Matchmaker (How I Met Your Mother)

"Matchmaker"
How I Met Your Mother episode
Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 7
Directed by	Pamela Fryman
Written by	Chris Marcil and Sam Johnson
Production code	1ALH06
Original air date	November 7, 2005
Guest stars
David Henrie (Son) Lyndsy Fonseca (Daughter) Camryn Manheim (Ellen Pierce) Beth Lacke (Dr. Sarah O'Brien)
Season 1 episodes
Pilot Purple Giraffe Sweet Taste of Liberty Return of the Shirt Okay Awesome Slutty Pumpkin Matchmaker The Duel Belly Full of Turkey The Pineapple Incident The Limo The Wedding Drumroll, Please Zip, Zip, Zip Game Night Cupcake Life Among the Gorillas Nothing Good Happens After 2 A.M. Mary the Paralegal Best Prom Ever Milk Come On

"Matchmaker" is the 7th episode in the first season of the television series How I Met Your Mother. It originally aired on November 7, 2005.

Plot

Robin does a story on "Love Solutions", a matchmaking service with a 100% track record, and she and Barney recommend Ted try out the service. He is not interested, but Barney eventually tricks Ted into going anyway. Ellen Pierce, the woman in charge of the matchmaking service sees right through Barney, knowing full well that he is only seeking a one-night stand with a desperate woman (the alias he wrote on the registration form, "Jack Package," gives him away). She promises she "can work with" a skeptical Ted, however, and convinces him that she can truly help him find a soul mate in three days. After five days, Ted wants to go back to find out what the problem is. Everyone tells him not to "Ted out" about it (explaining that Ted's name is also a verb, which means to over-think). He returns to Love Solutions, only to find that his chances for finding a soul mate are zero. The closest match compatible with Ted has already been matched up. Ted sneaks back in and finds out she is a dermatologist and makes an appointment to see her. He learns that she is engaged and will be getting married in a few days. He tells her that if things change, he'll be available. She calls him up, and while he thinks things have changed, she merely informs him of something she spotted after his appointment. He reveals why he's been coming there, and she tells him to not believe in matchmaking services, and though he was a 9.6 for her (the compatibility grading of Love Solutions), his real soul mate would be a perfect 10. He then returns to Love Solutions, and finds that because he has no soul mate (according to the computer), the company is ruined, as the 100% success rate no longer exists. Ted, however, has hope that he will find his soul mate.

Meanwhile, Marshall and Lily have spotted an unusual creature in the apartment. When they first see it, they run away, with Lily believing it to be a cockroach, while Marshall believes that it is a mouse. They spot it again, and try to kill it with bug spray and a phone book. They run away again when the phone book starts moving (meaning that the creature isn't dead), but got a good glimpse of the creature. The creature is described as having six legs, antennae, and an exoskeleton, but also has tufts of fur, whiskers, and a tail, and is roughly the size of a potato. Marshall and Lily call it the "cockamouse." Robin is skeptical of them, but eventually they catch it, and Marshall takes it to the Columbia University Biology department. When Marshall arrives, he finds the "cockamouse" has escaped, and must still be in the apartment. Robin finally sees the creature, and throws a drink at it when the only way she can think of subduing it is by trying to get it drunk. Marshall arrives and grabs it and throws it out the window, and to their surprise the "cockamouse" flies away. They then shut the window as it tries to fly back inside causing it to hit the glass and fall.

Continuity

• The Cockamouse is seen again in the 6th season episode "The Perfect Cocktail".
• Ted's, and the rest of the group's, love of brunch is referenced in "Brunch" and "World's Greatest Couple".
• Love Solutions eventually sets Ted up with his match in Milk

Cultural References

• The scene in which Marshall and Lily worked on creating a trap to capture the cockamouse was accompanied by music that sounds very similar to the music heard on The A-Team when the team built or modified vehicles or other devices.

Music

• Seals & Crofts - "Summer Breeze"
• Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - "Parallel or Together?"
• R.E.M. - "At My Most Beautiful"

References

External links

• Matchmaker at TV.com
• Matchmaker at the Internet Movie Database