Plot In A Paragraph: Ted talks his four friends into joining a gym with him with disastrous consequences. Especially for Barney. He runs into Rhonda, the older woman friend of his mother's to whom he lost his virginity as told in the episode 'First Time In New York'. Barney is devastated when she confesses that Barney's brother James paid her to sleep with him and then to tell him that he was "the best she ever had" to boost his confidence after the events told in the episode 'Game Night'. And all this is was what made Barney the man he is today, he loses all his ability to talk to women effectively. He then attends the Victoria's Secret fashion show, where he hopes to cure himself. Meanwhile back at the gym, Robin loses all signs of her femininity, Marshall gets the personal trainer from hell, while Lily gets a different time of trainer Neil Patrick Harris is simply brilliant here, whenever a great episode of how I met your mother comes along, he is always front and centre.
4 Reviews
The Yips (#3.10)
ComedyFan201014 July 2015
Warning: Spoilers
So in this episode they all head to the gym and face things to deal with.
The main story is that of Barney who meets the older woman he lost his virginity to. Only it turns out that she doesn't remember him and when she said back in the days that he was the best she ever had it was only because his brother asked her. And this breaks Barney' world. this was a very fun thing to watch, especially when he was with the models. And Stephanie Faracy was a perfect choice for Rhonda, she performed it perfectly.
Lily and Marshall give us lots of laughs, especially with that very mean trainer that he had.
Robin and Ted were kind of less entertaining. I am not a fan of people being forced to look by gender rules. Especially since Robin was hot without make up and exercising too. Luckily it was a very tiny part of the episode.
The main story is that of Barney who meets the older woman he lost his virginity to. Only it turns out that she doesn't remember him and when she said back in the days that he was the best she ever had it was only because his brother asked her. And this breaks Barney' world. this was a very fun thing to watch, especially when he was with the models. And Stephanie Faracy was a perfect choice for Rhonda, she performed it perfectly.
Lily and Marshall give us lots of laughs, especially with that very mean trainer that he had.
Robin and Ted were kind of less entertaining. I am not a fan of people being forced to look by gender rules. Especially since Robin was hot without make up and exercising too. Luckily it was a very tiny part of the episode.
Wow
bevo-1367814 June 2020
More back story to Barney Stinson, but that's about it
simbrab23 March 2016
Warning: Spoilers
One of the weaker episodes of How I Met Your Mother. This one is focused solely on Barney, there is hardly a supporting story line of any significance, let alone plot development.
The gang decides to join a gym, where Barney encounters Rhonda, the elderly woman he lost his virginity to. This was mentioned before in S02E12 ("First Time in New York"), and via flashbacks this story is now connected to the rather embarrassing period in Barney's life when he was dumped by his long-term girlfriend Shannon (see S01E15, "Game Night"). So we learn more about Barney's back story, which is nice. It doesn't fully add up, though. Now we learn he became awesome by sleeping with Rhonda, so when exactly did he cut his hair and put on a suit, which was his game-changing moment according to the story we were presented in S01E15?
Back to the plot of this episode: Upon learning that he really wasn't all that great at making love the first time, Barney's confidence is shaken and must subsequently be restored by sleeping with Rhonda again - and this time being good at it. In between, there's a scene with several supermodel cameos that didn't really do much for me. Their acting isn't convincing, and, seriously, what's funny about someone possibly having a stroke? Apart from that, there's not much going on. For the other characters, it's just situation comedy in the setting of a gym.
One of the highlights of the episode is certainly Wayne Brady resuming his role as Barney's (then still in-the-closet) gay black brother in the flashbacks.
The gang decides to join a gym, where Barney encounters Rhonda, the elderly woman he lost his virginity to. This was mentioned before in S02E12 ("First Time in New York"), and via flashbacks this story is now connected to the rather embarrassing period in Barney's life when he was dumped by his long-term girlfriend Shannon (see S01E15, "Game Night"). So we learn more about Barney's back story, which is nice. It doesn't fully add up, though. Now we learn he became awesome by sleeping with Rhonda, so when exactly did he cut his hair and put on a suit, which was his game-changing moment according to the story we were presented in S01E15?
Back to the plot of this episode: Upon learning that he really wasn't all that great at making love the first time, Barney's confidence is shaken and must subsequently be restored by sleeping with Rhonda again - and this time being good at it. In between, there's a scene with several supermodel cameos that didn't really do much for me. Their acting isn't convincing, and, seriously, what's funny about someone possibly having a stroke? Apart from that, there's not much going on. For the other characters, it's just situation comedy in the setting of a gym.
One of the highlights of the episode is certainly Wayne Brady resuming his role as Barney's (then still in-the-closet) gay black brother in the flashbacks.
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