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{{about|a television episode|the actual meaning of the phrase|house cleaning}}
{{about|a television episode|the actual meaning of the phrase|house cleaning}}
{{distinguish|Clean House}}
{{distinguish|Clean House}}
<!-- NOTE: Use American spelling for this American television series -->
{{Infobox television episode
{{Infobox television episode
| Title = Cleaning House
| series = [[How I Met Your Mother]]
| Series = [[How I Met Your Mother]]
| season = 6
| Season = 6
| episode = 2
| Episode = 2
| guests = *[[Ben Vereen]] as Sam Gibbs
| Guests = [[Ben Vereen]] as Sam Gibbs<br>[[Frances Conroy]] as Loretta Stinson<br>[[Wayne Brady]] as James Stinson <br> Riley Thomas Stewart as Young Barney <br> Michael Earl Reid as Post Master General
*[[Frances Conroy]] as Loretta Stinson
*[[Wayne Brady]] as James Stinson
*Riley Thomas Stewart as Young Barney
*Michael Earl Reid as Post Master General
| Writer = Stephen Lloyd
| writer = Stephen Lloyd
| Director = Pamela Fryman
| director = [[Pamela Fryman]]
| Airdate = {{Start date|2010|09|27}}
| airdate = {{Start date|2010|09|27}}
| Production = 6ALH02
| production = 6ALH02
| prev = [[Big Days]]
| Season list = {{Infobox How I Met Your Mother season 6 episode list}}
| next = [[Unfinished (How I Met Your Mother)|Unfinished]]
| episode_list = List of How I Met Your Mother episodes
| season_article = How I Met Your Mother season 6
}}
}}


"'''Cleaning House'''" is the second episode of the [[How I Met Your Mother (season 6)|sixth season]] of the [[CBS]] [[situation comedy|sitcom]] ''[[How I Met Your Mother]]'', and the 114th episode overall. It originally aired on September 27, 2010.
"'''Cleaning House'''" is the second episode of the [[How I Met Your Mother season 6|sixth season]] of the [[CBS]] [[situation comedy|sitcom]] ''[[How I Met Your Mother]]'', and the 114th episode overall. It originally aired on September 27, 2010.


== Plot ==
== Plot ==
[[Barney Stinson|Barney]] is with the gang at MacLaren's and tells them they will be helping him move his mother's belongings out of his childhood home. Despite their protests, he convinces them and they meet Barney's mother, Loretta, and brother, James, at the house in [[Staten Island]]. They find evidence of his lonely childhood, covered up by Loretta's lies. [[Lily Aldrin|Lily]] finds a [[basketball]] jersey, and Barney tells the gang that he was asked by the coach to quit the team because he was too good. James backs Barney; but when he is out of earshot, tells them that Barney was awful, but their mother covered it up with the story. James was lied to with a white glove sent from [[Michael Jackson]] for his 10th birthday. Barney accepts the delusions, until he and his brother find an un-mailed letter to a "Sam Gibbs", with a photo of them, with the words "your son" on the back. Loretta desperately tries to lie out of it, resorting to yelling, making James distrust her even more and Barney believe her even more. James eventually snaps and yells at Barney, begging him to stop living in a fantasy world and accept that all the lies Loretta told them, like [[Bob Barker]] being his father, are false.
[[Barney Stinson|Barney]] is with the gang at MacLaren's telling another story of conquest when he decides to not end the story due to his sadness that his mother is moving out of his childhood home. Barney then tells the gang that they will be helping him move it all over the next two days. Despite their protests, he convinces them & they meet up with Barney's mother, Loretta, and brother, James, at the house in [[Staten Island]].


The gang heads over to the address. An older black man answers the door. James realizes that Sam is his father, and the two embrace, crying. But Barney joins the hug, under the impression that this man is his father. He then proceeds to feed into the idea that he is African-American. Back at his mother's house, Barney sits in his room with Loretta who gives him a note to the identity of his father. Barney puts together all the work his mother did for him as a child to make him happy. Barney tears up the note and realizes that she's all the father he'll ever need.
While the gang goes through Barney's childhood room, they find evidence of his lonely childhood, which was all covered up by Loretta's elaborate lies, like [[Bob Barker]] being his father. Lily finds a basketball jersey, and Barney tells the gang that he was asked by the coach to quit the team because he was too good. James backs Barney up at first; but the second he is out of earshot, tells them that Barney was awful, but their mother covered it up with the story that he was too good to be on the team. James was lied to as well, and when Lily picks up a white glove, James starts to say Michael Jackson sent it to him for his 10th, then realizes this is not true, curses, and walks out of the room. Barney seems to accept these delusions at face value, until he and his brother find an un-mailed letter to a "Sam Gibbs," with a photo of the two of them, with the words "your son" on the back.


