'How I Met Your Mother' Recap: Will Barney and Quinn Last After ‘Broath’?

As How I Met Your Mother has proved time and time again, nothing is what it seems, and that includes Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) and Quinn's (Becki Newton) relationship.

As to be expected, the gang isn't happy when they discover the truth about Quinn's job. After Ted (Josh Radnor) makes a very important "broath," which involved wearing a monk robe and "I, Ted Evelyn Mosby" vowing never to share that Quinn is a stripper, he heads to MacLaren's and breathlessly declares, "Barney is dating a stripper, who's going to steal all his money."

The group claims they may be okay with Quinn and her job, but that all depends on if they can really trust her. That trust is really put to the test when Quinn finally meets all of them. But that's not the only test.

When Quinn mentions moving out and subletting her place, Ted and Robin (Cobie Smulders) start duking it out over the apartment. After all, Robin is done living with an overbearing Patrice, and Ted is done living in university housing after he's been woken one too many times from his, Marshall, and Lily's college doppelgängers.

Then there's Lily (Alyson Hannigan) and Marshall (Jason Segel), who are sharing sex stories with everyone, because Marshall thinks their stories beat everyone's.

But all that's beside the point really. Robin does admit to Ted that she's having a harder time than he thinks, and she needs this apartment as badly as him, but How I Met Your Mother "Broath" is really the story of Barney and Quinn.

When the gang meets Quinn it starts badly. Barney is constantly asking her permission all the time. And then Lily gets what she thinks is evidence that she's using Barney for his money: tickets to Hawaii. To top it all off, the two lovebirds announce they're moving in together.

But the HIMYM friends won't let that happen, if they can help it. They stage a Quin-ntervention, and it goes horribly awry. Barney accuses Ted of breaking the broath, which carries deadly, even fatal, repercussions if the story of "Brotus" and Caesar, complete with ninjas, is any indications. But then in walks Quinn, and she hates that Barney was so ashamed of what she did for a living. It's over for them.

Or so Barney and Quinn make them think, as Barney lays on the guilt and has them all vow to not interfere with his personal life ever again, "unless it's an issue of health, national security, or about to get up on a fattie." (And what a completely appropriate way to explain how much they're all involved in each other's lives). And after Lily and Robin kiss... and then the gentlemen, Quinn turns on the lights.

Barney and Quinn, "wait for it," planned the whole thing, including making the monkeys dance for Barney. "My God, you two are perfect for each other," Lily declares.

But it's not over yet. Barney may not mind that she's a stripper, but would Quinn ever consider stopping, hypothetically? She would, once she's married. Does this mean that it'll actually be Barney and Quinn walking down the aisle, rather than Robin? That's what How I Met Your Mother suggests, but as fans know, the show never gives away too much in one episode.

That's not all either. Robin and Ted do decide to be "normal" again, after Robin gets a promotion to be Sandy Rivers' new co-host. But after they agree to be friends again, they won't be seeing each other a long time.

What did you think of HIMYM "Broath"? Do you think Quinn and Barney will end up together? And where do you think Ted's path will take him next?

© 2012 Elizabeth SanFilippo at Gather.com

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