In the most brilliantly layered episode of TV, perhaps EVER, we learn how the Platinum Rule came about via three stories over three years. Barney with Wendy the Waitress, Lily and Marshall with some neighbors, and Robin with a coworker.
Feeling especially proud after an Intervention for a friend, the gang launches a series of hilarious but unnecessary interventions on each other, culminating in the discovery that most of them thought Ted was moving too fast in his engagement with Stella.
This bottle episode centers around Barney's deception to convince his mom (we finally meet Loretta) that he is a family man by hiring an actress and actor to play his wife and kids.....the gang gets involved in hilarious ways.
In a very special HIMYM, we attend Marvin Eriksen's funeral and watch Marshall struggle to discover his father's last words and whether they were suitable. The rest of the gang supports him in their own way.
We finally meet Barney's real dad who ends up a disappointment to Barney both in style and absenteeism. We learn that everyone in the gang has a major blindspot in their knowledge and skills.