[[Robin Scherbatsky|Robin]] tells [[Ted Mosby|Ted]] that she has been promoting him to a [[make-up]] artist at work, but when she describes his selling points, Ted is worried that she oversold him. She sends a series of text messages to try to balance out this faux pas, which Ted becomes upset about since he believed that the things Robin had texted were too horrible. Robin receives a text from the woman which says she is still interested in meeting Ted. Ted then asks Robin why would the woman still want to meet him after all of the bad things that Robin had told her and realizes that Robin has possibly oversold the woman to him.
The gang immediately heads over to the address. Barney explains that he realizes that Bob Barker is not actually his father, and that he's ready to face the truth. An older black man answers the door. James realizes that Sam is his father, and the two embrace, crying. But Barney joins the hug, under the impression that this man is his father. He then proceeds to feed into the idea that he is African-American, even interrupting Sam and James' duet of [[Ben E. King|Ben E. King's]] "[[Stand by Me (song)|Stand by Me]]."

Back at his mother's house, Barney sits in his room with Loretta who gives him a note to the identity of his real father. While they talk, Barney puts together all the work his mother did for him as a child. Barney tears up the note and realizes that she's all the father he'll ever need.

Meanwhile, [[Robin Scherbatsky|Robin]] tells [[Ted Mosby|Ted]] that she has been promoting him to a hot make-up artist at work, but when she describes her selling points, Ted is worried that she oversold him. Over the course of the day, she sends a series of text messages to try to balance out this [[faux pas]]. Near the end of the episode, Robin receives a text from the woman which says she is still interested in meeting Ted. Ted then realizes that Robin has possibly oversold the woman to him.

== Music ==
* "[[Stand by Me (song)|Stand by Me]]" by [[Ben E. King]].

==Barney's blog==
In his [[blog]], Barney presents a fake news article relating Loretta's lie of how he and James rescued Sam Gibbs' dog during their stay in Yourson, [[North Dakota]].
<ref name="barneys_blog">{{cite web
| first = Barney | last = Stinson
| date = 2010-09-27
| authorlink = Barney Stinson
| title = Barney's Blog: From the files of Li’l Barney
| url = http://www.cbs.com/primetime/how_i_met_your_mother/community/barney_blog/index.php
| accessdate = 2010-12-02
}}
</ref>

== Cultural references ==
* When Barney initially refuses to tell the gang of his problems, Robin brings up the [[Discovery Channel]] show ''[[Deadliest Catch]]'' to fill up the conversation.
* Ted illustrates to Robin about the dangers of overselling oneself by describing the end of ''[[The Karate Kid (1984 film)|The Karate Kid]]''.
* Ted mentions that he has [[G.I. Joe]] toys in his room.
* James believed that a glove Lily's holding actually came from [[Michael Jackson]].
* Barney had always believed that [[Bob Barker]], the former host of ''[[The Price Is Right]]'' was his father. James mentions that at different times his mother told him that his father was [[Flip Wilson]], [[Bill Cosby]], [[James Earl Jones]], and [[Meadowlark Lemon]].
* Barney owns a fake autographed baseball that was erroneously signed by a "Frank Aaron". This is a reference to home run king [[Hank Aaron]].
* Ted says that [[surrealist]] painter [[Salvador Dalí]] was needed to capture the bizarre reunion.
* Marshall says "unsubscribe" in response to Barney's offer to clean his house. This is a term that is related to [[social networking]] stations, [[blog]]s, [[Twitter|tweets]], and [[video sharing]].
* Robin mentions to Ted that the girl she is setting him up with looks like [[Robert De Niro]] in the movie ''[[Cape Fear (1991 film)|Cape Fear]]''.
* At one point during Sam and James' duet, Barney jumps in with [[Scat singing]]. In the last scene, he additionally uses [[Auto-Tune]].
* A [[Diabolik]] poster is seen on display in Barney's childhood room.
* [[Marshall Eriksen|Marshall]]'s apparent interest and pseudo-expertise in the supernatural was demonstrated in this episode, with him referencing the beliefs in [[Santa Claus]] and in the [[Easter Bunny]].
* James is excited with his son, Eli, wearing diapers while wearing a [[Dolce & Gabbana]] suit.


