How I Met Your Mother's Controversial Ending, Explained

[@thetake]

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[@trinaq]

Please do a video on the Fat Girl or the Jerk Jocks Tropes! 📹💗

[@Miss1Vogue]

Please do one about the show Girls HBO

[@vmaninc.761]

Please do videos analyzing the endings of the shows 24 and Dexter!

[@sunny-nq3yi]

do a video on dua lipas music

[@87glassrose]

There is an obscure mid 90s sci-fi series I think you should watch and shine a light on. It is surprisingly feminist, progressive, and realistic about our future. It also introduced the American market to the longer narrative story telling basically shows like game of thrones wouldn’t exist without this series it was groundbreaking! The name of this remarkable series is Babylon 5.

[@JohnXFrancoX1000]

They spent the entire season 9 at the wedding and then divorced Barney and Robin in the first 20 minutes of the series finale...

[@daple1997]

Season 9 kinda sucked to be honest

[@trinaq]

Agreed, I wouldn't have minded Barney and Robin abruptedly divorcing, and Tracy dying, had the entire season not been building up to the wedding, and Ted finally meeting Tracy. 😭

[@dodson43]

Final season was bullshit

[@hegluj6796]

Daniil Pleskach season 9 might’ve not been as funny but it was full of great moments like everything of Tracy, the rehearsal dinner, etc, etc, it was just the last one that destroyed everything

[@matthewgriffiths9796]

Instead of 20 episodes of wedding then 2 episodes of future selves it should've been 2 episodes if wedding then 20 episodes of future selves

[@abbyj.7413]

I hate the ending for a lot of reasons but I really do hate how they handled Barney. Barney went through this huge character growth when he was with Robin and then the moment they broke up, Barney went back to his usual ways, which felt really cheap and unfair.

[@abbyj.7413]

@Offworlder1 they really did and it just ruined the ending even further

[@onemouthymerc]

Right!? I thought they were perfect together! It was a great way for him to stop being a douche.

[@therealneal3034]

Well, yeah, he went back to his usual ways. The marriage didn't work out because she was away all the time and when she was around, they fought. She even said so in the finale. But his stance was that Robin was the closest thing he had to perfection in terms of a relationship and he knew that there was no way he would ever find that kind of romantic love again. So he resorted to what he knew until he met Ellie. Ellie was the only other woman in the world that gave Barney the fulfillment that Robin could.

[@onemouthymerc]

@@therealneal3034 The point the OP is making is that the writers CHOSE that path for Barney and it felt unnatural considering all the ways he changed. It was a cheap shot and it felt like betrayal to the audience. Good writing is hugely dependent on character growth, and the writers did the exact opposite of that with Ted, Robin and Barney. No one wants to see a stagnant character and avoiding that is a well documented strategy of creating well rounded, believable characters. They might have pulled it off if they had dedicated as much time to the downfall of their relationship as the buildup, but they didn't plan accordingly for that.

[@yaff1851]

Maybe Barney could end up having that kid with Nora? The failure to provide a satisfactory explanation why Robin is single again was the problem with the ending.

[@fiorefiore9910]

I didn't hate the fact that the mother died, but I did hate the fact that her death was just a plot device to get Ted back with Robin. All those years of buildup, time to get to know her character during the last season, all those speeches future Ted gave to his kids about love but then she just dies and it's time for Ted to move on to the next "love of his life". Ted spent years obsessing over romance and finding his happy ending with the right person, now that he has found her he ironically doesn't get to spend much time with her. It's a cruel irony, but that's exactly what Ted needs. The writers could have made the mother character special by making her change his views on romance completely. Maybe she made him realize that all those years of searching for perfection were meaningless. Ted simply needed to live in the moment and give his love to the person he was with instead of planning out his future. Now, even though she's dead, Ted will always remember her, because when he will meet someone else that he loves (possibly not his best friend's ex-wife), he will remember the lesson he has learned from his wife and be able to live a healthy relationship instead of obsessing over a fairytale ending that doesn't exist. This way the mother is not just "one of the girls that Ted dated" but someone who was actually important to him and changed his life forever.

[@lostinthewoods2010]

That s a beautiful take. I pretty much prefere it to the way it actually was handled in the series

[@scottishdumbass]

Yes. Pretty disrespectful if ted to use Tracy’s memory like that

[@ComandoPadentro]

What? Tracy wasn't "one of the girls that Ted dated" she was the perfect woman he dreamed about, the mother of his children and a woman he deeply loved FOR YEARS... but sadly, she died. After 6 LONG YEARS he reconected with Robin and slowly got back together (with the blessing of his children, I might add) The over simplification you just wrote shows me that most people can separate tv time from "real time" I really liked the ending of the show because it felt "real" You CAN fall in love more than once in your life and the stories that can be found about romantic couples in real life can be like that of Ted, Tracy and Robin... and even weirder. Was the finale a little rushed? Yes, it could've been longer and more fleshed out, but the feelings are there and I understood it fine. No one was "out of character" here and Barney and Robin, though a "fun couple" were never going to work because of their personalities (again, like real life works) and the fact that they got divorced and were so "cool" about it shows that they DID grow as characters. Anyway, I love this show (all of it) and will defend it 'till the day I die.

[@sinnsage]

José Guzmán i agree with you 100%

[@herefortheshrimp1469]

Ugh. This made me tear up lol. I never had really understood the hate for this ending because I mostly skipped around on this show and didn't finish until it was over almost a year later (I loved watching it but I really didn't have high expectations) but I get it now

[@sonjam689]

I hated how basically Tracy just served as a way for Ted to have kids, cause Robin couldn't give him any (edit: I meant from the viewer's perspective, of course not from the character's)

[@sheenashroder5315]

Holy shit that pissed me off too. She was practically a baby making machine that was there to serve the purpose of having Ted’s kids. I was pissed to find out I had waited for the finale only to realize she was just an incubator.

[@kemalasaridina1898]

exactly 😩

[@clarkmizera6255]

she didnt serve as a way for Ted to have kids, she was the love of Ted's life, she was the perfect women for Ted and he was the perfect man for her. Ted is telling his children the story of how he became the perfect man for her and in telling this story he is helping himself realize that it is okay to move on. He probably wont live happily ever after with Robin and there will probably be other women. With all that said, moving on after your love passes away can be extremely challenging, telling this long story to his children is part of Ted's way of doing it. Also, remember, this is years and years after the mother has passed away, it is time for Ted to continue on with his life.

[@ralphgrefaldeo4141]

And they focused so much on robin and Barneys wedding and it was for nothing, and and and tracy!! No wedding whyyyy???

[@tamishasarkar1410]

That's the worst thing they could do to her character! Tracy deserved better! 😭💔

[@Moeller750]

The irony of the HIMYM ending is that the writers didn't have faith in their own writing. The Tracy character was so charmingly written and played that no one could help falling in love with her, and she could easily have carried the weight of a satisfying conclusion.

[@silvermoonshineX3]

@@MKS1298 yes!!! and the storyteller should be audio recordings from when ted was still healthy but knew he had cancer/whatever and then it should be revealed that Tracy is listening to them with the kids.

[@Linklex7]

They thought we. Would hate her since she wasn’t there for long. Yet she was the best part of the final season. The show focused way too much on Robin and that’s what hurt it.

[@eltiburon2796]

@@Linklex7 Yes! The whole idea was that Ted & Tracy were going to have their happy ending. Then... that....

[@mdrasedulhoque992]

After that final,back in 2014 one of my friends said something that makes a weird sense.....He said The writers wanted to write a story about two lovers who loves each other very much but can't be together easily for many reasons....So they wrote till season -2 very good,but after that the writers had no idea what's next......so they started continue the story in natural way,but as their vision was poor,they had no idea the story was turning in another way and about the character growth they made.....when they had this sense got back,it was already too late and they rushed out the things

[@Gringorican]

@@eltiburon2796 how? it was always understood from the beginning that Tracy was dead and that the story was being told past tense

[@reyrey6044]

The butchering of barney's character development was the thing that got me mad.

[@abbyrudy167]

Right. He grew so much and it was so natural and then after the divorce, he reverted back to season 1 Barney and then the baby made him revert back to mature Barney. It was so unnatural.

[@spongegirl30]

@@abbyrudy167 I guess the lesson is you can only be happy with children... too bad no one died after giving barney some kids so he could make it work with robin, right T-T

[@margauxhaiart]

Even Robin, she was strong indelendant so man, I felt more love from her for Barney than for Ted during all the show. And at the end she’s sad she is not married to Ted because it would have been easier ?! WTF

[@howimetyourmotherlover599]

Yeah very true!

[@lauraschellenberg396]

Yes YES!! In my opinion they just should have kept him and Robin married,,,, but 🤷 prolly only me

[@courtoconnor2997]

Spending an entire season on Barney’s and Robins wedding and then the next episode... they break up immediately MADE ME SO ANGRY

[@oraloliakoko3298]

Fr

[@josephbth5562]

weren't they married for a few years...?

[@anamerida2618]

The way they did Barney at the end makes me so mad I want to punch walls and cry I just want to talk to whoever wrote, re-read, saw the actors play out the scene and said Yap this is it

[@Buugzy]

@@anamerida2618 yea it was pretty stupid... I didn’t really see Robin and Ted together, it was so ridiculous.

[@dorafrank4347]

@@josephbth5562 yes, this is just life. the last episode has much longer time span

[@scroom1202]

The problem with the ending IS that he ended up with Robin. It trivializes the mother as a substitute that he settled for because Robin was married. It makes Robin look like the group "pass-around", as well as removing all the development she had. It completely robs Barney of his redemption arc. It paints Ted as a guy who is telling his kids, who's mother is dead, that all these things are true. That is why the ending was complete shit.

[@sscarlett7108]

a year late butt , robin must have been single in between the times ted and tracy were together , but ted didnt cheat on tracy , now listen when he met victoria who was btw perfect for ted matched with him in every world and dimension he ever anticipated he risked it for robin , but he didnt do that when tracy came in his life ,so no tracy is not the substitute for ted , even that last halloween scene , ted wearing his classic costume and him enjoying it with tracy we saw robin giving a sad regretful look , bcuz the day of her wedding she knew marrying barny isnt the right choice for the long term hence the bitter look towards seeing how ted found the right one . I feel like ted could never see robin as his friend completely , he goes back to her because going back to what is familiar might not be the best idea but for the time being it makes sense , bcuz he knew the only other person for whom he could develop the feelings he had for tracy is none other than robin .

[@benos2023]

Wait, did Marshall and Lily have sex with Robin too?

[@NA1c158]

@@sscarlett7108 they wrote barney and robin with no intention of making it stick and it demeans any part of their character growth they write, they act it. it doesn't make it believable writing.

[@AnthonySforza]

They seriously shouldnt have cut the scene they had lunch, when Robin basically confessed all her feelings to Ted and he rejected her (Because he loved his wife abd family). It wiuld have explained why the kids nudged him and why she was happy to see him... instead if all of it coming out of nowhere.

[@fernandalaran244]

@@AnthonySforza that scene is so important. Btw I love the finale and I am not totally agree with the video.

[@MrKaelas]

I always felt like him saying "And that is how I met your mother" and then the screen went blank. Perfect ending. But then it came back up and the kids convinced him to go after Robin. NOPE.

[@gakobayashi1449]

Mortambo thank God this ending exists :D

[@Iggybart05]

honestly my perfect ending was for ted to finish, say "and that kids is how i met your mother" followed by the mom walking in and saying something like "oh we're doing story time? kids let me tell you the story of how i met your father!" cut to black as the kids groan loudly. i knew once they aired the episode how your mother met me that i wasn't going to get at least that ending. I had no idea the shit show of an ending we were about to receive.

[@amara560]

That's the alternate ending

[@breadhyper6365]

@@Iggybart05 I relly like your ending！It's perfect and sweety.That's what comedy should be about, instead of making everyone feel bad about the bullshit ending.

[@arisathanasiadis9000]

kids: SCREW mom. she died, go date our aunt now.

[@Piccadally]

Imagine being so obsessed with having the kids look the same age in the season finale as in the beginning that you throw out almost the entire character development for 3 of your main characters.

[@yaff1851]

He should have shot at least five different endings with those actors - with the benefit that they wouldn’t know which one was the real one.

[@knowyournature7950]

@@yaff1851 I was just thinking the same!

[@francisjomergallardo4593]

Their character development actually made sense, esp tying into one of the shows biggest themes: Getting what you want, just not the way you expect them to be. Robin, Barney and Ted may have gotten what they wanted at the start of the series in the end which is why it seemed like they regressed, but they had to change to get to the point where they get what they want.

[@bornbredbermudian7643]

They should've filmed different endings. So it could be more flexible with how the plot could end up.

[@andrewdavids275]

@@yaff1851 yet they kept it a secret with just the one ending. Besides they didn't realise the show would go that long. Once Jason Segal almost left they had to make sure season 9 was the final season.

[@patrickgreene2062]

I was just struck by how gross it was that Ted claimed he was telling the story of how he had met his children's mother but he was actually trying to justify dating their Aunt Robin.

