Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
There were audible groans at Decider HQ when I pitched this article, which, honestly, is not uncommon when it comes to my pitches. I’m the same guy who suggested classics like “Do you think I can get the CBS show God Friended Me to follow me on Twitter?” and “I should tell The Rock that the season finale of Suits airs tonight!” I take no offense to my co-workers’ callous disinterest in gonzo journalism. I’m not the first artist whose genius has been ignored — Van Gogh, the inventor of cereal, probably — and I won’t be the last.
Today marks the five-year anniversary of the much-maligned series finale of How I Met Your Mother. You know the story. The narrator finally finishes his nine-year literal Ted Talk on big-city love only to reveal that the titular mother has since passed away. With Barney and Robin’s marriage over before it started, Ted, with the overly enthusiastic blessing of his children, runs off to once again present Robin with the Blue French Horn from the pilot episode. The finale was lambasted by fans, skewered by most critics, and remains at best divisive and at worst a historic flop. Fans felt betrayed for two major reasons:
People loved The Mother
Cristin Milioti was cast as perhaps the most eagerly-anticipated character in modern sitcom history. Somehow, against all odds, she exceeded those lofty expectations. The show’s fatal flaw may have been underestimating Milioti’s innate affability. Not only did she instantly charm the audience, but the actress was a seamless fit and shared an immediate chemistry with Josh Radnor.
The degree of difficulty for this role was a ten. Milioti delivered an eleven.
Fans were invested in Barney and Robin
Season 9 centered around Barney and Robin’s wedding weekend. It’s immensely difficult to realistically pivot from Ted and Robin to Barney and Robin, but the show succeeded in doing just that. They turned an unrelenting lothario into a caring husband. Fans grew not only to accept but love the Barney and Robin pairing… and then the final three minutes of the series largely negated their entire relationship.
These are valid criticisms, but there are a few points lost in the torrent of hate. First, Carter Bays and Craig Thomas began writing Season 8 as if it were the final season before the show was renewed for a ninth and final installment consisting of 24 more episodes, bringing the final total to 208 episodes. Imagine weaving such a rich mythology into over 200 episodes of comedy.
Second, the backlash regarding the finale largely stemmed from Bays and Thomas excelling at their job. Fans were invested in both the Barney/Robin relationship and the Ted/Tracy pairing, which, again, the final three minutes of the series greatly diminished. The duo was criticized for sticking with their endgame, but once Season 9 began and Milioti’s popularity became evident, I’m not sure if pivoting was a valid option. Featuring myriad flashbacks and flashforwards, the final season was a house of cards. Changing the endgame mid-season may have been difficult or, depending on the show’s production schedule, impossible.
It’s easy to criticize the How I Met Your Mother finale, but the overwhelming negativity surrounding the final three minutes overshadows just how impressive the eponymous scene truly was. Ted meeting The Mother was a decade in the making, so the expectations surrounding this scene were towering. This wasn’t just a moment, it was thee moment. Maybe you hated The Mother dying; perhaps you found the Ted/Robin reconciliation eye-roll inducing, but all the vitriol surrounding the final three minutes belies a truly impressive feat: Ted meeting The Mother was one of the most highly-anticipated television moments of all time, and How I Met Your Mother delivered the perfect scene.
Ted meeting Tracy is a beautiful TV moment. The nervous banter, the crackling exhilaration of possibility, Everything but the Girl’s heady cover of “Downtown Train.” Despite everything that follows, it’s the perfect ending.
Five years later, I don’t care that Ted ended up with Robin. The final three minutes of the finale don’t invalidate my love for Season 1, my appreciation for the above scene, or the overarching theme of friendship the series so poignantly expressed over nine seasons. I’m not angry when I rewatch the How I Met Your Mother finale. Instead, I find myself drawn to Marshall asking a group of unsuspecting kids at MacLaren’s if they had “any idea what happened right here at this bar.”
He looks back at his friends and after an emotional pause he simply says, “Just… all kinds of stuff.”
All nine seasons of How I Met Your Mother are currently streaming on Hulu.
