‘How I Met Your Mother’ Review: “Trilogy Time”

‘How I Met Your Mother’ Season 7 lovingly recounts the tale of its twentieth episode of the season, as the boys gather together every three years to watch the 'Star Wars' trilogy and predict where they might be in another three years, while Barney adjusts to live having moved in with Quinn (Becki Newton).

Last time’s ‘How I Met Your Mother’ “The Broath” saw Barney staging an elaborate lesson for his friends, while Marshall and Lily argued about sex stories and clashed over their own apartment, so what will the latest episode bring?

Read on for your in-depth recap of everything you need to know about ‘How I Met Your Mother’ “Trilogy Time!”

At night, a man obsesses over the nighty ritual of another man downstairs, who every day at precisely 8:00 p.m., appears outside his own building, take several paces, and grins.  It’s Barney of course, but what is he doing?  Is he trying to communicate a message to his neighbor somehow?  What could it mean?  Well, it means that he has to let one rip, and can’t with Quinn newly moved into his apartment.

At MacLaren’s Barney extolls the difficulties of living with Quinn, who had previously given up all her things to keep Barney’s apartment decor in tact, but gasp, wants to use her own colored coffee mugs!  The nerve.  He assures Robin and Lily that he merely wants to assert his dominance as a man, while Lily believe s that he thinks the relationship to be temporary.  Of course, the problem is, he actually TOLD Quinn that he was asserting his dominance over her, which Robin, Lily, and later Ted and Marshall chastise him for.

But who has time for relationship squabbles, when its time for the 'Star Wars' Trilogy?  Every three years, the boys get together to watch the famous films, and wonder where they might be in another three years.  It started in college 2000 between Ted and Marshall, who then dreamed that in 2003 they’d be living in their apartment, Ted a successful architect with long hair, Marshall a successful lawyer with a sweet mustache, and Al Gore the president.  So too would Lily remain in the picture, still in her goth phase but married and pregnant, with Ted’s lady “Rhiannon” (who looks an awful lot like Robin) as a sexy granola girl, and musician in their rockin’ band.

Of course in the actual 2003, Ted’s skill with guitar hasn’t improved much, Marshall hasn’t made it in to law school, and Barney’s been added to the group, ditching a random girl.  But then what might their ideal vision of 2006 be?  Well, full of refinement, of course!  From the same, redecorated apartment, Ted is a successful architect, and Marshall achieved his dream of becoming an environmental lawyer, though his fortune and knighthood comes from an epic winning streak on 'Wheel of Fortune.'  Of course, Lily too is present, pregnant and married again, with no love lost between her and Marshall’s mother.  And wouldn’t you know it, Rhiannon’s there too, with an air of refinement, and a French accent!  Barney however, has the exact same future with a different girl.

So what does the real 2006 look like?  Well, Ted and Robin have recently gotten together, though Lily recently left Marshall, and the group looks forward to 2009.  In the ideal 2009, Ted managed to “bang Robin into” becoming a happy homemaker, though while Ted insists Lily will return to him, Marshall insists on his future vision featuring Lily married and pregnant with some trucker hat-wearing douche’s baby.  Even their baby wears trucker hats!  Barney’s vision is once again the same, though in the future girls have back boobs!

In the real 2009, Lily obviously did end up coming back, though Ted’s still reeling from Stella having left him at the altar, and his architecture start-up having failed.  In those days, Barney and Robin were secretly hooking up, and leave it to Ted and Marshall to ignore the obvious signs, crashing Barney’s pad mid-coitus to watch the trilogy.  So how does Barney manage to hide Robin?  By stuffing her in the Stormtrooper armor of course!  Robin even covertly breaks a lamp when Barney suggests he’ll once again be on the prowl in another 3 years, while Ted assumes that he’ll have to be married by 2012.  But that’s not half as weird as Barney’s apparent stormtrooper fetish.

Obviously no closer to being married with kids in the real 2012, Ted finds himself losing hope, projecting that by 2015 he’ll be living alone and calling frozen dinner customer service lines to complain.  Marshall and Lily of course will he sailing the high seas, pregnant several times over, while Robin went on to marry the douche from earlier, as well as get back boobs!  The fantasy continues as Barney typically brings in a random girl, though this time Barney stops the vision and asserts that he finally doesn’t see another girl in his future, and only wants to be with Quinn.

Barney heads straight back to his apartment, smashing his own coffee mugs as a display of devotion to Quinn, who doesn’t reject the idea of Barney keeping her in his life for the foreseeable future.  Of course, like any real couple, they finally have to fart in front of one another.  The pressure relieved, the man across the street finds himself driven to madness by Barney breaking his usual routine.

While Marshall assures Ted that he has a good feeling about 2015, narrating Future Ted points out reveals that when next the boys got together to watch the 'Star Wars' trilogy three years later, Ted in fact has a baby girl to whom he can show the films, and stress that Han shot first.  Because he did, people.  This time, everyone hopes that 2018 won’t be all that different.  But seriously, who’s the mother?

And of course, back in 2012 Barney nails Quinn in a stormtrooper outfit.  It’s not as weird as you’d expect.

I always like the 'How I Met Your Mother's that play around with time, and thankfully 'Trilogy Gime' does it in a way that isn't confusing like earlier this season's "The Burning Beekeeper."  And even if the ending didn't give us much to go on in the way of future events, how cute was it to see Ted finally have his baby daughter present in the next three years?

Did you get your jollies from “Trilogy Time?”  Do you feel the 'Star Wars' movies deserve re-watching every three years as well?  What did you think about the episode? Join us next week for an all-new episode recap of ‘How I Met Your Mother’ “Now We’re Even” on CBS!