[@nachiketpargaonkar8646]

We feel it's wrong because we saw it all in one episode. In the show's timeline 6 years have passed since Tracy died. I don't think it's wrong of Ted to want a partner & if his kids are okay with it, why not?

[@trinaq]

I know, I know that six years have passed in universe, so that the kids would have more time to realistically grieve and accept Tracy's passing, but you EXPECT that they'd be more concerned about their dad telling a long and rambling story with the pretext of getting back together with his ex girlfriend, and their honourary aunt to boot! 😒🤦🏻‍♀️

[@ubernerd08]

It really does just destroy his character development and reverts him to the 20-something horndog he was in season 1. It’s a awful betrayal of his growth by the writers

[@hegluj6796]

Nachiket Pargaonkar it was a really messed up reaction from his kids too “kids I’m going to tell you a story about how I met your mother, the woman we all loved and died 6 years ago” the kids reaction “are we being punished?” “Is this going to take a while” it’s really messed up how the writers never had the intention on making the mother something else than a vessel, especially since they had the ending planned since the beginning

[@peacelovetv95]

i mean, the whole thing they're trying to sell is that ted didn't actively realize that's what he was doing, but it didn't work for me. i also hated that scene with the kids; it wasn't just like "well dad, i think based on this extended story that you're in love with aunt robin. it might be good for you to try once more with her." it was so irreverent, just "yeah yeah mom's dead, but you totally have the hots for aunt robin lol"

[@CarlosTorresArt]

They should have filmed several endings, so when the time comes the writers and director can choose which ending fits more…

[@koala1578]

Dude seriously, even if it was going to air for 2 season, filming multiple endings would have been better. And I was even thinking about it, you know how Ted and the kids complete each other's sentences a little bit. they could've done the same thing, and had more place to let the story flow with Ted completing the sentence.

[@RachelAnnPotter]

Yeppppp

[@patrickhf8298]

They actually did, but stayed with this one. You can look for the alternate ending

[@TheJotaroKujo]

That's exactly what they did. They filmed 3 different endings with the kids all the way back in season 2. We only saw one. As the "alternate ending" we got was simply rolling credits when Ted met Tracy, we do not know what the other 2 endings are. Maybe they are worse since they haven't told us, who knows.

[@AhmadAneeq]

that would have been more appropriate

[@animationfan957]

They could just have ended it with Ted meeting the wife, that would have been enough. We cared for the journey, not the destination. Instead they ruined all the character developement by basically going back to how the show started off. The love between Barney and Robin, and how they changed each orher for the better, was always a much more interesting relationship than that between Ted and Robin.

[@sean_mccadden]

Dennis Strågefors Theres an alternate ending with what you said. Just type in How I met your mother alternate ending in KZbin and you’ll find it

[@animationfan957]

Sean McCadden I didn’t know that. Thanks for the tip 😀

[@vmaninc.761]

That was the whole point of the story in the show though it was showing in the first season how he ultimately ended up back with Robin after his journey with his friends and meeting the mother and losing her after having an amazing life with her and getting two great kids out of the relationship and then as a reward for being faithful to his wife all the way to the end of her life ended up back with the person he felt was truly his soulmate from the beginning, they set that up nine years in advance to end it that way and in my opinion it was perfect so I personally believe it was a brilliant way to conclude the story it was like a prequel type of show showing all the in between events that led up to the main event that ultimately resolved the question that was the main title of the show!

[@SuperLoves4]

V Man the problem is not quite that from what I’ve seen from me and other people who disliked the ending, on paper (like you discribed) the ending is a beautiful conclusion on a story about love, but the reality is 8 years of development to an ending that no longer feels real, the mother is a stepping stone for Ted to get back to Robin, despite the years where we’ve seen them change and no longer feel right for each other, and personally I will always say that the episode “how your mother met me” is the perfect example why the ending doesn’t work, it shows Tracy paralleling Ted story, and the main theme is letting go of someone (Tracy dead boyfriend and Robin) to be able to be with the person you where meant to

[@vmaninc.761]

@@SuperLoves4 the ending was written exactly the way it usually happens in real life, in life we rarely if ever end up with the person we feel truly destined to be with until years later when we are old age and little bit Wiser from the experiences we had; Ted didn't end up with a person that he wanted to be with but he ended up with the person that he truly needed to be with because of the fact that both Robin and him weren't ready to be with each other the way he dreamed of, Robin was too focused on her career and living life on the fast track while he was focusing on building a future that entailed settling down with a family; she wasn't ready for that like he was and his attempts to try to get her ready for that led to one disastrous heartache after another, however he never gave up trying to find happiness and was ultimately rewarded by meeting the mother in which he had a wonderful life with her and ended up having 2 wonderful kids as a result, the mother wasn't at all a stepping stone to Robin she merely filled in the void that was left from years of disappointment and hurt from Robin and the unrealistic and illogical expectation fans were having of him letting go of his first love is crazy because in real life no one ever truly forgets their first loves nor do they completely let go of the feelings they have for that person but is able to move on and have a even more fulfilling and deep bond with another person as a result from learning from the experiences they had with their first love; Robin kept hitting a wall in every relationship she attempted to have which included Barney and it's when she saw Ted about to engage himself to Stella that she realized that she was going about it all wrong that she didn't need to achieve success without life with Ted that she in fact could have achieved everything she ever dreamed of with Ted only to realize that a bit too late but is later giving a second shot at true happiness with Ted while he is given another chance to love again with the guarantee and promise that it will indeed work out this time between the two because they both have grown and developed from their young and inexperienced ways and have come to the conclusion that the best way to go about what's left of their lives is to fulfill it in happiness together, if one takes the time to really analyze the story one would be able to come to that conclusion the same way I have and realize that is indeed a beautiful way to end a love story to end it any other way would have been false and unoriginal it would have felt like we were watching an alternate timeline in someone's imagination like the way st. Elsmore was ended and I'm pretty sure fans would be even more pissed off if that was the route that was taken instead!

[@sallie5321]

This ending is the TV equivalent of me, at 9 years old, writing at the end of my story: "And then I woke up."

[@jessie_4921]

yep

[@youcannotspeaktomeanyhow]

I love that

[@olganicole8021]

actually that'd be way better than what actually happened in my opinion

[@RebeccaEd]

Robin: no Ted: yes pls Robin: no Writers: ah, yes I think the mother was well written, and I also liked her death (ok that sounds bad but you know what I mean). I predicted that might be the case and the reason why Ted is telling the story. I do however wish they had not gotten together with Robin. Without that romance it could have been a very touching and deep moment to reflect on how life can change unexpectedly, and how friends are like extended family, and how we should cherish our time with those we care about.

[@MrWhiteVzla]

This is the ending I expected. There was no point in making it "How I met the woman who wouldn't have kids. So I married another woman who would, and that way now I can be with her and also have kids." Edited for spelling

[@alecoloxa]

Well, barney end Is the best one. Makes me cry every time.

[@barbaraliana2200]

@@MrWhiteVzla I feel the same. Looked like that the mother purpose was to have Ted kids. And for me this 5 minutes in the end, endorsed that you can hope that a not healthy relationship can have a second "chance" again in the future.

[@taylorgayhart9497]

Bex Ed YES!!!!!!!!!!! All of this yes!!!!!!

[@scottishdumbass]

Bex Ed 100% agree

[@aniversum_02]

I really appreciate that the whole fanbase hates the ending so much that everyone has his own ending for the show and considers the last two episodes not-canon

[@jackdaone6469]

I’m a fan of the Yellow Umbrella alternate from the DVD.

[@loganbigmo]

I could never be someone who considers something canon as 'non-canon' just to make me feel better, so... unfortunately I'm gonna be one of many people who accepts the finale as is but will never like it, LMAO

[@janusgreenway6934]

Yeah, isn't it lovely how these guys can't accept reality that they make their own fan service? Really appreciate it.

[@berlinstoli6326]

We love the ending

[@RyanMcKennaGosling]

@@jackdaone6469 There's hope for a director's cut of the series finale and a complete series Blu-Ray release just in time for the 20th anniversary next year.

[@inkbery4473]

Tracy's death was fine with me only because the Ted's speech about a few more days with her made sense, him crying while telling her stories made sense, him saying he's "remembering this moment" during their first date made sense. I would be fine if it had turned out he was telling his children the story of how he met their mother because that's all they would ever have of her: stories and memories. HOWEVER, I hate hate hate the ending for the reasons you mentioned concerning Robin. her drifting away bc she isn't dating anyone anymore. her being the "actual love interest" after seasons and seasons of reasons why Ted and her don't fit together. her marriage to barney being thrown out the window over dumb miscommunication, which disregards all of the character development lead-in up to the proposal. it's annoying as hell, and I hate the scene where the kids were like FORGET OUR DEAD MOM AND YOU BEAUTIFUL SPEECH, GO GET ROBIN like wtf???? I'd be sobbing on the floor if I was hearing about my dead mom and dad's love for the first time

[@nurmadihahbintizulkifli1734]

omg tru tho. i understand as child you want your dad to be happy and be with "the love of his life" but that's my mother and she's no longer alive. i wanna respect her. never seen her. that would be so sad omg

[@Rusinate17]

Yes! So true! It was just a mess. I'm so disappointed the writers didn't get it right, when it was so obvious! They really gave us a wonderful love story with the mother, but then just dropped it!

[@Thatguyinyourclass]

Honestly, you're right. I always thought that the ending would have been way better without Ted/Robin endgame, I completely understand killing off the mother, story wise it works, gets ya right in the feels, however the whole killing her and breaking up Robin and Barney just so Ted/Robin can happen was dumb. We were told for years that Ted and Robin couldn't work out and I personally felt that Barney and Robin worked so well together, Barney was willing to have a relationship with Robin and no one else, and then they get divorced and he goes back to his old ways until he accidentally has a baby? and Robin isn't happy being single when for the entire series she was pretty happy with it? The finale basically undid 8 years of writing and character development just to shoe in fan service which honestly, I don't really know who really wanted it. It was bad writing which is kind of uncommon for the show, and it honestly hurts the show as a whole and hurts the rewatchabilty of it. There are ways to end a long running successful television series, and the way they ended this one was not it.

[@whocares9877]

YES! Exactly !! Thank you for putting it into words

[@Ryan-pg1tw]

@@Rusinate17 Maybe you should express yourself more respectful

[@ky13dods]

The symbol of the show is the yellow umbrella, not the blue French horn... that’s all I have to say

[@azmimashraf5891]

Exactly

[@nathanialpearson2681]

Yes!

[@orangeregeneration1028]

Thank you for saying that, I agree :(

[@benjaminkessel9629]

man,if feels to good to see many people having the same opinion about the ending..😔😔

[@stann278]

@Chooey Sooares Both are equally important to Ted's character arch. Him stealing the blue french horn for Robin represented his optimistic naive self as he believed he could shape fate by his own will. But the yellow umbrella which represents the universe playing dice connected Ted to the mother at a time when he'd completely stopped believing in destiny. Like two sides to a coin. Point is you can choose your soulmate and also let the universe do it for you. No choice is wrong if the timing is right.

[@Spicie95]

I really don't like the "I'll wait for you"-narrative. It sets up this idea that if someone doesn't want to be with you, you can just wait for them and they'll eventually change their mind or feel obligated to be with you anyway because you spend so long waiting for them to come around. That's not how the world works.

[@Norimarisu]

Yes! Like, if you just harass someone for 30 years eventually they cave in.

[@konanmadeleine2753]

God!! Thank you!!! Like, is it the type of love that you want??

[@Silburific]

I didn't watch a lot of this show because it rubbed me the wrong way, but didn't they literally do an episode on just that, on how all of them were keeping someone "on the hook" with the vaugue promise that _maybe_ they could end ul with the person pining for them, as long as that person stays gully available while they're free to see whoever they want?

[@AhmedX8]

How about if the person who asks for their loved one to wait for them is going through some personal trauma or some sort of conflict that prevents them from dating or marriage? This person wants to be in a relationship, but they aren't mentally ready, therefore they say they want to wait.

[@phillconklin382]

It's not how the world works but it is how the idealist works. Idealists work outside of reality (in an as things SHOULD be kind of world). To become a realist an idealist would no longer be themselves. So in their mind this is the truest to their character. Plus fiction is about escapism and if the writers wanted to write something romantic, I think it's nice. No one gets the love story they want so we write it out in fiction to satisfy our dreams and desires. Patience is a virtue so an idealists world that virtue should ultimately be rewarded with someone that mutually values that virtue and validates that idealism.

[@rennnyyy]

The writers screwed themselves by not having several options for the ending. By sticking to only one possible outcome they were doomed when they underestimated the on screen chemistry of Cobie and Neil. Robin and Barney were a much stronger couple than Robin and Ted ever were.

[@viridianacortes9642]

Also, they could have just filmed another ending. At the end of the day, as a writer, do what’s best for the story, even if it’s different from the original plan.

