Lily Aldrin, How I Met Your Mother

Lily Aldrin (Alyson Hannigan)

On long-running sitcom How I Met Your Mother, main character Lily Aldrin’s bisexuality was a recurring element in most seasons of the show, although it was always treated as a long-running joke. Lily had two long-term relationships with men in the show: guest character Scooter and main cast Marshall, and she was happily married to Marshall throughout the majority of the series run. Her sexuality was referenced in the following episodes:

Season 1

Best Prom Ever (1×20): Before marrying Marshall, she has doubts about getting married and reveals that one of her unfulfilled dreams is having a lesbian experience, so Robin kisses her so that she can check it off her list. This likely begins Lily’s attraction to Robin, which as the seasons continue, becomes more and more pronounced.

Season 5

Robin 101 (5×03): Lily mentions confusing dreams about Robin that remind her “a woman’s sexuality is a moving target.” In The Playbook (5×08): Lily mentions that she is reading Robin’s “two-volume playbook,” referring to her breasts. In Girls Versus Suits (5×12), while trying to make Marshall admit the new bartender is hotter than her, she lets slip that she thought about her in bed a couple of times the night before.

Season 6

Architect of Destruction (6×05): When Marshall says he can’t stop thinking about Lily and Robin in bed, Lily responds by saying she’s had that fantasy as well and tells him to “lean into it and let it fuel things.” In Hopeless (6×21): Lily mentions having a secret crush on Mila Kunis. In The Perfect Cocktail (6×22): Robin reveals that every time Lily drinks martinis she wants to make out with her.

Season 7

The Rebound Girl (7×11): Lily mentions she has dreams about Robin. The Broath (7×19): When Ted breaks a “Broath,” Barney punishes him and the gang by making the guys and the girls kiss. They kiss and when Robin pulls away, Lily keeps on kissing her. Earlier in this episode when the gang is all at Quinn’s apartment, Lily mentions that she was once with a dude who couldn’t even fantasize about having a three way. “He was all, ‘ooh she’s your best friend.'” (referring to Robin)

Season 8

Splitsville (8×06): Lily fantasizes about a “slutty and bi-curious” Danish exchange student named Nadia.

Season 9

Lobster Crawl (9×09): When Robin attempts to hook up with Barney and fails several times, Lily suggests getting freaky with a girl to entice him. Lily is excited to get to grind with Robin but she brings Brandi (her fun coworker who doesn’t even care) to the bar for that purpose, so Lily is disappointed.

The Broken Code (9×04): When Lily realizes Robin does not have many female friends, she attempts to help her by making her go up and comfort a random girl who is crying at the bar. After initially struggling, Robin manages to hit it off with the girl, who is called Amanda, over their shared love of ice hockey. Lily begins to feel jealous and has a vision of Robin and Amanda having an affair so she scares off Amanda when Robin goes to the bathroom.

Bass Player Wanted (9×13): Lily and Robin share a telepathic conversation about Darren probably wanting to hook up with them, during which Lily suggests that the two of them can continue after Darren is finished, and Robin gets weirded out.

Rally (9×18): Lily and Robin end up kissing to get Barney to wake up after he drinks too much the night before his wedding. Later when they are at the bar, in a sudden role reversal, Robin is the one who wants to kiss Lily again but Lily says it was weird and doesn’t want to do it again.

Appearances:

• 208 episodes.

No female love interests

Relationship story arc with a woman: No

Male love interests:

• Marshal (Jason Segel, main cast 208 episodes, husband)
• Scooter (David Burtka, guest, 7 episodes, ex-boyfriend)

Relationship story arc with a man: Yes

Filter Relationship Arc:

• Male (Regular)

Storyline during sweeps? No

[1] A relationship story arc is defined as explicit, developed on screen, and lasting more than 3 episodes. It is listed as questionable or subtext if romance is only implied, mentioned instead of shown on screen, part of a dream sequence, or otherwise not explicit for the viewer.
[2] Sweeps episodes air in February, May, July and November, the periods when advertising rates are set. A character is marked as "sweeps" when there is a very limited number of episodes that address their sexuality, all air during sweeps period, and the storyline is otherwise ignore/dropped.