The Scorpion and the Toad

Infobox Television episode
Title = The Scorpion and the Toad
Series = How I Met Your Mother
Season = 2
Episode = 2
Airdate = September 25, 2006
Production = 2ALH02
Writer = Chris Harris II
Director = Rob Greenberg
Guests = Nicole Garza (Jenny), Natalie Garza (Jessie), Sundeep Ahuja (Dan), Ken Cosby (Cab driver), Barry Finkel (Crazy Man), Lee Warren Jones (Waiter), Diane Mizota (Marshall's first date), Kelly Mullis (Paula), Lara Boyd Rhodes (Amy), Richard Wharton (Art Professor)
Episode list =List of How I Met Your Mother episodes
Prev = Where Were We?
Next = Brunch

"The Scorpion and the Toad" is the 2^nd episode in the second season of the television series "How I Met Your Mother". It originally aired on September 25, 2006.

Plot

Barney notices Marshall checking out Robin, and he and Ted are excited that Marshall seems to be getting over Lily. Barney insists on taking Marshall out to meet women. The first time Marshall tries to talk to a woman he fails horribly, talking awkwardly about sweat. Barney intervenes and ultimately goes home with the woman. Even though Marshall initially refuses to go out again, Barney convinces him to try again and teaches him Barney's Rules of Mating Without Dating. Trying to use one of Barney's rules, Marshall approaches a woman but quickly admits that he just got out of a long relationship and doesn't know what he is doing. The woman actually finds Marshall's admission charming and the two begin to chat when Barney approaches. Barney introduces himself and then proceeds to hit on the woman and then take her home. Barney convinces Marshall to go out with him again, this time to a college bar where he thinks that Marshall may have more luck. Marshall does meet a woman, who even gives him her phone number, but in the cab ride home Barney steals the number from Marshall. Barney comes back to Marshall the following day saying that the woman he met at the college bar has a twin sister and invites him on a double date. During the double date Barney pulls Marshall aside to tell him that he had spoken with the sisters who both wanted to go home with him. Upset and frustrated, Marshall leaves the bar.

Meanwhile, Lily, recently back from San Francisco, makes contact with Robin, who goes apartment-hunting with her. Robin tells Ted that Lily is back in town and that she seems really happy. Lily told Robin that her art program was amazing and that her teacher praised her work, saying that he wasn't able to teach her anything. Lily also loved San Francisco because she met such interesting people. Ted reacts badly to the news that Lily is so happy, saying that after dumping Marshall she should feel terrible. Robin convinces him not to be mad at Lily for moving on and they join Lily to continue her search for an apartment. After spending a little time with Lily, Ted tells Robin that he can tell that Lily is miserable and that she is just pretending to be happy. Robin thinks that Lily really is happy with her life, so Ted makes a bet with her, saying that after three tequila shots Lily will tell them the truth about anything. Three tequila shots later, Lily still seems happy and Ted admits that Robin was right. But after Lily receives a call from an apartment manager saying that someone else got the apartment that she wanted, Lily breaks down and admits that she is miserable and wants to reconcile with Marshall. She reveals that she lied about her art program—her teacher said that she had no talent—and the interesting people in San Francisco. She asks Ted if he thinks Marshall would take her back and Ted says absolutely but warns her that she should only talk to Marshall if she knows for certain that she wants to reconcile with him.

Lily goes to find Marshall and runs into him as he is coming back from his double date with Barney. Lily apologizes to Marshall, saying that going to San Francisco was the worst mistake that she has ever made, and she asks if they can get back together. Marshall says that when Lily broke up with him and said that they needed time apart to discover who they are, that she broke his heart. But he has realized that she was right, that he does need to find himself outside of his relationship with Lily. Marshall says that he thinks that they shouldn't get back together, at least at the moment. Saddened, Lily asks if they will still see each other and Marshall admits that he isn't sure. The two begin talking about their summers, and Lily asks Marshall if there is anything she can do to begin to apologize. Marshall says that she can do something for him.

Storming into MacLaren's, Lily approaches Barney, still schmoozing the twins, and throws a drink in his face, yelling at him that he gave her chlamydia. Lily leaves and then returns wearing a hat, yelling at Barney that he gave her twin sister chlamydia and throwing another drink in his face. The twins quickly ditch Barney, who says to himself, "Well played, Eriksen. Well played."

Notes

* This is the first episode to not be directed by Pamela Fryman.
* Lily and Ted's hangover cures are revealed in this episode::* Lily: a greasy tuna melt and a milkshake:* Ted: gravy

Cultural references

* The episode title, which is the name of a bar in the episode, refers to a fable. In the fable, a scorpion asks a toad to assist him in crossing a river. The frog refuses because he knows that the scorpion will sting him. The scorpion promises not to sting the frog, saying that if he stung the frog then the scorpion would drown. The frog agrees and takes the scorpion on his back. The frog swims halfway across the river when the scorpion stings the frog. As the two begin to sink, the frog asks, "Why did you sting me? Now we will both die." The scorpion replies, "I can't help it, it's in my nature." The title is a metaphor for Barney's behavior in this episode, and more symbolically Lily and Marshall's behavior. When Lily moves to San Francisco, she destroys her and Marshall's lives. Ted assumes Marshall's nature is to take her back, which he does eventually.

Music

* The Hives - "Walk Idiot Walk"

Continuity

* In "Bachelor Party" the story that Lily tells about Barney's visit to San Francisco suggests that Barney steals the women Marshall pursues in this episode so that Marshall and Lily can reconcile.
* Barney uses magic again which he used in "Slutty Pumpkin"
* The 1939 penny that Ted tells Robin about becomes important in the episode "Lucky Penny."

Errors

* In "World's Greatest Couple" Robin says that Lily is allergic to dogs, but Lily spends time in Robin's apartment near two dogs in this episode and does not seem bothered.
* Ted says that Barney took Marshall out to meet women for the first time since he was 17. But if he had been with Lily for 10 years, he would be 27. In actual fact, he was born in 1978, meaning he would have been 29 in 2007.

External links

* " [http://www.tv.com/how-i-met-your-mother/the-scorpion-and-the-toad/episode/852461/summary.html The Scorpion and the Toad] " at TV.com
* " [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0869673/ The Scorpion and the Toad] " at the Internet Movie Database