2. Slap Bet
How I Met Your Mother had plenty of great running gags, but one specific episode in season two introduced not one, but two of the very best jokes that the show would ever feature. Not only was this episode the first time we get to see Robin’s previous life as teen pop sensation Robin Sparkles, but it also was the introduction of the slap bet, a hilarious and painful way for gentlemen to wager.
The episode begins with Barney wanting to take everyone to the mall. For some odd reason, Robin refuses to go with. This spawns a series of ideas as to why she wants to avoid malls, with the two dominant ones being that she did porn in a mall (Barney) and she got married in a mall (Marshall). Since it’s much more exciting than a monetary wager, the two agree to the true gentleman’s bet: a slap bet. To help settle the score, boyfriend Ted confronts Robin about this, and she confesses that yes, she was married in a mall.
Turns out that Robin was only pretending to be married in order to avoid a more embarrassing reveal – the reveal that she actually was a pop star in Canada. The “Let’s Go To The Mall” video plays, and it does not disappoint. That serves as the jumping off point for plenty of further exploration into Robin’s prior life, but there’s no better Sparkles episode than the first.
Of course, the fact that Robin didn’t actually get married in a mall or do porn leads to some confusion about the slaps that should have been rightfully doled out. Commissioner Lily decrees that Barney can either be slapped in the face ten times in a row or five times to be delivered whenever Marshall chooses. Barney opts for the latter, a mistake if there ever was one, and for the next eight seasons he had to cower in fear of Marshall’s mighty palm.
