Jenkins (How I Met Your Mother)
Encyclopedia
"Jenkins" is the thirteenth episode of the fifth season of the CBS
situation comedy
How I Met Your Mother
and 101st episode overall. It originally aired on January 18, 2010. The episode hit a season high with 10.52 million viewers and high overall ratings.
The episode is directed by starring actor and first time director Neil Patrick Harris
.
, Rockefeller Center
during the holiday season, and any college bar. Ted and Marshall walk into a college bar, and Ted is worried about meeting his students there. Marshall returns to the bar on a regular basis to maintain his skeeball high score.
Marshall announces that they'll be meeting Jenkins, a co-worker, at the bar. He had told the gang a collection of hilarious stories about Jenkins, Ted imagining him as a fat funny-man. When Barney interjects with his desire to sleep with Jenkins, Ted is surprised to find that Jenkins is a woman (Amanda Peet
).
The next day, Lily unexpectedly shows up for lunch with Marshall, and finds out that Jenkins is a woman. However, Lily is not at all jealous. Ted and Robin explain that it isn't Marshall's loyalty, but in every relationship, there is a "reacher" (a person who reaches beyond their level of beauty), and a "settler" (a person who settles for someone below their level of beauty). Flabbergasted, Marshall forces Lily to classify herself as one or the other, and she, after much hesitation, says "settler."
In an attempt to get Lily jealous, Marshall plans to show her how Jenkins flirts with him. While inviting Jenkins to go out again, this time with Lily, she kisses him. Marshall runs home and apologizes to Lily, who jokes that she's going to go punch Jenkins in the nose, when she obviously thinks he's just lying to make her jealous. Jenkins later apologizes, saying she was drunk from a late-night drinking game, and plans to apologize to Lily, which Marshall knows will prove he is not just a "reacher." Lily calmly listens to Jenkins' apology and promptly punches her in the nose, and continues beating her up, as Future Ted mentions that Marshall never tried to make Lily jealous again.
Meanwhile, Robin encounters fans of her pre-morning news show. When she meets the boys at the college bar, one of Ted's students comes over to tell her that he's a big fan of her work. Full of pride, she interrupts Ted's class the next day to loudly announce that she is the host of the show. After she leaves, the class explains that they are fans because her show comes on as their night of drinking is coming to an end, and her interjection, "but...umm" is the basis for a drinking game (whenever Robin says this, the students take a drink).
Ted and Barney test this game the next night, watching Robin's show, and get thoroughly drunk. After Robin continues to brag about her wide viewership, Ted explains the drinking game. That night, his class invites him out to join their game. As revenge, Robin decides to repeat the phrase "but...umm" excessively, prompting those playing the game to drink every time. In another bar, Jenkins is also playing the same drinking game and is still drunk the next morning, which leads to the incident where she kisses Marshall.
During the next day's class, Robin interrupts again, startling the students and Ted with a megaphone when they all have hangovers.
rated the episode with a grade B+.
Brian Zoromski of IGN gave the episode 8.5 out of 10.
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
situation comedy
Situation comedy
A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...
How I Met Your Mother
How I Met Your Mother
How I Met Your Mother is an American sitcom that premiered on CBS on September 19, 2005, created by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays.As a framing device, the main character, Ted Mosby with narration by Bob Saget, in the year 2030 recounts to his son and daughter the events that led to his meeting...
and 101st episode overall. It originally aired on January 18, 2010. The episode hit a season high with 10.52 million viewers and high overall ratings.
The episode is directed by starring actor and first time director Neil Patrick Harris
Neil Patrick Harris
Neil Patrick Harris is an American actor, singer, director, and magician.Prominent roles of his career include the title role in Doogie Howser, M.D., Colonel Carl Jenkins in Starship Troopers, the womanizing Barney Stinson in How I Met Your Mother, a fictionalized version of himself in the Harold...
.
Plot
Future Ted discusses the three places a 30 year-old New Yorker shouldn't be caught in: New Year's Eve in Times SquareTimes Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue and stretching from West 42nd to West 47th Streets...
, Rockefeller Center
Rockefeller Center
Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commercial buildings covering between 48th and 51st streets in New York City, United States. Built by the Rockefeller family, it is located in the center of Midtown Manhattan, spanning the area between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue. It was declared a National...
during the holiday season, and any college bar. Ted and Marshall walk into a college bar, and Ted is worried about meeting his students there. Marshall returns to the bar on a regular basis to maintain his skeeball high score.
Marshall announces that they'll be meeting Jenkins, a co-worker, at the bar. He had told the gang a collection of hilarious stories about Jenkins, Ted imagining him as a fat funny-man. When Barney interjects with his desire to sleep with Jenkins, Ted is surprised to find that Jenkins is a woman (Amanda Peet
Amanda Peet
Amanda Peet is an American actress, who has appeared on film, stage, and television. After studying with Uta Hagen at Columbia University, Peet began her career in television commercials, and progressed to small roles on television, before making her film debut in 1995...
).
