshall (Jason Segel) (who is busy studying) to tell him to join them. On the plane, however, Ted and Barney find out that the two girls have boyfriends who are players for the Philadelphia Eagles. Upon arrival, Ted and Barney are taken into custody by airport security, since they left luggage on a carousel in JFK, while video footage shows Barney doing the same thing on many occasions. They are held for a while, but are released when Barney's luggage at JFK is revealed to contain only condoms and a PowerBar. They then go with Sascha, an attractive airport guard, to what turns out to be a boring party. Barney, upon meeting someone who works security for the Liberty Bell, decides that it would be "legendary" to go lick the landmark. Ted initially declines, but after Barney tells Ted that he is his best friend, Ted reluctantly goes along. Later, back at McLaren's, Ted tells a girl about their adventure, as Future Ted tells his kids that he realized that evening why he hung out with Barney; while he would never quite know what would going to happen, he always ended up with a great story to tell.

Meanwhile, Lily (Alyson Hannigan) and Robin (Cobie Smulders) go to the bar for a girls' night out. Lily becomes jealous of Robin because of the attention Robin receives from men at the bar. On the phone, Marshall reassures her that it is because she is wearing an engagement ring, and tells Lily that he would be fine if she removed it to get men's attention. Lily does so, but only succeeds insofar as a gay man approaches to tell her she sat on a grape. Robin is annoyed by Lily's behavior, and convinces Lily that she has what most single women want: a good boyfriend. The gay man offers to help remove the grape stain, and Marshall walks in just as he is doing so. Marshall, who came only because he had second thoughts about Lily removing the ring, is reluctantly willing to fight the man, but is hugely relieved to learn that the man is gay. Just then, however, the man's boyfriend, also the jealous type, punches Marshall out.

References

External links

• "Sweet Taste of Liberty" at the Internet Movie Database
• "Sweet Taste of Liberty" at TV.com