How I Met Your Mother had the WORST Finale Episode EVER

*SPOILER ALERT*

How I Met Your Mother was a television sitcom that had a total of 9 seasons and ended in 2014. The show was amazing, following a group of friends, Ted, Barney, Marshall, Lily, and Robin. The main plot line, derived from the name of the show, was listening to Ted Mosby tell the very long, detailed story of how he met his wife, to his children. This series was critically acclaimed and loved by a lot of people...until those last five minutes in the season finale. The WHOLE SHOW was based on finding the mother, and in the last five minutes they kill her off and Ted ends up with Robin?! No no no no no no no no no.

This was so disappointing, because not only were Ted and Tracy the cutest couple ever, what was the point of Barney and Robin even getting married in the first place? Maybe their excuse was that they didn't want to be predictable, or just the opposite, they wanted to make the fans happy and give them the relationship they wanted from the beginning; Ted and Robin. There was an overwhelmingly negative reaction to the finale, and I don't think that's what the producers and writers wanted. One thing I must admit is, that the show was never about the mother in the first place, it was about Ted. In the title, the "I" is the subject and the "Mother" is just the object. So we did need all those years to realize the type of man that Ted was before he did meet the mother. However, when Ted reveals at the end of the finale that the person he was talking about the whole time was the children's "Aunt Robin," the show suddenly became about her, and not Ted.

Just because the writers always pictured a happy ending between Ted and Robin, doesn't mean that that's how the show had to end. I stand by my statement that Ted and Robin should NOT have ended up together because this was basically just a cop out. They made such a BIG deal about Ted finally letting go of Robin and spent a lot of time focusing on that so that his heart would be ready when he did meet the mother. So all in all, I think that the ending was terrible, and for me, it ruined what I used to consider one of my favorite shows, and that is a sad fact.

How I Met My Deep, Wallowing Sadness

SPOILER ALERT: 

This post is going to talk a lot about How I Met Your Mother and it's ending, so if you don't know how it ends, I would advise not reading it. That's especially if you're actively watching it on Netflix, like I did for two straight months.

If you don't care, please read on. I'm basically going to talk about how this show RUINED MY LIFE. I think you might understand if you just hear me out here. 

If you've never seen the show or never heard of it, it's a tale of Ted Mosby, portrayed by Josh Radnor, telling the story of how he met his children's mother through a series of flashbacks. The series pilot starts off with him sitting down his kids and asking them if they ever heard the story of how he met their mother. But, the flashbacks, however, start with him meeting a woman, Robin Scherbatsky portrayed by Cobie Smulders, who he finds amazing, that he goes on a date with, but is ultimately not the mother of his children. He deliberately tells them that that's how he met their Aunt Robin. But, she still plays one of the most important parts in the entire show. I would've never guessed why. You know, especially seeing how she just held Ted by a string for almost the ENTIRE SERIES.

Her not being the mother was very predictable. Why give away the whole point of the show in the first episode? But, it plagued me, there was a reason why she started the story. There was a reason for almost everything in this show. The continuity was practically spotless and if our narrator told us we'd get back to something, we most definitely would. It was just a matter of time. So, of course there had to be a specific reason for Ted to meet Robin in the first episode, why he started off a story about his wife with her. Are you piecing things together yet? I certainly didn't. 

 

So I could give you a run down of the entire series, how I grew so attached to all of the characters, no matter their little quirks, and how I was so attached to Ted finding "the one" he was going to spend the rest of his life and have a family with. But I won't. I'll just let you know that when I say attached, I mean I feel like this show was MY CHILD, and it just grew up and tore me apart. By season nine, I was on the edge of my seat to find out who the mother was. And, you do, she's this tiny, pretty woman who is basically the female version of Ted, named Tracy (referred to commonly among fans as "The Mother") The idea of her and Ted together to me was the cutest thing in the world, they worked so well. However, we did not see much of her, just a few flashbacks, most of which she was meeting other members of Ted's gang and not actually Ted. I wanted so desperately to see the two of them together more. But I didn't.

Instead, the final episode revealed that the Mother has actually passed away a few years prior to Ted telling this story to his kids. And, that the reason for the entire story was to warm them up to the idea of him and Robin (what no way!!!) finally becoming a perma-couple. The kids are okay with it, and so he and Robin ultimately end up together. This ties everything together, and I should feel closure over it, but I CAN'T. I'm pretty late to the party, but this show flawlessly and deeply hurt me. 

