So after nine seasons, 208 episodes, and
dozens of catchphrase-making moments, How I Met Your Mother bowed out in
glorious – if not controversial - fashion.
MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD.
Throughout the finale, we sit through
future Ted – now voiced by an aged-up Josh Radnor, rather than series narrator
Bob Saget – taking us through the highlights of ‘the gangs’ lives from the time
of Barney and Robin’s wedding, to the year 2030. We see the idea of introducing
the still-unnamed-wedding-band’s-bass-player to eternal bachelor Ted pop’s into
Barney’s mind. Barney promptly attempts to play a game of – you guessed it –
“Have…. you met Ted?”. Unfortunately, Theodore is still leaving the wedding,
ready to make the move to Chicago in the morning. A tear-jerking goodbye follows
(as well as the ‘highest of fives’).
However, the next day Marshall and Lily
realize that Ted has in fact not left for Chicago, and is rather enjoying a
drink in McLaren’s bar instead. You know, his usual past-time. Ted explains
that he in-fact met that bass player, and promptly call her, asking her out to
dinner. Marshall laments that Ted is moving way too fast (pulling a Ted Mosby),
but the ever-insightful Lily knows the truth: this one is different. This one
is Ted’s destiny.
Throughout the episode, we see a brief
recapping of the next 17 years leading up until the year 2030. Barney and
Robin’s marriage lasts only 3 years. Marshall and Lily move back to NYC from
Rome, where Marshall takes a grueling corporate lawyer, until he finally gets
the call-up to becoming “Judge Fudge”. Oh, and they also have a third kid.
Speaking of kid’s: after completing a
prefect month (31 nights in-a-row of sexual conquests…), Barney discovers that
one of his one-night stands is with child. And, initially reluctantly, Barney
discovers that his new daughter is in fact, the love of his life.
Alternatively, Robin lived a much more
independent and lonely life. She indeed travelled the world, becoming a famous
journalist, but her inability to be around her ex-husband, as well as her
realization that the real love of her life, TED, had finally found ‘the one’,
she distanced her self from our favorite gang for many years. Only when forced
by Ted’s bride to attend their wedding, does Robin finally reach a place where
she can re-insert herself into her friends lives.
The show quickly shows us the rest: Ted
marrying the mother, the pair making a family and sharing many Christmas day’s
in marital bliss, and finally… the mother in hospital…
Flashback to Farhampton. Ted finally has
the balls to approach the bass player. It’s raining, so she invites him under
her umbrella. Her yellow umbrella. A discussion ensures, from everything
including Ted’s first university lecture (ouch…) to the ownership of the
umbrella, which features the initials T.M. Ted claims them to be his initials,
but they actually stand for Tracey McConnell.
The mother’s name is Tracey McConnell.
Then, in the year 2030, an aged up Josh Radnor explains to his kid’s, seated on the couch in front of his desk, that this is how he met their mother.
Then, in the year 2030, an aged up Josh Radnor explains to his kid’s, seated on the couch in front of his desk, that this is how he met their mother.
Now most fans would have been satisfied if
the show cut to black right now. Unfortunately, Ted’s two children disagree
with him: the story was never about their mother, who was only featured
briefly. It was rather about their ‘aunt’ Robin. Ted was actually
sub-consciously hoping for their permission to start seeing his former flame,
as it had been six years since his wife Tracey had passed away.
And so, future-Ted shows up at future-Robins apartment, equipped with the blue french horn.
THE END.
Before i continue, i'd like to make two... comments.
- Firstly, Cristin Milioti has been a revelation as Tracey - the mother. The build up to her casting left the weight of the world on her shoulders, but her warmth and intelligence has proven the best casting decision the show has ever made. Neil Patrick Harris included.
- Secondly, whilst the high-profile NPH and Jason Segel often get most of the recognition from the show, i would put forward that this episode proves how important and brilliant the casting of Josh Radnor has been to the success of the series. Radnor has been the most consistent cast member, and had it not been for the actor's self-depreciating and soulful performance, we might hate Ted by now.
There are two major points id like to
mention about the ending to this beloved sitcom. One pro, one con.
Firstly, when the ending was originally
conceived (back in season 2, when Ted’s children’s scenes were filmed just
before the actors hit puberty…), the ending actually worked brilliantly. We
weren’t too attached to the idea of the mother, and Robin and Ted were a
brilliant couple. Season 2, which showcased a fill season of Ted-and-Robin, is
possibly the shows strongest. Even after their breakup, the show’s ending
theoretically still worked up until season 6.
Unfortunately, the show was a major success, and in US television, when
a show makes it past it’s sixth season, that is when the cast and crew actually
stand to make the most money off their contracts. So with their ratings, and
the resulting pay rises to the cast and crew, its no surprise the show dragged
out until 9 seasons.
This resulted in the souring of any love
for Ted and Robin’s relationship. By season 8, it had become too toxic to root
for any longer. On top of this, before we even met her, Ted – and us - had
slowly but surely fallen in love with the mother. She was quirky, fun, and
shared many interests and habits with the show’s leading man. To put it simply:
she was Ted’s better half.
So to show Ted move on with Robin after
Tracey had died seems like a cheat, and will leave a bitter taste in many fans
mouths.
The reason why Robin and Ted didn’t work is
that they initially didn’t see eye-to-eye on what they wanted from life. Robin
didn’t want kids. She wanted to travel the world, work, and she eventually
couldn’t settle for Ted because of her feelings for his second-best-friend,
Barney. Ted wanted kids desperately. He wanted a quite life in New York City. And he eventually fell in love with Tracey.
(For the record, I never bought Barney and Robin as a couple. The hooking up and eventually dating was inevitable, but their progression past season 5 seemed like the producer's were killing time. Robin's one true love was always going to be Ted, although i rate Victoria - not Robin - as Ted's second best love interest throughout the show's run. The first of course being the mother.)
So by the year 2030, both Ted and Robin had
checked off their lists. Robin had travelled the world, become a famous
journalist, and eventually settled down in NYC. As mentioned in earlier
seasons, she also got along with Ted’s children famously. Her relationship with
Barney didn’t work out. For completely different reasons, Ted’s relationship
was also now over, but through that relationship, he was given everything that
Robin couldn’t: two children, a normal, suburban life, and many years with the
woman that would turn out to be his better half. And now that Robin has had everything that she couldn't have whilst being with Ted, the possibility that they could final happiness together does sort of make sense.
So as controversial as it might be, the idea that Ted and Robin could eventually end up together, in the end, isn’t as silly as you might make it out to be.
JA.
