How I Met Your Mother Series Finale

It has been about a month since the series finale of How I Met Your Mother where Ted explained to his kids the moment he met their mother and what happened with all of his friends after Robin and Barney’s wedding.  To recap, Barney and Robin got a divorce 3 years after their marriage; Marshall and Lily had another kid and Marshall got appointed Supreme Court judge in NY; and Ted married Tracey (the mother) then watched her pass away after an illness.  In the end Ted was reminiscing with his kids about their mother and how much she meant to him, how she affected his life.

But the kids weren’t stupid.

His daughter immediately pointed out that their mother was almost never in any of the stories he told and in every story it seemed there was always one constant – Robin.  They called him out saying that he is in love with Robin and wanted their permission to go on a date with her.  He denies it but in the end instead of calling her and asking her out on a date, he goes to her apartment with the blue French horn and the rest is history.

In the end it was never about the mother. It was about Ted and Robin. The way that some people believe it always should have been.

The reason why this blog is coming out so far removed from the series finale is because as much as I was happy with the ending to one of my favorite series, I wanted to see why other people would love/hate it.  Most people hated it because they felt gipped. Those fans felt that after 9 seasons of waiting for Ted to tell his kids how he met their mother and what their mother meant to them they were tricked.  For their commitment over the past 9 years they expected a loving ending, a happy ending with Ted and the mother not Ted and Robin. Robin had her chance they said, she threw Ted away and didn’t deserve him at all. She is high maintenance and doesn’t know what she wants. Ted is much better than that, she is beneath him. 

But no matter what the haters of the series finale think, the ending was perfect.  He didn’t love the mother any less just because he ended up with Robin. He had 10 amazing years with the mother and had 2 beautiful kids.  His feelings for Robin were always there. That is obvious from the multitude of times he pursued her romantically over the 9 seasons.  At her wedding he did let her go but time told a different story that no matter how long goes by those feelings won’t go away, especially when you dedicated so much time and energy into the person.  That doesn’t mean he loved the mother any less.  I think in the end that is why the viewer’s felt gipped at the end of the series. The whole show was based on the mother but in the end it wasn’t about the mother at all.  Some see that has Ted never really loved the mother and was just waiting around for the right time to be with Robin.

That wasn’t the case. 

I thought the show came together at the end nicely.  Packing over a decade of information into 60 minutes of television was a little much but it gave everyone closer and a sense of finality in their lives.  It was, in my opinion, a prefect ending.  When you compare this to the Friends ending this show didn’t end with everyone acting as if they are going their separate ways, never to see each other again. With this group they stayed friends and were a part of their lives despite the hard work. 

I was very sad to see this show end. It was the perfect start to my week.  The show never got old either. I could watch the entire series in syndication over and over and I probably will. Whenever I find it on TV I immediately turn to it.  It was/is a comforting show and makes you happy you spent the last 9 years of your life with this group of amazing friends and family. 

It was legen – what for it – dary!