How I Met Your Mother: All Halloween And Thanksgiving Episodes Ranked Worst To Best
1. Slapsgiving
Not only is Slapsgiving one of the best slap bet episodes (rivaled only by the original), it's also hands-down the best Thanksgiving episode of the series. Belly Full of Turkey ended with a nice message about how the rough patches in our lives make us thankful for our friends, but that episode didn't really encapsulate its tacked-on message very well. Slapsgiving, on the other hand, takes a great look at relationships by putting one in peril.
Ted and Robin have previously discussed the weirdness of staying friends after their breakup, but they haven't effectively dealt with it. The introduction of instantly lovable Bob makes it impossible to ignore any longer. Aside from some low-hanging (yet still funny) geezer jokes, Slapsgiving handles the issue in a mature way that's almost guaranteed to tug on the heartstrings of anyone who's attempted a friendship with an ex they still love.
Most importantly, Slapsgiving showcases precisely the brand of off-the-wall, anything-can-happen humor that sets How I Met Your Mother apart from other series like it.
Exes staying friends? Happens all the time. One friend singing a song about slapping another friend in the face while an old man in the background uses his cell phone as a concert lighter? That's distinctly How I Met Your Mother, and it's why fans are still giving thanks for the memories it brought us so many years later.