More thoughts on the 'How I Met Your Mother' series finale

By Andrew Meola | Apr 03, 2014 12:57 PM EDT

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Well, friends, it's been a few days since How I Met Your Mother aired its series finale, and the response has been less than favorable from many of us out here on the interwebs. Now, this goes without saying, but...

[WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD]

As I said in my review of the episode, I loved the finale. I wasn't thrilled with the Robin twist, but I understand it and I actually came to appreciate it. For whatever reason, the final episode has been swirling around in my head since it aired. I originally planned to update my original review, but I've had so many thoughts recently that I figured it best to get them all down separately. So apologies in advance if this article rambles a bit.

Firstly, let's talk about the elephant in the room: the final few minutes. Yes, Tracy died and yes, Ted wound up with Robin. If you have an issue with that, again, I understand. I'm sure we would have much rather seen Ted and Tracy live happily ever after given nine seasons of buildup, and the ending probably felt like a copout to some.

But what I have an issue with is the reaction from fans that Ted's relationship with the mother of his children was insincere or worthless because "he loved Robin all along." That, in my singular opinion, is a load of crap.

Read Ted's final speech to his kids about their mother. Don't just read it. Feel it:

"It was, at times, a long and difficult road. But I'm glad it was long and difficult because if I hadn't gone through hell to get there, the lesson might not have been as clear. You see kids, right from the moment I met your mom, I knew. 'I have to love this woman as much as I can for as long as I can and I can never stop loving her, not even for a second.' I carried that lesson with me through every stupid fight we ever had, every 5 a.m. Christmas morning, every sleepy Sunday afternoon. Through every speed bump, every pang of jealousy or boredom or uncertainty that came our way, I carried that lesson with me. And I carried it with me when she got sick. Even then, in what can only be called the worst of times, all I could do was thank God, thank every god there is or ever was or will be and the whole universe, and anyone else I can possibly thank, that I saw that beautiful girl on that train platform. And that I had the guts to stand up, walk over to her, tap her on the shoulder, open my mouth...and speak..."

Do those sound like the words of a man who loved another woman while he was with his wife? Because if so, Ted Mosby is the greatest actor or the most in-denial person I've ever met. There's no doubt he loved Tracy with everything he had, but as Penny told him, "Mom's been gone for six years. It's time."

Now, I'll readily admit that I had some problems with the execution, not the story. This was Carter Bays and Craig Thomas' baby, and they had every right to craft what they felt was the best ending for the story. (I'll have more on this shortly). But I do think they could have handled the ending a bit better.

Penny immediately says that the story was not about Tracy, but Robin. If the character thinks it so quickly, why shouldn't the fans? The problem here is that they filmed this scene so long ago that they couldn't change it even if Penny's line was no longer true. This, I think, is what bothered so many people. They thought Bays and Thomas tried to fit a square peg they had from eight years ago into the round hole that the show organically became.

But this speaks to two bad habits we've developed as television viewers. Firstly, we focus entirely too much on endings, as if they somehow affirm or invalidate the entire product that proceeded them. Endings are important, clearly, but they're just one part of the story.

We also can't make up our minds about what we want. For some shows (like Lost) we complain that the writers were just wandering with no clear goal in mind; for others (like HIMYM), we complain that the writers planned an ending and didn't adapt it to changing circumstances.

The second, and I think more real, problem is that we want our ending, the one that we think best fits the story. But I'll argue that the creators and writers of a given movie, television series, etc. have no one to answer to but themselves. It's easy to be an armchair critic, but put us in their shoes and the pressure to end something in a satisfying way would probably drive us crazy. Of course, now we're getting into a whole tangent about "is art for the artist or for the public," so let's move on.

I also agree that it was a poor idea to build to Barney and Robin's wedding for an entire season only to divorce them within 15 minutes of screen time in the finale. There were some bizarre choices overall in the final episode, such as Barney's return to his early-season status (until he had a baby, that is) after years of character development, and Ted and Tracy's more-or-less unexplained decision to wait so long to get married.

Some other, bullet point-worthy thoughts:

-       Josh Radnor absolutely knocked that last monologue out of the park. That speech has been in my head for days. It was beautifully written and beautifully delivered with the accompanying music. Excellent work on all counts.

-       Robin needs an immediate hairstyle change in 2030.

-       What happened to Barney's baby mama?

-       The finale portrayed the gang as having drifted apart a bit, but Robin especially was almost nowhere to be found. But earlier episodes described Robin as being at Ted's house all the time, and we've even seen Future Robin and Future Lily getting together for wine at least once a year. Continuity error?

-       Barney's "Clooney Years" would have been a sight to behold.

I'll continue to defend the finale, so please leave your thoughts in the comments below.

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