Duel Citizenship

"Duel Citizenship"
How I Met Your Mother episode
Episode no.	Season 5 Episode 5
Directed by	Pamela Fryman
Written by	Chuck Tatham
Production code	5ALH05
Original air date	October 19, 2009
Guest stars
Kenny Rogers (Kindly Book Narrator)
Season 5 episodes
Definitions Double Date Robin 101 The Sexless Innkeeper Duel Citizenship Bagpipes The Rough Patch The Playbook Slapsgiving 2: Revenge of the Slap The Window Last Cigarette Ever Girls Versus Suits Jenkins Perfect Week Rabbit or Duck Hooked Of Course Say Cheese Zoo or False Home Wreckers Twin Beds Robots Versus Wrestlers The Wedding Bride Doppelgangers

"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.

Plot

Future Ted explains that Robin'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.

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 Cola, Mountain Dew, and Surge, amongst others.
• The audiobook they listen to in the car is an obvious parody of the book Marley & Me, which was adapted into a film.
• Tim Hortons 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 Minnesota". 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 deportation in "The Possimpible" due to her unemployment, but stayed in the United States thanks to Barney.
• In a 1999 flashback Marshall is seen drinking Tantrum and eating jerky in his Pontiac Fiero, breaking his own rule about no food or drink in the car, even including groceries.^[1] The never-ending loop of the song "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" playing in the Fiero is explained in the same episode.
• The season 5 episode "Say Cheese" features a group photo of the gang at a party celebrating Robin getting her dual citizenship.^[2]

Barney's blog

Barney suggests Canada should become the 51st state and suggests a quick citizenship test for Canadians.^[3]

Critical response

Donna Bowman of The A.V. Club rated the episode with a grade of A-.^[4]

Brian Zoromski of IGN gave the episode 9.5 out of 10.^[5]

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.^[6]

References

1. ^ "Arrivederci, Fiero". How I Met Your Mother. CBS. 2007-02-26. No. 17, season 2. Retrieved on 2009-11-07.
2. ^ season 5 episode Say Cheese (How I Met Your Mother)
3. ^ Stinson, Barney (2009-10-19). "Barney's Blog: Canadian Citizenship". Archived from the original on 2009-11-17. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cbs.com%2Fprimetime%2Fhow_i_met_your_mother%2Fcommunity%2Fbarney_blog%2Findex.php&date=2009-11-17. Retrieved 2009-12-26. 
4. ^ Donna Bowman (2009-10-19). "How I Met Your Mother: Duel Citizenship". The AV Club. The Onion. http://www.avclub.com/articles/duel-citizenship,34313/. Retrieved 2009-12-11. 
5. ^ Brian Zoromski (2009-10-20). "How I Met Your Mother: Duel Citizenship Review. Canada jokes, energy drinks and bad pizza make for a great combination.". IGN (News Corporation). http://tv.ign.com/articles/103/1036852p1.html. Retrieved 2010-01-31. 
6. ^ Vlada Gelman (2009-10-20). "'How I Met Your Mother': To be a Canadian or an American". The Los Angeles Times. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2009/10/how-i-met-your-mother-to-be-a-canadian-or-an-american.html. 

External links

• Duel Citizenship at the Internet Movie Database
• Duel Citizenship at TV.com