== Critical response ==
== Critical response ==
Donna Bowman of ''[[The A.V. Club]]'' gave the episode an A− score. She said that while the episode had no real innovations aside from recurring characters and meeting relatives for the very first time, Barney's acceptance of the truth was not long in coming. She also took note of the way Barney joined in the duet between James and his father.<ref name="avclub">{{cite web | date = 2010-09-27 | author = Donna Bowman | title = How I Met Your Mother "Cleaning House" | url = https://www.avclub.com/how-i-met-your-mother-cleaning-house-1798166046 | work = [[The A.V. Club]] | publisher = [[The Onion]]}}</ref> [[James Poniewozik]] of ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' noted Barney's attempts to feel like a black man with respect to Sam and James was akin to the behavior of Navin Johnson, [[Steve Martin]]'s character in the film ''[[The Jerk]]''.<ref>{{cite magazine | date = 2010-09-28 | author = James Poniewozik |author-link=James Poniewozik | title = HIMYM Watch: I Was Born a Poor Black Child... | url = https://entertainment.time.com/2010/09/28/himym-watch-i-was-born-a-poor-black-child/ | magazine = [[Time (magazine)|Time]]}}</ref> Robert Canning of ''[[IGN]]'' gave the episode a rating of 6.5 out of 10.<ref name="ign-review">{{cite web | date = 2010-09-28 | author = Robert Canning | title = How I Met Your Mother: 'Cleaning House' Review | url = http://tv.ign.com/articles/112/1123924p1.html | work = [[IGN]] | publisher = [[News Corporation (1980–2013)|News Corporation]] | accessdate = 2010-12-02}}</ref> DeAnn Welker of [[Television Without Pity]] gave the episode a C+ score, saying there was not much of a storyline for the other four main characters.<ref name="pity">{{cite web | date = 2010-09-29 | author = DeAnn Welker | title = How I Met Your Mother: Not Bad. Not Bad At All. | url = http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/show/how_i_met_your_mother/cleaning_house_1.php | work = [[Television Without Pity]] | publisher = [[NBC Universal]] | access-date = 2010-10-01 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101001195747/http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/show/how_i_met_your_mother/cleaning_house_1.php | archive-date = 2010-10-01 | url-status = dead }}</ref>
Donna Bowman of [[The A.V. Club]] gave the episode an A- score. She said that while the episode had no real innovations aside from recurring characters and meeting relatives for the very first time, Barney's acceptance of the truth was not long in coming. She also took note of the way Barney joined in the duet between James and his father.<ref name="avclub">{{cite web
| date = 2010-09-27
| author = Donna Bowman
| title = How I Met Your Mother "Cleaning House"
| url = http://www.avclub.com/articles/cleaning-house,45615/
| work = [[The A.V. Club]]
| publisher = [[The Onion]]
}}
</ref>

James Poniewozik of [[Time.com]] noted Barney's attempts to feel like a black man with respect to Sam and James was akin to the behavior of Navin Johnson, [[Steve Martin]]'s character in the film ''[[The Jerk]]''.<ref>{{cite web
| date = 2010-09-28
| author = James Poniewozik
| title = HIMYM Watch: I Was Born a Poor Black Child...
| url = http://tunedin.blogs.time.com/2010/09/28/himym-watch-i-was-born-a-poor-black-child/
| work = [[TIME]]
| publisher = [[Time Inc.]]
}}
</ref>

Robert Canning of [[IGN]] gave the episode a rating of 6.5 out of 10.<ref name="ign-review">{{cite web
| date = 2010-09-28
| author = Robert Canning
| title = How I Met Your Mother: "Cleaning House" Review
| url = http://tv.ign.com/articles/112/1123924p1.html
| work = [[IGN]]
| publisher = [[News Corporation]]
| accessdate = 2010-12-02
}}
</ref>

DeAnn Welker of [[Television Without Pity]] gave the episode a C+ score, saying there was not much of a storyline for the other four main characters.<ref name="pity">{{cite web
| date = 2010-09-29
| author = DeAnn Welker
| title = How I Met Your Mother: Not Bad. Not Bad At All.
| url = http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/show/how_i_met_your_mother/cleaning_house_1.php
| work = [[Television Without Pity]]
| publisher = [[NBC Universal]]
}}
</ref>


