Oh, Canada, deep dish pizza... and Tantrum!

In last night's episode, "Duel Citizenship," Robin questioned whether she was American or Canadian, and Ted and Marshall tried to re-live their college days by going on a road trip, even while Lily tagged along.

This wasn't my favorite episode of the season, but it elicited a few laughs, particularly during moments that flashed back or referenced previous (better) seasons... namely, Ted & Marshall belting out "I will walk 500 miles" (now we know that the highly caffeinated soft drink Tantrum! helped them survive road trips, and is, perhaps, the reason they forgot about Marshall's no food/no drink policy in the car). Then there's the Canadian jokes, mostly care of Barney, but this time there were plenty of American jokes, too: "Not only are you wrong, but you are belligerently sticking to your guns and insulting me in the process. Robin Scherbatzky, you are an American!"

HIMYM also has a knack for playing up the differences between singles and couples. In the 2006 "Single Stamina" episode, Ted explained how singles are always on the move while couples always look for a place to sit down. In last night's episode, Ted lamented how Marshall has become a "we" ever since getting married to Lily. The final straw occurred, though, when they made yet another road trip stop at a b&b and both Lily and Marshall wanted to get cornmeal body scrub, effectively merging them into one blob of a person while Ted looked on in disgust. Granted, that was kind of disgusting. And I think it's about high-time Lily and Marshall got their own - and very much separate - storylines. They've got the personality for them - stripper Lily, anyone? - but in the most recent episodes, they seem to be literally attached at the hip.

In general, nothing much particularly happened in this episode. Robin ended up deciding to get dual citizenship and become an American citizen (to Barney's delight), and Ted and Marshall re-affirmed their friendship. There were two things I liked about this episode, other than the references to past episodes.

Robin
When Robin dated Ted, her character disappeared into the background, except for a couple one-liners that weren't all that funny. In last night's episode, we saw more of the identity crisis she's been facing as of late. Not only has her TV reporting career taken a wrong turn, she also had to decide which country she belongs to. Luckily for the show (and for her relationship with Barney), she decides to not make a decision and goes with both. Her character, especially during her internal monologue right before she heads into the Hoser Hut, has been a lot more fun to watch recently.


Road trip to CHICAGO
HIMYM gave a big shout-out to Chicago; how could I not bring that up? Not only that, but it talked about food, specifically Chicago DEEP DISH PIZZA (which was the latest contender in the food fight my friends and I recently held). Granted, Gazzola's doesn't really exist, and the address given by Ted (316 Kinzie) is located on a bridge, but I'll take it. Also, for those of you who aren't from the Windy City, rest assured; deep-dish pizza doesn't normally cause people to scream "cut it out!" - but hopefully you knew that already. Then again, the crust really is made of corn meal.

What did you think of this latest episode? I've heard rumors of another slap approaching as well as some 'Mother' information in the upcoming 100th episode (in January)... what else do you want to see? Marshall and Lily separate and distinct? Ted in his classroom? More Barneyisms? Share your thoughts below!