How I Met Your Mother
While " How Lily Stole Christmas " was a dissentious outing , theHow I Met Your Motherepisode is secretly a ace instalment for the serial . Not everything aboutHow I Met Your Motherhas age well . LikeFriendsbefore it , How I Met Your Motherhas a few jokes and recurring character that now feel out-of-date and cringe - worthy upon a re - scout . However , How I Met Your Motheralso has some sequence that were n’t loved upon release but have since proven to be classics .
For example , How I Met Your Motherseason 2 , episode 11 , " How Lily Stole Christmas , " was not viewed as an insistent classic upon its initial departure . The instalment has cropped up online among list ofHow I Met Your Mother’sworst sequence , but upon a re - ticker , the early holiday special is in secret one of the show ’s secure outings . The plot offer up a rare chance forHow I Met Your Motherto highlight Lily and Ted ’s friendship , the B - story collapse viewers their first coup d’oeil at Robin and Barney ’s chemistry , and " How Lily Stole Christmas " even manages to set up one ofHow I Met Your Mother’slongest permanent running jape .
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How Lily Stole Christmas Explained
In " How Lily Stole Christmas , " Lily refuse to participate in Christmas after larn that Ted called her a " Grinch " via an previous voicemail message on Marshall ’s auto . Although Ted protest that Lily was acting like a Grinch during her breakup with Marshall , the two refuse to compromise , and eventually , Lily pretend her full winter wonderland , only for Ted to concede the apartment to her and spend Christmas with his full cousin . How I Met Your Mother’scentral friend groupis reunited in the end when Lily hold that she never considered how Ted would feel about her leaving their friendship behind . Ted admits he had never state his anger and sadness to her before .
Why HIMYM’s Christmas Episode Divided Fans
" How Lily Stole Christmas " is a divisive outing for two reasons : the two central characters . While every reference inHow I Met Your Motherhad a lot of acquire up to do , both Ted and Lily wore their flaw on their sleeve , particularly in the former seasons of the situation comedy . Lily ’s refusal to hear Ted ’s arguments ( and her conclusion to call his female parent ) is condescending , while Ted ’s pressure that he did nothing wrong is obstinate . How I Met Your Mother’sunlikeable Italian sandwich , Ted , was always a problemfor some viewers , but match the blemished antihero with the equally blemished Lily made for a tense installment .
How Lily Stole Christmas Set Up A Classic HIMYM Gag
Despite this tension , " How Lily Stole Christmas " still finds time for many strong gag . From Marshall ’s absurdly idyllic anecdote about heroically helping a postal worker do his rounds on Christmas Eve to Barney ’s insistence that he has never gotten wan ( a call gayly delivered while he is barely able to remain firm ) , theHow I Met Your Motherepisode feature lot of solid writing alfresco of Lily and Ted ’s conflict . Even that central fight gives rise to one of the show ’s acute functional gags , which , is often the casing withHow I Met Your Mother’ssubversive narration style , comes from the show ’s clever framing gadget .
In a nod toA Christmas Story , Ted exact he called Lily a " Grinch " in a voicemail message and earn her ire as a final result — How I Met Your Motherskirts censorship govern with this gag as it becomes increasingly unclouded that the word Ted used was a sight more obscene . However , because he is tell his kid this tale becauseHow I Met Your Motherwants to referenceA Christmas Story , and because Lily does act like the Grinch later in the story , the playful euphemism works . In late episode , How I Met Your Motherbrought back this running game joke as Ted used his position as the show ’s narrator to censor anything too grownup for his audience .
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How I Met Your Mother Lily and cast Christmas episodes
HIMYM’s Christmas Episode Focused On An Under-Explored Pairing
LikeHow I Met Your Father’sSophie and Jesse , How I Met Your Mother’sromantic pairings tended to overshadow the show ’s activity . Whether it was relatively steady couples like Marshall and Lily or more explosive twosome like Ted and Robin ( or Barney and Robin ) , it was amorous rather than platonic relationships that providedHow I Met Your Motherwith its most memorable scrap , sweet moments , and detachment . As a solution , it is easy to overlook Ted and Lily ’s surprisingly sweet friendly relationship , something that is given its due in " How Lily Stole Christmas . "
When Ted admitted that he never expressed his anger and sadness over turn a loss Lily as a friend during the separation , she conceded that she never even realized how much he deal . Since Marshall andLily’sHow I Met Your Motherbreakupdominated the time of year 1 finis and Ted ’s subsequent hookup with Robin keep him occupied , the series took a foresightful time to cover how Lily and Ted find about their time apart . So it is sweet to see the two stubbornly bullshit - headed characters admit that they miss each other in " How Lily Stole Christmas , " a rare concession that ultimately makes their friendship stronger in later outings .
How Lily Stole Christmas Established HIMYM’s Best Relationship
Outside of Ted and Lily ’s rapprochement , " How Lily steal Christmas " also sport an early look at one ofHow I Met Your Mother’smost iconic duo . When Robin calculate after a sick Barney ( while he insists he is the scene of health ) , it ’s a great , surprisingly cute subplot that showcases how much chemistry the dyad had for the first metre . Since Ted and Robin wereHow I Met Your Mother’sendgamefrom the pilot forwards , the fact that so many viewer ended up desire Barney and Robin to end up together rather is a testament to the witching interpersonal chemistry the two characters shared .
" How Lily Stole Christmas " is an early and efficient vitrine for that chemical science and a screaming B - story to charge . Where Ted and Lily ’s fight is a thorny , bitter one with no clean villain or submarine , Barney ’s delusional insistence that he ’s hunky-dory and Robin ’s attempts to breastfeed him could n’t be more square . It is a classic comedy subplot that catch both performing artist excel and a history that allowedHow I Met Your Mother’smost underrate Christmas sequence to build one of its best relationship .
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