How I Met Your Mothercelebrates romantic and platonic love. Marshall Eriksen (Jason Segel) and Robin Scherbatsky (Cobie Smulders) are not the most obvious duo of the How I Met Your Mother cast, but they have a special friendship that plays out in subtle ways. Marshall is best remembered for his loving marriage to Lily Aldrin (Alyson Hannigan), and Robin's storyline in later seasons became a love triangle involving Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris) and Ted Mosby (Josh Radnor.) However, Marshall and Robin have an underrated friendshipwith plenty of heartfelt and hilarious moments.
They might not have had the most screen time together, but from unexpected displays of vulnerability to gestures that show how well they truly understand each other, their rare moments together show how much they care. Marshall's optimism and goofiness were a great counterbalance to Robin's more acerbic sense of humor and pragmatic nature. With the surprising reunion of Segel and Smulders in Shrinking, some fans may be remembering the best moments in Marshall and Robin's friendship in How I Met Your Mother.
10 Robin Takes Marshall To A Gun Range
Season 2, Episode 1: "Where Were We?"
Marshall is stuck in a depression after his breakup with Lily; usually so irrepressibly happy, his moodiness casts a shadow over the entire How I Met Your Mother gang. Everyone is trying in their own way to cheer up Marshall — Barney takes him to a strip club, while Ted takes him to a Yankees game — but Marshall sees reminders of Lily everywhere he goes. Robin, with her established edge, observes that "Guys don't know how to deal with heartbreak" and takes Marshall to her sanctuary.
To help him snap out of his feelings, Robin brings Marshall to a shooting range. Robin shares with a stunned Marshall: "Whenever I’m feeling lonely or depressed, I come here, and it reminds me… guns are fun!" Robin's wild edge surprises Marshall. Holding the gun makes him feel "powerful" for the first time since the breakup, even though he knocks himself out with the recoil. By letting Marshall into her private space, Robin helps him smile for the first time all summer.
9 Robin Realizes Marshall & Lily's Apartment Is Crooked
Season 3, Episode 12: "No Tomorrow"
When Robin accompanies Lily and Marshall to pick up the keys to their new condo, she quickly notices that the entire place has a slight but unmistakable slant. Marshall's first instinct is to hide this fact from Lily because they sunk all their life savings into buying the place. Robin agrees to help him cover for the night, but she has a wicked sense of humor, and takes pleasure in needling Marshall by slipping puns into the conversation like, "It's an uphill battle" and they need "to think of the right angle."
When Marshall takes the lie of omission too far — going so far as to invent a Confederate ghost to explain why things keep moving (or sliding) around the apartment — Robin steps in. Realizing that Marshall's antics are only making Lily's panic worse, she tells Lily the truth. Robin shows them how to make the best of the apartment they have — If it's at a slant, why not make it a skateboard ramp? Robin's practical nature grounds Marshall when he becomes overly emotional, but she still reminds him to face challenges with humor and creativity.
8 Marshall Calls Robin Out
Season 4, Episode 9: "The Naked Man"
At a time when the whole gang is making fun of each other, both Robin and Marshall both figure something out about themselves. Robin shares with everyone that she slept with her date, Mitch, when he pulled "The Naked Man." Marshall, who has only ever been with Lily, calls Robin a "slut," saying the only thing standing between her and sex is clothing. Marshall is romantic to the point of naivety, saying that he truly believes the only reason someone should have sex is out of pure love. Even Lily, who is married to Marshall, does not agree.
Barney Stinson's Playbook contained all the ways he found women in How I Met Your Mother, and each ridiculous play is more outrageous than the last.
Robin is normally a proud woman, but Marshall's words make her defensive, and she goes on a second date with Mitch just to prove she is interested in him. Robin also is not an overly sensitive person, but as someone who has dated both other men in the friend group besides Marshall, his comment makes her feel unfairly judged. Ultimately, Marshall is humbled when Lily pulls the Naked Man on him, and it works, and Marshall apologizes to Robin after being forced to admit he can act as "slutty" as everyone else in How I Met Your Mother.
7 Marshall Takes Robin To A Canadian-Themed Bar
Season 4, Episode 11: "Little Minnesota"
Robin is single, jobless, and homesick for Canada at Christmastime. Marshall, who grew up in Minnesota, has always been able to bond with Robin over being transplanted from a more rural place to New York City. Marshall makes it his mission to cheer up Robin, so he introduces her to a Minnesota-themed bar he goes to when he is feeling homesick. Robin is cheered by the ruggedness that feels like home, with hockey jerseys everywhere and "no hair gel" in sight. Robin also has a rare moment of vulnerability when she confides in Marshall how lonely she feels.
Marshall helps Robin see she has family here in NYC. He is always willing to go above and beyond, and he finds Robin the "Hoser Hut," a Canada-themed bar where she can be her most authentically Canadian self away from the mocking of their friend group. However, Marshall is a good friend but also loves to embarrass people, so when karaoke comes on, to Robin’s horror, he puts on her teen pop star alter ego Robin Sparkles' infamous song, "Let's Go to the Mall."
6 Robin Drives Marshall To The Airport Through A Snowstorm
Season 4, Episode 13: "Three Days Of Snow"
Marshall met Lily in college and never looked back, while Robin has a much longer and rockier dating history across How I Met Your Mother's run, so naturally, they have differing ideas on relationships. When Marshall begs Robin to drive him to the airport during a snowstorm so he can pick up Lily as is their tradition, Robin questions the necessity of all of their rituals, saying it's like "children playing house." Offended, Marshall argues that Robin could never understand as she has never stayed in a relationship long enough to develop relationship quirks.
