Slutty Pumpkin

Infobox Television episode
Title = Slutty Pumpkin
Series = How I Met Your Mother


Caption = Lily and Marshall dressed up for Halloween
Season = 1
Episode = 6
Airdate = October 24, 2005
Production = 1ALH05
Writer = Brenda Hsueh
Director = Pamela Fryman
Guests = David Henrie (Son), Lyndsy Fonseca (Daughter), Joe Nieves (Carl), Chad Lindsey (Angel), Scott Allen Rinker (Host), Krizia Bajos (Hula Girl), Jeremy Gabriel (Mark), Randall Bills, Crispin Barrymore, Kevin St. Clair, Ryan Goessl, Andy Brown, & Eric Bradley (The Shagarats)
Episode list =List of How I Met Your Mother episodes
Prev = Okay Awesome
Next = Matchmaker

"Slutty Pumpkin" is the 6^th episode in the first season of the television series "How I Met Your Mother". It originally aired on October 24, 2005.

Plot

Marshall and Lily are very excited about Halloween, and have received their costumes in the mail. They hope to win the costume contest at the bar and receive a $50 gift certificate there. Marshall has decided to dress up as a pirate, and Lily as a parrot. They invite Robin, and her new boyfriend Mike. Although Robin told them neither her or Mike were dressing up, Mike comes dressed as Hansel, and asks Robin why she isn't dressed as Gretel. They go down to the bar, and Lily notices that Robin isn't acting like she is interested in Mike, even though Mike is obviously interested in her. Lily tells Robin that in order to avoid losing Mike, she is going to have to do "couple things" (such as share food, hold hands, etc.) and not send Mike the wrong signals. Robin tries, but she doesn't succeed, and Mike breaks up with her. Then, Marshall and Lily win the costume contest, and are excited.

Meanwhile, Ted spends his Halloween waiting for the "slutty pumpkin" (which has strategically placed holes) that he met in 2001. Ted knows that this girl has studied penguins and combines Kahlúa and Root beer, making a drink known as the Tootsie Roll because it tastes like an alcoholic Tootsie Roll; however, he lost her phone number when Lily gave out a Kit Kat with the girl's phone number on it. Thus, he waits around at the same party every year, dressed as a hanging chad, waiting for the "slutty pumpkin" to come. Barney wants him to come to a Victoria's Secret party on a yacht, but Ted stays at the party, and doesn't succeed in seeing her. He thought he did, but it was Barney (who was already in his third costume of the night) intentionally trying to fool him by dressing as a penguin and making the alcoholic Tootsie Roll. Ted waits, but finally gives up. Robin, knowing he'd be up there, comes up to the roof, and sits and talks with him for a while at the end.

Music

* Kenny Loggins - "Danger Zone"
* Nada Surf - "Inside of Love"

Trivia

* Barney shooting sparks from his hands in his devil costume came from Neil Patrick Harris's personal interest in magic.
* Krizia Bajos, who played the Hula Girl, was a contender for the title of Hawaiian Tropic Girl in 2005

Cultural references

*Marshall is dressed as Captain Jack Sparrow/Johnny Depp from the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies. Throughout the episode, it is pointed out that Marshall is wearing eyeliner, to which he replies, "weirdly hot, right?" Also, Robin notes that there are many guys dressed as "gay pirates" because they are all wearing eyeliner. Marshall tries to refute this by saying, "I have sex with my parrot all the time." (which referred to Lily, who was dressed as a parrot).
*In the 2001 Halloween flashback, Lily and Marshall are dressed like Sonny & Cher, respectively.
*Mike dresses as Hänsel (with Robin supposed to be dressed as Gretel) from the classic fairy tale Hänsel and Gretel.
*Ted, since 2001, has dressed as a hanging chad as an obvious reference to the voting controversy in Florida during the 2000 U.S. Presidential Election. However, Marshall says that no one understands Ted's costume anymore, which Ted says offers a sad commentary about society.
*Barney's first costume (of three that night) is that of a fighter pilot, with many obvious references to the movie "Top Gun". When he shows up at Ted's apartment, he has a boombox playing "Danger Zone" by Kenny Loggins. He also directly quotes the movie, saying, "Oh, you're dangerous, Maverick. Your ego's writing checks your body can't cash." Barney wants Ted to be his wingman and tells him to "flightsuit up," but Ted refuses, at which point Barney says the quote from the movie.
*Barney says that he can get Ted and him into a Victoria's Secret party.
*Barney's second costume is that of a devil. When Barney tells Ted to pee off the roof because the line for the restroom is too long, a guy dressed as an angel appears and tells him not to do so, which offers a classic reference to the shoulder angel and shoulder devil idea usually seen in cartoons portraying conscience and temptation. However, it is ruined slightly when the guy dressed as an angel asks if they have any weed. Later, Barney (while still dressed as a devil) ironically tells the guy dressed as an angel, "Oh, go to Hell."
*Ted waiting up all night on Halloween for the Slutty Pumpkin to appear is reminiscent of Linus waiting for the Great Pumpkin in It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. At the end, you can even hear the Shagarats singing the "Peanuts" theme, "Linus and Lucy".

Continuity

Barney's Blog

*In his blog, Barney describes his Halloween routine, briefly (& vaguely) recaps the events from the year before, and ends the blog with a quiz to see if people were able to figure what happened [http://www.cbs.com/primetime/how_i_met_your_mother/barneys_blog/10_24.shtml .] Clicking on the 'Solution' button reveals what actually happened, at least according to Barney [http://www.cbs.com/primetime/how_i_met_your_mother/barneys_blog/index_results.shtml .]

Recurring elements introduced in this episode

* Barney adapting his name -- e.g. in this episode he says that "The Barnacle" will stick to the yacht with the Victoria Secret party, he calls his apartment "The Fortress of Barnitude"
* Marshall and Lily's nicknames for each other: Marshmallow and Lilypad

External links

* " [http://www.tv.com/how-i-met-your-mother/slutty-pumpkin/episode/488127/summary.html Slutty Pumpkin] " at TV.com
* " [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0606116/ Slutty Pumpkin] " at the Internet Movie Database