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Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Television Review: ‘How I Met Your Mother’ Series Finale

Ted (Josh Radnor) finally meets the mother (Cristin Milioti) buzzsugar.com
Ted (Josh Radnor) finally meets the mother (Cristin Milioti)
buzzsugar.com

It all began with five friends sitting in their booth in MacLaren’s Pub. After nine years and 208 episodes, CBS wrapped up the hugely popular “How I Met Your Mother” last Monday with a highly anticipated one-hour finale. When creators Craig Thomas and Carter Bays first sat down to write the sitcom, which is loosely based on their own friendship, they could never have imagined that it would become so popular. The HIMYM finale was trending on Facebook weeks before its release. People could not wait to find out how Ted (Josh Radnor) really did meet the mysterious mother. What they did not expect, and what has since divided viewers about the finale, was the discovery that the lives of their beloved characters were not going to wrap up with the expected neat ending.

If you have not watched the episode, do not read this yet. You will be doing yourself a huge disservice if you do, because even if you’re one of those people who only casually watched a few episodes per season, this finale will still be an emotional rollercoaster that you won’t want to miss.

For those of you who have watched the episode and those of you who plan to never watch it, here’s what happens. Ted sees the mother (who we discover is called Tracy, played by Cristin Milioti) on the platform at Farhampton, goes up to her (after some prompting from a weirdly romantic old lady), and through a casual conversation they realize how many times their lives have overlapped. This scene is interwoven with a fast paced ride through the lives of the friends over the next few years: Marshall (Jason Segel) becomes a Supreme Court Judge and has another child with Lily (Alyson Hannigan); Robin (Cobie Smulders) and Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) divorce and Barney has a baby he finally gives all his love to; Robin becomes a famous journalist but distances herself from the group; and Ted has his kids and marries Tracy. But then — and this is where the show enraged its audience — it is revealed that Tracy died six years ago (from the time Ted is talking to his children). After encouragement from his children, Ted goes to Robin’s apartment with a blue French horn to start their relationship yet again, but this time, so it is implied, for once and for all. Cue millions of outraged tweets.

This is a story that has been building up anticipation for its ending for nine seasons. That’s a lot of plotlines, emotions and audience opinions to deal with. So, to be fair to the show, there was no way this finale was ever going to satisfy everyone. If Robin had stayed with Barney, the mother hadn’t died and they’d all lived happily ever after in their perfect couples, we all would have complained about the unrealistic normalcy of it all. What would have been the point of following this long story of a search for love if at the end, we were only going to get the ending we’d been told from the start: That Ted found, married and was still with the mother he had been searching for?

Part of the greatness of HIMYM was that it balanced ridiculous comedy with realistic drama that you couldn’t help but be drawn into. Who didn’t shed a tear when Ted found Marshall alone in the rain holding Lily’s engagement ring? We watched as much for Barney’s hilarious tricks for getting girls as for the moments when we saw him truly heartbroken about Robin. So, for me, this finale was as close to perfect as I could imagine them getting. Part of me hated that the mother died, but it seems harsh to think that this was simply a plotline tactic to ensure that Ted ended up with Robin. We should give the writers more credit than that.

With this finale, the writers were telling us that Ted did get the happy ending that we all wanted for him: He had the marriage, the kids and the home that he could never have with Robin, and he himself says at the end that these were immensely happy years for him. But unlike “Friends,” which ended with this perfect final snapshot, this finale acknowledged that life continues after the happy ending. That 6 years after Tracy’s death, Ted is able to finally start a new relationship with Robin is entirely realistic for him and completely matches his ability to always find and fight for love. This isn’t about a “will-they-won’t-they” storyline; it’s about two people who have always been great friends reaching a point in their lives when they can be together after achieving all the things they wanted with their lives. It is a twist that is completely believable when considering the complexity and messiness of real human relationships.

Nonetheless, millions will be disappointed with the ending. Many have argued that it did Cristin Milioti a disservice and seemed to be getting her out of the way so that Ted could finally be with Robin. Others were sorely disappointed that Barney and Robin didn’t stay together after being led to believe that they were so perfect for each other. It was also a shame the final episode was such a whirlwind that it was sometimes hard to keep up. But most were simply infuriated by the fact that Ted ends up with the girl we have known from the start, but were convinced it would be impossible for him to be with.

But despite annoyances with the way the show wrapped up, the finale certainly managed to give a powerful and shocking ending that received an immense number of viewers. It will be hard to say goodbye to the gang, but fear not, loyal viewers, re-runs are sure to begin soon.

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