Despite their disagreement, Robin sees that these traditions are Marshall's way of letting Lily know how much he still cares. Robin would never want the same things out of a relationship, but she is so supportive of Marshall that she is willing to dig her car out of the snow to help him get to the airport. This moment also provides an interesting insight into Lily and Marshall's relationship. Their rituals, while sweet, can feel a bit performative — perhaps a reflection of having been together since they were so young, shaping their behaviors around what they imagine adult relationships should be.
5 Marshall Pushes Robin To Date Her Co-Anchor
Season 5, Episode 17: "Of Course"
When it has only been two months since Robin and Barney broke up, Marshall thinks it is time for Robin to put herself back out there. Marshall cannot help but mettle when he feels one of his friends is in pain, so he goes beyond encouragement to impersonation. Marshall pretends to be Robin (with a cold) when her handsome co-anchor calls and asks her out to dinner. Yet while Marshall is well-intentioned, he is not paying close enough attention to Robin, who is masking a pain everyone is missing.
Robin does not like to show emotions and does not want the breakup to impede on the How I Met Your Mother group dynamic, but everyone is there to support her when she has a breakdown in the bar bathroom, including Marshall. Robin was there for Marshall when he and Lily temporarily broke up, and now he wants to be there for her in her rough patch. In the end, although Marshall's tactics are aggressive, Robin does go on the date, and it gets her mojo back.
4 Robin Criticizes Marshall For Being Too Nice
Season 5, Episode 23: "The Wedding Bride"
The gang making fun of each other also pushes them to be better, or the others to reflect on their friend's virtues. Such is the case when Robin posits that Marshall's baggage is being "too nice." Marshall and Robin are both from places stereotyped for kindness, Minnesota and Canada respectively, but only Marshall is a people-pleaser, while Robin has a sardonic edge. Robin debates with Marshall, saying that it is irresponsible to treat New York City the same as his small hometown in Minnesota.
He's cuddly, deal with it! Marshall Eriksen is one of the sweetest partners and friends in TV history. Enjoy some of his sweetest lines from HIMYM.
Lily secretly agrees with Robin, mentioning a time when Marshall helped movers who turned out to be robbers, but she accepts that is who he is — someone so kind that his high school's mascot was a "hug." Robin also accepts Marshall for his "too nice" self, content with the knowledge his wife agrees with her. Yet it is Marshall and Robin's differences that make their friendship so unique and complementary.
3 Marshall & Robin Hang Out One-On-One
Season 6, Episode 11: "The Mermaid Theory"
Over the nine seasons of How I Met Your Mother, Robin and Marshall rarely have their own shared storylines, and this meta episode humorously addresses that by having them acknowledge that they do not have much one-on-one time and scheduling a dinner to rectify it. Marshall addresses a reality of male-female platonic friendships: It can be challenging for a man not to see a woman in a sexual light. Marshall has consciously avoided spending too much time alone with Robin to keep her sexless in his mind's eye.
The dinner itself is hilariously awkward, with both characters’ discomfort conveyed through hysterical inner monologue narration. Robin gets too drunk and vomits in Marshall's apartment, which unlocks something for Marshall. He stops worrying about how he could or should see her and instead just sees Robin, his friend who needs help getting to the couch. This episode gives an in-universe reason for Marshall and Robin to have a relatively distant relationship within the friend group but then undoes it.
2 Robin Confesses To Marshall That She Can't Have Children
Season 7, Episode 16: "The Drunk Train"
When Robin and her boyfriend go on a weekend romantic double-date with Marshall and Lily, it's clear that Robin is happy in her relationship, but it is very different from what Lily and Marshall have. Namely, Robin and Kevin find Marshall and Lily insufferable when it comes to talking about love. True to form, Robin remains her sarcastic self even when she's in love. However, when her boyfriend proposes, Robin cannot give him an answer and instead confides her secret to Lily and Marshall that she cannot have children.
Robin does not want kids, but this revelation is still a deeply personal one, and it is lovely she feels safe enough to share it with Lily and Marshall after taking a few months to process her own feelings. Lily and Marshall are pregnant at the time, and even though these friends are on different paths, they still love and support one another. Robin sharing such an important piece of herself with Lily and Marshall shows the strength of their bond, as she leans on them for support before telling her potential fiancé.
1 Marshall Is Jealous When His Signature Drink Is Named After Robin
Season 8, Episode 20: "The Time Travelers"
Like many of the best episodes of How I Met Your Mother, an argument starts at MacLaren's, and Marshall's Minnesota nice goes right out the window when he realizes his special drink concoction has been attributed to Robin. Robin has been ordering Marshall's drink so regularly that the bar formally named the drink after her on the menu. Marshall's anger meets Robin's stubbornness over naming rights, which leads to a prank war.
First, Marshall writes about Robin in the men's bathroom, so she reciprocates in kind in the women's bathroom. Robin knows Marshall well enough to get him trapped in the women's restroom with an overly long message. Ultimately, Lily allows Marshall to settle the dispute in his preferred way: with a dance battle. Robin and Marshall are two truly terrible dancers, and the episode does not even announce who wins. However, Robin and Marshall's How I Met Your Mother friendship again just works because they are both petty enough to participate in a dance-off over the naming rights to a signature cocktail.
How I Met Your Mother is a sitcom created initially for CBS by Carter Bays and Craig Thomas. Five friends living in New York City navigate their twenties and thirties as they try to find love, success, and purpose. The show is framed through one friend's eyes, Ted Mosby, as he retells the story of how he met his wife to his children.
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