Well, this feels like the first solid episode in a good little while. Ted's mother, Virginia (Cristine Rose; Angela Petrelli on Heroes) is marrying her boyfriend, Clint (Harry Groener; Mayor Wilkins on Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and so, of course, wackiness ensues, mostly because Clint is one wacky dude. He shares stories of his and Virginia's sex life with Ted, and frames Ted and Virginia's relationship in his own special way. "You have your own sexual memories with your mom, don't you? Exiting her womb, receiving her milk." But Virginia is madly in love, and so there's a wedding. That's right, Ted's mother is getting married for a second time, before he even gets married once, and he's not taking it so well.

During the reception, Ted disappears. The gang doesn't see him for the next 72 hours, until he shows up and brings them out for a little ride -- to the house he just bought. Online. The gang, and Ted's home inspector, all try to tell him to dump the rodent-ridden money pit, but it's too late. Only Marshall stands by him, and along the way, tries to deflect some criticism off of Ted by sharing some of his own bad decisions. This turns into a game: "Drunk or Kid," where the crew has to guess if Marshall was drunk or a kid when he pulled some of his stupid stunts.

After the home inspector falls through the ceiling, the reality of his purchase hits Ted, he decides to raze the place and sell the land, so Lily talks him into taking out some of his frustrations with sledge hammer. They gang all does a little impromptu demo work, to CSN&Y's "Our House." But when they're done, Ted falls silent before taking off for another 72 hours, during which he returns to his mother's home and reads to her and Clint the toast he failed to deliver at their wedding. In the end, Marshall and Ted have a sausage fest (not like that) on Ted's back porch. And when Ted decides he's not going to dump the house after all, Marshall is not surprised in the least.

The B Plot (or C Plot, if the wedding is A, and the house is B) revolves around whether Robin or Barney broke down in tears when Clint sang to his bride at the reception. It's amusing enough, but I'll save it for the full weecap.

First up, kudos to Cristine Rose and Harry Groener, who are always sure-fire hits. I'm glad to see Groener join the HIMYM extended family. Now, this episode was quite funny in spots (largely thanks to Groener), but at other points it fell flat. The home inspector took me out of the show, throughout. Sure, Marshall declares Ted's heart to be both drunk and a kid, but he's still Ted, right? The idea of this particular architect buying a house before inspecting it himself (an architect is not the worst person for the job, in the real world) or before having it professionally inspected? I just couldn't buy it. Still, I feel like the show turned a corner tonight, or at least came in sight of one. And what this episode lacked in logic and humor, it more than made up for in heart. Marshall and Ted's friendship gets lost every now and again, so whenever we happen upon it, it warms my heart. I'm just crossing my fingers and hoping it lasts. At least I didn't sit here wondering what was happening on Dancing With the Stars. Seriously. [Monkey.]

I'll hit all the details the weecap, so check back tomorrow. In the meantime, come on over to the forums, where we will never, ever sexualize your relationship with your mother.

After hitting up the forums, check out our updated HIMYM Dictionary.

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