The next day, Lily unexpectedly shows up for lunch with Marshall, and finds out that Jenkins is a woman. However, Lily is not at all jealous. Ted and Robin explain that it isn't Marshall's loyalty, but in every relationship, there is a "reacher" (a person who reaches beyond their level of beauty), and a "settler" (a person who settles for someone below their level of beauty). Flabbergasted, Marshall forces Lily to classify herself as one or the other, and she, after much hesitation, says "settler."
In an attempt to get Lily jealous, Marshall plans to show her how Jenkins flirts with him. While inviting Jenkins to go out again, this time with Lily, she kisses him. Marshall runs home and apologizes to Lily, who jokes that she's going to go punch Jenkins in the nose, when she obviously thinks he's just lying to make her jealous. Jenkins later apologizes, saying she was drunk from a late-night drinking game, and plans to apologize to Lily, which Marshall knows will prove he is not just a "reacher." Lily calmly listens to Jenkins' apology and promptly punches her in the nose, and continues beating her up, as Future Ted mentions that Marshall never tried to make Lily jealous again.
Meanwhile, Robin encounters fans of her pre-morning news show. When she meets the boys at the college bar, one of Ted's students comes over to tell her that he's a big fan of her work. Full of pride, she interrupts Ted's class the next day to loudly announce that she is the host of the show. After she leaves, the class explains that they are fans because her show comes on as their night of drinking is coming to an end, and her interjection, "but...umm" is the basis for a drinking game (whenever Robin says this, the students take a drink).
Ted and Barney test this game the next night, watching Robin's show, and get thoroughly drunk. After Robin continues to brag about her wide viewership, Ted explains the drinking game. That night, his class invites him out to join their game. As revenge, Robin decides to repeat the phrase "but...umm" excessively, prompting those playing the game to drink every time. In another bar, Jenkins is also playing the same drinking game and is still drunk the next morning, which leads to the incident where she kisses Marshall.
During the next day's class, Robin interrupts again, startling the students and Ted with a megaphone when they all have hangovers.
Production
Neil Patrick Harris made his directorial debut with the episode. This is especially unusual for the show, as Pamela Fryman directed the majority of the episodes before this. Of the previous 100 episodes, 95 were directed by Fryman and 5 were directed by Rob Greenberg, making Harris only the third different person to direct an episode of the show. Harris summarized the experience describing it as [sic] "Equal parts overwhelm, education, and exhilaration." Harris' role is smaller in this episode due to directorial duties.Continuity
- Jenkins and Marshall bond over the fact that they both are from MinnesotaMinnesotaMinnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
(Jenkins being from Pelican RapidsPelican Rapids, MinnesotaAs of the census of 2000, there were 2,374 people, 884 households, and 558 families residing in the city. The population density was 905.8 people per square mile . There were 962 housing units at an average density of 367.0 per square mile...
where Marshall's late grandfather lived) and the fact that they both love the Minnesota VikingsMinnesota VikingsThe Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings joined the National Football League as an expansion team in 1960...
. Marshall's love for the Vikings is revealed in "Little MinnesotaLittle Minnesota"Little Minnesota" is the 11th episode in the fourth season of the television series How I Met Your Mother and 75th overall. It originally aired on December 15, 2008.- Plot :...
". - Robin's habit of saying "but...umm" can be seen again on "Of CourseOf Course (How I Met Your Mother)"Of Course" is the seventeenth episode of the fifth season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother and 105th episode overall. It originally aired on March 8, 2010.- Plot :...
". - Ted says he threw up all over himself after playing the "but...umm" drinking game. In first season episode "The Pineapple IncidentThe Pineapple Incident"The Pineapple Incident" is the 10th episode in the first season of the television series How I Met Your Mother. It originally aired on November 28, 2005...
", Ted stated that he'd been "vomit free since '93", but this was proven wrong in episode "Game NightGame Night"Game Night" is the 15th episode in the first season of the television series How I Met Your Mother. It originally aired on February 27, 2006.- Plot :...
" when it is known that he vomitted on Robin's doormat when he re-returned for her. - Barney's interest in girlfights was shown in previous episodes "Happily Ever AfterHappily Ever After (How I Met Your Mother)"Happily Ever After" is the sixth episode in the fourth season of the television series How I Met Your Mother and 70th overall. It originally aired on November 3, 2008.- Plot :The day after Stella ran out on their wedding, Ted is unusually happy...
", "The Goat", and "InterventionIntervention (How I Met Your Mother)"Intervention" is the fourth episode in the fourth season of the television series How I Met Your Mother and 68th overall. It originally aired on October 13, 2008.-Plot:...
". He also breaks the "Bro Code" by not informing Ted of the girlfight. - This episode again references Marshall's skill at games, as he holds the skee ball high score and even gets recognized by one of Ted's students by his alias 'Big Fudge'
Cultural references
- When Jenkins is asking Marshall if he is a Vikings fan and he is concerned that she may be out to get him, he says his wife "doesn't have money, but what she does have is a very special set of skills" in reference to Liam Neeson's character in TakenTaken (film)Taken is a 2008 action thriller film produced by Luc Besson, starring Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, and Famke Janssen. The screenplay is written by Besson and Robert Mark Kamen, and was directed by Pierre Morel...
.
Critical response
Donna Bowman of The A.V. ClubThe A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
rated the episode with a grade B+.
Brian Zoromski of IGN gave the episode 8.5 out of 10.