== References {{anchor|Notes}} ==
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist}}


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* {{IMDb episode|1713733|Cleaning House}}
* {{IMDb episode|1713733|Cleaning House}}


{{How I Met Your Mother}}
{{How I Met Your Mother episodes|6}}
{{How I Met Your Mother episodes}}


[[Category:How I Met Your Mother (season 6) episodes]]
[[Category:How I Met Your Mother season 6 episodes]]
[[Category:2010 television episodes]]
[[Category:2010 American television episodes]]

Latest revision as of 04:13, 17 November 2024

"Cleaning House"
How I Met Your Mother episode
Episode no.Season 6
Episode 2
Directed byPamela Fryman
Written byStephen Lloyd
Production code6ALH02
Original air dateSeptember 27, 2010 (2010-09-27)
Guest appearances
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Big Days"
Next →
"Unfinished"
How I Met Your Mother season 6
List of episodes

"Cleaning House" is the second episode of the sixth season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, and the 114th episode overall. It originally aired on September 27, 2010.

Plot

[edit]

Barney is with the gang at MacLaren's and tells them they will be helping him move his mother's belongings out of his childhood home. Despite their protests, he convinces them and they meet Barney's mother, Loretta, and brother, James, at the house in Staten Island. They find evidence of his lonely childhood, covered up by Loretta's lies. Lily finds a basketball jersey, and Barney tells the gang that he was asked by the coach to quit the team because he was too good. James backs Barney; but when he is out of earshot, tells them that Barney was awful, but their mother covered it up with the story. James was lied to with a white glove sent from Michael Jackson for his 10th birthday. Barney accepts the delusions, until he and his brother find an un-mailed letter to a "Sam Gibbs", with a photo of them, with the words "your son" on the back. Loretta desperately tries to lie out of it, resorting to yelling, making James distrust her even more and Barney believe her even more. James eventually snaps and yells at Barney, begging him to stop living in a fantasy world and accept that all the lies Loretta told them, like Bob Barker being his father, are false.

The gang heads over to the address. An older black man answers the door. James realizes that Sam is his father, and the two embrace, crying. But Barney joins the hug, under the impression that this man is his father. He then proceeds to feed into the idea that he is African-American. Back at his mother's house, Barney sits in his room with Loretta who gives him a note to the identity of his father. Barney puts together all the work his mother did for him as a child to make him happy. Barney tears up the note and realizes that she's all the father he'll ever need.

Robin tells Ted that she has been promoting him to a make-up artist at work, but when she describes his selling points, Ted is worried that she oversold him. She sends a series of text messages to try to balance out this faux pas, which Ted becomes upset about since he believed that the things Robin had texted were too horrible. Robin receives a text from the woman which says she is still interested in meeting Ted. Ted then asks Robin why would the woman still want to meet him after all of the bad things that Robin had told her and realizes that Robin has possibly oversold the woman to him.

Critical response

[edit]

Donna Bowman of The A.V. Club gave the episode an A− score. She said that while the episode had no real innovations aside from recurring characters and meeting relatives for the very first time, Barney's acceptance of the truth was not long in coming. She also took note of the way Barney joined in the duet between James and his father.[1] James Poniewozik of Time noted Barney's attempts to feel like a black man with respect to Sam and James was akin to the behavior of Navin Johnson, Steve Martin's character in the film The Jerk.[2] Robert Canning of IGN gave the episode a rating of 6.5 out of 10.[3] DeAnn Welker of Television Without Pity gave the episode a C+ score, saying there was not much of a storyline for the other four main characters.[4]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Donna Bowman (2010-09-27). "How I Met Your Mother "Cleaning House"". The A.V. Club. The Onion.
  2. ^ James Poniewozik (2010-09-28). "HIMYM Watch: I Was Born a Poor Black Child..." Time.
  3. ^ Robert Canning (2010-09-28). "How I Met Your Mother: 'Cleaning House' Review". IGN. News Corporation. Retrieved 2010-12-02.
  4. ^ DeAnn Welker (2010-09-29). "How I Met Your Mother: Not Bad. Not Bad At All". Television Without Pity. NBC Universal. Archived from the original on 2010-10-01. Retrieved 2010-10-01.
[edit]