"The Three Days Rule" is the 21st episode of the fourth season of the television series ''

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

'' and 85th overall. It aired on April 27, 2009. The storyline features

Ted TED may refer to: Economics and finance * TED spread between U.S. Treasuries and Eurodollar Education * ''Türk Eğitim Derneği'', the Turkish Education Association ** TED Ankara College Foundation Schools, Turkey ** Transvaal Education Depart ...

's overeager communication with a woman he meets.

Plot

At MacLaren's, Ted gets Holli's phone number and says that he will call her immediately, though Barney insists Ted should follow the "Three Days Rule" and wait that long. To circumvent the rule, Ted

texts Text may refer to: Written word * Text (literary theory), any object that can be read, including: **Religious text, a writing that a religious tradition considers to be sacred **Text, a verse or passage from scripture used in expository preachin ...

Holli instead. She texts him back quickly, and they continue an increasingly flirtatious conversation over the next two days, with Ted offering escalating levels of commitment to her. But after Ted receives a message apparently intended for someone else, mentioning

takeout A take-out or takeout (U.S., Canada, and the Philippines); carry-out or to-go (Scotland and some dialects in the U.S. and Canada); takeaway (England, Wales, Australia, Lebanon, South Africa, Northern Ireland, Ireland, and occasionally in Nort ...

and

sex Sex is the trait that determines whether a sexually reproducing animal or plant produces male or female gametes. Male plants and animals produce smaller mobile gametes (spermatozoa, sperm, pollen), while females produce larger ones ( ova, of ...

, Robin spots

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

with the takeout order and realizes that "Holli" has really been Marshall and Barney, having edited Holli's number in Ted's phone. They explain that it has been a long time since Ted was very interested in a girl, and their goal is to lure Ted into saying "I love you" too soon, to release his stored-up "crazy" and give him a better chance with Holli after he really contacts her, noting that he had a look on his face, similar to the look he had on his date with Robin. They tell her that there are three signs that Ted displays before telling his date that he loves them: suggesting that they get married, planning a trip too soon, and getting too personal. Stan, a night

security guard A security guard (also known as a security inspector, security officer, or protective agent) is a person employed by a government or private party to protect the employing party's assets (property, people, equipment, money, etc.) from a variety ...

and MacLaren's regular, provides them with beautiful messages in an effort to obtain this result. These messages inadvertently cause them to fall in love with Stan as well. Barney and Marshall then complain that Ted is not confessing as soon as they had expected, which Robin does not care about and demands them to stop. When Robin goes back to the apartment, she reveals the truth to Ted, so he "confesses" via text that he had a

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

sex dream A nocturnal emission, informally known as a wet dream, sex dream, nightfall or sleep orgasm, is a spontaneous orgasm during sleep that includes ejaculation for a male, or vaginal wetness or an orgasm (or both) for a female. Nocturnal emissi ...

about his "best friend", leading Barney and Marshall to argue over which of them is more attractive to Ted and who is his best friend. Later at MacLaren's, Ted lures them into spending half an hour listening to him describe a dream about dining with famous

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

s, before he reveals he knows about their deception and has tracked Holli down. He explains that he wants to meet a woman who likes his enthusiasm; Holli arrives, saying she found Ted's immediacy romantic, but when they go out to dinner she turns out to be an off-puttingly more desperate romantic than he is, showing the signs that Barney and Marshall had mentioned earlier.

Future Ted Theodore Evelyn Mosby is a fictional character and the protagonist in the American sitcom ''How I Met Your Mother'', portrayed by Josh Radnor. He serves as the show's narrator from the future, voiced by Bob Saget, as he tells his children the ...

then reveals that when he got the Mother's number, he did not wait three days to call her; he called her right away. To Barney and Marshall's dismay, Stan shows up at McLaren's to take Robin out on a date. After Stan says a heartfelt goodbye speech to the men, he leaves with Robin after claiming he does not remember their names.

Critical response

Donna Bowman of ''

the A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American 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 cr ...

'' gave the episode a B− rating.How I Met Your Mother "The Three Day Rule", B-
by Donna Bowman April 27, 2009

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Three Days Rule How I Met Your Mother (season 4) episodes 2009 American television episodes