[@theonetruefusion8533]

@@viridianacortes9642 they COULDN'T

[@HeftyDan]

Why did they write one ending, but not the build-up to it. Like the logical thing would be to write out plot beats you plan on hitting with room for fluctuations. That's how the MCU did it (at least until Endgame)

[@olyglad9702]

@@viridianacortes9642 they did, they just didn't use it cus they wanted to stupidly stay committed to their original plan...even though it's been 9 years. Hence the alternate ending that Bob Saget narrated

[@JustAnNPC69]

The fans didn’t hate the fact that tracy died we hated it because ted got back with robin.

[@PH775]

Yes,in Himym have many clues why the mother was died (The Mode of Ted Talk About the mother) but the relashionship betwen Ted and Robin as broken in last Seasons and season 9 is About changes and character devlopment and in the End We Returns at the same End of season 1

[@ranjanajoshi4750]

true

[@therealneal3034]

The reason that Ted and Robin didn't work was because Robin wasn't in a place where she was ready to commit to Ted. Sometime after her divorce, she got to a place where she was and even voiced that to Ted (in a deleted scene that should have been kept in the final cut). But he said "No, I'm committed to Tracy now." Years go by (which the finale did a poor job handling) and Ted takes the right amount of time to grieve that lost love and after that grief passed, he and Robin slowly found their own ways to the place they were in the final scene. The whole point of the finale is that "Life goes on." Yes, Robin loved Barney. Yes, Ted loved Tracy. But those relationships didn't work out and life goes on. Ted doesn't end up with the Robin from the pilot. He ends up with the Robin that's right in front of him.

[@BrianaLynn7]

yeah, the mother having died makes sense. If it wrapped up with how he met the mother and how he misses her, even if it didn't go into their life too much (bc the kids might know that stuff). But no, he doesn't even remember loving the mother, just robin? feels so fucking rude.

[@nectorleaf3629]

I didn't 🐸

[@chriscam4165]

The mother was treated as an object to have the kids and die so Ted could have his kids AND be with Robin since she didn't want to have children. Absolute dogshit ending.

[@gorehammer42o]

Woah that's a dark ass way to look at it..but logical as fuck.

[@1MegArbo]

Pretty creepy, really.

[@bigbl8717]

Agreed. That was what pissed me off the most about it. It turned the mother, who the entire series was about meeting, into a means to an end. My wife and I had to go out for a drink after we watched the finale we were so pissed.

[@daniedco10]

Exactly! Ted and Robin were never meant to be. They had very very different life dreams. It's quite disgusting that they did.

[@OlgaSPN]

Thank you! That's always how I felt about it. Plus the shitty divorce cop out made me feel like all of Barney's growth was for nothing.

[@breadpirateoverhere]

Idk, if my dad told me a super long story about how he really didn't love my dead mom as much as he did my "aunt" I think I'd throw a brick at him.

[@kemalasaridina1898]

Ikr. Ted practically told his kids that he actually loved Robin all these years and only settled for their mom because Robin couldn't and didn't want to give him a family. Now that he got kids, he can chase her all over again 😓

[@sarahmannie180]

Totally agree I hated the way they made the kids be so chill with it. Like no

[@MyneLovesYou]

😂😂😂 actually, id be so offended

[@kaiyadee9888]

Right !!!! Abhorring

[@maria_is_away]

@@kemalasaridina1898 id haunt his ass

[@dyingwithstyle4505]

Seriously, the mother is perfect. The build up, the character, how she met the friends first, so she automatically fit in to the group. I still feel cheated how she died at the end

[@jackdaone6469]

Seriously, the showrunners should have really considered how thoroughly the fanbase would fall in love with Tracy the way it did. I keep wondering if they ever did any prescreenings for audience input for the final season.

[@mysticalgoat3212]

I feel like the mother was too perfect. Ted just projected his ideal wife onto each unsuspecting woman so i think good character development for him would be to learn to accept her even if she was a cat person or didn’t like star wars

[@dune3001]

One thing that really bothered me was the kids' attitude. Like how immediately supportive they are and they are even the ones to tell him "just go to her". Even as an adult, I'd be at least hurt if my father would tell me he basically always loved another woman more than my mother. Yes, I get they are closed to Robyn and their mother has been dead a while, but still... It seemed so forced and unnatural.

[@THESMOSHTIME]

dune3001 I would feel creeped out bc that means that all the times we hanged out with MY mom and “aunt Robin” my father was still somehow in love with her 🧐😖

[@dune3001]

@@THESMOSHTIME yeah, it has a lot of negative implications. I'm all for people moving on and I don't believe there is just one person for each of us, but this is just not ok...

[@kamotejoe2980]

Maybe because the kids thinks their dad needs to move on and be happy after telling the story for years

[@Giovanni_Carozza]

Yeah it sucks to have supporting children who know you deep down instead of the classic scumbags children usually are to their parents.

[@NeighborhoodStreetrat]

dune3001 he always did love Robin. But he definitely loved Tracy more. Everyone deserves to move on and be happy. That's the entire point of the show.

[@danielwanger5919]

We wanted the Yellow Umbrella but they gave us the Blue French Horn. Edit: Spelling

[@trinaq]

Indeed, if only they'd ended at the train station with the yellow umbrella instead! 🚉☂️

[@shannond7437]

Daniel Wanger Sometimes you have to let a story organically evolve. You cannot force the story you have told on to your original plan for the ending.

[@inkbery4473]

this !!!!!!

[@JasmineGeminiDragon]

More like they gave us the middle finger.

[@nachiketpargaonkar8646]

Wanting yellow umbrella is just the sweet dream that every other show provides. This was something different, this was more like real life, where achieving the dream does not mean the end, there are things beyond that too. The ending was a more mature one, only the execution should've been a bit better

[@katejames2633]

They went through this ENORMOUS character development for Barney for 9 seasons and then in the last episode tore it all down

[@sackthebastard]

No they didn’t. At least, it wasn’t the character development you thought it was.

[@bw-xv2rz]

@@sackthebastard the barney with a kid thing was genius, but splitting him up with robin because he hates travel all of a sudden is bullshit; this was the same man who went through borderline obsessive lengths to show robin he loves her unconditionally and is willing to give everything up to be with her. and in one episode, they just throw in a problem so laughably unconvincing. hopefully you understand why fans are mad.

[@kemalasaridina1898]

Exactly. But then again it's practically impossible to write a different ending since the scene with the kids couldn't be reshoot. Nobody could've imagined that the show would last that long and that Barney would have such a tremendous character growth

[@astermoon40]

@@bw-xv2rz even the other writers didn’t care enough to make it canon. I’m not sure what blog Barney was writing in the finale since his last blogpost was his wedding night. They legit had a writer write Barney’s blog and the last entry came out the same day that the finale aired so I’m thinking the show runners just didn’t tell the other writers about their plans

[@norah4892]

Exactly. Barney changed a lot and was ready to settle down with Robin. They were perfect together. I love them together.

[@georgebrady5369]

the problem with the ending is that throughout the entire show they gave us millions of reasons why robin and ted didn't work and at the end its like forget everything they are actually meant for each other.

[@redreliever]

It looks like everyone here is forgetting all the doubts Robin had about her and Barney together forever. She showed several times she wanted to pick Ted during season 9. He refused her just because of the bro-code. Sorry for Tracy, but we (as public) couldn't enjoy her grace for more episodes as the show was ending. Right to give Robin happiness. And children.

[@redreliever]

Part Two; And, by the way, the mother never interrupted them. Never been part of the talk Dad-children in present tense.

[@redreliever]

@@sauceycats I meant she was never part of their everyday life. The whole show was meant this way. Anyway I needed 15 years to start watching it again as I really didn't like Barney's character. I lost a lot, I know, but watching it altogether has been a delight.

[@georgeoldsterd8994]

And it's even worse when you consider that the show went out of its way to tie all the lose ends, jokes, and arcs, but "Ted and Robin not working out? No, that's impossible!". Ugh, such a terrible way to go.

[@palaciospalacios9319]

Doing Robin and Barney like that, is the one thing I'll never forgive. Like I get it, the mother dying is sad, but that's life; it's understandable

[@TheBenedictchan1]

Like what?

[@phillconklin382]

I never liked Robin and Barney together. You have 2 lifetime bachelors trying to marry. Completely unrealistic. Ted grounds Robin and makes her want that life. Robin and Barney are both way too independent it was bound to fail.

[@hegluj6796]

Palacios Palacios yeah, they worked so much better than ted and robin, when you realize that robin is based on a girl one of the writers liked and ted is based in the writer it makes sense why he would treat the other relationship like garbage

[@mathiskoperek8215]

@@phillconklin382 I love their relationship. They we're both too awesome to stay with another one but they were awesome enough for each other

[@Mani26031981]

@@oliviarogers3559 completely agree. They were just toxic together. I think it's fair to say that Bays and Thomas thought of the idea of Barney and Robin getting married because of the twist that Ted would meet Tracy at a wedding.

[@TheJulior1983]

Tracy exceeded everyone expectations and became the best character. We all understood why Ted fell in love with her.

[@honestperson3042]

Say it louder for the people in the back

[@jasongustafson2691]

Can confirm

[@gabybop]

He never loved her, she was just a uterus to him.

[@sara1coco]

And Ted the worst

[@CoreyStoner]

Yes. I agree completely, and this is why the finale didn't work - like the vid said, we had a whole season to grow to love her, and through the tricks of time, we got to see how much GD chemistry Cristin and Josh had. Which was...just...they sparkled together. Maybe Josh and Cobie had that at first, its hard to look at it and be objective now, but they definitely didn't as it went on. (Though, there was great best friend vibe, with the "Major " and little things they did.) I really liked what the video said about that the characters had years to process things happening, we we got thrown in and expected to do so in minutes. And I have always thought the idea of "we were locked into the ending was a cop-out. There have been plenty of times camera or editing tricks have been used to make people seem younger, ect. The creators were just stubborn and didn't care what the fans wanted.

[@norahc3694]

I’m more freaked out by Robin’s wig in the last scene than by the plot in the last scene tbh

[@jenniferbrosnan559]

Norah C they made the characters as older people so hideous throughout that show

[@hohohomelander]

they have always had a very weak wig budget lol

[@marshadhita]

After getting grumpy by remembering the ending and seeing others comments, Your comment really made my day..

[@oraloliakoko3298]

I know I couldn't even

[@billcipher147]

I honestly didn't mind the mother dying. Was it tragic? Yes. But life can be tragic, and it was foreshadowed throughout the entire series. And while it made for a very bittersweet ending, it wasn't what made it a bad one. What ticked me (and I think most other people) off though, was how Robin and Barney decided to split up seemingly out of nowhere, basically making almost the entire last season pointless and throwing most of their character development throughout the series out of the window. And if that wasn't bad enough itself, they shoehorned Ted ending up with Robin AGAIN. This was quite possibly the worst way they could've handled the finale. If the mother had spent another season with the crew only to then be diagnosed with a terminal disease and Ted ending up alone (with his friends helping him get over the loss) it could've been one of the best and most emotional sitcom endings in TV history. Instead they went with a rushed and straight up insulting ending that basically ruined two beloved characters for no good reason whatsoever, just so that Ted could end up with Robin. It's a real shame, too, because HIMYM at its peak was undoubtedly one of the best sitcoms ever.

[@lilipriv4411]

You wrote my exact thoughts ! I just binge watched HIMYM and was so disappointed with the ending and could immediately think of 100 better ways to end the show...this version would've paid this show the respect and love it truly deserved ;((

[@lilipriv4411]

@Loïs Arends LOL

[@narbullfrog5540]

Damn. That would’ve been a mad ending. Can u imagine!

[@armaanali4585]

My exact thoughts after i just finished

[@o7e]

I really agree with you

[@brennashae6085]

Okay but I got far more attached to Tracy in one season than I could ever be to Robin in nine seasons.

[@Yakarash]

Yes!!! Because they focused so much on making robin "cool" to guys. The only thing that made me like her was the relationship with barney. It made both of them better people.

[@yenneferasmr1185]

You like Tracy more just because you didn’t see all of her true colours . Robin “grew up” infront of your eyes, made lots of mistakes , were bashed for it , but she was a good human being , she deserved love

[@user-rq4on9zl2b]

Yennefer ASMR also true. Even I didn’t like the end much , I think Tracy was his soulmate definitely but robin was always the one.

[@brennashae6085]

No I liked Tracy more because they showed that she helped every single one of the friends on different occasions, before she even knew them. She’s the type of person to help a stranger, the type of person to give advice to a stranger on a train rather than ignore them. She was goofy and friendly to everyone. Her identity wasn’t wrapped up in being “the cool one” or “hot one”, she was just a kind, loving person. And that incidentally actually made her the “cool one”. Even before we knew Tracy, I didn’t like Robin, she was the classic “I’m not like other girls”, she was way too into her looks and way too into proving that she was superior to other women.

