5 times Marshall Eriksen made zero sense on How I Met Your Mother

How I Met Your Mother, a cult show in the American sit-com genre, ran for 9 seasons and while the finale aired on March 31, 2024, fans are still clearly not over the show.

The legendary antics of Barney, the eternal love between Lily and Marshall, the romantic misadventures of Ted, and the quirks of Robin have often made fans rewatch the show multiple times.

It is because of these rewatches, that certain inconsistencies have been pointed out by fans regarding Marshall. While some have pointed out discrepancies in his physical portrayal, some have also mentioned that he was not consistent with his character traits.

Let us now explore five such inconsistent character arcs of Marshall in How I Met Your Mother that didn't really make much sense.

---

5 moments when Marshall Eriksen did not make sense on How I Met Your Mother

Marshall’s ability to get a nice picture was contradictory

In the episode titled Say Cheese in How I Met Your Mother Season 5, when the gang talks about how Barney cannot get a good picture of himself, Ted mentions that the same applies to Marshall as well, who cannot apparently take a picture in which his eyes are open.

However, if one notices the opening scene of the show, it features a number of pictures of Marshall where his eyes arewide open. This detail contradicted what Ted said about Marshall and has been pointed out by fans.

---

Marshall seemed to present different opinions about painkillers

In the episode titled Okay Awesome in How I Met Your Mother Season 1 Marshall is shown dealing with toothache and he also asks Barney for painkillers to deal with his problem. This shows he is comfortable using pain killers when necessary.

However, in the next season, his opinion on the same is changed as he refuses to use a painkiller for a broken toe. This is quite a big inconsistency in his character, which has been pointed out by fans.

---

The fact that Marshall and Lily share one toothbrush was inconsistent

Another inconsistency in How I Met Your Mother was regarding Marshall and Lily sharing a single toothbrush. The couple reveals in the episode Perfect Week that given how long they have been together, they always use the same brush.

However, in episode Zip, Zip, Zip the couple is shown to have different brushes. This presents a major consistency in their storyline as they had previously mentioned that they had stopped using separate brushes many years ago.

---

Marshall’s family’s absence during his wedding

Marshall has been portrayed as a character who shared a close relationship with his family. Therefore, it was quite surprising to see that at his wedding, none of his family members were there. Neither his mother, nor his siblings attended the wedding, which was quite strange given the kind of relationship that Marshall shared with his family.

Moreover, this absence is never discussed again in How I Met Your Mother, whichmade the inconsistency even more glaring.

---

Marshall’s inability to wink was proven wrong

Another aspect of Marshall’s character that was consistent was his ability to wink. Initially, Ted and Barney had mentioned that one of Marshall’s funniest flaws was that he could never wink.

However, this information was contradicted by Marshall himself as he was shown to be winking at both Ted and Barney in the episode titled Atlantic City when Lily asked them about the veil. The writers probably forgot what they had previously mentioned about Marshall but the fans were quick to spot it.

How I Met Your Mother can be streamed on Hulu.

---

Stay tuned to SoapCentral for more updates on shows!