How I Met Your Mother did not disappoint in its season seven premiere.  In the special, one hour premiere of the critically-acclaimed show, Ted manages to do a flashback within a flashback.  The first

flashback is to Barney’s wedding, but this flashback is supposed to be the whole season so we won’t see who Barney is marrying (Nora or Robin) until the end of season seven.

He flashes back to his old friend, Punchy’s wedding while in the first flashback. Lily and Marshall are pregnant but Lily doesn’t want to tell everyone yet so Marshall has to drink for the both of them. Robin also comes to terms with her feelings for Barney, but unselfishly helps him with what to say when Nora calls him back. Meanwhile, throughout the show, Barney goes through a cornucopia of hysterical, over-the-top pick-up lines.

In the second half-hour of the show, Marshall vows to never drink again because his over drinking from the wedding led to a horrible hangover the morning after.  Marshall gets a call for his dream job, but he’s worried that a background check will lead to the discovery of his college video “Beercules.”  Nora asks Barney to tell her all the lies that he’s told women over time but it does the opposite of what he wants and ends up pushing her away.  His persistence worked by the end of the episode, though, and got him a second date.

Barney’s persistence also inspired Ted to wait until he felt the same way for a girl, instead of “choosing” one.  The end of the episode also shows the return of Ted’s old girlfriend, Victoria, who moved to Europe for a baking fellowship in season 1.  This spin should make for an interesting season. It looks like it’s going to be a good one.