The Locket (How I Met Your Mother)

Plot

On Friday at 11am, 55 hours before the wedding, the group splits up for their separate journeys to the ceremony that will alter their lives and the life of Ted's future wife. Ranjit drives Robin and Barney to Farhampton. They discuss which relative might be the "Wild Card," the one most likely to cause disaster at the wedding. While listing family members, they discover they both have a "Crazy Cousin Mitch," and the possibility that they are blood relatives horrifies them.

They try to joke about it, but the thought repulses them so much that they cannot be affectionate. After an awkward silence, Robin calls her grandmother, who explains that Mitch is connected to Barney through marriage and to Robin through adoption. The tension evaporates immediately. Barney stops worrying about a Wild Card and declares the wedding will be "legendary."

Robin points out that he forgot to say "Wait for it" in the middle of his promise. Barney replies that because of her, he no longer needs to wait. Meanwhile, in Minnesota, Marshall sits on a plane bound for New York with Marvin, anxious about telling Lily about his job offer and annoying his seatmate, Daphne. He learns that his mother Judy posted a photo of Marvin online that reveals Marshall will become a judge.

Marshall realizes the photo will be forwarded to Lily. He calls Judy to walk her through removing the image, which delays the plane's departure. This sparks a fight between Marshall and Daphne, and both are kicked off the plane. At the terminal, Marshall logs into his mother's account to delete the photo himself but cannot figure out how.

Marvin accidentally hits a random key on the keyboard, and the photo is successfully deleted. Marshall and Daphne discover another flight to New York is leaving soon but has only one seat left. They race each other across the airport.

Critical reception

The double-episode premiere of "The Locket" and "Coming Back" earned a B+ from Donna Bowman at The A.V. Club. Alan Sepinwall at Uproxx noted several "annoying little things, and a few big ones" but praised one major success: the portrayal of the Mother. Bill Kuchman at Popculturology found the episode weaker than the previous season's opener, suggesting viewers revisit "Farhampton" for a truly legendary start. Max Nicholson at IGN rated it 7.8/10, calling it a "relatively promising start to the wedding weekend."