[@user-rq4on9zl2b]

Brenna Shae yeah Tracy was really sweet

[@divyaponnuchamy1563]

The ending really sucks even though I binge watched the show. I'm wondering how much it must have sucked for those who waited one episode per week for the 9 years. I couldn't even imagine

[@BlazingKatss]

it was painful

[@melissagoss4951]

Same, I only just finished it like 30 mins ago

[@nabilaalam23]

True

[@carlosandrescastromedina3100]

I just finished, I loved it but the finale is a mix of emotions I've never had while watching any series

[@latinajoseph]

I think most people took a break from watching the weekly episodes in season 7. The show got really repetitive

[@hohohomelander]

The way that they so perfectly set up Barney and Robin's relationship only to throw it away in the last episode......

[@samdunn6745]

I know right I remember an episode in season 2 where they hang out for a day and I thought man they would make a good couple and when Barney proposes to Robin I went absolutely nuts then we spent 1 entire season on there wedding only for it be taken away RIGHT at the end.

[@jester5995]

How on earth are they perfectly set up? They are good friends, but completely disfunctional couple. Both of them are afraid of long-term relationships, and do not know how to handle it. It would take a complete 180 on their worldview, to make a stable couple.

[@norinajimeno9377]

@@jester5995 They worked on their faults for the other person. They grew as individuals together. Because of Robin, Barney gave up womanizing. It wasn't immediate, but he did it. Because of Robin, Barney was able to fill the hole in his character that he'd fill with women. Because of Barney, Robin was able to choose both love and career. She had someone who supported her choice not have kids and to focus on her career. This was something Ted couldn't give Robin.

[@hegluj6796]

Станіслав Костюк both got over that fear together and knew how to handle it by the episode where they got married but of course the writers wanted ted and robin and erased that development

[@DrPhilsStache]

It was dissatisfying. Not that marriages often end in divorce in the United States, it would still have been nice to see the writers give character development to Barney. Not progression and then immediate regression.

[@BRTowe]

Honestly, Ted was a supporting character for me, especially by the later seasons. I was far more invested in Barney and Robin than I ever was in Ted.

[@gloop8812]

before i watched himym entirely i genuienly thought that barnie was the main character

[@prathiusharun]

I always wanted ted to be with robin

[@bearpuppy1224]

​@@prathiusharun I just want to remind you that you had a bad take over a year ago

[@prathiusharun]

@@bearpuppy1224 no change still

[@slospop1125]

I refuse to acknowledge this as the actual ending, as far as I'm concerned the show ends at the train station with Ted meeting Tracy

[@SamWinchester000]

Sorry, don't take that as an offense, but this inevitably reminds me of Simpsons characters who still keep their TV show going on in their head or have brought their own laughter with them. ;)

[@janna7843]

No matter what happen i still can't accept the ending especially after Barney's character development then suddenly after his divorce with Robin he goes on his old ways again, that's actually one of the worst thing they've done tbh. I still watch the show because the run was actually enjoying to watch but i just can't bear to watch the last 2 seasons knowing what would be the ending so yeah that's it

[@boatymcboatface4120]

booyah happiness Yeah, but he becomes a dad after he makes a woman pregnant. You can see for the first time, that he doesn't really care for a relationships or one night stand with wimens, he just wants to protect his daughter (even though this happend extremly quickly).

[@akshat_shukla00]

I watch till the rainy station one and that's the ending for me❤️

[@hegluj6796]

Boaty McBoatface I always felt that it was like a consolation price for Barney. The divorce was something so forced only for robin to be available for ted and I really can assure that the creators thought about killing Barney for a second

[@princessaka3189]

I watch the show and end it befor they fuck up everything so barney and robin are married and the mother died and thats why he told the kids the story 👌🏻

[@princessaka3189]

@@leeo17 still better the real end🤷🏻‍♀️

[@piratecheese13]

The entire series: Robin is great but she isn't the mother. They just aren't right for eachother. Ok they are right for eachother but Robin isn't ready for marriage. Robin is ready but it's for Barney. BTW he meets the mother at the wedding and she immediately dies He ends up with Robin

[@Dhdhxhh38]

Another way of looking at it is that sometimes people grow into each other. It is possible to not be ready (emotionally, financially, maturity wise) for someone at 30 and after living life be ready for them at 60. I’ve heard of old couples who broke up when they were younger and reconnected as retirees and got married. This is after they had gotten married to other people first and had kids. Seems like as Robin aged she changed and started to value similar things as Ted so that when he came to ask her out at the end she was at a place where should could accept his love

[@thereisnopandemic]

Uh Okay They are called losers, that settle cause they could not get anyone else.

[@MELIODAS-hx2nz]

piratecheese13 it’s not the story of how he met his wife, or the beautiful six years and experiences he had with her. It’s the *love story of Ted and Robin* that’s how he tells it the show begin with him meeting aunt Robin not Tracy

[@karminyates3261]

That’s horrible lol

[@phillconklin382]

Nah it was always in the cards. People are just mad because they didn't get their desired ending, but the writers planned it all along. It's not just about the destination but about the journey. After all that time had passed it really put things in perspective for Robin and Ted.

[@carbodude5414]

Rather than the writers being fixated on ending the show the way they had planned since the first season, they should have acknowledged that the show had evolved to the point that the planned ending just wouldn't work any more Its pretty hypocritical of the show to end on a message about "moving on" when it spent multiple seasons hammering home that Ted should move on from Robin

[@RiskyNights]

More importantly, it’s “how I met your mother”, not “how I met your step-mother”

[@yaff1851]

No, it is “how I met your step-mother“ - and that‘s what the fans are angry about.

[@BrianaLynn7]

@@yaff1851 what do you mean ?

[@leutzu2011]

@@BrianaLynn7 The first 8 seasons is all about Robin, Robin, Robin. In the last episode, Robin and Ted are together, but Ted's kids aren't hers too, so she is the step-mother. Therefore, making it 'How I met your Step-Mother'.

[@noelrajah5348]

Hhhahahahahja

[@Giovanni_Carozza]

Yeah but it's HIMYM not "HIMYM and lived happly ever after"

[@AlexFuji1518]

The ending really made Robin out to be a shrew who wanted what she couldn't have and only when she couldn't have it. After her first breakup with Barney, she'd only want him back when he was in a serious relationship with someone else (Nora, Quinn and kinda-sorta Patrice). And she only seriously considered being with Ted again when he was about to get married to Stella and when he was in a committed relationship with Tracy. When both men weren't with someone else, she wasn't interested.

[@ethicallysourceddonuts]

Kinda messed up if you think about how every girl in Ted's life was in a way too perfect. Robin? Textbook cool girl Tracey? The Quirky one Victoria? The plain girl next door who's never exiciting enough for anyone Zoe and Donna? Idealists Stella? Doctor&devoted mother Even Cindy's a high-achieving lesbian. Lily and Marshall are so loved and adored because the writers weren't afraid to always remind us of their flaws. I especially love Lily's struggle with moterhood speech. I love this show and so many people love it too and i still come back to it because i give it a pass. The 2000's was a completely different time.

[@propogandalf]

Especially Patrice!!! Patrice was the best person (aside from Tracy) and this show didn't even deserve her character.

[@kuldeepkashyap909]

same problem as Rachel from friends

[@anu.]

@@ethicallysourceddonuts exactly, it's because they were being viewed with Ted's lens.

[@tyrant-den884]

@Athenäs you hate her because she was cool?

[@laeliaseradith496]

I was fine with Tracy’s death. I didn’t like how Barney and Robin divorced. I hated it how Ted And Robin got together.

[@phillconklin382]

Barney and Robin weren't really good together.

[@KrisJavier]

Same!

[@jeffbrownme2]

@@phillconklin382 but they literally spent an entire season at their wedding and working out all their issues. The ending would've been less of a slap in the face if they didn't do 20 some episodes about their relationship.

[@nadjak3410]

@@jeffbrownme2 But that's life. You find the love of your life and you get over your struggles and marry and have a great time and then it just doesn't work anymore or life happens and you decide to divorce. Was the happy time spent together wasted? No, it definitely wasn't.

[@NoPowerintheVerse]

Phill Conklin Even if they weren’t good together that doesn’t make Robin and Ted a good option by default. Season after season the writers drilled into the viewers that Robin and Ted do not work. To the point that Ted’s unwillingness to let go was downright annoying if not creepy. A lot of fans were sick of it. In the last season when Ted finally lets go of Robin (I think it’s when he and Robin are looking for super drunk Barney all night and she floats away) all I could think was “Finally!” But then the finale happened and nope, apparently never willing to give her up. I might have been able to accept that ending (maybe) if it hadn’t all been crammed into the finale and we actually got to see Robin being there for Ted after Tracy’s death and slowly growing closer to Ted and the kids but we didn’t so this will forever taint the show for me.

[@awickedformerdisneysinger8445]

I love Tracy. We spent the entire last season getting to know her and loving her. I wasn't mad that she was the Mother, I was really mad at the final five minutes of the series.

[@halfbloodwitch8545]

I really hate how they divorced Barney and Robin, after spending a whole season preparing for their wedding. HIMYM tried pulling that "Will they or won't they" card but it didn't work because Ted and Robin aren't Ross and Rachel, despite sharing a lot of similarities (Ross and Ted being nerdy guys who are hopeless romantics and Rachel and Robin being career women). In HIMYM, the "Will they or won't they" card wasn't well received because the writers kept telling us that Robin and Ted were not meant to be and pairing them suddenly together in the finale was absurd. But contrary to Friends' "Career woman and Womanizer get together", HIMYM was better. Rachel and Joey couldn't work as a couple because of the relationship they had developed throughout all seasons. Fans saw them as having a "Mother Son" relationship since Rachel always took care of Joey like he was a kid. So it was really bad when the two got together. In HIMYM, the "Career woman and Womanizer get together" worked because there was a build up of Robin's and Barney's relationship from Season 3 onward. It changed Barney's personality, made him throw all of his bad habits away just so he can be with the woman he loves. So, after divorcing them, the writers just destroyed that boyfriend material persona fans were getting to love about Barney. They made him return back to his old tricks, which was a huge disappointment.

[@JoybuzzerX]

Except it didn't. From the start he said the vows meant nothing. Right there was the sign that they weren't meant to be. What kept Ted and Robin apart was different goals, that likely wouldn't have been that bad, once it was known Robin couldn't have kids. Yes, Ted wanted kids, and not having them might have had them grow angry with each other, but her unable to have kids changed everything. At that point, Ted would never have been resentful of no kids.

[@hegluj6796]

Brand X he didn’t said that vows meant nothing, he said that he didn’t want his vows to meant nothing like Marshall and lily because he saw how they broke every single one and that’s why his first vows were stupid, because if he broke them then he wouldn’t feel bad and I honestly can’t see why you think that was a sign of how they weren’t meant to be. Ted and robin didn’t worked at first because of their goals but as the series progressed it was made clear that ted didn’t really liked robin, he just wanted robin to fill the role of the perfect women he wanted but he didn’t liked how robin was, he even made her sad (I don’t remember if she cried but she was clearly upset ) telling her how she didn’t made him feel needed while Barney said that that was something awesome about her, in the whole progress of the show it was made clear that Barney and robin were a great couple because they liked everything about each other and had great chemistry

[@limerence8365]

Then after divorcing, Barney returned to his old tricks, but they developed his character again, in one minute by giving him a kid with a woman they don't even name. Even Lily in show mentioned how absurd it is.

[@jennabethbeauty]

Agreed! And so much character development was just thrown out the window when they divorced. That was the most aggravating thing about it.

[@lowgrasswhite]

I agree with everything you said, but i have doubts whether the fans were really liking the tamed Barney of later seasons. Instead i saw a lot of dissatisfaction because, according to them, Barney abandoning his tricks somehow downgraded him. I think the writers may have chickened out of what they painstakingly developed, because of the moaners.

[@brycejohansen7114]

The thing that pissed me off about How I met your Mother is it originally felt like a promise that the male protagonist doesn't always have to go with the first love interest he sees. Robin wasn't the mother therefore the pursue seemed fruitless.

[@MrJackfaire]

Especially by twisting convention. Ted did the "You see that girl" but never got to do the "I'm going to marry her someday" instead Barney expressed his interest in Robin. That to me indicated that at some point Barney and Robin would end up together and for most of the show's run that's where it headed.

[@michsulit]

Six years later and here I am, still mad about the ending

[@trinaq]

I know, I predict that in about sixteen years time, I'll still be annoyed by that ending! 😔

[@jasmine-ruff-puff9951]

ITS BEEN SIX YEARS?! Damn, time flies.

[@brucebanana4486]

I made a joke back when I was in middle school that Ted and Robin would be together. Somehow the joke became real, and I didn't want it to happen. God, that ending made me upset when I was a sophomore high school. I can't rewatch the show anymore because how bad it turns out.

[@charliebrown1796]

Same.

[@BojanTomic]

Mich Sulit, you should do something better with your life. lol

[@TheHamsterLoverx]

I think one really sad aspect of the ending is that earlier in the show, Ted said something to his dad about how one day he's going to tell his children how he met their mother, "the whole damn story". I think this is what we all thought was happening - he was telling this long and complex story to show how he had to go through some character growth to become someone as amazing as their dead mother deserved. And then our understanding of what he was doing completely changes when his daughter confronts him that he's only told them this story to show them he loves Robin. Does the mother not get their story told without Ted secretly using it to try and get permission from his children to start seeing Robin?

