How I Met Your Mother S04E19 – Murtaugh

Ted and Barney challenge each other to things they are too old and too young to do, respectively. Marshall helps Lily coach kindergarten basketball.



The episode begins with Barney recalling the events of the previous night to the rest of the gang, in which he is accused of being too rough during laser tag by the game's owner. He then reveals plans to break into the laser tag arena and throw toilet paper everywhere. He is shown arguing with the owner in a parody of a scene often used in crime shows. Ted brushes it off, informing Barney that he is too old for laser tag. Ted then reveals "The Murtaugh List", a reference to the Roger Murtaugh character from the Lethal Weapon series, whose signature phrase is "I'm too old for this shit". Throughout the episode the narrator Ted replaces the word "shit" with "stuff" as he retells the story to his children. Ted's use of the list is to keep a record of the things he believes he has become too old to do anymore. Barney accepts Ted's revealing of the list as a challenge, and makes a bet with him that he can perform every item on the list within the following 24 hours. If he cannot, he will spend three hours listening to Ted talk about architecture, an idea so horrible even the thought of it causes him to twitch involuntarily.

Meanwhile, Marshall has taken on the role of coaching Lily's kindergarten's basketball team. He is extremely aggressive in training the children, doing such things as forcing them to run and throwing basketballs at them when they don't conform to his standards. A flashback shows his father relentlessly training Marshall, yelling at him aggressively. Lily is shocked by this, as her usual training tactics involve playing a guitar and allowing the children to do whatever they like.

Barney continues to try to perform every action on the Murtaugh List, contracting an ear infection and spinal injuries in the process, from self-ear-piercing and sleeping on a futon, respectively. During a conversation with Robin, Ted reveals that he would prefer being older to being younger. Upon hearing this, Robin and Barney make Ted his own list of things he would do when he was older. Another bet is made between him and Barney to see who can complete their respective lists first, thus introducing the "gentleman's agreement".

Lily grows tired of Marshall's over competitive coaching and tells him off - fearing he will be father as he is a coach - forcing him to be less like his father and go easier on the children. During the game, they lose without scoring a single point, but Marshall realizes the value in playing for fun and makes good with Lily.

After being drugged at a rave, Barney is finally forced to accept the reality that he is growing older and gives Ted the victory. Having re-watched the complete Lethal Weapon series and Ted realizes that Murtaugh still did the things he claimed he was too old for, and decides that he has more to live for than waiting to grow older. He agrees to accompany Barney in covering the laser tag arena with toilet paper, despite winning the bet. Ted, Robin, and Barney are discovered by the laser tag arena owner, who pretends to be accepting of the situation before going to call the police and he walks away.

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