10/11/2009

in

Lily and Marshall convince Robin and Barney over for "couple's night," and Ted is dubbed "The Sexless Innkeeper" by Barney.

Rachel Kolb

Episode Summary  
  
Lily and Marshall invite Robin and Barney over to their apartment for "couple's night." They have been looking for a couple to do "couple nights" with, but everyone they invite over is overwhelmed with cheese and charades. Robin and Barney of course have no idea what they are getting themselves into, and they have to endure an obnoxious couple's evening with Lily and Marshall. Unfortunately, Lily and Marshall have a blast and want to invite them over again. Marshall even makes a website TheBestNightEver.com.  
  
Ted thinks that girls dig the professor look, but the girl he brings home falls asleep on the couch. Barney and Robin agree that he is "The Sexless Innkeeper." When a person is out late drinking and don't want to bother with a long trip home, they find a person at the bar who lives nearby and they go home with that person without having sex, thus the name "The Sexless Innkeeper."  
  
Barney and Robin come clean with Marshall and Lily, and Marshall and Lily go home to cry and eat ice cream. Ted talks about how Marshall has become obsessed with homemade photo and music montages. Marshall has made photo/music montages for everything from food stains on the couch to cat funerals.  
  
Robin and Barney decide to apologize to Marshall and Lily for "couple dumping" them, but Marshall and Lily have found another couple who love Marshall's gouda cheese. Robin and Barney fall into despair, eating ice cream and cuddling on the couch, until Ted convinces them to try to win Marshall and Lily back.  
  
Robin and Barney leave egg timers (a necessity for charades) outside Marshall and Lily's door, and Marshall and Lily walk outside to find Robin and Barney standing in the rain with an egg timer. Marshall and Lily take Robin and Barney back, and they all hug and cry in the rain.  
  
The episode wraps up with Ted recounting his night's exploits to Barney, and he finally proves to Barney that girls dig the tweed jacket professor look.  
  
  
  
Final Thoughts:  
  
Marshall's photo/music montages made "The Sexless Innkeeper" a memorable episode. I am a fan whenever the writers find excuses for Marshall to sing, and if the episode hadn't had that element, I would have found Lily and Marshall's behavior too obnoxious and not funny enough. Barney's poem "The Sexless Innkeeper" also gave Barney and Ted an excuse to dress up as Charles Dickens-era characters, and I must say that Ted's sideburns were legendary. All in all, "The Sexless Innkeeper" was another good episode for the show's fifth season.  
  
  
  
[![61st Annual Primetime Emmy Awards - Show](http://cdn.picapp.com/ftp/Images/9/b/2/4/61st_Annual_Primetime_3708.jpg?adImageId=5326992&imageId=6558695)](http://view.picapp.com/default.aspx?term=Jason Segel&iid=6558695)