How I Met Your Mother: 10 Reasons The Gang And Doug Aren’t Real Friends

How I Met Your Mother‘s Doug Martin is a supporting character that’s seen in just a few episodes of the series. However, he made a big impression on fans in the episodes that he is featured in, especially “The Fight”. In this episode fans see Doug come to the gang’s rescue by kicking strangers out of their booth at MacLaren’s Pub. Unfortunately, this sparred a fight between Doug and the strangers that Doug expected Ted, Barney, and Marshall to be apart of.

Even though this may have been an irrational move on Doug’s part, it’s obvious that he and the gang are close, right? Wrong. Check out these 10 reasons why the gang and Doug aren’t real friends.

10 The Gang Never Mentions Him

Doug is only in a few episodes throughout the entire series. In “The Fight”, future Ted tries to convince the audience that Doug has been around for plenty of the gang’s important moments. The series then inserts Doug into various flashbacks to prove that Doug has been in the background of the series this entire time.

If that’s true then why doesn’t the gang ever mention him? At the very least his character always seems like an afterthought. They never talk about him when they tell stories and he’s rarely seen in the pub.

9 He’s Never Included

When future Ted points out that Doug has supposedly always been around, Doug is suddenly seen in the background of some of the show’s most memorable scenes. For example, a flashback shows Doug behind Barney in season four when Barney declares that he’s going to “pick up a lesbian” in the episode “I Heart NJ”. Of course, if viewers go back and watch that original episode, they will not see Doug in the background.

It’s obvious that Doug hasn’t been around the gang very much at all so it’s unknown why the series is trying to convince viewers of this friendship.

8 They Think He’s Violent

In “The Fight”, Ted reveals that he and the gang think Doug is violent. As fans know, Ted and the rest of the gang don’t typically participate in violent activities – other than Slapsgiving, of course. It’s no surprise that the guys were extremely uncomfortable when Doug expected them to go outside to the alley and help him fight the guys who stole their booth.

Not only do the guys think that Doug has an unstable personality, but they’re also too afraid to tell him that they’re unwilling to physically fight anyone for him.

7 They Think He’s Weird About His Hair

For someone who claims to be friends with Doug, Ted sure talks about Doug a lot behind his back. Aside from thinking that Doug has a dangerous personality, the gang also thinks that he’s weird about his hair.

To be fair, in season four, Doug definitely gave them a reason to think this. He uncomfortably joked around with them about whether or not they liked his hair and when he walked away, the gang was left feeling awkward and uneasy. It’s painfully obvious that they’re not very comfortable with Doug at all.

6 They Take Him For Granted

Even though Doug has some questionable personality traits, he seems to really care about the gang and it’s obvious that he has their back. For example, in season four, Doug got upset that some guys stole the gang’s booth at MacLaren’s Pub so he kicked them out. Of course, this led to the entire plotline of the episode “The Fight”, where Ted and Barney pretended to help Doug beat up the guys from the pub.

Regardless of Doug’s aggression, the gang should have taken the time to appreciate how good of a friend he was to them – even if they didn’t reciprocate the friendship.

5 The Guys Didn’t Back Him Up

It was pretty clear that the guys didn’t consider themselves to be close with Doug when they let Doug go outside to fight the guys from the bar all alone. Ted and Barney eventually followed Doug out, but only for selfish reasons.

By the time Ted and Barney got out to the alley, Doug had already finished the fight but he believed that Ted and Barney were there backing him up the entire time. Not only did they get outside far too late to actually help Doug, but they weren’t even going out there for him in the first place.

4 Ted And Barney Lied To Him

After the bar fight in the alley of MacLaren’s pub in “The Fight”, Ted and Barney let Doug believe that they were fighting alongside him the entire time. They even went as far as injuring themselves to convince everyone that they were apart of the brawl. Even though Doug can be a little zany at times, he definitely deserved the truth.

Ted and Barney also let Doug promise them free drinks from the bar as a thank you for them having his back. They felt very little remorse for lying to Doug, so it’s pretty obvious that they don’t value his friendship.

3 They Never Held An Intervention For Him

It’s pretty clear that the gang isn’t a big fan of Doug’s personality. They think he’s irrational, violent, and weird about his hair. While this may all be true, real friends would address the issue instead of complaining about it behind his back.

Ted and Barney would have saved themselves a lot of trouble if they had just been honest with Doug from the get-go. In fact, if the gang were really friends with Doug, they would have held an intervention for him long ago to try to help him correct his volatile behaviors.

2 They Don’t Know Him Very Well

In season four, future Ted claims that Doug has been around for a lot of the gang’s most memorable moments. It seems that Doug is pretty invested in their lives considering he’s been there for big events such as Ted’s first real fight and when Barney and Ted opened their bar, Puzzles.

Even though Doug may know the gang fairly well, they don’t know much about him. They really only know him as Doug from MacLaren’s Pub, and they don’t know anything about his family, friends, likes or dislikes. This is clearly a one-sided friendship.

1 Ted Punched Him

At the end of the episode, “The Fight”, Ted ends up punching Doug. Of course, this isn’t a very smart move on Ted’s part since Doug is twice his size. Naturally, Doug punches Ted back, knocks him out, and nonchalantly heads back inside the pub.

It seems like the relationship between Doug and the gang would pretty awkward from here on out considering the circumstances. Unfortunately, fans will never know as the situation is never addressed again, but it’s safe to say that Doug isn’t really their friend.

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