All 5 HIMYM Thanksgiving Episodes, Ranked From Worst to Most Wholesome

How I Met Your Mother is all about heartwarming friendships, following a tight-knit group of young adults as they navigate life in New York City.

When it comes to the festive season, HIMYM has proven to be either full of warmth and nostalgia or complete drama and chaos.

1. Belly Full of Turkey

7.9 on IMDb

The first Thanksgiving on HIMYM included arguments, an arrest, and a strip club.

While spending the holiday with Marshall's impressively tall family, an argument leads to Lily running off, buying a pregnancy test and getting arrested for public urination.

Back in New York, Ted and Robin volunteer at a charity kitchen, only to find that Barney is there, too, and one of their best volunteers. The sentiment doesn't last long, as Ted and Robin discover that the volunteers are stealing the best food for themselves, and try to alert those in charge, but get fired along with Barney.

To make it up to him, they take him to the Lusty Leopard and spend their Thanksgiving at the strip club. Things can only get better from here.

2. Slapsgiving - Season 3

8.9 on IMDb

Season 3's Thanksgiving saw the group navigate their relationships, with Marshall and Lily excited to host their first Thanksgiving as husband and wife, while Robin and Ted felt the awkward tension after their breakup, exacerbated by Robin bringing her new and former boyfriend to Thanksgiving.

In the end, Robin and Ted realized they could still be friends, and Marshall painfully and hilariously surprised Barney with the third slap of their Slap Bet, knocking him off his feet.

3. The Rebound girl - Season 7

7.8 on IMDb

Things really start to change this Thanksgiving. Lily and Marshall decide to move to a house on Long Island, and Robin locks herself in the bathroom of their new home until they agree not to leave New York.

At the same time, Ted and Barney arrive with a baby girl named "Hurricane," having decided to start a family together as ‘bros.’

Thankfully, it turns out that Barney was just babysitting for a friend and had realized that while having a baby attracted women, he was not ready to be a father. In a confusing twist, the episode ends with Robin revealing to Barney that she believes she is pregnant with his child.

4. Blitzgiving - Season 6

9.0 on IMDb

Thanksgiving is all about being together, and Blitzgiving was about the group making epic memories, minus the Blitz.

Ted left the bar early, but woke up the next morning to find that the gang had had a wild night without him, breaking his oven and, worse, befriending his nemesis Zoey. Ted had become the Blitz, cursed to miss out on the fun, and now had to cook his Thanksgiving TurTurkeyKey at Zoey's, since she had the only oven suitable for it.

Blitzgiving sees the curse passed on to various members of the group, but also sees them come together to celebrate the holiday with Zoey, even after a remark by Ted gets them all kicked out of her apartment. At the end of the episode, future Ted reveals that this is how he and Zoey finally became friends.

5. Slapsgiving: Revenge of the Slap - Season 5

7.8 on IMDb

This time, the infamous slap has brought everyone together.

Lily's estranged father Mickey shows up unexpectedly, and the family-oriented Marshall invites him to spend the holiday with them, despite Lily's objections. After Lily storms off, Mickey ruins the turkey and Marshall kicks him out.

Amid the chaos, Lily realizes that life is too short not to make amends with her father, and they all return to the apartment where Robin and Ted have been taunting Barney about his fourth slap, which Marshall has gifted to them.

The group can't decide who gets to slap Barney, so they keep giving the honor to another member of the group, which Marshall reveals was his intention all along. Marshall's heartwarming gesture worked, uniting family and friends, and the moment ended hilariously when he unexpectedly slapped Barney at the last minute.