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{{DISPLAYTITLE:<q>The Playbook</q> (''How I Met Your Mother'')}}

{{Infobox television episode

|title = The Playbook

|series = [[How I Met Your Mother]]

|season = 5

|episode = 8

|airdate = {{Start date|2009|11|16}}

|production = 5ALH08

|guests = *[[Sarah Wright]] as Claire

|writer = {{Plainlist|

*[[Carter Bays]]

*[[Craig Thomas (screenwriter)|Craig Thomas]]}}

|director = [[Pamela Fryman]]

|prev = [[The Rough Patch]]

|next = [[Slapsgiving 2: Revenge of the Slap]]

| episode_list = List of How I Met Your Mother episodes

| season_article = How I Met Your Mother (season 5)

}}

"'''The Playbook'''" is the eighth episode of the [[How I Met Your Mother (season 5)|fifth season]] of the [[CBS]] [[situation comedy]] ''[[How I Met Your Mother]]'' and 96th episode overall. It originally aired November 16, 2009. A book based on the episode was published in 2010.<ref>[http://www.mtv.com/news/2078863/barney-stinson-playbook-real-life/ "9 Plays From Barney Stinson's Playbook That Could Work IRL"] by Deepa Lakshmin, February 13, 2015, [[MTV.com]]<br />{{cite book|title=The Playbook: Suit up. Score chicks. Be awesome.|first=Barney|last=Stinson|author-link=Barney Stinson|first2=Matt|last2=Kuhn|publisher=Touchstone|date=October 5, 2010|isbn=978-1439196830|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/playbook00kuhn}}</ref>

==Plot==

Future [[Ted Mosby|Ted]] explains the key to dating is self-confidence, which [[Barney Stinson|Barney]] had in spades, but usually that confidence was in one of his characters. One night, Barney appears in full scuba suit while drinking scotch. [[Lily Aldrin|Lily]] pulls aside Claire ([[Sarah Wright]]), a blonde woman at the bar, warning her of Barney's villainy, and she sits down with the rest of the gang as they explain the events that lead up to that night.

Barney and [[Robin Scherbatsky|Robin]] are coping with the end of their relationship in their own different ways. Robin says she wants to focus on her career, but [[Marshall Eriksen|Marshall]] and Ted are convinced she will find the love of her life, citing several friends who gave up on dating to focus on their work, only to be married months later. Barney, on the other hand, decides to re-enter the dating scene, using his sacred "Playbook". The book describes a set of con artist scenarios designed by Barney to manipulate girls into bed.

Meanwhile, Lily tries to set up Ted with Shelly, a fellow teacher. When she had originally tried to get them to meet, Lily found Ted and Marshall in the middle of a chicken-finger mouth-stuffing attempt, so she convinced her coworker that Ted was not there. However, Ted is stood up by Shelly; when Lily confronts her, she discovers that Shelly was seduced by an exotic man at MacLaren's. Lily realizes it was Barney and angrily confronts him. Barney describes the play he used, the "Lorenzo von [[Matterhorn]]", using fake websites,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lorenzovonmatterhorn.com/|title=Lorenzopedia, the free encyclopedia|website=Lorenzovonmatterhorn.com |access-date=August 13, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.extremitiesquarterly.com/|title=Phallumegaly – Lorenzo von Matterhorn|publisher=Extremities Quarterly|access-date=August 13, 2017}}</ref> a [[smartphone]], and an exotic name.

Barney's next move is a play called the "he's not coming", where he seduces vulnerable girls at the top of the [[Empire State Building]]. One of the girls Barney picks up, however, is an actress friend of Lily's, and she steals the playbook when in Barney's apartment. Lily reveals the ploy to Barney and threatens to post the playbook on the Internet if he does not stop using it. Barney shows up at the apartment in a [[wetsuit|scuba suit]], saying he has one last play, "The Scuba Diver". While preparing to post the playbook, Marshall is bamboozled as "The Scuba Diver" is not in the playbook, having been torn away by Barney. They go down to the bar, where Barney sits in a booth, planning to seduce Claire, the blonde by the bar.

As they conclude the story there with Claire, they ask Barney what "The Scuba Diver" is, and he breaks down, saying his breakup with Robin was hurting him more than he thought, and this was how he coped. Touched, the gang convinces Claire to go out with Barney for a cup of coffee. After they leave, the gang gets a text message from Barney and finds the description of the "Scuba Diver" under their table at MacLaren's. It was actually an elaborate [[Confidence trick|con]]; involving Lily's disgust at the playbook, revealing Barney's tricks to Claire, Barney's fake breakdown over his breakup, and his friends encouraging the prey to go with Barney.

Finally, a new co-host, Don, arrives at Robin's pre-morning show, and Robin suddenly realizes that Ted and Marshall may have been right.

===Music===

Non-original music used in this episode includes [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]]'s [[Piano Sonata No. 11 (Mozart)|''Rondo Alla Turca'']] and a piano version of [[Nino Rota]]'s "[[Romeo and Juliet (1968 film soundtrack)|A Time for Us]]" from [[Franco Zeffirelli]]'s 1968 film ''[[Romeo and Juliet (1968 film)|Romeo and Juliet]]''.<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1541289/soundtrack ''How I Met Your Mother'' – "The Playbook": Soundtrack] at the Internet Movie Database.</ref>

==Critical response==

Donna Bowman of ''[[The A.V. Club]]'' graded the episode an A− in her review; she cheered the return of the "unredeemed essence" of Barney in the wake of his breakup with Robin.<ref>{{cite web|author=Donna Bowman|date=November 16, 2009|website=[[The A.V. Club]]|publisher=[[The Onion]]|title=The Playbook|url=http://www.avclub.com/articles/the-playbook,35449/|access-date=August 13, 2017}}</ref> Brian Zoromski of [[IGN]] gave the episode 9.6 out of 10.<ref>{{cite news|date=October 17, 2009|author=Brian Zoromski|title=''How I Met Your Mother'': 'The Playbook' Review. Barney's back on the singles scene.|url=http://www.ign.com/articles/2009/11/17/how-i-met-your-mother-the-playbook-review|website=[[IGN]]|publisher=[[News Corporation (1980–2013)|News Corporation]]|access-date=August 13, 2017}}</ref>

Cindy McLennan of [[Television Without Pity]] gave it an A because "it was supremely funny", even as a stand-alone.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.brilliantbutcancelled.com/show/how-i-met-your-mother/the-playbook-1/8/|title=The Lorenzo Von Matterhorn|website=[[Television Without Pity]]|author=Cindy McLennan|date=November 16, 2009|access-date=August 13, 2017}}</ref>

==References==

{{Reflist}}

==External links==

*{{IMDb title|1541289|{{Noitalic|"The Playbook"}}}}

{{How I Met Your Mother episodes|5}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Playbook, The}}

[[Category:How I Met Your Mother (season 5) episodes]]

[[Category:2009 American television episodes]]