[@amyrat151]

Possibly controversial opinion: Ted's character was done really dirty by the show's ending, and not just because they killed his soulmate. Ted and Robin were not suited for each other. You start to wonder what the hell Ted loved so much about her. He didn’t love her independence. He didn’t love her aversion to children. He didn’t love her desire to put her career before everything. He saw these as impediments to their relationship and rightly so when they broke up in season 2. They wanted fundamentally different things out of life. And, of course, none of the parts of Robin's personality that didn't fit with a long-term relationship with Ted changed in the entire series run! The only reason those aspects of her personality “changed” in the series finale was because she was doomed by the writers to a lonely life with no man and no friends. An important question to ask is why was Robin the love of Ted’s life that he could never completely get over even after years of happiness with a woman who was perfect for him on every conceivable level? During the course of the show he blindly ran back to Robin every time he suffered a big break up or other devastating event. Ted used her as a reason to not move on and grow up. She was a crutch for him, as Victoria wisely pointed out. This is also why Ted letting go of Robin in the last season was so cathartic. We were supposed to understand from that moment on, Ted is finally ready for a real, adult relationship and he's no longer going to have the delusion of the possibility of a perfect romance with a woman he doesn't fit with holding him back. A proper ending for Ted would have shown him no longer having an ounce of romantic feeling for a woman he simply doesn't belong with. His late 20/30 year old self thought love was enough but his 40/50 year old self should have come out wiser than that. Love doesn’t magically change people and make them give up everything they wanted out of life. I know we like to think that love just fixes everything but it doesn’t. It’s a naive and even harmful idea in some cases. Even with Tracy’s death, shouldn’t have Ted moved on to someone more like Tracy than Robin? Someone who loved children, put family before career, and let herself be needed? I don’t know why the show pushed Robin and Ted so hard when anyone with an ounce of common sense could see they were never, ever right for each other. I know people talk a lot about how the finale ruined Barney’s character and treated Robin so unfairly that it can make you cry tears of rage but I think Ted was done almost as bad a disservice as the both of them.

[@hegluj6796]

KhaleesiOfTheGreatDairyState there is actually a very simple explanation that actually makes a lot of sense when you think about it. Ted is based on one of the writers and robin is based on a girl he never got so of course he had to get her somehow and that was in the show(this doesn’t make the ending any less gross but at least explains things)

[@Laura.D3101]

Very well said! I guess the ending would have been a little more tolerable if it was build up towards that at least during the whole 9th season, maybe finishing the 8th with The Stinsons wedding. I mean people change with time, it is possible for a person who's career oriented to have its good fare of it and then looking to settle down in another season of life, but it doesn't happen all of a sudden. So it should have taken more than just one fricking episode to help us understand the viewers how she and Ted got to that point in life without looking like a regretful spinster and a serial stalker each. It was unfair to every character and the fans how it was dealt with. Maybe it would have been a beautiful ending with a bit more of insight in their lives after maturity.

[@Wawagirl17]

Slow clap.

[@justmusicart725]

I'm missing the words for this on point short essay. 10 out of 10

[@chiklovesDB]

Ted wasn't in love with Robin, he was obsessed with her and the idea he had of her. Probably bc in his mind, no woman could resist a perfect romantic, caring man like him and Robin being probably the first to reject him like that, made him chase her until she changed her mind, which in the end sadly did.

[@SarahIlayda]

Barney and Robin's divorce was a robbery. I cared for that couple more than any couple in this show. I wanted to see Barney happy more than Ted...

[@njh123]

Barney does end up happy with his child and he drops the plays. Only thing i would have changed is i would have had barney end up with nora

[@jazisajoke8688]

n j h omg THISSSSSSSSSSSSS or Patrice 😂😂

[@bbpoItergeist]

n j h Nora was fine

[@MrRice555]

Barney is happy! With the LOVE OF HIS LIFE! His DAUGHTER!!! Accept it

[@Nala_Gatita]

Me too

[@callmeej8399]

So your answer is “maybe the real mother is the friends we made along the way”

[@kahkah1986]

I think the show was always about the how, the social circle, Ted's character development towards marriage and parenthood, rather than the mother as a person. Which kind of sucks, because what's surely implied in the statement 'How I met your mother' is, y'know, why the mother and Ted are similar, what it was that brought them together. Which, as it turns out, is Ted's faith in crappy fate nonsense woowoo, not really that the mother is a fully fledged character that fits him, as far as I can see.

[@armandomattiaimperatore3192]

I wish I could like this comment two hundred times more

[@neyo231]

honestly a better ending

[@Faaverz]

Yeah we always new that at the end of the show we were going to meet the mother. It was always about the "HOW'"

[@whutdafeq1715]

Hahahaahahahahahaha

[@joebrowser0]

Mid series I already new something happened to their mother. Wasn’t it weird that their mother was never even heard in the background while Ted was speaking in the scenes with the kids all that time? The scene that confirmed something happened to her is when Ted imagined he raced to where the mother lived with one of her exes because he wanted 45 more minutes with her.

[@amystuart1480]

i swr ted said we r getting married in 45 days? unless i forgot what ur talking ab

[@mikemorro140]

@@amystuart1480 he said they'd meet then

[@robz.3225]

That’s a great point. I just thought he was being romantic.

[@aragorniielessar1894]

I did not really mind that the mother was dead, but i hated that he went back to Robin.

[@nachiketpargaonkar8646]

He told the story to kids just because he wanted to go back to Robin. That was the entire point, sadly it wasn't laid out as clear as possible for the majority of the fanbase.

[@TheBenedictchan1]

Why?

[@hegluj6796]

Nachiket Pargaonkar yeah, that’s what sucks

[@tinabagga3255]

@@nachiketpargaonkar8646 But don't you think that using the kids' dead mother's story to talk about how it was Robin all along is disrespectful to the mother. Ofcourse the kids want their dad to be happy. But using their dead mom as a plot device is actually not nice. The point being that even if that was what the whole show was about, that idea sucks too.

[@Mani26031981]

@@tinabagga3255 early in season 3 Ted mentioned that he had already told his children the story of how me met Tracy many times.

[@donkeyxote7729]

Perfect ending Ted: and that's how I met your mother. Barney enters: dude how long have been telling the story. It's been like years. You're lame. Ted: Barney, I told this story perfectly fine. I don't think you can do any better. Barney: Challange accepted. (Continues) So, kids today you gonna hear a story about your awesome uncle Barney, and also about your parents romance. It's gonna be LEGEND wait for it... Credit rolls.

[@godsparticle7657]

Dude you should be the director !!!

[@vasav5146]

Woah🙌🏻

[@godofhammers6398]

Now I'm crying why it didn't end like this 😭

[@w00r_m52]

Duuuuude this could have been sooooooo fucking cool, I need this, I will no longer accept the original finale

[@jeong_su87]

omg I just loved your ending thanks for making this 🥺😭

[@oneel9571]

I'd accept it IF there was at least ONE SEASON building up to the actual ending, instead of cramming it all up in one episode.

[@Linklex7]

One El Agreed. We needed a season with the mother being an actual character.

[@rem134]

I agree. last season was like drag things out drag things out and then cram it all in. I liked the twist just did not like how they got there. Probably would been better if Robin and Barney never would gotten married in the first place.

[@Youmissed69]

eh not just one season. maybe 3 to 5 more episodes. wish they cut marshals trip a little early.

[@natalijazivkovic8112]

YES YES YES, i'm okay with the ending but it was too much for one episode

[@yaff1851]

To be more specific, the divorce of Robin and Barney wasn’t built up. It was simply too obvious that plot required Robin to be single. They had two options: a) Go ahead with the original plan but take three episodes to an entire season for the finale. b) The official alternate ending. My perhaps unpopular opinion is that I’d prefer a) .

[@stutivaidya164]

I actually like the ending, but honestly I feel sad for Barney. Also, I believe that rather than dragging the show to the very end where the kids advised him to go pursue Robin, they could've just ended it at the shot where Ted and Tracy are under the same yellow umbrella. That honestly would make the audience more happy.

[@Missmagazinebura]

But Barney had a baby

[@lucyajirobaju4985]

Honestly that would've been the perfect time to end it

[@yusufraage8554]

Anything would've been better then what we got.

[@3dstuff654]

Ugh I can't believe that they threw away all of barney's character development and he and Robins 3 year marriage over a 5 minute fight 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

[@vovozaum]

They didn't... why people think "character development" for Barney had to be being married? He was perfect from start to finish... not everyone is like Marshall and Lilly...

[@oraloliakoko3298]

Tracy shouldn't have died I hate Robin

[@nabilghafar9150]

@@vovozaum dude. you really don't get it, do ya? The character development of Barney is not to get married. It is about finally being in love after sleeping around with many women. He and Robin both were okay with not having kids. They both were okay with being career driven. They both were made for each other. But after getting married, then Barney is not okay with RObin's career? Wtf? And Barney couldn't find anything fun to do while Robin is away for work? That's why he was mad at Robin? and Robin was okay being the way she was the entire way, being independent, not having kids, chose Barney over Ted, then all of a sudden, she wanted Ted back? She wanted to settle down like everybody else? That's not good writing. Are you like 12? it's not that hard to understand.

[@vovozaum]

@@nabilghafar9150 if Barney development was to fall in love, he did fall in love with his daughter... All the rest you say i disagree... that was not how it happens... that is how you perceived things because the writers crammed years into minutes of show, and that to me in the only fault of the finale... perfection in every other way

[@georgiad4939]

“So kids I’m gonna tell u a story abt your dead mother that will end with me confessing my love for your Aunt...that ok?”

[@howimetyourmotherlover599]

Yep thats literally the whole show..

[@vovozaum]

Yes... that is definetly OK... my mom died when i was 5... my dad sat me and my sister down and told us he was going to get married again And let me tell you... after years of having to listen to my dad cry when he went to bed, i was REALLY OK with it... and i was fucking 10... imagine if i was a teen... Just because you cant put yourself in a widow's shoes, doesn't mean you get to complain about a lack of a Disney ending

[@vovozaum]

And by the way, if you thought Ted told a story about their Dead mother, you were watching the title of the show in a loop, and not watching the show... the show (and the story) was about Robin... any person with more than 2 neurons can get that

[@georgiad4939]

vovozaum there was nothing Disney abt the ending. And tbh I would be pissed at my dad if he used my dead mother as a way to confess his love her her best friend. I’m sorry for your loss and I’m glad everything worked out for you and your dad. But this show made me so sad. I spent so many years with the character of Barney and how he came over single life and wanted to settle down and marry robin then in the last episode EVERYTHING was ruined. The show is called how I met you MOTHER not how I get back together her worth your aunt robin. Also Barney and robin are perfect for each other. Ted is inlove with Robin because he’s in love with the idea of a family and a wife and a rly cool girl. Barney is in love with Robin because he loves her!

[@vovozaum]

@@georgiad4939 you would not be pissed i can guarantee it... unless you are a horrible person that hates dad... But first it wasn't like that in the show... you just watched it without realizing how long 6 years are, but that is the shows fault... And second, you can't possibly know how you would feel because you didn't lose you mom at a young age... You cant pretend to know how it would be like to live life without you mom for 6 years, you cant pretend to know how would you feel to see you father die inside from the loss of his wife... You just can't... and that's why you think you would be pissed...

[@sheeps_]

It was him ending up with robin that ruined, we thought the story was about their mother but no it was about his obsession with robin.

[@phillconklin382]

It was about his true love, his friends, and his true love as his best friend. What the story really shows is the value of friendship in romance and not just romance for it's own means.

[@minatodroger7890]

Even the kids called him on it damn

[@Saurabhrkohardy]

It was never about the mother...

[@JessicasASMR]

Himym’s ending really said fuck you to Barney’s character development too. He finally finds somebody he actually loves and makes him feel things and they said “sorry, she’s gonna be with your best friend :)” like no

[@benos2023]

Then becomes a father himself, it was okay. Didn't mind it. Of course if they just went back to Barney being Barney, like they did in the finale anyway. Like some people don't change and stuff. I think that was just a punishment for Barney for being him.

[@shikharsinghsarang460]

I read this great comment on HIMYM somewhere " Writers didn't get that Ted is not Ross n Robin is not Rachel"

[@mattwho81]

Ted is worse than Ross. Ross is pretentious, mysiognitic and whiny but he has self awareness, he tries to improve and grow and by the end has become a better person. Ted Moseby never admits he is wrong, he refuses to change and takes pride in staying the same.

[@TipsyLiquid]

Himym is 10x better than friends

[@douglasrau5094]

I felt the relationship between Robin and Barney reeked of Joey and Rachel. “Oh, we’ve had these 2 main characters on our show since the beginning and we’re deep into Season 5, 6, 7, let’s have them date”.

