[S1E15] The Last Laugh
Phlox visits T'Pol in the mess, drawing her attention from the PADD she was studying, to talk to her about the transfer. She indicates that she thinks the High Command's punishment is logical. Phlox reveals that T'Pol is not the first Vulcan posted to Human ships, but she is the first to last more than a few weeks. The other Vulcans all requested transfers, citing the Humans as too unpredictable. He also warns her that the rest of the crew are planning a going-away party in her honor.
Tucker approaches the guards outside the compound and distracts them with Andorian ale. At the same time, the operative lets in the Andorian agents. Suspecting a trap as Reed makes a noise, the outside guards grab Tucker, causing a commotion and distracting the wall guards. The Andorians make short work of the wall guards, and open the main gates to let in Tucker and Reed. Just as they are moving further into the compound, a Vulcan commando team led by Sopek blows a hole in the fence and starts firing. The Andorian operative is shot by a wayward blast just as he enters the cell to release Archer and T'Pol.
As the rescue team is leaving, the Vulcans accuse the Andorians of violating the Tau Ceti Accords. As they argue back and forth, Traeg, despite his wounds, aims his plasma pistol at Sopek. T'Pol notices this and moves to defend the Vulcan leader, and as a result is instead hit by the blast, and is seriously injured. As Archer orders the crew to take T'Pol back to the ship for medical treatment, Sopek says she's no longer Archer's responsibility. Archer disagrees, and they carry her off to the shuttlepod to return to Enterprise.
\"You realize you're not the first Vulcan officer to be posted aboard a Human starship? The High Command has tried this before, but none of the others lasted more than a few weeks. They found their crew mates too chaotic and unpredictable. But you've been here more than six months, and you haven't merely tolerated this crew, you've become part of it. Isn't it logical to take pride in that accomplishment?\"\"Pride is a Human indulgence.\"\"I suppose it is.\"
Excited over the reunion, Sokka and Katara share stories about their tribe, but they unintentionally leave Aang out, causing him to feel excluded. In the meantime, in a rowdy bar, June is arm wrestling a rather muscular man as the crowd cheers. Zuko walks in, pushing people out of his way and shouting, while Iroh follows in his wake, apologizing to his nephew's victims. Zuko pulls up next to June and demands to speak with her. She briefly acknowledges his and Iroh's presence by addressing them as \"angry boy\" and \"uncle lazy\" before beating her opponent in the arm wrestling match and starting to collect the money people threw onto the table for her victory. Zuko declares that her beast trashed his ship, and he wants to be reimbursed. Although she just collected quite some money from her arm wrestling match, June claims that she is \"short on money\" before buying drinks for the entire bar. Zuko grabs her hand and gets in her face, claiming that he was not requesting money. Outside, the prince hands June Katara's necklace and states that he needs June to find someone, to which June sarcastically asks if he is looking for his girlfriend. Zuko ignores the jab and states that it is not the girl he is after but the bald monk traveling with her. He adds that if she finds them, he will consider the damage to his ship paid for. June is not interested and starts to walk away, though when Iroh offers to pay her weight in gold, she accepts under the condition that the price is changed to Iroh's weight in gold, causing Iroh to laugh and agree.
Back at the abbey, Bato states that a message is arriving soon about their father's whereabouts, so Katara and Sokka might be able to see him. Aang runs off, feeling hurt that Katara and Sokka might leave him to go find Hakoda. However, Aang does not hear the last part of the conversation when they reject the offer, saying they must travel to the North Pole with him.
Zuko, Iroh, and June find Katara and Sokka, quickly finding that the Avatar is not with them. The shirshu paralyzes the siblings as they try to escape and finds the map, which has Aang's scent. Following the scent, they return to the abbey, where they find Aang waiting for them. Flying on his glider, he manages to take the beast down. June quickly rises and, once on her shirshu, tries to attack Aang, but is stopped by Appa. Aang and Zuko start fighting, eventually creating a large explosion. Nyla attempts to paralyze Appa with his tongue while nearby, Zuko recovers from the explosion and starts firebending at Aang, who is also being chased by the shirshu. Appa tries to aid his owner by firing air blasts at his chaser, albeit unsuccessfully. Zuko resumes his duel with the Avatar, the latter of whom notices Katara's necklace in Zuko's fist and, after dodging his fire whips atop a well, manages to recover it. Appa tries to reach Zuko, who is shooting fire at Aang, but June and the shirshu manage to paralyze the bison after numerous attacks.
Before the first challenge of the season, \"Bolas for Blood,\" began, a producer asks Nelson when he last won, which makes Nelson and his partner/ex Nurys laugh. It's incredible that this is now a running joke that's actually acknowledged on the show, and it becomes even funnier when Nelson and Nurys almost win this daily. In \"Bolas for Blood,\" teams must answer three questions together about their partnership (for example, one is \"what's your cumulative age\"), find the bolas with the correct numbers painted on them in a giant mud pit, and attach all the bolas on their station. Once all three questions are answered correctly, they have to run all the bolas to the final station, and the first time to reach the final station wins.
