Duel Citizenship (How I Met Your Mother)
Encyclopedia
"Duel Citizenship" is the fifth episode of the fifth season of the CBS
situation comedy
How I Met Your Mother
and 93rd overall. It originally aired on October 19, 2009.
's Canadian
quirks and mannerisms were strange (slang, impervious to cold, and severe aggression in bar fights), which got her into trouble in the fall of 2009. After a bar fight, she is charged with assault
and could be deported unless she gets American citizenship. Barney
takes the opportunity to reiterate that Canada is lame and America
is awesome. He encourages her to take the citizenship test and teaches her to be obnoxious, arrogant and willfully ignorant—the hallmarks, he says, of a true American. Robin takes on the role perfectly, but on the way back home, she walks past her Canadian bar, the Hoser Hut, and tempted by her heritage, she goes in. After some serious drinking with Canada's national women's curling
team, she blacks out and ends up in a Toronto
hotel room.
Barney has tracked her down and convinces her to come home and take the test. They stop at a Tim Hortons
coffee shop, where the cashier mistakes Robin for an American. Depressed, Robin feels neither Canadian nor American. Barney makes a speech ridiculing Canadians for letting such an amazing woman go (among other things), and then is promptly beaten up. After some free Canadian health care
, they return home and Robin decides she wants dual citizenship
.
Meanwhile, Ted
hears that a pizzeria in Chicago
named Gazola's is closing down. He and Marshall
used to drive straight from Wesleyan
to the pizzeria when they were in college, even though the pizza was awful. The road trips fueled only by jerky
and Tantrum (a soda which according to Future Ted had "the highest caffeine level legally available over the counter") helped cement their friendship, and Ted proposes they take one last trip. Pumped to spend some personal time with Marshall (and reeling from a severe caffeine high), Ted is disappointed to find out that Lily
is coming along.
Lily needs bathroom breaks frequently and insists they listen to an audio-book about a man's relationship with his dog (narrated by Kenny Rogers
). Ted is annoyed and becomes exasperated when they stop at a bed and breakfast instead of driving through the night. After Lily and Marshall engage in some couples' activities, Ted tricks Marshall into driving with him to Gazola's in his bathrobe. They enjoy the pizza, but Marshall feels guilty over abandoning Lily, and they leave. Ted admits that he is angry that Lily tagged along, and the two stop speaking.
They drive back to the bed and breakfast not speaking to each other, but the audio-book story they are listening to makes them realize they need each other's friendship, and they reconcile. Lily hasn't even noticed that they're gone because she has been powerfully sedated by the hotel's spa services. After some severe stomach pains from the pizza, the three head back to New York. They are worried they may have left Lily behind but she is shown clinging to the top of the car using the power of the highly caffeinated soda.
rated the episode with a grade of A-.
Brian Zoromski of IGN gave the episode 9.5 out of 10.
Vlada Gelman writes about the Canadian jokes in the show and expresses a strong appreciation for the attention to detail and continuity the episode shows.
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 93rd overall. It originally aired on October 19, 2009.
Plot
Future Ted explains that RobinRobin Scherbatsky
Robin Charles Scherbatsky, Jr. is a fictional character created by Carter Bays and Craig Thomas for the CBS television series How I Met Your Mother, portrayed by Canadian actress Cobie Smulders.- Early life :...
's Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
quirks and mannerisms were strange (slang, impervious to cold, and severe aggression in bar fights), which got her into trouble in the fall of 2009. After a bar fight, she is charged with assault
Assault
In law, assault is a crime causing a victim to fear violence. The term is often confused with battery, which involves physical contact. The specific meaning of assault varies between countries, but can refer to an act that causes another to apprehend immediate and personal violence, or in the more...
and could be deported unless she gets American citizenship. Barney
Barney Stinson
Barnabas "Barney" Stinson is a fictional character created by Carter Bays and Craig Thomas for the CBS television series How I Met Your Mother, portrayed by Neil Patrick Harris. The character has been extremely well received by critics and has been credited for much of the show's success...
takes the opportunity to reiterate that Canada is lame and America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
is awesome. He encourages her to take the citizenship test and teaches her to be obnoxious, arrogant and willfully ignorant—the hallmarks, he says, of a true American. Robin takes on the role perfectly, but on the way back home, she walks past her Canadian bar, the Hoser Hut, and tempted by her heritage, she goes in. After some serious drinking with Canada's national women's curling
Curling
Curling is a sport in which players slide stones across a sheet of ice towards a target area. It is related to bowls, boule and shuffleboard. Two teams, each of four players, take turns sliding heavy, polished granite stones, also called "rocks", across the ice curling sheet towards the house, a...
team, she blacks out and ends up in a Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
hotel room.
