‘How I Met Your Mother’ recap: A curse and forgiveness on Thanksgiving

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Jorge Garcia (“Lost”) stopped by Monday night’s Thanksgiving episode and was once again playing a cursed character. He was Steve, a college friend of Marshall (Jason Segel) and Ted’s (Josh Radnor) who had the curse of the Blitz. Whenever he left the room, something really cool happened. After Ted revealed his plans to stuff a turkey with a smaller turkey, which he dubbed a turturkeykey, he got ready to call it a night and leave the bar. Marshall and the rest of the gang protested that he shouldn’t leave early or he might become the Blitz. Ted said he didn’t believe in the curse — gasps all around — and left anyway. Of course, the next morning he woke up to find the apartment a mess, his friends blissfully passed out and Zoey (Jennifer Morrison) in the bathtub.

It turns out after Ted left the bar, Zoey entered and the gang had a memorable evening hanging out with her, leaving Ted to become the new Blitz. There was a skateboarding dog. Robin (Cobie Smulders) danced on the oven. Zoey gave Robin KISS face makeup while she was asleep. And there was something with a top hat called The Gentlemen, which made me think of the creepy Gentlemen from “Buffy.” Unfortunately, except for the skateboarding dog, who nailed it every time when I visited the set, I had a hard time understanding what was so awesome about their adventures. I guess you had to be really drunk. Steve’s missed moments — a naked coed, an unstoppable beer tap resulting in free beer — seemed much more worthy of those emphatic “Aw, man!” responses. The curse eventually got passed to Barney, who desperately tried to pretend everything was OK before going back to Steve at the episode’s end.

Robin’s dancing broke the oven, which meant Ted was on the hunt for a new place to cook his turturkeykey. After ruling out Barney (Neil Patrick Harris), Steve, and Lily and Marshall’s places, Lily suggested going to Zoey’s. She had extended an invite to them to come over for Thanksgiving. Ted was not pleased about this or that his friends were bonding with his enemy, but he relented. Zoey, however, seemed less unrelenting even after saying it was OK for Ted to come over too. The squabbling continued until Ted said that if Zoey was a cartoon character, she’d be Cinderella’s evil stepmother. This hit a nerve, and Zoey kicked everyone out. In the cab, Ted pieced together the clues. Zoey was spending the holiday alone while her husband spent it with his daughter. A stuffed turkey with a note wishing Hannah a Happy Thanksgiving finally put it altogether. Her stepdaughter hates her and didn’t want to spend the holiday with her.

“People don’t stay enemies forever,” Ted told Zoey before they sat down to eat. Thank goodness because Ted and Zoey as enemies was starting to get old. They had such nice, easy chemistry when they first bonded over architecture in the season premiere. The continued antagonism just felt forced. But now the question is, will Zoey and Ted’s friendship evolve into more? It was pretty clear in that first meeting that they were attracted to each other as people. And what about the Captain?

Although I didn’t love this episode, there were highlights: — The continued heavy presence of sandwiches this season. Now combined with Weird Al’s greatest hits and “Apocalypse Now.”

— Steve lamenting about all the nip slips, crotch shots, shooting stars and double rainbows he missed because of the curse. And of course, all the nods to Garcia’s former gig on “Lost,” including him yelling out the numbers and this gem (and commentary on the series finale?): “I was on that island for what seems like eternity. I’m going to enjoy things on the other side.”

— Robin in response to the horrible smell at Lily and Marshall’s apartment: “I think the smaller turkey tried to crawl further inside the bigger turkey.”

— Lily’s inability to tell the difference among Renee Zellweger, Reese Witherspoon and Kate Hudson. I did not see “You, Me and Dupree,” but I’d want my money back too.

Readers, did any of the Blitz moments excite you? Are you glad Ted and Zoey have buried the hatchet? And what did you think of Garcia’s guest spot?

— Vlada Gelman (follow my TV musings on Twitter at @stayingin)

Related:
‘How I Met Your Mother’: Jorge Garcia makes a Thanksgiving visit
‘How I Met Your Mother’: Jennifer Morrison goes for laughs
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