The men of How I Met Your Mother deserved matching straight jackets after their behavior tonight.

On "Good Crazy" Ted could not stop envisioning Robin, no matter who he spoke to, Barney all of a sudden took issue with Quinn's profession and Marshall wrote some new chapters to What To Expect When You Are Expecting.

I'll admit I was a little surprised to still see Ted struggling with his Robin issues. While that scenario seemed a bit drawn out, I've been waiting for the stripper pole to come between Barney and Quinn at some point, so I guess the timing of the two here canceled each other out. Along with Marshall driving Lily crazy by playing daddy to a watermelon, tonight's storylines did well to take some steps toward the revelation of the mother while paying homage to some classic throw backs.

The attempts to cleanse Ted's palate of Robin did provide the setting for the amazing line of thought that took Ted from his date's ex, Wayne with no manners, to The Boy Wonder, namely Robin. That was a special. I don't think it was news to anyone to learn Ted and Robin still love each other, they just aren't in love with each other and that is fine. 

While I don't profess to be the biggest expert when it comes to following the yellow umbrella, one line tonight did set off a bell in my head.

It was when Barney was trying to sell Ted on the merits of online dating. Barney tried to dash any fantasy Ted might have had of meeting some cute travel agent while reading a newspaper at a book store by telling him that kind of thing doesn't happen. This image just seemed too specific of a scenario not to mean something, so I noted it in my best How I Met Your Mother quotes of the episode.  

Perhaps he meets the mother on the day of Barney's wedding while doing the New York Times crossword? I will defer to you Mother Experts here. Am I making too much of this one line or was there something there? 

One thing was certain, Barney's new love just hit the tip of the relationship woe iceberg. Recall that Quinn had mentioned off hand once that she would consider retiring from stripping if she was to say, get married? Barney loves her, but in a panic to regain her love, I fear he is going to propose to Quinn without fully addressing their issues.

It has been said that Ted would never have met the mother if it wasn't for Barney's wedding, but it has also been widely agreed upon that said wedding does not end well. Tonight's drama seemed to start the ball rolling in that direction didn't you think? 

With all the hints as to what the future might hold for the MacLaren's mates, there were several throw back references that resurfaced in amazing fashion. First and foremost had to be the reappearance of the Ducky Tie. Mistakenly assumed lost forever, Barney showed the power the quacker clad accessory wielded when a promise to wear it again got Marshall to turn off his phone and get drunk.

No, he didn't just get drunk, we saw what was likely Marshall's last cigarette along with the return of BEERCULES! Marshall screaming all hail his alter ego's name while tossing chips in the air was hard to beat, but his line about Barney being the owner of the Paramus Waldorf and the two of them hooking the dealer up was tops for me. 

Other moments I loved were:

• Barney nose to nose with grandma Lois. 
• Lily swaddled in bed like a burrito. 
• Barney asking Ted if he was 39'ing with a very short woman.
• Condolence High Fives.
• Barney's bearded sailor disguise.

Despite all these great moments and others alike, and having enjoyed previous entertaining filler episodes, I felt like the writers may be feeling pressed for time as they still need to deliver on storyline advances they have promised.

Having waited so long for some clarity with regard to the mother, I just hope things are revealed in a way so that meets our ever-growing expectations.