If there was one running gag that typified How I Met Your Mother, it was the Slap Bet. There was a constant sense of impending doom as fans wondered when Marshall would use the rest of his slaps to utterly destroy Barney’s face. Frankly, Barney wondered the same thing. While each slap was amazing in its own way, none of them compared to the second slap and the selfless reason Marshall put it to good use.
The premise of the Slap Bet was quite simple: While arguing about a secret Robin was hiding from the gang in Season 2, Episode 9, Marshall and Barney created the concept. Each man had his own theory about the truth. And whoever was right would get to slap the loser. The bet itself was incredibly ridiculous but Barney’s biggest mistake was letting Lily be the Slap Bet Commissioner, which put her in charge of the whole process.
When Barney broke all the rules, Lily gave him the choice of choosing 10 slaps right then or five slaps at any time in the future. Barney chose the five slaps because it was a lower number. But he grossly underestimated the anxiety he would suffer from waiting to be slapped over the next several years. Making the situation even worse was the fact that Marshall won three more slaps in Season 7, Episode 9.
For the majority of the series, fans tried to anticipate when the slaps would finally happen. And while they rarely disappointed, one slap certainly stood out above the rest. In Season 2, Episode 16, Lily was part of a terrible, terrible play that the gang decided to go see. They were being supportive, which was great, but unfortunately, the play was not, which led to Barney wanting to seek revenge.
He put on an even worse one-man play to prove a point that Lily had wasted their time and patience. Lily admitted that her play was bad and apologized for dragging them, which should have been the end of things. It wasn’t. Barney was having a good time performing his play and decided to finish it. Ironically, this actually ended up disproving his point as he was the Lily in this situation and wanted the support of his friends.
That’s when Marshall took action. He leaped onto the stage and delivered what may have been the most life-changing slap of the entire series. It didn’t have the pomp and circumstance or pageantry of other slaps, but Marshall turned Barney inside out, sending him spiraling to the floor. It came from a place of pure annoyance and rage, saving the gang from the horrifying experience of having to take in one more moment of the play.
At the same time, it was the most selfless of all the slaps. Yes, Marshall used it to inflict harm on Barney, but he also used it to protect his friends. Most of the slaps just happened to torment Stinson, but this specific slap had a much different vibe to it. And Barney’s play was new levels of terrible. It was nice that he took a strange sense of pride in the play, but Marshall absolutely made the right choice by using one of his precious slaps to end it.
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