I’m still not sure what the writers and production team of How I Met Your Mother had in mind when they created their running gag tonight, but it was a bit of fun. Was it a lead up to the last moment of the show, or was it to what happened in that last minute? Plus, more Robin Sparkles is always a good thing. However, I’m hoping the doppelganger story is complete, because I never really found it interesting in the first place.
The countdown, though….
Take a look at the complete list:
50 – Doctor’s Calendar
49 – Doctor’s Calendar in next scene
48 – Steak sauce (Marshall putting on food)
47 – 47th Annual Laser Tag tournament (Barney’s hand)
46 – 46th Society Certificate (Behind Lily)
45 – 45¢ Hot Wings (On table in front of Barney)
44 – 44 Beers on Tap (Behind Bar)
44 – Football Jersey
43 – Fertility Brochure (Marshall’s Hands)
42 – Fertility Brochure (Marshall’s Hands)
41 – Car poster (behind Dr. Stangel)
40 – NY’s 40 Greatest Landmarks Book (Ted’s hands)
39 – Room Number (Behind Robin)
38 – 38 Degrees (On newspaper)
37 – 37 Recipes (On Lily’s magazine)
36 – Marshall’s Dad’s beer
35 – Stock Market up 35.34 Points (On monitor)
34 – Stock Market up 35.34 Points (On monitor)
33 – Miners rescued from mine (On monitor)
32 – Lottery numbers (On monitor)
31 – Lottery numbers (On monitor)
30 – Lottery numbers (On monitor)
29 – Lottery numbers (On monitor)
28 – Lottery numbers (On monitor)
27 – Lottery numbers (On monitor)
26 – Home improvement shortcuts (Marshall’s dad’s book)
25 – The 25 Greatest Bridges (Ted’s Book)
24 – Basketball’s newest star #24 (On Magazine)
23 – Metro News 23 Logo
22 – Japanese news show 22 logo
21 – Today is 21 (Calendar behind Dr. Stangel)
20 – “Private” room 20
19 – Top 19 (Nekkid magazine in “Private” room 20)
18 – Lily and Marshall’s apartment number
17 – Specimen jar number
16 – Specimen jar number
15 – Bran Stix (Robin’s cereal)
14 – Sandy’s apartment number (1413)
13 – Sandy’s apartment number (1413)
12 – Days of Christmas card (Behind Marshall)
11 – America’s 11 Greatest Water Towers (Ted’s book)
10 – Robin Sparkles’ denim jacket
9 – On Marhsall’s fake file
8 – Exam room number
7 – Champagne
6 – On Marshall’s fake file part two
5 – Marshall’s high five
4 – Layers of the uterus sign
3 – Open ‘til 3 sign
2 – Clock on Marshall’s Dad’s desk
1 – Lily’s cab number
And then there were the final moments of the episode. I’ve dogged the character of Lily Aldrin over the past couple of season, but I hope that it has been clear it has nothing to do with Alyson Hannigan. When we finally saw Lily’s face, you couldn’t help but be devastated … I’m talking turning into a puddle on the ground kind of sad.
Notes & Quotes
Clacked by Ivey West 
on Jan 03, 2011 @ 22:37 EST5EDT
Best answer I saw as for the reason for the countdown: “It’s a message, basically saying pay more attention to life (the plot line) than other superfluous stuff (the countdown), or otherwise you’ll end up missing the good stuff and only be shocked back to life by catastrophes (Marshall’s dad dying).”
The 11 appears to be “America’s 11 Greatest Water Towers”.
*POST AUTHOR*
Thanks DT!!
My husband and I deduced that it was a countdown to the “Bad News” (the title of the episode). Viewers who have paid attention to the episode title may think they can predict the bad news, but as soon as the major problem of the episode is alleviated, the countdown becomes suddenly more obvious on screen, becoming a premonition for the bad news that has not yet come to light.
5 – Motility 5 (sperm count results).
“Can you count to 50? ‘How I Met Your Mother’ can! The question is, was the countdown meant as a fun side joke for the viewers, or was it to make the final moment all the more anticipated and climactic?”
Both. Everytime that we’ll rewatch the episode and see the numbers, we’ll remind that sad ending. And some of the numbers are really hard to follow. The plot is good, and distracts you everytime you try to follow the countdown.
Carter Bays actually said why he did the countdown in this article: https://www.tvsquad.com/2011/01/04/carter-bays-on-the-how-i-met-your-mother-countdown-episode/
Basically it was to really bring about the ending. The funny thing is that he thought they we wouldn’t pick up on it right away…I’ll give you not really paying attention to the 50, but the 49 was obvious and from then on out it was going to be a simple thing of finding the numbers.
Didn’t anybody notice the expired parking meter in the end ? I guess it’s a symbol, that the time of Marshalls father is up.
Great answer Keith, great perception.
If the authors idea was not this one, it’s not good.
It’s Heart health Awareness month in America; 50 people die from a heart attack every 30 minutes, hence the numbers, and why Marshall’s dad died from a heart attack when we reached 1. Not just a countdown.
Sorry Darcy but the first comment is so far better an explanation than yours I just have to put another comment here.
No disrespect towards anyone who dies though.