Johnny and Ravyn essentially make deals with everyone during their interrogation despite saying they're not here to make deals, and Jakk tries to throw Colleen and Kim under the bus because she's been telling everyone her original show was Love Island Germany, but she actually won the German version of The Mole by successfully being the mole and lying to everyone. Jakk did some basic research on every competitor before the season began and it was an easy lie to expose, but it doesn't sway Johnny and Ravyn from their vet hit list. They're even more determined to target the vets after making a rookie alliance which also includes last season's champion Amber B and vet Jay, who want to take advantage of the uneven numbers to finally get control of the game like they haven't been able to before. Ultimately, Johnny and Ravyn pick Kailah and Sam to go into elimination.
As for their opponents, TJ reveals that the infamous \"Draw\" is back! The other three teams who were interrogated have to pick one of three daggers that are stabbed into a rock, and Tori and Devin and Laurel and Jakk each pick a dagger with nothing on it, so they think that means they're safe. Unfortunately, German rookies Colleen and Kim lift the final dagger to reveal it says \"safe\" on the blade, meaning they actually get to choose who is sent in against Kailah and Sam. They ultimately pick Tori and Devin to spare Jakk because he's a rookie and therefore is sort of protected by the rookie alliance despite having former champ Laurel as his partner. Tori and Devin end up beating Kailah and Sam, sending them home. As they head out of the elimination arena, TJ jokes that he hopes their marriage lasts longer than their time on The Challenge. Ouch!
\"Surprise, surprise, p---y chickens, king is back!\" Turbo once again not understanding jokes and getting insulted over nothing lead to him making snap rivalries with both Laurel and Devin. He yells about how he's going to eliminate them himself and no one can beat him. You know, normal, casual Turbo stuff. Good to know he hasn't changed at all since we saw him last. This time, the offenses against Turbo are Laurel not giving him a refill of champagne fast enough during the yacht party that doubled as a music video for Poison's \"Nothin' But a Good Time,\" and Devin making a comment about keeping the Draw daggers away from him because he's good at martial arts.
One day, a man in a suit entered the coffee shop where the two of them work and orders coffee. He and Barney talk about his girlfriend. Barney feels that the man is rude, stating, \"Women aren't objects; they're human beings.\" They do not go to the Peace Corps. Shannon lies to Barney and breaks up with him, saying that her father does not want her to go. In reality, the man from the coffee shop hooked up with her, and she wants to move on from Barney. After seeing them kissing, and hearing her explain that he was a boyfriend, he loses his hitherto optimistic outlook on life. He composes a video cassette of him singing to her to get her back. Some time later, in the cafe, Shannon comes back to get her last paycheck. Barney is happy to see her, and runs up to talk to her. He asked if she got the tape, and her boyfriend replies affirmatively. The shock of discovering the identity of the boyfriend causes Barney to stumble, and he storms out the cafe in tears to avoid his teasing. He is walking down the street when someone shoves a flyer advertising suits with the slogan on the top \"SUIT UP!\" Barney then becomes \"awesome\" and transforms his appearance to that of the modern-day Barney. He cuts his hair, shaves his face, and buys what is likely his first suit.
Marshall tells his most embarrassing story first, recounting the time he went to Lily's Kindergarten class to see Lily, but they were all outside at recess (probably). He then needed to go to the restroom. However, the toilet in the restroom was a smaller toilet that he wasn't used to, so he sits down, and he doesn't realize it's a shared restroom until a little boy walks in on him. He flees the restroom surprised and trips over and falls forgetting to pull up his pants, just as Lily and the younger kids return and all the little kids point and laugh at him. Lily adds \"And the kids still call him Funny Butt.\" The next time Barney stops his story, Robin begins her story of falling in horse poop, but Barney rejects it as he already knows that story. Victoria then tells her story. Ted refuses to repeat it for his kids, only saying it involves a hot tub and a squeeze bottle of marshmallow topping. Next up is Lily, telling the story of the time she and Marshall were having \"floor sex\", not realizing Marshall's mom was still on the phone they'd forgotten to hang up and could hear everything. Finally came Ted. He begins to tell \"the Green Testicle Story\", but Barney interrupts, saying he wants the story of the Re-return. Ted explains that after the events of his disastrous first date with Robin, he, Barney, and Ranjit were drinking at the bar. Ted declares he's going to kiss Robin, but instead vomited on her doormat. Robin thinks it's sweet that he re-returned for her, but this puts some distance between Ted and Victoria, who had been previously unaware of Ted's feelings for Robin. Barney is amused that he got Ted to admit this and as a present, he decides to conclude his piece of the story of when he saw Shannon. He reveals after he stormed out of the apartment, and before he came to the bar, he went to Shannon, and caught up with her. He details that she wanted to make amends and reveals her talk of breaking up with Greg, being a mother, and notes if he stayed with her that could be his life. Lily tried to comfort him on feeling empty. However, he voices his joy at his bachelor life and lack of responsibilities like Shannon, stating he dodged a bullet with that life. He then states he had sex with Shannon after the talk. Barney proves it to a skeptical Lily by showing the gang and Victoria a video of the encounter on his phone. Barney says Shannon gave her number, but he declares that he won't call her, as revenge for her leaving him. He leaves overzealous by his actions, while Marshall states Barney wins the game, something everyone agrees with.