<P> Throughout the episode , numbers appear on ordinary objects counting down from 50 to 1 . This is a countdown from the beginning of the episode to the eventual bad news , which is told right after the `` 1 '' is shown . As the final scene of the episode closes , a parking meter is in the background displaying a red ' expired ' state . The countdown was an idea taken from the 1988 film Drowning by Numbers ; through the course of that film , the numbers 1 to 100 appear in order , sometimes seen in the background , and sometimes spoken by the film 's characters . According to Bays , the countdown was used to give an early signal to the audience that something big was about to happen at the end of the episode . </P>
what does the countdown mean in how i met your mother
an early signal to the audience that something big was about to happen at the end of the episode