How We Met Their Mother

(source: http://deadshirt.net/2013/07/15/7-lessons-other-shows-can-learn-from-how-i-met-your-mother/) 

The subject of this week’s blog post is the very sad, very funny, very disappointing, and also very fulfilling finale of the show “How I Met YourMother”, or simply known to fans as HIMYM.

I need to warn you, spoilers are coming after this, so if you don’t want to know what happens or are still waiting to see it, I suggest reading this after you’ve watched it.

I started the one-hour finale completely sad. This is a show that has been on the air for the past nine years and it has finally come to an end. It is something that I have been watching and following for a third of my life, so it is only natural that when it ends, there is a hole there (one that will probably be filled by another show, but that is beside the point).

This was by far the funniest episode of the season, and one of the funniest in the last three or four seasons as well. It was.

It starts back in 2005, when the story begins – for us and for Ted’s children – and when Ted and Robin first meet. And then it begins to progress through the years. First, the years we experienced we the characters. They show us some clips and kind of get us back on track with what happens between 2005 and 2013. What we don’t understand, because it is done in a very subconscious and subtle way, is that they are showing us Ted and Robin’s story, which will be very important by the very end.

(source: http://mashable.com/2014/04/01/how-i-met-your-mother-kids-finale-ending/?utm_cid=mash-com-fb-main-link)

But then, we slowly begin to realize that it is not a “happy” ending, not in traditional ways anyway. Robin and Barney get a divorce, which is very upsetting, especially after an entire season of getting them married in the first place. Then the mother dies. Yes, you heard me just fine. She dies, and apparently has been dead for SIX years when Ted starts to tell the story to his kids. – Spoiler alert – by the very end, his kids sort of “force” him to go after Robin because, these kids, that were 9 years younger when the story started, realize that the whole point of their dad telling the story was just to convince them that he was STILL in love with Robin Scherbatsky, and wanted their permission to go after her one more time, and so he does. He shows up at her apartment with the same blue French horn that is featured in the very first episode. 

(source: http://www.buzzfeed.com/dianabruk/times-hiym-restored-your-faith-in-love)

Oh, and Barney has a daughter with a complete stranger, Marshall and Lilly have one more kid and Marshall finally becomes a Judge (this was the same amount of importance the show gave these events).

(source: http://nathanbiberdorf.wordpress.com/2014/04/01/how-i-met-your-mothers-disappointing-finale/)

So, we basically get the ending we wanted in the first three seasons, but not the one we wanted now. These guys spent nine years trying to convince us that Robin and Ted would never be together, that there was no way that would ever happen. They had their moment, but she and Barney were the ones that were made for each other, and so, like good little followers, we believed them. We began rutting for Barney and Robin. Every time they got in a fight, or Barney pulled one of his stunts, we would tremble in our seats, hoping that this would not be their end. This is the part that I describe as very disappointing because, well, it is.

But there are some good things that come out of this: we got to see the legendary Barney Stinson – one of TV’s most awesome characters of all time - in action one more time. We got to laugh and cry – yes, I cried, and I’m not ashamed of it – with people that have been in our homes and have been part of our families, and then it was over. Everything in life has an ending, even life itself. So this should not be any different. After nine years I can say that How I Met Your Mother has reached the same level as my favorite show of all time: Friends – another show I cried a lot when it ended. Don’t judge me, watch it and then we’ll talk…

Ps: I have recently discovered that there will be an alternate ending to HIMYM, and it will be released when the DVD for season nine comes out. So, if you didn’t like this ending, keep an eye out for the next one. Who knows, it might be a more satisfying finale.