On the fifth season of How I Met Your Mother, Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) and Robin (Cobie Smulders) dated and broke up, Marshall (Jason Segel) and Lily (Alyson Hannigan) finally decided to have a baby, and we got only slightly closer to meeting the mother of the title, the future love of Ted Mosby (Josh Radnor). In the sixth season, we still didn't meet the mother, but Marshall and Lily worked toward having a baby, Barney met his biological father, and the gang reached more big milestones.

Read on for the How I Met Your Mother Season 6 episode guide.

Episode 1
Title: “Big Days”
Original Airdate: September 20, 2010

Ted runs into Cindy (Rachel Bilson), the girl he dated once whose roommate is fated to be the mother of the title, and who is now a lesbian. Marshall and Lily are so eager to have a baby that they’re paralyzed by the pressure, especially from Marshall’s dad. Robin continues to be distraught over her break-up with Don, neglecting her personal hygiene and dressing like a slob. When Barney questions her hotness, she cleans up and proves she’s still got it. Future Ted explains that he eventually met the mother at a wedding, which is shown taking place sometime in the future.

Episode 2
Title: “Cleaning House”
Original Airdate: September 27, 2010

The gang helps Barney pack up his childhood possessions when his mother decides to sell the house he grew up in. They discover a photo of Barney and his brother James (Wayne Brady) addressed to a man named Sam Gibbs (Ben Vereen) who might be the father to one of them, and they track Sam down.

It turns out that Sam is James’ dad, but Barney doesn’t want to believe that Sam isn’t his dad also. Finally Barney’s mother offers to tell him who his real father is, but he decides he doesn’t need to know.

Episode 3
Title: “Unfinished”
Original Airdate: October 4, 2010

Robin catches Don’s new Chicago newscast on satellite TV and starts leaving Don drunken voicemails. Lily forces her to delete Don’s number from her phone, but it takes a long time for Robin to truly move on. The building that Ted designed for Marshall and Barney’s company is now back on track to be built, but Ted decides he doesn’t want to be involved. Ted insists he doesn’t want to be an architect anymore, but he realizes he still has a desire for it, and ends up taking the job.

Episode 4
Title: “Subway Wars”
Original Airdate: October 11, 2010

The group decides that Robin isn’t a real New Yorker because she’s never seen Woody Allen or had enough other quintessential New York experiences. To decide who knows the city best, everyone races to get to the restaurant where Marshall’s friend has spotted Woody Allen. Marshall and Lily’s insecurities about getting pregnant, Ted’s insecurities about being a bad professor and Robin’s insecurities about her career all come out during the race. In the end, Robin wins, and she accomplishes plenty of New York feats along the way.

Episode 5
Title: “Architect of Destruction”
Original Airdate: October 18, 2010

Ted is upset that the new building he’s designing for Goliath National Bank is set to be built on the site of a vintage hotel, especially because Zoey, a girl he has a crush on, is trying to save the hotel. But when he finds out that Zoey’s married, he forges ahead with the building. Robin starts dating Marshall’s friend Max, and Marshall freaks out when he finds out that Robin told Lily that Max has a small penis. Marshall starts worrying that Lily is telling Robin all the details of their sex life.

Episode 6
Title: “Baby Talk”
Original Airdate: October 25, 2010

Marshall and Lily try to pick out a name for the baby they are trying to conceive. Marshall is freaked out by the prospect of having a daughter, so he tries a bunch of weird techniques to guarantee a son. Lily does similar things to guarantee a daughter, but then they realize they are just being silly about the whole thing. Robin is annoyed by her childish new co-anchor Becky, but Ted finds her charming and goes on a date with her. It makes Robin insecure that she’s too self-reliant, but Barney assures her that it’s one of her best qualities.

Episode 7
Title: “Canning Randy”
Original Airdate: November 1, 2010

Marshall fires incompetent employee Randy (Will Forte) and feels really bad about it, so he convinces his boss to let him re-hire Randy. Randy actually wanted to be fired so he could fulfill his dream of being a brewer, so Marshall gives in and fires him again. Robin’s annoying co-anchor Becky gets attention by doing a commercial, so Robin does a horribly embarrassing commercial as well. Zoey, the woman who’s leading the protest against Ted’s new bank building, joins his class and turns his students against him.

Episode 8
Title: “Natural History”
Original Airdate: November 8, 2010

The gang goes to a benefit at the Natural History Museum. Zoey is there with her husband, a much older and very rich man (Kyle MacLachlan). She tricks Ted into trashing Goliath National Bank and records it, but then agrees not to use the tape. Marshall tells Lily that he’s going to sign a five-year contract with the bank, and she’s disappointed that he’s given up on his dream of being an environmental lawyer. Barney sets out to prove that he destroyed a museum exhibit when he was a kid, and inadvertently discovers that his Uncle Jerry is really his father.

Episode 9
Title: “Glitter”
Original Airdate: November 15, 2010

Barney discovers a video of the Canadian TV show Space Teens, which featured Robin in her teen-star days as Robin Sparkles. Her co-star was Jessica Glitter (Nicole Scherzinger), who was once her best friend. Lily worries that she and Robin will stop being friends once she has a baby, because that’s what happened to Robin and Jessica, but Robin assures her otherwise, and even reunites with Jessica. Ted’s annoying high school friend Punchy comes to visit unexpectedly, and he asks Ted to be the best man at his wedding.