[@avalle4493]

@@mattwho81 Ted admits multiple times that he is wrong and how he learned lessons the hard way. He is a hopeless romantic. Unlike Ross...

[@mattwho81]

@@avalle4493 maybe if the show had ended fifteen minutes earlier we could say that. I fortunately the final scenes show Ted going back to the woman he knows isn't right for him. The way they ended that show tells us Ted learned nothing.

[@bmvthemoviefanatic7282]

What's weird is that "End Of The Aisle", the episode right before the two-part atrocity, felt like the PERFECT second last episode of the show and put the final nail in the coffin to Ted and Robin's relationship when Ted said he didn't want to hear Robin was in love with him, and when Barney gave up his lying ways to be with Robin, setting them up for a life of happiness and showing Ted is ready to meet the Mother. It is so confusing that this is followed by an episode which goes against EVERYTHING this episode does. It feels like the showrunners of the first two seasons left the show for the following 7 seasons, then came back to write the finale, having not watched what happened for the last 7 seasons. Its really weird

[@childofvenus3781]

An extremely good point

[@yaff1851]

Not quite seven seasons, only three. Barney’s character development had to be reset to the beginning of season six, just to be re-reset off screen with someone else to have him out of the way.

[@lorrie9462]

The worst thing about the ending for me is how they just threw out Barney‘s character development

[@phillconklin382]

When you are raised in dysfunction like that your own personal growth usually gets underminded. Barney was never really going to grow if you were realistic about things. But it doesn't mean he didn't learn along the way and is still trying.

[@sarahzorc7512]

Lorrie but he did end up getting a daughter and settling down so they didn’t really destroy his character development, although I kinda hated that him and robin got divorced.

[@danielclough9544]

Not really. He developed, but people usually go through phases but are ultimately the same person in the end. But, you saw the baby scene right? When he got a daughter? Remember earlier in the series? Not a fathers day? And the contrast between how happy he was and emotional that scene was (thanks to Neil's outstanding acting too). All the things that happened happened. And even though he went back to his old ways, doesnt mean he didnt change. Personally even though it was built up and was a shame when it ended, I thought the way they got divorced although it was sudden, was really realistic, and I dont think they would've worked anyways. They're great as friends for me. But yeah. Barney certainly changed, they both did.

[@Faktor5]

I remember one time someone told me "guys fall in REAL love one time only in life, no matter who you end up with, you always look for someone similar if you're not with that person" this series always reminds me this

[@NC-ij9rb]

I really was rooting for Ted and the Mother at the end. They were goals. Robin on the other hand was just not right for Ted. They just didn’t click.

[@nachiketpargaonkar8646]

What if life is not just a fairytale for everyone? What if sometimes we have to make the best of what we get? Maybe Robin wasn't the right fit for Ted, but Robin was his closest remaining single friend. Ted got to raise kids, Robin got to have a successful career. What's wrong in them getting together now?

[@ives6622]

It's not like Robin rejected him 5 million times and the whole show untill the very end talks about how Ted and Robin is not a good match. And it's not like for the two of them to end up together the show sacrifices Ted/Barney/Robin's character development for many many seasons and a character we've grown to love throughout the final season right

[@trinaq]

Exactly, you can't spend several years pointing out and explaining why two people are incompatible, only to turn around and shove them together in the last three minutes! 😤

[@hegluj6796]

Nachiket Pargaonkar because they end up together just because ted wanted to in the beggining, the show made clear that robin and Barney were a great couple and ted and robin weren’t

[@macabredanceparty5277]

They did click. Just not on marriage and kids. Everything else was great. So letting Ted have kids and his epic romance and Robin have her career allowed them both to finally work out.

[@annayu9843]

Barney does not deserve this ending, I just wanted him and Robin to be happy together

[@peachy1217]

They were honestly perfect together. Barney's my favourite character, and I just wanted him to be happy.

[@tripdiz1341]

I liked Barney with Quinn the stripper. Not because of her profession. Cuz her personality, I thought- matched his. Both were confident beautiful people. Their ending sucked too. They didnt trust each other- i forget why... the writers could have changed that. They got along well thru-out, till they didnt. 🤷‍♂️ ah well.

[@kurtrogers9658]

I never once bought their relationship at one point in the series.

[@marcusziegler1823]

@@kurtrogers9658 Same. I don't think they were capable of lasting because Barney's "growth" was little more than forcing himself to fit a mold he never really fit into; his bachelor/playboy ways NEVER went away. They were just pushed aside so he could be with Robin.

[@louise4531]

I liked Barney with Nora. But honestly, I don't think Barney really liked being "tied down". He was most himself with his crazy plays, fake history lessons, and "legendary" adventures.

[@mundododrama2856]

The writers did the impossible, they actually fulfill all the expectations about the mother and they had the talent to ruined in 5 minutes.

[@adrianazashen]

😂 I guess there's a thing as being too talented 😝

[@charlietownsend2826]

Psychedelic GB Yeti | There really is. I mean they managed the impossible task of taking impossible expectations built up over 9 years and exceed them. And they managed to ruin that miracle.

[@Ethan-dn1wc]

@@charlietownsend2826 you're not wrong, killing off the mother wasn't even the worse part, it's the fact that he went back to Robin. I would've had it end by revealing that Ted had been telling his kids the story the week of the mother's funeral and then have it end with the gang hanging at the bar.

[@minatodroger7890]

Right lol

[@jacobbrodeur2735]

Tasaman 1 That’s a fair point actually. My main beef with it was how the kids revealed the death as “lol mom’s dead, move on dad” and then he immediately gets with the girl he said in episode one he wouldn’t end up with. That being said I would’ve been fine with a cheesy happy ending at the end. The show didn’t need to go D&D on us and “subvert expectations”.

[@Olderaccount17]

5:03 As an Argentinean, I fully support this statement. I don't even understand how Argentineans think it's a good idea to have kids in Argentina.

[@StefanTetelepta]

Robin and Ted where in a weird toxic relationship. I never felt that there was real love between them. For ten years Bob Saget spoke with love of his real wife and their mother so it felt like a betrayel to kill her off at all. I rather saw an end where she came home in the last minutes and that the kids said finaly, dad is boring us with old stories and the mother said: O Ted, not again. I realise that this needs some cgi with old kids footage but with clever editting i could be done.

[@princesssparrow4530]

I wanna like this comment but it's 69

[@pp-vf8ls]

yes, just like illusion with Stella

[@scottishdumbass]

Also why was bob saget the voice?

[@Mani26031981]

The truly toxic relationship in the show was Barney and Robin. Ted and Robin were wonderful together and meant to be. I'm delighted the series ended the way it did.

[@MichR14]

@@Mani26031981 as a psychologist I can tell you that Robin and Ted are a toxic couple, they weren't meant to be. Actually it's an awful message to send. Ted is a very codependent person and Robin has commitment problems.

[@averyaxford]

The ending of this show makes it seem that ted was never really in love with Tracy but in love with Robin the whole time it’s so frustrating

[@oraloliakoko3298]

That's not the case otherwise he would have cheated. Ted and tracys bond was so good and he couldn't move on for 8 years

[@maria_is_away]

yea its like he settled for tracy bc robin couldn't give him the family and kids he wanted, but now that he has that he goes back for her

[@cindyli5902]

I honestly sees it as Ted only loves himself, he likes the idea of how he is a romanticism, and the only reason he thinks he still 'loves' Robin, is because Robin is not so into those romantic stuff and it kinda gaves Ted some challenge, so Ted can countinue to do romantic shit to Robin.

[@ddizzyme]

The ending only proved that Ted was heavily obsessed with Robin and just couldn't let her go.. That's what sucked and made me loose any respect I had for the character of Ted coz in the end his character turned out be just someone who is obsessed with his uncontrollable desire of some fictional love of his own making..

[@DJRevan]

Have you seen the Time Travelers Episode? Vesuvius? Tailgate? Really any episode at all? The death of the mother was foreshadowed from season 1!

[@hughfraser6968]

Th final episode of HIMYM is boiled down to a man tell his kids about how he slept with a lot of women and met their mom for for 5 minutes and is trying to convince his kids why he back to together with robin

[@JechtAruon]

Hugh Fraser to me it was ted trying to brainwash his kids of why he should get back together with robin. In the end he made it where he got his kids to tell him to go be with aunt robin. Because all we got for almost the entire season run was him going after robin or wanting to be with her. Personally I think he settled with his wife because she kinda looked like robin. I hated the ending

[@herrfriesel]

@@JechtAruon ted always was the most unfunny, unlikeable and creepiest person in the show.

[@RoffeDH]

@@JechtAruon what you saw as brainwashing I saw as a father not knowing how to tell his kids that he wants to date someone else and had to tell them the whole story so they'd understood where he came from. Can't imaging that talk being anything but awkward for any parents with teenage kids who doesn't want to see their parents forgetting about their dead partner.

[@yacc129]

It’s a man telling his kids how no matter what he did in life, whoever who he met along the way, his friends were always there for it. Again, nothing in life is legendary unless your friends are there to see it.

[@steeevealbright]

This is an excellent video. However, there is an official "alternate ending" on the blu-ray set... and it's not just better, it's actually perfect. It would have gone down as the greatest finale in television history.

[@arwyrego6751]

I would love to see this, is it really official? what can i search up to find it.

[@georgeoldsterd8994]

@@arwyrego6751 it might as well be official. Accept no substitutes.

[@averyeml]

I love the excuse that "we filmed the kids while they still looked like kids, so we had to go with the ending we planned!" As if people would have cared or not understood why the kids aged with the rest of the cast. I liked the gimmick and idea, but you can't rely on that bombing the ending of a show. For me the two betrayals that hurt the most in the finale wasn't that Tracy died- people die, that's upsetting but not the end of the world. What hurts is that firstly, they thought people would find Ted and Robin great together when they'd been proven to be a terrible match in every way. Robin wants to travel and focus on her career, and absolutely DOES NOT want kids. And yes, by the time Ted chases her down in the finale, those kids are old enough to handle themselves, but they'd still be her stepchildren and a part of her life she's responsible for. That doesn't go away just because they're teens. The second one is tied to this- they proved that Barney and Robin would actually be great for each other! Barney loves Robin's career-driven nature and is similarly not relying on having children, and (at least until the finale) was pretty well suited for the traveling lifestyle, or at staying home and doing fun things in New York by himself while she's gone! Instead, we got a finale where they rewound the tape several seasons back and presented characters who seemed to regress in their development. They spent 8 years changing the characters into people who deserved and earned each other's love and attention, and then went "oh wait, the kids won't look like kids so let's just pull out the Barney and Ted and Robin that existed when we filmed the ending for the finale."

[@abbyrudy167]

Totally. I would get why they'd want the kids to look the same but the writers in season 9 should have known how fans would react. I wouldn't be mad if they filmed those actors 9 years later for a different scene. Or even just cut the show after "and that how i met your mother." Although seeing the kids at the end would be nice though. A little scene with ted and the kids would wrap up the series nicely but the scene they chose was a disaster. Also, who in their right mind, thought "I'm going to film the ending of this series at the beginning because it definitely won't develop in a way that will contradict character development or plot points." I'm sorry but every good writer knows that a lot of the time, you don't end where you plan to so the best thing is to start and see where the characters take you.

[@tbbcch1039]

Also, her dying is sad but acceptable, yes. But the problem is that she died JUST so that Ted could end up with Robin. They basically just killed her off to clear the path, and that's pretty insulting to the character.

[@elliest55]

That's my take exactly - couldn't have said it better. The annoying thing is that, unlike other terrible finales e.g. GoT or LOST where fans would never agree on a single way to fix them, the vast majority of HIMYM viewers agrees on exactly how it should have ended (sweet meeting moment at the station - "And that, kids, is how I met your mother" - slideshow of polaroids from the years between then and now in which we see glimpses of what we expected: Barney and Robin happy together and travelling the world, Ted and Tracy happy till death do them part, Barney and Lilly as happy as ever, pub meets, Halloweens, Interventions, callbacks to running jokes etc - the end). It was so simple and yet they didn't want to give it to us because it didn't have enough twists and it didn't match the original plan from 9 seasons ago when they had no idea how the show and the characters would evolve!

[@GLBizzie]

The Kids of Ted didn‘t even aged that much.. David Henrie and Lyndsey didn‘t even looked that much older back in the day.. A bit make up or just giving them clothes to make them look younger would‘ve worked.. This Producer Guy was Ted and telling a Story about himself and a girl he couldn’t get.. OF COURSE he can‘t let HIS character lose to a more beloved NPH aka Barney lmao

[@TheCandela15]

I wouldn't agree with all of it. When Robin discovered that she couldn't have children, there was a huge drama, as if she didn't know if she didn't or she DID wanted kids after all. And in the last episode she is showed with her dogs again, it means she stopped travelling and probably does want to finally settle. What people seem to forget is that the finale episode takes place in 2030. That is sixteen years of character dynamics that we did not get to see. Whose to say that Robin didn't fullfill all of her career dreams during that period and didn't decide to finally settle down?

