How he finally met the mother (Season 9)

I don't mind the negative comments. I guess my point was, nine years is a long time to sustain a show, and I think our standards now are much higher than they used to be when no one wrote 1,000-word recaps after every 22-minute episode. I've been disappointed in episodes the last few seasons, but overall, I still look forward to it on the DVR. I enjoy spending time with the characters for the most part, which is what made Cheers enjoyable even as it limped home. I was watching an episode of The New Girl last night (which is in its third season I believe) and just flabbergasted at how unfunny it's become already, and it actually made me appreciate HIMYM a little more. Again, nine seasons is an eternity in this era. It's certainly fair to criticize the show, but important to have perspective too.

 

How I Met Your Mother is extremely episodic, pulling off big-concept episodes all the time at a pace matched only by Community.

I got frustrated with the previous two seasons regularly, but I think a lot of the criticism toward this season isn't taking into consideration how unique and challenging the premise of it is. (I also think much of this season has been funny and emotionally rewarding, but I understand differences in opinion there.) they could have given us a normal ending, the type we'd expect from a CBS show with a laugh track. But they wanted to make it special and memorable. Even if you hated the Kung fu or rhyming episodes, ones such as "The Lighthouse" and this week's episode are tremendous payoff for years of dedication.

It's not easy making a show for nine years. It's even harder when the premise of your show is so specific. At the very least, this season has addressed a primary concern about whether we would accept that Ted was getting more than a silver medal after eight years of Robin. I don't think there's much question that Ted and The Mother make more sense than Ted and Robin, even if we as viewers all are in love with Robin. That alone is impressive because it seemed so hard to imagine four months ago.

The anxiety of waiting nine years is both the trap and the beauty of the show. I have a few friends who powered through the entire thing in the past year, and they mostly have remarked on the show's consistency, which even I didn't notice so much during Seasons 6 through 8. That's the grind of weekly viewing from my end. This show has sustained itself remarkably well, better than Seinfeld, even. I tend to be patient because this show has earned it.

 

I'm going to disagree that the serial story is the point of the show, but I'm uncomfortable because I feel I'm treading into territory previously mapped out by Lost apologists.

 

There is one storyline in every episode that has nothing to do with that.

The Slap Bet is your favorite gag of the whole series. What does the Slap Bet have to do with Ted meeting the mother?

 

The frame doesn't define the painting.

 

I think you are contradicting yourself there. In one post, you defend the show by writing about its consistency while sticking to a very specific premise. In the next, you say it doesn't all have to go with that premise. (At least I think that is what you meant in this post).

It's great that you love the show that much, but the real source of the negativity is that the is no longer consistent. It falls very flat as often as it entertains, maybe more often, and it has been that way for a while. The problem is not that the show is atypical. It was always atypical and they used to do that very well. They still do, just not nearly as often. The show is supposed to be entertaining and it often fails to meet that goal, even for those of us like me who want to still love it.

Payoffs are wonderful, but in cases like this, the journey matters, too.

 

I am saying the premise makes the show more difficult to sustain. I have never cared about that magical moment when Ted meets the mother. I am in it for the journey.

 

Same here, which is why I've been disappointed quite this season. Even moreso in the two that preceded it.

Here's the thing about a challenging premise like that. You can grow past it. You can adapt to what the story dictates and what you believe the audience wants. Hell, The West Wing was supposed to be about the White House staff with President Bartlett playing a relatively small role.

I tend to compare it to Smallville for a few reasons. One is simply that I watched both from the beginning and was there at the end. Also, both had to deal with a premise that limited the story. Smallville was supposed to be about Clark Kent's life before he became Superman, with the focus being on his time in his home town. Smallville got so bogged down in it that the show went from uneven to terrible in the middle of its run, then the folks running the show realized they needed to let the thing grow and change. It was still uneven, but the final season was among its best.

How I Met Your Mother is a much better show. Always has been. But it could have taken a lesson from Smallville and grown beyond its premise. Everything they did this year should have been the second half of last season. Then give is a full season of Ted and the mother. There are worthwhile stories there as well, much moreso than some of the space-filling crap the show has provided in that time.

 

That was a little cluttered but still poignant. I actually thought the Barney story line worked best.

 

Really liked the Barney stuff, well done but not outrageous.

The Ted/Robin stuff was headed toward a very good place, I thought they were addressing those of us who believe Robin is and always will be his No. 1. They sort of headed down that road and then didn't really take us to the end. I know he was supposedly "letting go" but I didn't see much there that made me think he really did it.

And I was really disappointed in the scene near the end where they basically ruined a nice moment by having Robin "float away" like the balloon. It felt like the last scene in The Departed with the rat running across the balcony. We get it, you don't have to bash us over the head with it to try to drive the point home.

 

No shit. Was really good until the horrible green screen.

 

The floating thing was a misstep.