'How I Met Your Mother' Season 9, Episode 5 'The Poker Game' Recap

In last week's episode of "How I Met Your Mother," Ted spent the entire episode trying to heal the rift between himself and Barney caused by a "weird moment" with Robin. In this week's episode, Ted spends his time trying to mend an old misunderstanding between himself, Marshall and Lily.

The storyline uses flashbacks to explain why Marshall and Lily are holding a grudge against Ted for not giving them a wedding gift six years earlier. All this time, Ted has been holding a similar grudge because Marshall and Lily never sent him a thank-you note for the wedding gift he gave them. It was, of course, all a matter of miscommunication and faulty assumptions, but it takes quite a few wacky revelations to sort it all out.

In the meantime, Robin runs afoul of her soon-to-be in-laws as she clashes with, first, Barney's brother and then his mother. Barney is caught in the middle and must choose between defending his brother—at the risk of angering his mother—and supporting his bride-to-be. In typical Barney fashion, he takes the worst possible course of action and ends up making the situation much worse than it was to begin with.

Cristin Milioti still has not made another appearance in the nameless mother role, and with less than 48 hours remaining before Robin and Barney's wedding, time is running out.