| "The Magician's Code (Part 1)" | |
|---|---|
| |
| Air date | May 14th, 2012 |
| Writers | Jennifer Hendriks |
| Director | Pamela Fryman |
| Producers | Missy Alexander; Carter Bays; Pamela Fryman; Stewart Halpern-Fingerhut; Chris Harris; Kourtney Kang; Joe Kelly; Matt Kuhn; Stephen Lloyd; John Mabry; Suzy Mamann Greenberg; Robia Rashid; Jamie Rhonheimer; Tami Saher; Chuck Tatham; Craig Thomas; Reid Watanabe |
| Starring | Josh Radnor; Jason Segel; Cobie Smulders; Neil Patrick Harris; Alyson Hannigan |
| Episode guide | |
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"The Magician's Code (Part 1)" is the twenty-third episode of season seven of the American comedy series How I Met Your Mother and the 159th episode of the series overall. It is the first installment of a two-part season finale and originally aired on CBS on Monday, May 14th, 2012. In this episode, Barney Stinson and Marshall Eriksen go to a casino in Atlantic City and Marshall gets extremely drunk. Barney rides a motorcyle across the casino floor, earning himself the attention of the casino's security staff. Back in New York, Lily begins to go into labor and forces Ted and Robin to tell her stories to take her mind off it. They eventually take Lily to the hospital, but can Marshall get a ride back to New York in time to witness the birth of his son?
Synopsis[]
Cast[]
Principal Cast[]
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Josh Radnor | Ted Mosby |
| Jason Segel | Marshall Eriksen |
| Cobie Smulders | Robin Scherbatsky |
| Neil Patrick Harris | Barney Stinson |
| Alyson Hannigan | Lily Aldrin |
Guest Stars[]
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Chris Elliott | Mickey Aldrin |
| Francesca Capaldi | 7-year-old Lily |
| Vicki Lewis | Doctor Sonya |
| Caine Sinclair | Joe |
| Nikki Stanley | Kate |
| Bobby C. King | Security guard #1 |
| Scott Workman | Security guard #2 |
| Brenda Ballard | Fran |
| Elliott Goldwag | Alfred |
| Kate Enright | Nurse |
| Ken Takemoto | Elderly Chinese man |
| Max Daniels | Cab driver |
| Mike Grief | Bus driver |
| Natalie Padilla | Banana peel girl |
| Paul Eliopoulos | Homeless man |
| Vivian Smallwood | Leila |
| Bob Saget | Narrator |
Notes & Trivia[]
- Actor Bob Saget is uncredited for his participation in this episode as the narrator.
- First appearance of Lily and Marshall's son, Marvin Wait-for-It Eriksen. His first name is taken from Marshall's late father, Marvin Eriksen. His middle name is derived from a promise that an inebriated Marshall gave to Barney Stinson in allowing him to provide the baby's middle name. Everyone agrees that "Wait for It" is the coolest middle name ever.
- All of the flashbacks featured in this episode are new scenes and are not taken from previous episodes.
- Despite the numerous flashbacks in this episode, Ted Mosby's future children from 2030 are not included in this episode.
- Robin Scherbatsky apparently has some experience with birthing farm animals, but faints at the sight of Lily's baby emerging from her womb.
- The actor who plays fake Neil Young is unknown.
- Ironically, writer Jennifer Hendriks is not only responsible for the birth of baby Marvin, but is also responsible for killing off the child's grandfather, Marvin Eriksen in the season six episode "Bad News".
- This is the third appearance of actress Vicki Lewis as Doctor Sonya. She appeared last in "Symphony of Illumination".
- This is the seventh appearance of actor Chris Elliott as Mickey Aldrin, Lily's father. He appeared last in "The Burning Beekeper".
Allusions[]
- Numerous references are made to Quinn Garvey in this episode, but she does not make an actual appearance. Quinn is Barney's girlfriend and one of the few women whom Barney has had a consistent relationship with. He is both excited and bothered by the fact that she is a stripper, which is the reason for his anxiety in the casino in the beginning of the episode.
- The "Wait for It" trope harkens back to one of Barney's trademark character traits. In the interest of heightening suspense or intensifying a situation, Barney will often take a pregnant pause in the middle of a sentence, sometimes even the middle of a word to say "Wait for it..." before completing his thought.
- Robin says that she has delivered twelve babies, one of which was human. This is a reference to the on-air delivery she did on her show "Come On, Get Up New York!" in "The Front Porch".
- Neil Young is a Canadian rock 'n roll singer and guitar player and a former member of the band Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. Robin claims to have gotten to second base with Neil Young in this episode, but actually got involved with somebody impersonating the famous musician.
- In one of the flashbacks, Barney Stinson pantomimes scenes from The Terminator in order to pick up women. The Terminator is a popular 1984 science fiction/action movie directed by James Cameron and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Schwarzenegger plays the eponymous Terminator - a cyborg from some thirty years in the future who travels back in time to murder the mother of a resistance leader, thus defeating his futuristic enemy by preventing his birth.
- In the Halloween flashback, the main characters all dress up as John Bender - a character made famous by actor Judd Nelson in the 1985 John Hughes comedy film The Breakfast Club. Nelson's character was characterized as "the criminal" and was one of five high school students forced to endure an eight-hour Saturday detention.
Bloopers[]
Quotes[]
See also[]
- How I Met Your Mother
- How I Met Your Mother images
- How I Met Your Mother episodes
- How I Met Your Mother characters
External Links[]
- "The Magician's Code (Part 1)" at IMDB
- "The Magician's Code (Part 1)" at the TV IV
- "The Magician's Code (Part 1)" at TV.com guide
- "The Magician's Code (Part 1)" at TV Rage.com
- "The Magician's Code (Part 1)" at the HIMYM Wiki