by William John
So the legendary nine-year sitcom has finally come to an ending, and there’s just one thing to say about it… WHAT THE FUCK!?
OK, I’ll start again, a little more balanced. The How I Met Your Mother series finale was littered with dozens of touching, tear-worthy moments, unfortunately interspersed with random, unnecessary twists designed specifically to shoehorn in a relationship that has never worked.
So the legendary nine-year sitcom has finally come to an ending, and there’s just one thing to say about it… WHAT THE FUCK!?
OK, I’ll start again, a little more balanced. The How I Met Your Mother series finale was littered with dozens of touching, tear-worthy moments, unfortunately interspersed with random, unnecessary twists designed specifically to shoehorn in a relationship that has never worked.
The episode begins with the after-party of the wedding, the wedding we’ve been building towards for some time. Barney and Robin have finally tied the knot and Ted is on the cusp of his move to Chicago, so much so that he even avoids talking to the beautiful bass guitarist he’s just seen across the floor. Of course, Ted does indeed see the mother again at Farhampton station, standing under the now famous yellow umbrella.
Flash forward a few years. Robin and Barney’s marriage is ‘great…great…great…’ and the mother winds back on wedding plans, revealing that she’s pregnant! Over the proceeding years, we see the lives of our gang develop through trials and tribulations, as Ted and the mother raise their children, Marshal becomes a supreme court judge! and Robin and Barney get divorced. DIVORCED?! I’m sorry? Can somebody please explain to me how they can justify spending the best part of two seasons on a poxy wedding, to divorce the characters in just ONE FUCKING EPISODE?!
Leaving that to one side, let’s look at the good. Years after his divorce, Barney goes for a perfect month, which ends in an unexpected visit… a baby of his own! Cue the most touching scene the show has ever made, as the legendary ‘bro’ finally grows up faced with his new-born daughter.
Flash forward a few years. Robin and Barney’s marriage is ‘great…great…great…’ and the mother winds back on wedding plans, revealing that she’s pregnant! Over the proceeding years, we see the lives of our gang develop through trials and tribulations, as Ted and the mother raise their children, Marshal becomes a supreme court judge! and Robin and Barney get divorced. DIVORCED?! I’m sorry? Can somebody please explain to me how they can justify spending the best part of two seasons on a poxy wedding, to divorce the characters in just ONE FUCKING EPISODE?!
Leaving that to one side, let’s look at the good. Years after his divorce, Barney goes for a perfect month, which ends in an unexpected visit… a baby of his own! Cue the most touching scene the show has ever made, as the legendary ‘bro’ finally grows up faced with his new-born daughter.
“You are the love of my life. Everything I have, and everything I am is yours. Forever.”
So, Ted and the mother finally get married and Robin makes a return to the gang’s lives. Everything is beautiful. We’re treated to an inner-monologue as Ted tells us that he loved their mother through everything, more than anything in the world. How he thanked all of the Gods for her, even up until she got sick. Say what?! No, please, don’t be doing this…
Back to the train station as Ted approaches the mother. They talk, she knows of him, he knows of her. Ted remarks that she’s using his umbrella, though she disputes it’s hers (her initials ‘TM’ are clearly marked – Tracy McConnell). The true significance of the umbrella is finally revealed. By this point, I’m in two minds. OK, so she died, but they were happy for some time and Ted has two wonderful, if slightly impatient, children. Cut to Ted for those final lines we’ve been waiting for, 207 episodes later.
Back to the train station as Ted approaches the mother. They talk, she knows of him, he knows of her. Ted remarks that she’s using his umbrella, though she disputes it’s hers (her initials ‘TM’ are clearly marked – Tracy McConnell). The true significance of the umbrella is finally revealed. By this point, I’m in two minds. OK, so she died, but they were happy for some time and Ted has two wonderful, if slightly impatient, children. Cut to Ted for those final lines we’ve been waiting for, 207 episodes later.
“And that, kids, is how I met your mother.”
And that’s all it had to do. End. Right there. We wouldn’t have been happy, but we’d certainly have felt slightly fulfilled, even with the kick in the stomach from Tracy’s untimely demise. But no, as the kids are quick to point out that his isn’t the story of how he met their mother, but the story of how he has a crush on their aunt Robin… Quite honestly, if their intention all along was to have Ted end up with Robin, we may as well have ended on the pilot. As I said above, maybe it’s just me but the Ted/Robin relationship has never worked, and I thought that was the point? Ted, continually making mistakes until he finally finds the woman for him, but why skip over that in the space of one episode, just to force him right back to the beginning.
To play devils advocate, it could be argued that the show attempted to reveal a harsh truth about real life: shit happens, things don’t always work out the way you expect and sometimes you have to move on. But is it the job of a larger than life show like HIMYM to spoil it’s own sense of fairy-tale romance to shove that message down your throat? Sadly, this is another in an unfortunate stream of bitterly disappointing series finales of recent years, joining the ranks of Dexter, Smallville and Lost. Rather than ending on the sickly-sweet, romantic image of Ted and Tracy, we’re left with the bitter taste of missed opportunity and a sad, lonely future for Ted Mosby.
To play devils advocate, it could be argued that the show attempted to reveal a harsh truth about real life: shit happens, things don’t always work out the way you expect and sometimes you have to move on. But is it the job of a larger than life show like HIMYM to spoil it’s own sense of fairy-tale romance to shove that message down your throat? Sadly, this is another in an unfortunate stream of bitterly disappointing series finales of recent years, joining the ranks of Dexter, Smallville and Lost. Rather than ending on the sickly-sweet, romantic image of Ted and Tracy, we’re left with the bitter taste of missed opportunity and a sad, lonely future for Ted Mosby.
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