Kids, I had really high hopes for the end of How I Met Your Mother. Lesson learned.
I suppose if I’d lowered my standards everything would have been a pleasant surprise. Unfortunately I only got progressively more and more angry as the finale went on. By the end, I was completely devastated. Excuse me, but I would like nine years back.
I was a huge fan of the show and one of its biggest supporters. Every time they did something that fans didn’t necessarily agree with, I always gave the benefit of the doubt. There was a reason for everything they did, everything would add up when he met the Mother. The comedy on this show was spot-on, there were virtually zero continuity errors (which I seriously applaud considering how much they jumped through the years) and yet the ending fell flat!
By the way, I’m not the only one who feels this way. After lots of reading, very few people are happy with the ending of the show. I couldn’t agree more. Having Ted and Robin end up together was a terrible choice. They were NOT Ross and Rachel, they so clearly do not belong together and the writers spent nine years showing us why that was the case.
Honestly I think they wrote themselves into a corner with the final scene with the kids. Clearly that had been taped right at the beginning so that it wouldn’t seem like the kids hadn’t aged. That was the fatal flaw. They didn’t allow room for the fans to react to the Mother, who was perfect by the way. She fit right into the cast with all her quirks and then they do her a huge disservice by giving her 15 minutes with Ted and then killing her off. All in favour of Robin.
Even Lily says that he hasn’t fallen in love like this before…but they STILL have him end up with Robin! I can respect the writers for trying to keep it realistic, life isn’t perfect, divorce and death are real, blah, blah, blah. But the idea was that he finds his perfect woman. They were destiny! They had so many ‘almost’ moments that nearly brought them together! But in the end, he wants Robin, the girl he saw in a bar. The girl he was friends with. The girl who WASN’T right for him. It kind of left me questioning Ted. I mean he clearly loved Tracy, but did his feelings for Robin ever really go away? The only thing I’ll say is that it kind of makes sense due to the fact that the show started with Ted seeing Robin. However, as the show progressed it was clear she was not the one for him. I’M SO OVER THE BLUE FRENCH HORN!
And by the way…why are the kids so thrilled that he is into Robin? I don’t care how much time has passed, that still seemed ridiculous.
And that’s just the Ted and Robin nonsense, I haven’t even gotten into the rest of it yet.
The writers spent an entire season working up to Barney and Robin’s wedding only to have them divorce 23 minutes later. DO YOU KNOW HOW INCREDIBLY DISAPPOINTING THIS IS FOR FANS!?!! The whole season dragged on and on and I was so ready for them to just get married and live happily ever after already AND THIS HAPPENS!?!?! DIVORCE!?!? What about the incredibly romantic proposal? What about how they were perfect for each other? What about all the progress Barney had made? That just gets thrown away in 23 minutes?
The character development was totally stomped on with Barney. I was so happy for him in the beginning of the episode when he announces to Tracy, “Hey I got the girl!” He was finally exactly where he was supposed to be and they ruined it. Sending him back to his man-whore ways was a mistake, the show might as well have ended three seasons ago for Barney. And having him pretend that this was what he wanted all along? No, I’m sorry, wrong.
I’ll admit Barney having a baby girl and falling in love with her was perfect. I hated that it was with a random though. 31 girls in 31 days…again, goodbye character development. The new playbook was also super unfortunate. He went through a roller coaster of ‘character development’ in one episode. One minutes he could go the distance with Robin, then he goes back to his old ways, then he becomes the over-protective father figure. The father figure was perfect…having the divorce and sending him back to being a slut was bullshit.
The show should have ended with Ted and Tracy under the umbrella. Take away the divorce and it would have been a MUCH better ending. The only characters who got the proper ending they deserved were Lily and Marshall. But honestly, I think they would have been hard to screw up.
In the end they made the mother practically irrelevant. What was the point if he was just going to end up with Robin? And WHY did he end up with Robin? Everyone knew that Robin belonged with Barney, not Ted. It’s such a shame to see a brilliant show go out this way. I hate to say it, but this is probably one of the worst finale’s I’ve ever seen.
I’ve never been so mad/disappointed at a TV show ending. I’m still slightly hoping that was just an early April Fool’s joke and the real ending is coming up next week. Well, it’s over now. Definitely sad to see the show go, just wish it went out a different way. And that kids, is ‘How I Met Your Mother.’
The Madison Project 