The Mysterious Girl With The Yellow Umbrella

When How I Met Your Mother first aired on September 2005, everyone expected a light-hearted comedy about how a man met his wife. I don’t think anyone thought that now, eight years later, we would just begin our introduction to “the mother”. The show is based around a middle-aged man, Ted Mosby, telling his two teenage children the story of how, exactly, he me their mother. The last eight years have consisted of hilarious stories that stress Ted’s need for a successful relationship. We have watched as Ted whined about being single, dated countless women, applied for an online dating website, was left at the alter and many other failed attempts to meet the impossible vision he had for the love of his life. As we watched Ted fail over and over again, we began to loose hope that, despite the show’s name, we would ever find out how he met his children’s mother, and more importantly, who the mother actually is.  Finally, during the season eight finale, over nine million viewers received the answer they’ve desperately waited for.

Within the many stories Ted has told his children, we have discovered that his future wife owns an iconic yellow umbrella. In the last few minutes of the finale when all of the other characters were preparing to meet their friends in Farhampton, the woman with a yellow umbrella, Broadway actress Cristin Miloti, steps up to the ticket booth and says, “Hi. One ticket to Farhampton, please.” And in that instant, the question that nine million viewers were asking shifted from “Who the heck is the mother” to “Who the heck is that lady?”

We had endlessly paired Ted up with people in his friend group, have imagined him getting back together with his ex’s and even more. But very few of us figured that he would meet someone completely new to the show. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly Josh Radner, the actor who plays Ted Mosby, said, “I think it would be more interesting to have this fresh, exciting face that Ted has never seen before and neither have people who watch the show.”

Moreover, the actress herself is one I haven’t heard of. But maybe that’s for the best.  After eight years of trying to figure out the hopeless puzzle of who Ted’s wife would be, a quick snapshot of her face in the eighth finale was not enough for me. I instantly wanted to know all I could about her. But, Cristin Miloti is not a famous name. She is not Sarah Chalke, actress on Scrubs, or Rachel Bilson, star of The O.C. or even Jennifer Morrison, from television series House and Once Upon A Time or any of the other possible “mothers” the show has teased us with in the past. We have not spent months watching Cristin Miloti on other shows, we have not watched how she acted in the public eye and we have not questioned her morals playing other television characters. Basically, we have no idea who the heck she is, and this clean slate is rather refreshing.

This past Monday, September 23, How I Met Your Mother Season 9 premiered on CBS and  viewers tuned in with the hope that more of their questions would be answered. However, they were quickly disappointed. The season premiere started with a very basic title screen that read “56 hours before the wedding”. The two-part premiere covered only two of those hours. That leaves viewers to believe, as they have been complaining about on Facebook and Twitter, that the rest of the final season will consist of the hours leading up to the wedding. It is even possible that we may have to wait until the finale to finally watch Ted and “the mother” meet. The producers are dangling yet another mystery right there, in front of our faces.

So has this mystery been dragged out too long for the shows own good?  In the past, the show has lost a lot of viewers and has gained negative press for holding the answer to such an important question. I mean, I’m all for a good plot twist but eight years? Although it’s refreshing to know that executive producers Carter Bays and Craig Thomas are done playing games with who the Mother is, it’s still overwhelming to have to question how long it will be until “the mother” and Ted cross paths.

Overall the premiere’s nonstop comedy, quirky characteristics and the lighthearted drama met my exceedingly high expectations. Although the episode was not shot at the gang's iconic bar, I liked the use of locations and the way each new setting was designed. Also, I enjoyed the lighting and took notice that when Ted goes to the airport against Lilly's wishes he is lit in a dark manner while scenes in the the fancy hotel meant for wedding guests are lit very bright, in fact almost, at times, overexposed. The episode itself follows the five main characters as they travel to Barney and Robin’s wedding. Marshal’s trip includes an airplane ride where he worries about how he will tell his wife about his newest job offer. Barney and Robin contemplate their wedding guests and realize there is a slight possibility that they may or may not be related. Ted and Lilly’s road trip to the wedding is filled with bickering that causes Lilly to get out of the car and board a train. On the train, Lilly begins to have a nervous breakdown and one of the passengers turn around and takes notice. Ted narrates this scene, “And that’s how Lilly met your mother”. Maybe it's little hints like these that are enough for the show to capture our attention. And, hopefully the show will soon end without any unanswered questions so we can live the next eight years in peace.