Watch TV shows online free with full episode links on The TV King.

Reminder: The one where Ted has a moustache.

Recap: Finally home from the frigid north, Marshal is having identity issues-- his dad will never see how he turned out, and now he's scared he was a sell-out and a disappointment. When he sees a documentary about a garbage island in the Pacific that's twice the size of Texas (or, "one eigth the size of Canada" according to Robin), he goes a little crazy with a renewed interest in saving the world. But it's partly just an excuse to avoid starting a family because he's not the person he wants to be,

Meanwhile, Zoey asks Ted to get a box of her things from her old apartment, and he winds up consoling The Captain, who has a different story of how they broke up and doesn't know that Zoey left him for Ted. Also meanwhile, Barney is still denying that he has feelings for Nora, and Robin helps him get past that and go after her.

Review:

The Marshal-and-Lilly-start-a-family thing... how many different ways can that be deferred? It's starting to make Lilly look more baby-mad than ever. If they are going to (and we've seen a flash-forward where she's pregnant), I hope it's before this season is up-- that gives all of next season for Lilly to be pregnant and the writers to milk that for all it's worth, and then another whole season of being ragged new parents with a mostly off-screen baby, as is traditional in sitcoms (though it would be awesome if they manage to have Lilly, say, getting into "baby-wearing" and never leaving the kid with a sitter or something). It didn't come as a surprise when they decided to let Marshal find himself again first, but the constant putting-it-off is starting to feel contrived.

The real heart of this episode is in Barney and his baby-step transformation. If it works out, it's love at first sight for the man who didn't really even believe in such a thing, which is both funny, and a healthy dose of poetic justice. It's a credit to Neil Patrick Harris that he can make such a reprehensible guy both lovable and attractive, while also expertly showing the slow disintegration of his charming-jerk shell. It's starting to become the real theme of this season.

Bottom Line: Marshal and Lilly need to get on with the baby-making already, but Barney is sweetly disarming.

Watch How I Met Your Mother, "Garbage Island" right now!