[@hollylovesfriends]

I will never ever understand why they didn’t introduce Tracy earlier

[@raycologne1060]

Agree, if they were going to brutally kill her off so quickly why not give her more screentime

[@dorafrank4347]

whenever she met ted, this show is over. can't take that risk

[@graniteanimated6226]

Because it's not called how I married your mother it's called HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER so the show would have ended like in the first season lol

[@brendavaldez8693]

@@graniteanimated6226 it's called "How I Met Your Mother" yet seems to be all about "How I ended up with Robin, again"

[@graniteanimated6226]

@@brendavaldez8693 i know its so stupide

[@piotrzagroba5301]

Honestly, that ending was like a slap in the face and killed all the love I had for the show. Even now, after so many years, every time I stumble upon a random episode of HIMYM, even if I watch it, all the joy is sucked out. I started watching it around season 2-3 at 14-15 yo. While I love love love Friends, it was more my parents show. HIMYM was my show that I spent a lot of my formative years watching, waiting for every episode. And no show, movie, game series or franchise overall has disappointed me this strongly. Every time I think of it, it just makes me sad.

[@azultante]

same. i took it so personally. its a disappointment that will never fade away.

[@kuldeepkashyap909]

it was so much more than a slap....we were so much emotionally involved in the show. It showed a life we introverts all wanted to have but couldn't

[@LuckyGirlsTown]

Right there with you. I can still viscerally remember watching the finale. It was April 1st (because I wasn't in the US at the time, I watched it the next morning) and I kept thinking "This is an April Fool's joke. It has got to be a joke." I recently started watching the show again on Netflix and I can smile during my favorite episodes but the love I had for it is gone, and I have never been able to feel as passionately about another show since.

[@chriscam4165]

I tried re-watching it recently and the ending has ruined my enjoyment. Also Ted as a character has aged so poorly. He's an annoying creep.

[@Misisipy]

Same... I sometimes think that I would like to rewatch it, that I'm over it (the ending) and nope, I just can't. And I used to love this show so much...

[@carterluczywo2712]

Throughout the last season I loved the mother they introduced her and let us know her throughout the last season and she became one of my fav characters and I love how they make her the perfect girl for Ted to end up with, I just can’t see Ted marrying that awesome girl then going back to Robin only 6 years after her death, it’s just so unfortunate aswell as Barney who was my favorite character and I loved how he changed throughout the series and him and Robin were my favorite couple ever, then two getting married was perfect and the fact they had a whole season of their wedding but then just ending it in the episode after the marriage was so depressing

[@naomirellosa2519]

Writers : *shows sign Robin and Ted could never work* Also writers : *force it to work* They're the writer of Ted mosby alright

[@phillconklin382]

Not really they just showed the journey. Robin was never going to be happy with just her career, and Ted was never really going to give up on Robin.

[@hegluj6796]

Phill Conklin “Ted was never going to give up on robin” damn that’s sad

[@ButterflyScarlet]

@@phillconklin382 That's absolutely creepy to never stop pursuing someone who isn't interested in marriage or motherhood. TV needs to stop pushing the idea that continuously forcing your attention on someone who already said no is somehow super romantic. At worst it's gross and at best it makes you look pathetic. Plenty of people are perfectly content with work and friends. Not everyone wants 2 kids and a picket fence and Robin was one of those people. The show basically forced the idea that everyone (especially women) wants that lifestyle and it's not true.

[@BarnabyFWNightingale]

Classic Schmoseby

[@Cat-Casper999]

@@ButterflyScarlet you actually wrote down what i've been thinking this whole this whole time so danng go od

[@bluebutterfly5062]

The problem was they had Ted and Robin fall in love in the first episode and TOLD US that they weren't going to get together. Then they introduced a super charismatic mother and then just killed her off just to force Ted to end up with Robin. I don't really mind the ending itself, it was the execution. And you guys are right--they spend more time with the women Ted doesn't end up with than with the one he does. We don't actually get to see their relationship and why they work so well while we get all the reasons why Ted and Robin don't

[@Valpo2004]

Agree, the ending itself wasn't terrible, but the way it was done was. Writers did not appreciate that character deaths need to be mourned. This was true of both Tracey's death but also true of her unseen boyfriend that died off screen. So while for the characters the time had been years, for the viewers the whole thing felt like, "Oh my wife's dead, guess I can go hook back up with Robin again.". The whole epilogue of him meeting, dating, marrying and then eventually burying the mother should have taken 3 seasons, not 3 minutes. They should have brought her in during season 5 or 6. Made her a more important character who eventually dies and than with some time showing his mourning than rekindle with Robin

[@camillecastro5145]

I agree!! But i guess they showed those womens stories because each of the relationships he had prior to Tracy shaped Ted in their own ways, they made him more resilient to prepare him for the heartbreak he’d have to face

[@phillconklin382]

That's because Ted wasn't aware of the ending, so he has no issue calling her aunt Robin. He was kind of in cognitive dissonance and the kids realized they should be together.

[@bluebutterfly5062]

@@camillecastro5145 i agree all of those relationships were extremely important so they were shown in depth. But then his final relationship with the mom wasn't. I figured one of the girls we met in the beginning was going to be it bcuz we were already invested in her--which is why i don't mind the ending

[@osikua5159]

you never even addressed barney. barney spent the whole last season coming to terms that he was miserable as a player and hated that life (character development). Minutes into the finale they revert years of development and condemn him to a life of being a player

[@brianbrush5107]

Especially sense they had that episode where Barney passes on the torch of womanizer to those guys like he failed to do with Ted.

[@oliviapop5613]

@@brianbrush5107 The guys from Britanick! They're great actors. Also, Barney goes back to being a "good guy" in the last episode where he suddenly has a daughter with his last hookup. Horrible writing.

[@njh123]

He went back to that life because he didnt know anything else. He had his "happily ever after" but then robin and barney got divorced not because they werent right for each other, but because they couldnt keep it going with robin travelling so much. After they got divorced barney went back to being a player because he knew that if it wasnt with robin, it was with no one. But then he meets his daughter who makes him get things back into perspective and realise that he cant do that player life anymore. I thought this was well written and relatable realistic stuff. I actually liked the ending but the 1 thing i would have changed was i would have had barney with nora. Controversial opinion over herr

[@latinelover24]

@@njh123 but why be realistic about it though? We all know real life sucks so why write it on a show anyways? i want to be entertained, not show me how real life sucks.

[@1Pineapple]

@@latinelover24 But HIMYM is *so* much about the ups *and* downs of life, so why wouldn't you have expected that? And if you feel that way, how could you be enjoying the rest of the show for that matter? 😅

[@just_jaz2002]

I didn’t mind that Tracy passed away. what I really hated was how Ted ran back to Robin. It felt like the writers were saying “it was always supposed to be Robin” even after seeing how perfect Tracy was for Ted. It felt like Ted had been wanting Robin throughout his relationship with Tracy. I never thought that Robin deserved Ted because she only ever considered him when it was convenient for her.

[@yasmeenc3727]

Tbh if they wanted to have the kids in it they could’ve had the older actors and made a gag like ha it feels like we’ve been listening to this story for 8 years. Would’ve been so much better than what we got

[@madisona1483]

The ending of the show reminded me of the stories that we have to write in school where you don’t know what to put for the ending so you just put your first idea, which is always horrible.

[@alina-87]

100% accurate

[@abbie6336]

It was all a dream

[@madisona1483]

JustAnAverageGachaTuber that is the ending of every story I have ever written

[@vovozaum]

The ending was perfect... most people loved the ending... but the happily ever after seekers are so loud that people think that they are a lot... they are not

[@nayeonshoe7085]

@@vovozaum can u pls stfu. We don't have a lot of problem with tracy's death, but we do with ted and robin getting back together which is just bullshit. We are very right to hate that stupid shitty ending

[@henrye5115]

Sadly it's not the how that I remember at all. That ending is so bad that it retroactively ruins the entire show. Any good episode just annoys me now, because I know how it ends.

[@ninja_tony]

I'm glad to see others feel the same way I do. It was one of my favorite shows of all time, and now? I can't even rewatch a single episode because that ending totally destroyed the entire series. It threw out the character development of Robin, Ted, and especially Barney. It spent the whole series dangling Robin over our heads as the obvious love interest before finally introducing Tracy and making her seem to be the perfect woman for Ted. Then they manage to make Robin an incredibly easy to hate character in the very last season. And THEN they shoehorn Robin and Ted together when the fans finally come to terms with the fact that she's NOT the one. It's so anger inducing lol

[@henrye5115]

Ninja Tony Exactly the same as GOT. I wouldn’t necessarily mind a bad ending. Tons of shows have bad endings. But, these shows blatantly disrespected their fans and their characters.

[@genericname1622]

yep same for me

[@amebaradiactiva]

My sister was recently rewatching the show and I felt this way every time I sat to watch it with her. It sucks.

[@anant02jan1]

Exactly same as GOT

[@jasongustafson2691]

Well, Ted and Robin had zero chemistry. We watched them go through YEARS of promising that all the struggles and heartbreak that Ted went through would get a payoff in the form of the greatest love of his life. Instead, we met her, loved her and then lost her in an eyeblink and watched him end up with the woman who stood in the way of every chance at long term happiness he had.

[@izzaw]

Last time I was this early Robin and Barney were still married

[@trinaq]

So, anytime before 2016? (They got married in 2013, and it's stated that they divorced three years later.)

[@ricomerrell]

@@trinaq why'd you have to reply

[@xpanda_7407]

This show is perfect example of "It's not about the ending, it's about the journey"

[@vovozaum]

For me it was about the ending... and i loved the ending

[@hoijink.9252]

@@vovozaum same in here. loved the journey, and the ending too

[@FalconFlyer75]

pretty much boils down to how u feel about Ted and Robin as a couple, if u liked them u were probably fine with the ending if u didn't.... not so much the revelation that the story was actually about Ted never getting over Robin and not some long winded tale about what it took for him to meet Tracy pretty much felt like they intentionally killed Tracy then pissed on her grave just so they could have Ted end up with Robin (a paring a huge chunk of the fandom did not want anymore) which is why defending the ending by pointing out a handful of forced scenes that backed it up will never work, people hated the DIRECTION the show went in its ending, if u put it to a fan vote Ted and Robin vs Ted and Tracy, Tracy will OVERWHELMINGLY WIN, in order for the ending we saw to work ROBIN would have to win that vote or at least come close honestly if they only killed Tracy but still let the story be about what it took for Ted to meet her, I honestly would have been fine with it (sad sure but ultimately fine with it)

[@vovozaum]

@@FalconFlyer75 first i dont agree that that end should be what most people want... this is a show trying to make people understand that not everything should be like they want... I dont agree that most people would vote for Ted and Tracy, i wouldn't, but só what if it was true? This is a show, i hate fan service at the cost of plot... This show is real because of that... people die, deal with it... if this was a real life scenario it would probably have been a lot worse... But people just want the Disney ending... or a Disney ending with a later death as you Said... That would be the most horrible ending... Ted tells how he met Tracy, and then shows how he's been a widow for 6 years and then ends with him being alone and dead alone in a nursing home, just because you don't like Robin? That's just Selfish...

[@FalconFlyer75]

@@vovozaum okay first, I would have preferred Ted having a happy ending with Tracy (its a TV show and yes I can be upset that the showrunners did not let that happen, just cuz something happens IRL doesn't automatically make it a good direction for the show) a realistic ending can still be a shitty ending second in the event of her dying i'm fine with Ted finding someone else, I just don't care for Ted and Robin, I didn't like that they purposely killed Tracy just so Ted could be with Robin (A pairing I never cared for) and that him sharing the story of how he met her was really just him asking to be with Robin had it ended with him reuniting with maybe Victoria, and the story he told his Kids was just a long winded story of what he had to go through to meet Tracy, no problem on my end u gotta get that through your head, nobody is saying Ted should die alone, we're just saying we hate seeing Ted and ROBIN together if they were gonna kill off Tracy and have Ted end up with someone else, I would literally prefer ANYONE to Robin, it was the Choice for ROBIN to be the one Ted moved onto that triggered so many people swap Robin with Victoria, make the story about Tracy and the backlash would be cut in half

[@dianareynolds2446]

I cant rewatch it with knowing Robin and Ted are gonna end up together

[@DarrenNoFun]

I usually just stop watching when he first meets the wife and move on.

[@Mani26031981]

Well, the fact that Ted and Robin ended up together is why I'm happy to watch it again and again. 😉😎

[@BojanTomic]

@@Mani26031981 Exactly! 👏🏽

[@jacejohnson2]

Beautifully argued! And "sinister" is exactly my feeling about the ending. Well done, The Take!

[@brandweermanvoorhoofd6467]

The sad thing is that Barney's and Robin's divorce happened in the same episode as when Ted and Robin got back together.

[@berniemazur870]

yeah that was just so cheap.

[@homerthompson8730]

They delivered they both scenes in less than five minutes. Felt rushed and not well thought out.

