When Ted is constantly insulted by his former boss, who is now working for him on a project, he is told to fire the man, but he finds that a hard thing to do. Meanwhile, Barney offers Lily a lot of money to paint a nude portrait of him.

Lily and Marshall have their first Thanksgiving as a married couple; Barney is tortured by the slap bet countdown clock, worrying about when the slap will be dished out.

Lily and Marshall try to continue their airport reunion tradition. Barney and Ted offer to keep MacLaren's open during a blizzard so they can meet up with some college girls.

Barney takes Marshall, and Robin to a strip club where they find a stripper who looks almost exactly like Lily. Meanwhile, Ted discovers he had been fixed up with the same woman, Jen seven years earlier.

When Robin confesses that she is still angry with Barney for the way he handled their break-up, she enlists the help of Anita, a self-help author who plans to beat Barney at his own game.

When Barney starts to have real feelings for Nora, he worries that something is wrong with his heart. Meanwhile, Robin starts dating a guy who acts a lot like a dog.

The gang begins to realize their romantic partner reminds them of one of their parents. Meanwhile, Barney and Nora's planned romantic evening is ruined by a string of bad events.

When Lily and Marshall can’t decide on godparents for Marvin, they put the gang to the test to see who would make the best one.