Single Stamina
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"Single Stamina" is the 10th episode in the second season of the television series How I Met Your Mother. It originally aired on November 27, 2006.
Plot
It is winter time in New York, and Marshall, Lily, Ted, and Robin are in "couples' hibernation mode." Barney tries to get them to go out and do stuff, but the two couples consistently refuse. Tired of being his own wing man, Barney announces that he's invited his brother James (Wayne Brady) to town. Ted warns Robin that James is just like Barney, only gay, so she shouldn't be surprised. James arrives and Robin is very surprised to discover that James is black. Robin asks what the back-story is, and it is revealed that the two don't really know it; apparently their mother says that Barney is white because she ate vanilla ice cream when she was pregnant with him, and James is black because she ate chocolate ice cream.
James tells them that they are young people living in New York and that they should go out and have fun. The six of them go out, and James helps Barney pick up a girl with a back tattoo. Lily, Marshall, Robin, and Ted comment on the differences between single people and people in couples. While they are discussing whether it is more difficult to pick up a girl or to deflect obnoxious guys picking you up, the group notices that James is acting strangely. He has been turning down an awful lot of guys tonight, complaining about his feet hurting him, and generally acting like the four of them. When they see James text messaging someone, they realize that he must be in a relationship and they have to tell Barney. Barney confronts James, grabbing James's phone, which has a picture of James and another guy on it. James tells Barney that the guy is Tom, his fiancee. James says he knows this is weird but he and Tom are in love, and he wants Barney to be his best man. Barney says no, which crushes James.
The next day, Barney goes to the apartment and laments that once gay men start getting married, everyone else will get married, too (because whatever gays do, everyone else starts doing six months later), and single life as we know it will be ruined. Marshall points out that just because James is getting married doesn't mean things have to change, and Barney points out that the four of them have changed. Ted talks about how his sister married someone he didn't like, but he realized he had to support it anyway, and tells Barney he should do the same with James. Barney says he will take James out to celebrate, only he takes James to a gay club. At the club, Ted and Marshall get hit on by gay guys, and point out that getting hit on is flattering; meanwhile the girls are excited that they can dance without being groped. However, after several men come on to Ted and Marshall, they begin to realize how awful it is and the girls realize they miss the attention.
Meanwhile, Barney tries to hook James up with other men. When James resists their advances, Barney accuses James of abandoning him and their way of life. James surprises Barney when he tells him that he and Tom are adopting a baby. Barney is excited that he will be an uncle, and a year later, makes a toast at Tom and James' wedding. Barney meets James's son, and promises to take him out on his 21st birthday and show him how to pick up women.
Music
- The Replacements - "Skyway"
- Scissors for Lefty - "Mama Your Boys Will Find a Home"
- Kite Flying Society - "If I Could Split" (DVD only)
Continuity
- When Barney enters the club with the group, he says "Daddy's home!" This is a reference to a pick-up line he attempted in the first season episode "The Pineapple Incident"
- When the gang try to encourage Barney to support Jame's decision, Ted mentions his sister's marriage to someone who wore "sandles and socks". This is referenced in Little Minnesota, where Ted stated his sister's faults, including getting "married for 5 minutes".
- In the flash forward to James and Tom's wedding that happens one year later, Lily and Marshall get tired and leave the party early, a sign of couples coma, while Robin and Ted stay on for a dance, hinting that they now have the single stamina. Combined with Ted and Robin deciding separately to stay later, rather than staying or leaving as a couple, this could have been a subtle hint that they will no longer be together a year later.
Cultural references
- Barney refers to the two lazy couples, as "Grand-Parents of Willy Wonka" in reference to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, where Charlie's grand-parents never get out of bed.
- During Barney and James' pickup act at the bar, Barney deflects James with the phrase "Popozao", referring to a Kevin Federline song of the same name; according to the DVD commentary from Neil Patrick Harris, as James turns away, he's breaking character as he's laughing.
Critical response