A slow clap for the writers that work on How I Met Your Mother. This episode tackled an array of tough subjects (being infertile, losing a parent) with a touching episode complete with a hidden message running through it.

First up, we have Robin starting her career. On her first day, she discovers that her new boss is actually her old co-anchor, who remembers her embarrassing moment of falling in a pile of poo mid-broadcast. Already the butt of the joke, her new co-workers do a little research and find a goldmine.

[There was a video here]

But enough about Robin's pretty-girl, i-used-to-be-famous issues. The heart of the episode revolved around Lily and Marshall getting tested to discover if they can, in fact, have a child together. Lily gets a clean bill of health, leaving Marshall to ponder whether it's his sperm that's to blame and causes him to avoid his father (his best friend) because of his predicament.

[There was a video here]

By the end of the episode, we learn that Marshall's sperm is fine and he heads to MacLaren's to celebrate. Then Lily arrives with some bad news.

[There was a video here]

...and let the tears begin. Even more impressive: the writers have written in a countdown from 50 from the very beginning of the episode to the end, when Marshall's father passes away.

Our friend at Pop Culture Brain has compiled a few of these screen shots that show some of the references to the different numbers. If you have the chance, go back and re-watch the episode to see how many of the number references you can catch. As he put it, "Your move, Community."