Barney has tracked her down and convinces her to come home and take the test. They stop at a Tim Hortons
Tim Hortons
Tim Hortons Inc. is a Canadian fast casual restaurant known for its coffee and doughnuts. It is also Canada's largest fast food service with over 3000 stores nationwide. It was founded in 1964 in Hamilton, Ontario, by Canadian hockey player Tim Horton and Jim Charade, after an initial venture in...
coffee shop, where the cashier mistakes Robin for an American. Depressed, Robin feels neither Canadian nor American. Barney makes a speech ridiculing Canadians for letting such an amazing woman go (among other things), and then is promptly beaten up. After some free Canadian health care
Universal health care
Universal health care is a term referring to organized health care systems built around the principle of universal coverage for all members of society, combining mechanisms for health financing and service provision.-History:...
, they return home and Robin decides she wants dual citizenship
Multiple citizenship
Multiple citizenship is a status in which a person is concurrently regarded as a citizen under the laws of more than one state. Multiple citizenships exist because different countries use different, and not necessarily mutually exclusive, citizenship requirements...
.
Meanwhile, Ted
Ted Mosby
Theodore Evelyn "Ted" Mosby is the titular fictional character of the U.S. television sitcom How I Met Your Mother, portrayed by Josh Radnor...
hears that a pizzeria in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
named Gazola's is closing down. He and Marshall
Marshall Eriksen
Marshall Eriksen is a fictional character in the American sitcom How I Met Your Mother, created by Carter Bays and Craig Thomas and portrayed by Jason Segel.-Character profile:Marshall is an easy-going, naive optimist from St. Cloud, Minnesota...
used to drive straight from Wesleyan
Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college founded in 1831 and located in Middletown, Connecticut. According to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Wesleyan is the only Baccalaureate College in the nation that emphasizes undergraduate instruction in the arts and...
to the pizzeria when they were in college, even though the pizza was awful. The road trips fueled only by jerky
Jerky (food)
Jerky is lean meat that has been trimmed of fat, cut into strips, and then been dried to prevent spoilage. Normally, this drying includes the addition of salt, to prevent bacteria from developing on the meat before sufficient moisture has been removed. The word "jerky" is a bastardization of the...
and Tantrum (a soda which according to Future Ted had "the highest caffeine level legally available over the counter") helped cement their friendship, and Ted proposes they take one last trip. Pumped to spend some personal time with Marshall (and reeling from a severe caffeine high), Ted is disappointed to find out that Lily
Lily Aldrin
Lillian "Lily" Aldrin is a fictional character created by Carter Bays and Craig Thomas for the CBS television series How I Met Your Mother, portrayed by American actress Alyson Hannigan. She is the wife of Marshall Eriksen and the best friend of Robin Scherbatsky...
is coming along.
Lily needs bathroom breaks frequently and insists they listen to an audio-book about a man's relationship with his dog (narrated by Kenny Rogers
Kenny Rogers
Kenneth Donald "Kenny" Rogers is an American singer-songwriter, photographer, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur...
). Ted is annoyed and becomes exasperated when they stop at a bed and breakfast instead of driving through the night. After Lily and Marshall engage in some couples' activities, Ted tricks Marshall into driving with him to Gazola's in his bathrobe. They enjoy the pizza, but Marshall feels guilty over abandoning Lily, and they leave. Ted admits that he is angry that Lily tagged along, and the two stop speaking.
They drive back to the bed and breakfast not speaking to each other, but the audio-book story they are listening to makes them realize they need each other's friendship, and they reconcile. Lily hasn't even noticed that they're gone because she has been powerfully sedated by the hotel's spa services. After some severe stomach pains from the pizza, the three head back to New York. They are worried they may have left Lily behind but she is shown clinging to the top of the car using the power of the highly caffeinated soda.