[@somethingcooliguess]

I love that everyone here is acknowledging the major flaws and the character development that was squashed with this ending. Even in the early seasons, you could tell Ted and Robin were not a good fit and that Robin and Barney were. Robin always saw Ted as the kind of man that might be good for her but wasn't someone she connected with. Ted's passion for coins and pretentiousness were things Robin tolerated, but didn't care for. Meanwhile she had common interests with Barney, including making fun of Ted's interests and dorkiness. I think the best demonstration of how Ted was wrong for Robin and Barney was right for her was the episode "Baby Talk." Ted admits he wants to be needed, Robin knows she is not a helpless little girl, and Barney appreciates that no one says "Who's your daddy" to Robin because she is her own "daddy." Ted wants Robin to be the little girl and Barney actually sees Robin as herself and respects that.

[@Mani26031981]

Hmmm...ever considered that Barney WOULD say something like that because at heart he was incapable of being truly sensitive and loving? It effectively meant that he could do what he liked without having to listen to her, a fact which was proved by how he didn't show up to help Robin look for the locket. But arguably the biggest example of how Barney never truly cherished Robin was early in season 5 when his response to Robin feeling sad about her aunt was to tell her to go talk to Lily and come back when she was ready to have sex. DISGUSTING.

[@phillconklin382]

Barney and Robin would never work out. They are both too independent, they were bound to break up. Barney is far too damaged to have a normal relationship, he is a lifetime bachelor. Ted grounds Robin, which is why she misses him after realizing he is taken and out of reach. When we get older as they do in the show we just want people that we know will have our backs. And this narrative that "I don't need someone to be happy" falls apart very fast when faced with crippling loneliness and old age. The older get wiser because they have been through shit and they get to a point where they realize they deserve better. And Ted was the best thing that ever happened to her. He fought for her when no one else would. It was almost the exact opposite of what her relationship with her dad was like. That's real love fighting for someone when they don't fight for you, because it is completely self sacrificial. Barney just doesn't have that quality, and Robin by herself does not have that quality (they both came from dysfunctional homes).

[@tinabagga3255]

@@phillconklin382 but why should everyone make that sacrifice for Robin while she does not sacrifice anything for anyone. Barney had his character development, and he matured and became boyfriend material so as to say. I agree eventually they would not have worked. Similarly Ted drops everything to be with Robin. But if we are making that comparison with real life and like you said older people and maturity, then Robin was still selfish till the end. Do you think that without her growing into a more giving person, she would still have people bending over backwards for her? Because I think that same maturity should have made Ted realise how toxic their relationship was and how she was not right for him. That maturity should have also made Robin progress into a more caring human being. Because as you get older, you do start to look at the past without the rose coloured glasses to see that there was a reason why it did not work out in the first place. My issue with the ending is how the mother seems to be like a plot device to get Ted and Robin together. But barring that too, in real life you do not get the person you pine over for 9 years. You just have to be mature to get over them. And also, I feel like all characters got growth but even till the end Robin realized loneliness was not for her instead of actually thinking about the other person. If she would be with Ted it would be with the idea that she cannot be lonely, not that she wants to be with Ted. In real life, if by that age you are still that selfish, people don't want to be with you anymore.

[@Mani26031981]

@@tinabagga3255 one thing which refutes your argument is that near the end Robin is ready and willing to spend time with Ted and his children after Tracy's demise. She effectively becomes a loving, caring de facto stepmother to Penny and Luke, proving her willingness to be more loving and caring. 😍

[@Linklex7]

Honestly, Robin and Barney weren’t a good fit for each their either. Their relationship was exactly the same as Robin and Ted, except Robin was now in the Ted role constantly pestering Barney to commit and do all the lovey doves stuff she hated Ted always doing. Robin was a toxic character who hurt anyone she dated.

[@r.h.6249]

they should have ended with the yellow umbrella scene...and then ted says and thats you kids is how i met your mother....and it would have been perfect

[@belenjuarez2295]

no, it would have felt kinda empty and pointless. I think the writers did a pretty good job at touching us with a finale that we didn’t expect, when the whole show begins by telling you how it ends.

[@mhawang8204]

That's basically the alternate ending on the DVD.

[@hegluj6796]

belen it wouldn’t have destroyed most of the fanbase, the pop culture spot the series already had as a fierce competitor to friends, it wouldn’t be remembered by how they destroyed everything in the last episode and of course it wouldn’t be in every list of worst endings in history so I guess that even the writers would’ve preferred an “empty” and “pointless “ ending if they knew what was going to happen

[@Prototyp3m1nd]

@@mhawang8204 Did they actually make that edit? I remember watching the fan cut they mentioned at the end, but as they said it was taken down.

[@rxorz]

@@Prototyp3m1nd yes. It was way, way better than what they eventually decided to go with.

[@minnesota_fats7344]

To me the alternate ending always will be my ending for this series, I don't accept the other one. The alternate ending is very sweet and emotional, does a great job of showing why they're perfect for each other and would end up together, is playful like the series was known to be, doesn't over explain, and ends with that great music and simply how I met your mother white text on a black screen with the the LIRR to establish that it's in that New York setting. It's one of the best endings I've seen for a TV show by gracefully landing the ending while actually having a touch of artisticness that actually works. Truly brilliant.

[@saiyan_princestudios9790]

I hope tv writers paid attention and learn from these mistakes: you don’t write a whole season about a wedding and then divorce the next episode and you don’t write 9 seasons leading to a character and then kill her off ASAP when you meet her. If they had a few seasons in between and had a season or two of robin and Barney’s bad marriage slowly fall apart the divorce would have been much more natural and not as jarring. And if they had let ted’s wife live longer and actually get a lot more airtime seasons wise and then eventually she died off it would make her death more natural and less jarring.

[@sophiakon6293]

Exactly! Just ONE MORE season to show us Barney and Robin as a married couple and Tracy as the mother would have been more than enough!!!

[@ethanwatson6131]

i’m okay with tracy dying but barney and robin hurt. Also wouldn’t Ted and Robin being together really hurt Barney who still loved her. ALSO also he literally let go of her in season 9

[@aljonalabanzas1714]

@@ethanwatson6131 me too... i was crushed when i saw the last episode.. i liked barneys character development. and i ship barney x robin... stupid ending though, one episode to ruin it all

[@dune3001]

I agree with you. The whole part of Ted letting go of Robyn and her coming to the conclusion she wants to be with Barney forever was really awesome, and then they ruined everything that they themselves built... It almost gave me whiplash.

[@abbyrudy167]

yeah. it's almost like they realized they had no more ideas and just wrote in divorce and death because they didn't have enough material to build to it naturally.

[@reveirg9]

I think the show's biggest failure was actually it's making. They filmed all of Ted's kids dialogue in the first season, which kinds of solidifies the ending from the start. They forgot to consider character development and should have filmed more than one ending in the case that they would need to use it. Because this was the writer's original plan, I guess they were adamant to see it finish the way they started out, regardless of whether it was the perfect ending or not.

[@SOLOcan]

Isn’t that in the video?

[@MrJackfaire]

I feel like they forgot to tell the audience that Robin was endgame in episode 1. From the pilot I got the impression that Barney and Robin were destined to be and Robin would be the one to help introduce Ted to his wife who would be a better fit. Why? Well because Barney pre-empted his "I'm going to marry that girl" with his own expression of interest but didn't go after her. To me that combined with Barney in the show meant she was going to be the one to bring Barney to well where the show did. That's where I thought it was headed.

[@smurfyday]

@@MrJackfaire Obviously you gave the writers a lot more credit than they deserved.

[@Femmagorgon]

They could’ve not used that dialogue and just ended the show with Ted talking over other b-roll. There was no need to actually show the kids again.

[@sendpie6565]

I thought the message will be how Ted gives himself the opportunity to fall in love with Tracy once he finally let go of his idea of being with Robin. Instead we got the ultimate -no from a girl means keep trying- wasting R and B character development and giving Ted, who by no means is a nice guy, everything in the end; the marriage, the kids and Robin. Wow.

[@sowhatphie]

Yes! This is what I was getting from the show. The idea that in order to find love himself he had to let go of an ideal in his head that didn't work in real life.

[@sowhatphie]

Then they ruined it 🤦‍♀️

[@caoisekamay1175]

This message makes more sense because Ted ends up with Tracy after moving on from his toxic ways. When he and Tracy go on a date and she says she isn't ready, he doesn't make a creepy speech and beg her to stay with him like he used to. He lets her go because he learned his lesson, he's matured, and is rewarded for it. It indicates that Ted and Tracy worked, when no other relationship has worked, because he finally grew up. That would have been a great message and great character development. And then they blew it up.

[@laisfrederick5470]

@@caoisekamay1175 omg exactly! And what I loved about the show is that even after every break up, every NO he got or heartbreak he was. The show always remember us of the mother. That everything that happen with Ted LEAD him to the train station. Every moment or every relationship he had has a lesson for when meet the right person at the right time. But they ruined!!

[@joshz2491]

Lais Frederick Lemme paint a slightly different picture. I don’t think that message was letting Robin go meant he was moving on from loving her. I think the message was that he finally learned not to let his love for Robin come at the cost of having a wife and family. He is still the mature Ted, but his kids give him (and he gives himself) permission to pursue a woman who was what Max was to Tracy, the first person he loved. Tracy and Max could be seen as reunited in the afterlife too so really both Ted and Tracy get happiness, Heck even Barney does because he falls in love with his daughter the moment he meets her which is huge for a guy who started the series disrespecting women and afraid of commitment to anyone except himself. So the what if he’s not in a romantic relationship his character development is still intact because season one Barney would have disregarded Ellie completely

[@BooksInTheVoid]

I could understand if it was a tale about how ted feels as if he shouldn't move on from his wife after her death. He spent so long trying to find her that after he did, and they made this life together he doesn't feel like there is anyone else out there for him. And the whole show (and his children) is reminding him that he has his friends. Hell I would even be happy with Robin and Barney breaking up, but because they are no longer romantically tangled to each other, their friendship grows, and they become closer as friends because of it. And were the counter to Lily and Marshall because for many people, your soul mate can be your best friend. I would have accepted that. That whole thing with Ted wanting to be with Robin ruins it.

[@randomfox12245]

"Whatever the writers came up with could never live up to the fans expectations" Disagree, the actress they got to play The Mother was fantastic and despite what a god damn train wreck the last season was, she was by FAR the best part about it. If the "alternate ending" had been the ACTUAL ending of the show, I think everyone would have been satisfied with it despite how sloppy it was because it managed to stick the landing. Ignoring the foreshadowing of the Mothers illness and eventual death which was woven throughout that seasons storyline, ultimately people would have been satisfied with the "and THAT is how I met your mother"*cut to black* ending. But no. That's not what we got.

[@peacelovetv95]

exactly. i watched the show for many years, and would always think "when this ends and we meet the mother, there's going to be no way she'll live up to these high expectations" and then she DID. and i also thought "well even if she does, we won't get to get to know her because they'll meet and that'll be it, right?" But then they came up with this great thing where she meets and is helpful and wonderful to everyone before meeting ted. they set it up perfectly to just end it with them meeting, then took it way too far for no good reason.

[@Linklex7]

The mother was the only saving grace of that shit last season. Really they should’ve given us a full season after showing Ted & the Mother’s relationship.

[@LeviticusStroud]

I said at the time, and I still maintain, they should have had the ending with The Mother still alive and Ted saying something like: "Well, I hope this story didn't take too long." And then switched to his two kids ten years older, possibly with one or both holding their own children, followed by Ted getting confused and saying something like: "Oh come on, I only started telling this story ... oh, wow, 3 days 4 hours and 16 minutes ago!" (That being the total run time of the series)

[@may.k_me]

Your ending proposal sounds best

[@lati2259]

That would’ve been smart

[@aljonalabanzas1714]

well, game of thrones and HIMYM deserves a better ending.

[@aljonalabanzas1714]

well, game of thrones and HIMYM deserves a better ending.

[@tali_wren]

I was hoping to see a little after Ted and Tracy met, like more screen time, more detail, and then caught up with the present being Tracy being sick and in the hospital, and then seeing the sad end to them. I agree the whole him ending up with Robin thing was dumb. Robin and Barney should have stayed together, they were so similar. And then Ted and Tracy were very similar. It just makes more sense.

[@camcat26]

We spent an ENTIRE season bonding with Tracy, and they killed her off in less than five minutes! She had a great season, and the writers discarded her for someone thy treated as having no value to the group unless she was someone's love interest

[@africangirl90]

Wow, you're so right about the Robin bit! She was best friends with those guys for over 8 years, for Christ's sake!

[@Ryan-pg1tw]

Maybe you should express yourself more respectful

[@phillconklin382]

I don't agree. Tracy was valuable you don't need to be seen to be valuable. Keep in mind the kids wouldn't exist without her, Ted wouldn't have been happy without her. She doesn't lose her value, she just got sick and died like what happens to people in the real world.

[@tinabagga3255]

I won't say Robin was not valuable. But yes I agree that she had the least character development and still stayed selfish till the end. I think because of that contrast with Tracy, who was more lovable because of the way she was written, fans get even more pissed off. Me included!