How I Met the Horrible End of a Great Show

Really, Carter Bays and Craig Thomas?

That’s how you wanted your show to end? With the two people least meant for each other in the entire show dramatically back together?

With a blue French Horn magically tying loose ends up?

With two people who only wanted each other while they were taken changing course instantly?

With the character mentioned in the title becoming a footnote in a larger, less satisfying, less realistic, more depressing story?

With teenage kids who just heard an incredibly drawn-out story not being upset that their mother clearly didn’t matter in the long run of their father’s life?

For all of the “realism” that the creators claimed went into the making of “How I Met Your Mother,” they left almost none of it (if any) for the series finale.

There were plenty of great little moments in the finale. Although it was unsettling that Barney and Robin split up after an entire season was dedicated to them and they FINALLY showed some character development, I could deal with that. Barney’s waffling back and forth between changed man and Brotastic Bro was interesting, and in the end it was consistent with the polarity of his personality.

It was an interesting twist to see Marshall finally become Fudge Supreme, but only after a second years-long languishing in a corporate job he loathed.

Seeing Lily trying hard to keep the gang together was consistent with her character. Even though Robin fell out for a few years, it wasn’t hard to live with.

There were quite a few good jokes tossed in, but all of the little good things in the show don’t compensate for the really crappy plot twist. It wasn’t creative, because they mentioned Robin all of the time. So what was it? What was it supposed to be? I know that according to some survey, the audience was split about 50/50 on liking and not liking the finale, but how? There’s clearly a pretty big divide between viewers’ interests. I understand that some people may have wanted Robin and Ted to be together, but that doesn’t mean it had to be that way for the show to be any good.

Yeah, I get it. The kids’ reactions were filmed almost a decade ago. They decided HIMYM would end that way long ago. What ever happened to covering your bases? Isn’t there value in calling an audible? If the story had logically flowed to this conclusion, it would be fine to stay the course, but sometimes you have to correct things along the way.

It sucked that Tracy died, but it would have been a way to reasonably end the show without it being perfectly happy. It easily could have ended a few minutes early, and no one would have complained. That would have been the best scenario, because you wouldn’t necessarily know Tracy was gone. People could assume whatever they wanted about Ted and Tracy, and they would be right. Given how much “destiny” was played up throughout the entire show (and the finale, which makes it pretty much the only thing to be a big part of both), it was ridiculous that Ted went back to Robin. It’s fine that he moved on from his wife. The fact that he went back to Robin is the issue. He supposedly moved on from Robin on the beach that day, but that clearly wasn’t the case. Apparently what he had with Tracy was meaningless, despite all of the endearing tales he told his kids about her.

Ted and Robin being together literally brings things full circle, but that doesn’t mean it was the right direction for the plot to go. Looking at the chemistry Tracy had with Ted, it was clear those two were a better match than Ted and Robin. Robin never appreciated anything Ted did for her while they were together, so why would she deserve him? Why would fans root for them to get back together? I thought long and hard about a possible comparison for that, but I couldn’t. Ted was his best self when he was with Tracy. He was much better off with Victoria and quite a few other of his ex-girlfriends than he was with Robin. He could have found someone new. In terms of his emotional health, he wouldn’t be much worse off with the crazy lady he dated than with Robin.

Robin and Ted had a nice platonic relationship (and one joke: Major Pleasure), but it’s clear that they were too volatile a couple to ever make it work.

There were more than a handful of ways How I Met Your Mother could have ended, and every single one of them EXCEPT the “real” one made sense. Ted and Robin being together felt way too forced.

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What the heck does this have to do with my blog? You’re probably asking that, and I know that’s certainly on my mind right now. I needed an excuse to write again given how long it had been, and this happened to be my passionate topic du jour.

When it comes to my on-air personality, I’ve always thought it needed more of an edge. I’ve tried to be fudge swirl instead of vanilla with how I’ve covered teams, so I guess this post is a practice in adding some more flavor to my public persona. You won’t see me Tommy Heinsohning anytime soon, but I’m no teacher from Charlie Brown either. Hopefully incorporating some more carefully-thought-out, original (and potentially bold) opinions will come of things like this.