Where Were We? (How I Met Your Mother)

"Where Were We?" is the first episode in the second season of the television series How I Met Your Mother. It originally aired on September 18, 2006.

Plot

Throughout the summer, Ted is extremely happy in his new relationship with Robin, while Marshall wallows in depression following his break-up with Lily. Barney is unhappy with all of them, being forced to endure either Ted and Robin being cutesy together or Marshall lamenting the loss of Lily. After forty days, Marshall has yet to leave the apartment and Robin, Ted, and Barney discuss the situation. Barney takes Marshall to a strip club, telling him that he hasn't gotten over Lily yet because he can still picture her naked; unfortunately, all he can think about is Lily. Ted then takes Marshall to a Yankees-Indians baseball game, but when a couple becomes engaged a few rows down from them, Marshall freaks out and throws a hot dog at the couple. Security escorts him out of the stadium.

Robin, who has been hiding from Ted the fact that she likes guns, finally takes Marshall to a firing range, which cheers him up a little. His good mood is short lived, though, when he finds one of Lily's credit card bills in the mail. Looking at the charges on her bill, Marshall imagines that Lily has hooked up with George Clinton and they do everything that he and Lily didn't, like playing tennis and owning a ferret. Barney gives Marshall the idea to look at her online credit card statement to see more recent charges, and Marshall discovers that there are charges on the card for a hotel in New York. Despite Ted's best efforts, Marshall calls the hotel and a man answers the phone in Lily's room. Trying to convince Marshall not to go to the hotel, Ted finally gets tough on him, telling him he won't have a chance to win back Lily in his depressed, pathetic state. Marshall agrees not to go to the hotel, and Ted and Robin leave for a romantic weekend, putting Barney in charge of staying with Marshall. As they leave town, Robin and Ted discuss whether or not Ted was too hard on Marshall. Feeling guilty, Ted calls Barney to see how Marshall is doing, but Barney, having taken Marshall to another strip club, realizes that Marshall is gone. Ted and Robin turn around and head to the hotel to find Marshall.

Ted finds Marshall in the hotel bar, and Marshall tells him that he had already gone up to Lily's room and punched the guy who opened the door. He then found out that the guy wasn't Lily's new boyfriend; he had stolen Lily's credit card. Ted tries to reassure Marshall that Lily wouldn't come back into town without calling him and she didn't have a new boyfriend, but Marshall is upset that the last link that he had to Lily was a lie. Ted reminds Marshall of the first time that they met in college, before Marshall had met Lily, and that he is someone outside of his relationship with Lily and encourages him not to let his break-up ruin his life. While Marshall doesn't immediately bounce back, one Sunday morning he makes pancakes for Ted and Robin. As Marshall begins going out again, Lily appears at MacLaren's one night. She sees her friends having drinks and leaves unnoticed.

Critical response

Reviewer Joel Keller described the episode as a "very strong opening to the season" and suggested the show was ready to become "a monster hit" with just a few improvements.^[1]

References

External links

• "Where Were We?" at the Internet Movie Database
• "Where Were We?" at TV.com