The final season of How I Met Your Mother is pulling out all the stops — which includes last night’s all-rhyming episode. Starting with the premise that the sound of rhyming speech has the power to keep baby Marvin asleep on a late-night bus ride to Farhampton, Marshall narrates three stories about the HIMYM gang, all in verse.
Though not every couplet was prize-worthy — inn plus grin isn’t exactly something to write home about — there were a few stand-out lines. Here are our picks for the best rhymes in the show:
For what may well be the first use of the word crap-tastic in poetic meter, while introducing the gimmick for the episode:
For the rhyming debut of a brand-new Barney concept, the International Date Line that divides a date and a friendly get-together:
(MORE: 11 Terms Invented by How I Met Your Mother)
For rhyming the names of multiple members of the New York Yankees:
And as she said, “How ’bout something hardy? How ’bout blackened miso cod?”
‘Is it Joe Girardi? Holy crap, is it A-Rod?!’
For allowing guest star Lin-Manuel Miranda, of In the Heights fame and Freestyle Love Supreme rhyming glory, to show off his stuff while dealing with the fact that Marshall had to end a line with the word “Canada” in reference to the episode’s other guest star, James Van Der Beek, who returned as Robin’s ex from up north:
For Ogden-Nash-worthy syntax reversal, Lily and Ted’s dialogue about how Robin consumed an entire wedding cake:
For an unexpected rhyme to introduce another new Barney concept:
For a primetime-friendly twist on an old classic:
(MORE: How I Met Your Mother Spinoff Will Be Totally Different, Creators Say)
Sure, if you watched that …Met Your Mother
Your favorite may be another —
We’d love your alternate selection;
Please tell us in the comments section.