- Marshall and Lily enter a Halloween costume party and Robin brings her new boyfriend. Ted and Barney go to the same Halloween party they go to every year where Ted looks for his lost love, the Slutty Pumpkin.
- On Halloween, Robin and her new boyfriend Mike meet for a Double Date with Lily and Marshall, who are eager to win the costume contest. Robin turns out as someone who is not so much into "couple things" so the dinner is not as pleasant as expected. Barney actually wants to take Ted with him to a Victoria Secret's Party, but Ted heads for a party on the roof of his apartment house, where he a few years ago met a beautiful woman, which is just called the "slutty pumpkin". Eager to meet her again, because he never had the change to call her because he lost her number, he waits for her every year at this party.—s
- Halloween 2005 is approaching. Marshall and Lily are sure that they are going to win the costume contest at MacLaren's this year. They find out that Robin has been seeing a guy named Mike for the past two weeks. Marshall and Lily convince her to double date with them on Halloween despite Robin not seeing their relationship as even being boyfriend/girlfriend yet. On that double date, what Marshall and Lily see in Robin is a woman either oblivious to Mike's signs that he wants to be in a relationship, a woman who herself doesn't want to be in this relationship, or a woman who really doesn't know how to behave in a relationship. Ted is spending Halloween at the rooftop Halloween party as he's done for each of the past four years waiting for the return of the "slutty pumpkin", a woman he met at the same party four years earlier, she who was wearing a provocative pumpkin costume. He had an amazing time with her that night but he lost her telephone number before he could call her. He has not seen her since. He can feel that this year will be the year she will show up at the party again. He figures the party is as good a place for whoever the love of his life is to arrive, even if she isn't the slutty pumpkin. Barney tries to convince Ted that they should go out to the Victoria's Secret Halloween party instead. Barring Ted going, Barney has a plan to get the telephone number of the hottest girl at the rooftop party, with a few backup plans if the first ones fail.—Huggo
- Future Ted tells his kids that Robin, who loves Halloween, used to dislike it and thought she was "too cool" to enjoy it.
At the bar, Lily and Marshall are excited that their Halloween costumes came in the mail. Barney mentions that he loves Halloween because women dress up in "provocative" costumes (its one night of the year when women let out their inner adventurous self), such as a provocative witch, a provocative cat, and a provocative nurse. Robin then informs the group that she has been dating a guy named Mike for a few weeks, who the gang hasn't met yet. Lily suggests that they go on a double date.
Ted arrives at the bar and tells Robin that he will be waiting for the "Pumpkin", which he does every year on Halloween. Ted tells the story of how he met the Pumpkin four years earlier on Halloween night. He was at a party on the roof of his apartment building, where he met a girl who was wearing a sexy pumpkin costume, and made a drink she called a Tootsie Roll, which was a mixture of Kahlua and root beer. She is a marine biologist and studied penguins in Antarctica for a year. As Ted tells his story, Barney, Lily and Marshall continually interject, since Ted has evidently told this story many times. Ted continues, saying that he got the Pumpkin's phone number, but it was written on a Kit Kat wrapper, which Lily had unintentionally given away, causing Ted to lose her number.
At the apartment, Lily and Marshall show off their Halloween costumes: Lily is a parrot and Marshall is dressed as a Jack Sparrow pirate; they are certain they will win the costume contest at the bar (They paid $100 each for their costume and the prize is a $50 voucher at the bar). Ted presents his costume, a hanging Chad, which is what Ted wears every Halloween since it is what he wore when he met the Pumpkin. Barney then arrives at the apartment, dressed as a fighter pilot straight out of Top Gun. He tells Ted to join him at a Victoria's Secret Halloween party, but Ted insists he will go to the party on the roof to wait for the Pumpkin. Robin arrives next but isn't wearing a costume. She tells Lily she and Mike had talked about wearing costumes, but they decided not to dress up. Just then, Mike enters the apartment dressed as Hansel. Robin admits that she was just joking about dressing up as Hansel and Gretel. Barney follows Ted up to the party on the roof, noting that there are only six women there. As a Capella group begins singing, Barney starts drinking.
Lily, Marshall, Robin, and Mike are all eating at the bar. While Lily and Marshall enthusiastically share their food with each other, Robin does not want to share with Mike. Back at the roof party, Barney hits on a girl wearing a hula costume, but his crass pickup line (what does a fella have to do to get "leid" around here) fails.
In the women's bathroom, Lily asks Robin if she likes Mike. Robin insists that she just doesn't like couple-y stuff, but Lily tells her that it's the greatest thing in the world to be a part of. Lily tells Robin that she could lose Mike if she doesn't start acting differently, so she suggests that Robin share her dessert with Mike. Robin agrees.
After striking out with the hottest girl at the party, Barney changes his costume, now wearing a red devil costume, with hopes that he can make a "second first impression." Barney hits on the hula girl again, but he once again fails. Barney tells Ted that the Pumpkin is clearly not coming, so they must go to the Victoria's Secret party. Ted tells him that the Pumpkin represents hope for him.
Robin tries to share her sundae with Mike, but it immediately becomes obvious that she cannot, which leads to her finishing off the sundae herself. Mike decides to leave the bar, saying that he doesn't get the impression that Robin enjoys being with him. Robin denies this, but Mike says she much rather prefers being alone, not wanting to engage in any couple-y activities. Mike then breaks up with Robin.
Ted sees someone dressed as a penguin, who mixes Kahlua and root beer, and wonders if this person is the Pumpkin. His hopes are quickly dashed however when it is revealed that it is Barney in the costume. Barney also reveals that he used this new costume to get the hula girl's phone number, but she realizes that he was the same guy from before, upset that he tricked her into giving him her number.
Robin is not very upset that Mike broke up with her, saying that he wanted to be a "we" while Robin wanted to be an "I." Carl then announces the winners of the costume contest: Lily as a parrot and Marshall as a gay pirate.
Robin then finds Ted still on the roof. She tells him about being dumped by Mike, and wonders if there's something wrong with her, that she's a cold person who cannot be head-over-heels for someone. Ted tells her that she just hasn't met the right person yet. Ted and Robin sit together under a blanket.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content