"Last Cigarette Ever" is the 11th episode of the fifth season of the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

situation comedy A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

How I Met Your Mother ''How I Met Your Mother'' (often abbreviated as ''HIMYM'') is an American sitcom created by Craig Thomas (screenwriter), Craig Thomas and Carter Bays for CBS. The series, which aired from September 19, 2005, to March 31, 2014, follows main char ...

'' and 99th episode overall. It aired on December 14, 2009.

Plot

A frustrated

Robin Robin most commonly refers to several species of passerine birds. Robin may also refer to: Animals * Australasian robins, red-breasted songbirds of the family Petroicidae * Many members of the subfamily Saxicolinae (Old World chats), inclu ...

takes a smoke break up on the roof and is joined by

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia *Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria ** Marshall railway station Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Is ...

, who is stressed about his new department head Arthur Hobbs.

Lily ''Lilium'' ( ) is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs, all with large and often prominent flowers. Lilies are a group of flowering plants which are important in culture and literature in much of the world. Most species are ...

smells the smoke on Marshall and soon uses it as an excuse to start smoking again herself. Ted and Barney feel left out as their friends smoke outside MacLaren's, and they join in as well. As the week continues, their smoking takes its toll and they all pledge to stop smoking. Meanwhile, Robin is joined by a new co-anchor, Don Frank, a legend of the pre-6am television world, having been broadcast in 38 media outlets. Robin is impressed at first, but Don's lack of professionalism and total indifference to his job drive her to start smoking also. The gang agrees to have "one last cigarette" as the sun rises, but Future Ted reveals it took years for each member of the gang to actually quit.

Critical response

Donna Bowman of ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...

'' rated the episode with a grade A−. Joel Keller, reviewer at

TV Squad Weblogs, Inc. was a blog network that published content on a variety of subjects, including tech news, video games, automobiles, and pop culture. At one point, the network had as many as 90 blogs, although the vast majority of its traffic could b ...

, described the casting of

Harvey Fierstein Harvey Forbes Fierstein ( ; born June 6, 1952) is an American actor, playwright, and screenwriter, known for his distinctive gravelly voice. He gained notice for his theater work in '' Torch Song Trilogy'', winning both the Tony Award for Best ...

as Lily's smoking voice as only the third funniest thing in the episode. He praises the flashback scenes to 13-year-old Marshall's first smoke as the funniest thing in the episode. Brian Zoromski of

IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...

gave the episode only 5.5 out of 10. Zoromski noted that he had never been a smoker and described this as the worst episode ever. TV Critic gave it 52 out of 100, commenting on the episode's humor: "These jokes wouldn't happen in real life and so each time one appears it induces a groan rather than a laugh."

References

External links

* {{How I Met Your Mother episodes, 5 How I Met Your Mother season 5 episodes 2009 American television episodes