While Ted once again pursues some girl, Marshall does the more important task of writing a
letter to his future self, and future Marshall comes back to anonymously deliver a plate of
hot buffalo wings in “The Window” (s05e10).
And in an episode that Janet called me in
to watch just before Hannah’s wedding, “The Time Travelers” (s08e20), Ted goes down to
the bar where he meets Barney, Twenty-Years-from-Now Barney, Twenty-Years-from-Now Ted,
Twenty-Hours-from-Now Ted, and Twenty-Minutes-from-Now Barney—not to mention two versions
of Twenty-Months-from-Now Coat-Check Girl.
Okay, guys, I’ve been waiting twenty years for this. Just like we practiced, one, two,
ah one-two-three-four: ♫ Whooooa, ooooooh, ooooooh, oooh, for the longest
time
. . . ♫