How he finally met the mother (Season 9)

I don't know about that. I think any chance the spinoff had of succeeded went kaput last night. I know there is no way in hell I'm watching it and I doubt I'm alone in that sentimentality.
In fact, I can't envision myself ever watching a show by these people again, at least not while it's airing. They've officially put themselves in the same category as the douche nozzles that made Lost. If I ever check out another of their shows again, it'll be long after it is aired and only if the general consensus seems to be it was worth it AFTER all the pieces of the puzzle have been revealed.

 

As a fan of the show and the finale, some of the criticism is umm, interesting.

Sepinwall has never cared for the show or its central premise and has said so from the very beginning.

Donna Bowman noted on the Twitterz machine last night that for her and Sepinwall it was like they were always watching two very different shows.

As for the Grantland piece, it was well done but it seems like it and some of the other complaints are basically, "it had a happy ending" for all the characters.

And it seems like most people are okay with it, but not for Ted, who was a giant douchebag and must be punished.

I was thinking about this as I drove to the office this morning. People, for the most part, don't like a finale where everyone gets a happy ending. Like in Breaking Bad where, while some die, everyone gets what they want.

Also, I don't remember how Friends ended. I just know that it went off the air to live on in syndication and if you catch an episode now, it seems incredibly dated.

Even more then Seinfeld, and I remember that ending, if only vaguely, they all went to jail for being bad people.

Endings rarely satisfy and last night's wasn't perfect. Far from it, but I'll at least remember how it ended 10 years from now.

 

Yeah, if you think "happy ending" is why people are mad, I don't know what to tell you.

 

Presumably Ted got his happy ending with the mother for however many years. We didn't get to see it. We'll take their word for it. As lame as it was, if it ended with that scene at the train station under the umbrella it would've been OK, decent and not rage inducing.

To throw Robin back in on top of everything? After years of wringing with Barney too. What kind of bro would Ted be to do this to Barney again? It's completely asinine. You could sort of sell the mom not being around because "the gang is the gang." They spend a ton of the finale reminding us how big that "gang" connection is and how they don't want to lose it. Ted knew Barney before Robin....we went through years of Ted and Barney getting right with each others pursuits of Robin. I don't think Ted would've thrown that away so fast.

Also, pet peeve, there was no NHL season in 2005 so Robin couldn't have demanded to watch the Canucks and Bruins at the bar. That's the least of the problems with the hot mess that was this ending.

 

Yeah, I can't imagine what would have to happen for me to watch the spinoff.

 

I'm convinced that if they absolutely HAD to go this route, then the only way this makes sense is if it's Ted telling his kids this story ON THE DAY he is set to remarry. Then he's giving an appropriate importance to the time he had with their mother while simultaneously hoping (respectfully) that they're OK with him moving on.
Otherwise this was all a story of him essentially telling his kids "Your mom was nice and all but, really, Robin's always been the love of my life."

 

He also spent a great deal of time telling his children about all of the women he banged in between Aunt Robin and their dead mother.

 

In the long run, for this show to really have worked with this concept, we would have needed at least an entire season of Ted & Tracey's time together to see them work and at least a half-season of the long-term future where Ted lives without her and eventually moves on.

 

The mother, meaning Cristin Milioti, not some random foot or idea, was actually on the show for less than two hours total.

Here's a list of characters who received more air time and/or development than the mother (you know, the titular fucking character):

Ranjit
Carl
Wendy
Victoria
James
Zoey
Marvin Sr.
Mickey
Stella
Quinn
Loretta
Kevin
Sandy
Nora
The Captain
Scooter
Don

Maybe some others too, depending on your definition of "character development."

Hell, Gary Fucking Blauman had as many final-season episodes dedicated to him as the mother did.

 

Don't forget the Brittnay Spears character!

 

This is probably the best review written about the finale.
There's no such thing as a perfect finale. People would much rather complain about what was wrong than talk about what actually happened. I'm sure if the internet was around when MASH or The Mary Tyler Moore Show went off the air people would be losing their shit too.
I'm glad they didn't show Ted dealing with the mother being sick. The show is a comedy and you're not getting 30 minutes out of cancer jokes every week; plus, can you imagine the backlash if they joked about the illness? You complainers would be up in arms.
Having the mother walk in as Ted is telling this story would have been too cliche for words and everyone would have ripped it to shreds. I like the idea of this story going the day Ted is going to marry Robin after the mother's death and that's a real easy thing to say today, not so easy to say, oh, I don't know, in Season 1 when they filmed the final scenes.
As for them glossing over divorce and it not being realistic, this is a show that featured a cockamouse. So let's not get too picky.
I loved Barney and Robin together, but loved the quick change Barney went through in the finale. He went back to old Barney despite everyone telling him he was too old, continued when he found out he was having a kid, then once he saw his daughter his life changed. That happens. That's real life (I sorta agree about the Daddy's Home joke; that's one of those things where sometimes people say something they think is going to be funny and touching and instead turns out creepy. We've all said those things, which is why I thought it was fitting - it was so imperfect).
I'm feeling better about the finale today than I did last night.

 

I still contend the best way to end it would have been with the mom's death. Give us a shot of the five of them at the funeral home, have Lily say something about how they are each other's family. Have Voiceover Ted then say "And that's how I met your mother" and scene.