How he finally met the mother (Season 9)

"How I Destroyed Nine Years of Character Development in Less Than 45 Minutes." #HIDNYOCDILTFM

 

"How I Validated Your Choice to Stop Watching After the Fifth Season." #HIVYCTSWATFS

 

"How I Could Have Ended My Story After The Pilot And You Wouldn't Have Missed Anything." #HICHEMSATPAYWHMA

 

"How I Used Your Dead Mom to Figure Out What Love Really Is So I Could Finally Land Aunt Robin." #HIUYDMTFOWLRISICFLAR

 

Best ending to any show I've watched. Legitimized everything about the structure of the series and the character of Ted.
1. Why was he telling these stories? To work through his grief over the loss of his wife.
2. Why did the kids listen? Because they knew their Dad was doing that and because they cared about his friends in the story. The reason they cared is because, although we didn't see it, we know Lily and Marshall and Barney and Robin have been there for Ted and the kids since this tragedy because, as we did see, Lily made them promise they'd always be there for the big moments. And the death of a spouse is a big moment.
3. Ted believes the title is How I Met Your Mother. Only the kids (and hopefully the audience) realize he's actually working through this to get himself, and the kids, to the point where six years after the mother's death he can be ready to give it a shot with Robin. If the kids named the show it may be How I Met Your Future Stepmother. But this is Ted's show.
4. Why wasn't the mom in the stories more? Because the kids know those stories because they were around for them, so Ted wouldn't have to tell that part. And because that had a sad, real ending. Ted is reliving the good old days to make himself feel better. And the mother, it turns out, is a minor character. Tony Soprano died. Everyone on Lost died. But why would anyone be shocked and upset beyond belief that a character we saw briefly in only the last two of nine seasons died? It's not like Lily died.
5. The mother told Ted she didn't want him to be a person who lived in his stories. But for nine seasons, and six years as it turned out, he was. It took him that long to get over her. But the mother is the person who made sure Robin was at their wedding. Unlike Victoria, she could understand how important Ted's relationship with Robin was but NOT be threatened but it. The mother knew Ted loved her. And more than anything, she wanted Ted to keep living after she was gone. It took him six years, but she would have been happy to see him go get the blue french horn.
6. It wasn't a choice to kill the mother. The show wouldn't have existed if she wasn't dead. Here's the real pitch, as it turns out: "A man's wide has died. In order to work through his grief and prepare himself to fall in love again, he tells stories to his children about his old life and his crazy times with his friends, including the woman he originally thought he would be with. The stories show him to be a hopeless optimist and romantic even in the face of repeated heartbreak. In the end, after dealing with the ultimate heartbreak, the death of his wife, we see that the stories he has been telling show that his life has prepared him better than most people to be able to never give up on love, even in the face of tragedy."
7. The key word in the title wasn't Mother. It was I. This was the story of Ted's life. The mother was a part of it. He wanted to be with the mother forever. But that's not always how life works. But Ted will find a way to go on. And that's an uplifting ending, not a sad one.

 

"How I Used Your Mother as a Temporary End-Around to Aunt Robin's Inhospitable Womb." #HIUYMAATEATARIW

 

It's just a message board television show.

 

I don't know you, but I know I hate you.

 

Excellent analysis that I fully agree with (except the part about best-ending to any show I've ever watched).

If we had a "like" button on this board, I'd click it for this.

 

I get all that idea. I think we almost all understand it. But I don't think it was executed well. Too rushed, as many have noted. I actually think if they had made the idea of last night's show and spread it out for an entire season it or at least a few episodes it could have been done much, much better and been more satisfying to more people who put a ton of time into this show and for the most part enjoyed it. Instead it leaves the impression of being a cop out.

 

So...I've never watched HIMYM. After seeing all the hype for the ending, I went back and spoiled myself by reading reviews.

Should I go back and watch the show with that knowledge? I've seen it compared to Friends, which I enjoyed but didn't love.

 

It doesn't ruin the show for me. You'll enjoy but not love it, too.

It was a never a great show. It was always uneven and had some serious low notes in the writing quality. It's just so disappointing that one of their low notes was the ending when the show was at least nominally set up around the plot device of the ending.

The cast was all-star quality by sitcom standards, and they had some hilarious moments. It kind of makes you overlook how many of the characters are terrible people.