- Robin tries to date her therapist, Marshall thinks his boss has gone soft on environmentalism, Barney suspects that Nora may be lying about her age, and Ted takes his Intro to Architecture class on the worst field trip ever.
- Despite their therapy going well, Kevin announces to Robin that he is quitting being her therapist since he is moving to Alaska. Robin soon learns that that story is a lie. He quit being her therapist since he was attracted to her. Learning that information, she admits her feelings for him in a roundabout way, and they eventually begin to date. They have to decide whether they can get over the issues that they spoke of in therapy, and get over the unethical nature of their relationship, especially as everyone reminds them of how unethical it is. Marshall, now in his dream job of working for famed environmental lawyer Garrison Cootes, may now believe that the job is not as much of a dream as he imagined it would be. Cootes seems to be letting major polluters off the hook by accepting less than sizable settlements. Cootes and the rest of the staff seem elated by these meager settlements. When Marshall learns the reason why, he has to decide what to do with the information. Ted is taking his Introduction to Architecture class on a field trip to the GNB headquarters building site in the hopes of inspiring them to choose architecture as their career. The field trip in and of itself doesn't end up being what he had hoped - although he and Barney end up using it for a different, albeit important purpose altogether - but an unwitting act by Ted may still get him to his end goal. And Barney, upon learning that Nora hates Ewoks, comes to an important realization about her, which may be a deal breaker for their relationship.—Huggo
- Ted wants to take his class on a field trip to the GNB Tower construction site in hopes of inspiring at least one student to become an architect. It starts badly when only 30 of the 200 students in the class actually show up to the field trip. Some people leave when they realize they confused Architecture to Archeology. The field trip goes awry when Ted finds he cannot enter the site and ends up taking his class to various places in the city instead, picking up Barney and a German family in the process, while losing more students. Ted feels that his field trip is a failure but is delighted when one of his students admits that he might consider becoming an architect (though Future Ted reveals that the student actually became a Disc jockey).
During the field trip, Barney reveals that after he discovered that Nora hates Ewoks, he assumes that she lied about her age based on the theory that everyone born before May 25, 1973 was old enough to hate the Ewoks by the time Return of the Jedi was released. This means Nora is not 29 years old as she claims, but 37. He and Ted wind up using his class and the German family as a focus group to resolve all their long-standing debates, with little resolution for their current problems. Things like "Is Macaroni salad, really a salad", "Jacob or Edward", "David Hasselhoff" and so on. However, when Barney confronts Nora after deciding that he is willing to accept that she apparently lied about her age, she explains that she has only recently watched the Star Wars films, explaining her dislike of Ewoks.
Meanwhile, Robin finds her sessions with Kevin, her therapist, have been going well, but is disappointed when he abruptly ends them with the claim he is moving to Alaska. They run into each other a week later, when Kevin confesses, he had to stop seeing her because he liked her, but ethically cannot date her because she was his patient. However, Robin and Kevin begin meeting each other regularly for breakfast at a diner (without looking at each other in a loving way, so it cannot be considered as a date) for several days until Robin arrives late one day after running 40 blocks in the rain because she missed her bus and Kevin suggests they go on an actual date. All of Robin's friends find the relationship inappropriate, which eventually makes both Robin and Kevin uncomfortable, especially as Kevin believes he has taken advantage of the fact he knows of Robin's most vulnerable moments. However, Robin resolves the relationship by having Kevin unload his emotional vulnerabilities and they remain together.
Marshall, in the meantime, expresses disappointment at his new job working for Garrison Cootes, especially after Cootes accepts a $24,000 settlement from a multi-billion-dollar corporation Gruber Pharmaceuticals responsible for polluting a lake. Marshall felt that anything less than a $20 million settlement would be an insult to their entire legal effort. Marshall thinks Cootes has gone soft and doesn't have the fire in his belly to fight anymore. Gruber company had dumped toxic waste into a creek, that made its way to the Trout River, which fed into the Clearwater Lake.
Marshall is livid when the entire office is celebrating the settlement and lashes out at Cootes for not doing enough to save the environment. Though Marshall is horrified when Cootes reveals that he believes there is little hope for saving the environment anymore, Marshall is inspired to fight back after seeing an ultrasound of his unborn child. Marshall goes back to the corporation and delivers a presentation that does not go well until Garrison Cootes walks in and tells the corporation that the settlement money is not enough. When Marshall asks where they are going as they leave, Cootes replies "War, son. We're going to war." As Future Ted reveals, Marshall and Cootes were successful in saving the environment.
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