Cultural references
- The highly-caffeinated green soda, "Tantrum," that the boys drink is a reference to a series of sodas in the late '90s, including Jolt ColaJolt ColaJolt Cola was a carbonated soft drink produced by Wet Planet Beverages. It was created in 1985 by C. J. Rapp as a highly caffeinated cola. It is targeted towards students and young professionals, stressing its use as a stimulant in a similar manner as energy drinks...
, Mountain DewMountain DewMountain Dew is a citrus-flavored carbonated soft drink brand produced and owned by PepsiCo. The original formula was invented in the 1940s by Tennessee beverage bottlers Barney and Ally Hartman and was first marketed in Marion, VA, Knoxville and Johnson City, Tennessee. A revised formula was...
, and Surge, amongst others. - The audiobook they listen to in the car is an obvious parody of the book Marley & MeMarley & MeMarley & Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog is a New York Times bestselling autobiographical book by journalist John Grogan, published in 2005, about the thirteen years he and his family shared their life, home, and heart with Marley, a possibly neurotic, and certified "untrainable",...
, which was adapted into a filmMarley & Me (film)Marley & Me is a 2008 American comedy-drama film directed by David Frankel. The screenplay by Scott Frank and Don Roos is based on the memoir of the same name by John Grogan...
. - Tim HortonsTim HortonsTim Hortons Inc. is a Canadian fast casual restaurant known for its coffee and doughnuts. It is also Canada's largest fast food service with over 3000 stores nationwide. It was founded in 1964 in Hamilton, Ontario, by Canadian hockey player Tim Horton and Jim Charade, after an initial venture in...
is a real chain of Canadian coffee shops. It is the most popular food chain in Canada.
Continuity
- Robin's inappropriate cold weather clothing was explored in season 4 episode "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 :...
". However, in the same episode Marshall shows that he doesn't have a problem with cold weather either but he still wears warm clothes in the flashback. Marshall introduced Robin to the Canadian bar Hoser Hut in the ending of that same episode. - Ted's habit of saying the 'you' of 'thank you' in a high pitched tone, last seen in "Definitions".
- Robin also faced the possibility of deportationDeportationDeportation means the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. Today it often refers to the expulsion of foreign nationals whereas the expulsion of nationals is called banishment, exile, or penal transportation...
in "The PossimpibleThe Possimpible"The Possimpible" is the 14th episode in the fourth season of the television series How I Met Your Mother and 78th overall. It originally aired on February 2, 2009.- Plot :...
" due to her unemploymentUnemploymentUnemployment , as defined by the International Labour Organization, occurs when people are without jobs and they have actively sought work within the past four weeks...
, but stayed in the United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
thanks to Barney. - In a 1999 flashback Marshall is seen drinking Tantrum and eating jerky in his Pontiac FieroPontiac FieroThe Pontiac Fiero is a mid-engined sports car that was built by the Pontiac division of General Motors from 1984 to 1988. The Fiero—meaning "proud" in Italian and "wild", "fierce", or "ferocious" in Spanish—was designed by George Milidrag and Hulki Aldikacti as a Pontiac sports car...
, breaking his own rule about no food or drink in the car, even including groceries. The never-ending loop of the song "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)"I'm Gonna Be " is a song written and performed by The Proclaimers. It was released on their 1988 Sunshine on Leith album, and subsequently as a single. It has become one of their most popular songs, reaching No. 11 in the UK charts and No. 1 on the Australian ARIA Charts in 1989, plus, five years...
" playing in the Fiero is explained in the same episode. - The season 5 episode "Say CheeseSay Cheese (How I Met Your Mother)"Say Cheese" is the eighteenth episode of the fifth season of the CBS situation comedy How I Met Your Mother and 106th episode overall. It originally aired on March 22, 2010.- Plot :...
" features a group photo of the gang at a party celebrating Robin getting her dual citizenship.
Barney's blog
Barney suggests Canada should become the 51st state and suggests a quick citizenship test for Canadians.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 of A-.
Brian Zoromski of IGN gave the episode 9.5 out of 10.
Vlada Gelman writes about the Canadian jokes in the show and expresses a strong appreciation for the attention to detail and continuity the episode shows.