HIMYM Finale Review

*This post contains spoilers.*

You may recall this post from 2013 when I espoused my love for the hilariously funny TV show, How I Met Your Mother (hereafter referred to as HIMYM). Well, I'm here again with another post about the show and a very important lesson.


First up, the lesson.

Don't ever write about something you love until you've finished watching it, reading it, eating it, doing it, or listening to it.

This is a good lesson too. I wish Ted had listened to it. 

Up until I watched the series finale of HIMYM I could have sung its praises over and over again. I could have told anyone I met without hesitation that this show HAD TO BE next on their queue. I was sure that this was going to be one of those shows (like Gilmore Girls) that I'd watch over and over again until I died.

Sadly, I don't think that will be happening. At least not all of it.

John and I had started watching HIMYM a few years ago, but since the entire series was on Netflix I wanted to watch the majesticness in one cohesive overall viewing. So I started all over from the very beginning.

And it wasn't bad.

I realized that the show can definitely stand up to multiple viewings. And that made me happy. Once again I fell in love with Lily and Marshall. I wanted to be them. I wanted to be part of the MacLaren's pub group. I wanted to pick on Ted for the goat and get mad at Lily for leaving. I wanted to party when Marshall passed the bar and look disgusted every time Barney spoke. It was great.


Theeeen I got to Season 9. The final season.

Season 9 takes place almost entirely over the weekend of Robin and Barney's wedding. What stories we hear of the past are told in flashbacks. We finally meet the Mom, Tracy, and in one entire episode we see what she has been doing for the duration of the series. We see her past, her friends, how she met Lily, Robin, Marshall, Barney, and finally how she met Ted.

Season 9 itself wasn't horrible. Episodes 1 through 22 are decent. It is the last two episodes, which tell one story, that absolutely kill me.


The last story, Last Forever Part 1 & 2, basically undo everything we've been through with the gang for nine years.

Barney and Robin end up divorcing. I didn't ship them for life but I don't understand why they divorced. Of course their marriage would be harder because they were so much alike and independent but all of the first 22 episodes of Season 9 were spent convincing the audience that they were going to really try. That they love each other and were going to compromise, tell the truth, include each other in their schemes, and try to be better versions of themselves. And we see in Season 9 that they are better versions of themselves.

After the divorce, Robin dives into work. I mean dives into work. Jet-setting around the world, making it big as a World Wide News reporter. Which is great, except that she misses a lot of important events in the gang's life. I understand that work is important and Robin worked really hard to achieve her goals but as a person...Robin just wasn't the best friend everyone else was looking for.

So, okay, no big deal. Robin ends up ditching her friends for work. Not uncommon. Not a deal-breaker. I could have handled that.

It was the last few minutes of Last Forever Part 2 that I could not handle. Can never handle no matter how many times I view it.

It's this big revelation, from Ted's kids no less, that the story isn't really about the mother at all. Ted was only telling the story to gauge Penny and Luke's reaction to the fact that he's still in love with Aunt Robin.

TED EVELYN MOSBY. GET THE FUCK OVER IT. 

What this says to me is that Ted never stopped loving Robin. And that is what I hated in Season 9. I could not like Ted AT ALL in Season 9 because all he wanted to do was win Robin back. Win her back even though he'd had NINE YEARS TO DO IT. You would think that after nine years of rejection Ted could just move on.

This isn't romantic. This is sad. It borders on obsessive.

Robin, for whatever reason, didn't like Ted. Fine. Whatever. I don't need her to. But I do need to understand why after all these years we think that she will all of a sudden? Why do the writers think we'll believe Ted and Robin will last this time? Robin is more independent now than ever before. She's traveling the world so much that even Barney got tired of it. Now we're expected to believe that Ted, the clingiest man on the planet would just be okay with her leaving all the time? Are we just supposed to believe that Robin loves Ted? Realized that she always had? Is she going to quit her job? Will she live at Ted's house in the suburbs?! I don't expect actual answers to these questions but these questions do pop up when we've spent nine years learning the personalities of the characters. The ending just doesn't make sense.


And John didn't seem to have this problem but I surely did...what does that say about the Mother?

I mean, I get that Ted really did love Tracy. But the way the series ended kind of made it look like Tracy was just a very lucky distraction while Ted and Robin worked their shit out. And that's not fair.

Tracy was the best. She was completely and totally perfect for Ted. It sucks that she dies. But that's life, I'm not angry that she dies. I'm angry at the fact that after all of this searching, searching, searching for the perfect woman, Ted still loves and pines for Robin.

Robin.

The girl who is totally wrong for him. Has been for years.

Ugh. I'm just so upset.

Is it possible to watch just the first eight seasons over and over and pretend the ninth never happened?



I give Seasons 1 - 8, five popcorns.

And I give Season 9 - one popcorn.

At some point, I will probably buy the entire box set and watch the gang's shenanigans over and over again. I hear the set also explains The Pineapple Incident. You can click on the picture to purchase the set on Amazon.

Okay so enough of my rant, what did you think of Season 9? Of the show in general? Did it make you laugh as much as I did? Will you be watching it on repeat throughout your years?