Current Events > Have you forgiven the How I Met Your Mother ending yet? *spoilers*

Topic List
Page List: 1
Punished_Blinx
03/24/22 12:23:58 AM
#1:


I don't hate the concept of it.

But wasting the entire last season on the wedding only to spend the last episode or two rushing through their future and his relationship with the Mother to then get to the big twist was pretty dumb.

---
A Fallen Mascot
... Copied to Clipboard!
pauIie
03/24/22 12:32:22 AM
#2:


nah fuck that ending

---
http://i.imgur.com/O5APL.jpg
http://www.last.fm/user/jaeganja
... Copied to Clipboard!
heatmon930
03/24/22 12:44:16 AM
#3:


pauIie posted...
nah fuck that ending


---
http://i.imgur.com/fFyX7iT.gif
Feelings aren't numbers
... Copied to Clipboard!
gunplagirl
03/24/22 12:44:39 AM
#4:


It was pretty obvious what was going to happen but it was definitely still mean spirited to do

---
tfw no big tiddy goth vampire gf who lactates blood - viewmaster_pi
... Copied to Clipboard!
WellKnownNomad
03/24/22 12:44:54 AM
#5:


pauIie posted...
nah fuck that ending


---
"Anime is for jerks" - Jeff Gerstmann
... Copied to Clipboard!
ChocoboMog123
03/24/22 12:47:15 AM
#6:


I don't understand how anyone was so invested in a series designed from the ground up to be a sitcom. The base sitcom endings are:
1) Non-ending
2) Shit ending
3) Sappy ending

HIMYM got #2, but the story threads were always there that at least it was reasonable.

---
"You're sorely underestimating the power of nostalgia goggles." - adjl
http://www.smbc-comics.com/comics/20110218.gif
... Copied to Clipboard!
#7
Post #7 was unavailable or deleted.
Punished_Blinx
03/24/22 12:55:32 AM
#8:


[LFAQs-redacted-quote]


The concept of the show is a guy telling his kids how he met their Mother. He starts his story 25 years earlier where he meets Robin and pursues her. From what I remember it's stated that she isn't the Mother but it's the beginning of his and their journey throughout the series that will eventually lead to the Mother.

For seasons the Mother is still a mystery that isn't revealed until near the end.

The final episode he does indeed meet the Mother on the day Robin marries his friend. It's revealed the Mother has since died (she dies next year funnily enough), Robin and Barney divorced and the kids figure out the actual story was him reconciling that he still has feelings for Robin and he gets his kids blessing to pursue a relationship with her again.

---
A Fallen Mascot
... Copied to Clipboard!
MrMallard
03/24/22 1:02:52 AM
#9:


My issue is this. After nine years, they'd built up this character as like the prime endgoal for Ted Mosby - he's married, he's old and he has kids with this woman. We're seeing all of these foibles with women who are just right for him, or who he doesn't get along with, with the idea that at the end of the show everything's gonna turn out okay.

And if it turns out that the mother of his children had died and he was asking his kids for permission to pursue another woman? That's not inherently a slap in the face.

The mother being dead all along isn't what feels insulting and contrived. It's the fact that they strung us along for nine seasons - nine years - during which Ted and Robin CONSISTENTLY get together and break up and where it's hammered in ALL THE GODDAMN TIME that they aren't good for each other as romantic partners. It's that three episodes before the grand finale, they have a final goodbye moment where Ted realises that he's being petty and jealous and he lets Robin go. He lets her go, and he's happy, and then he finally meets the love of his life.

And then NOPE, MY TRUE LOVE DIED, GUESS I'M GOING AFTER ROBIN AGAIN HUH?

Three episodes ago, they made a grand, sweeping gesture of Ted and Robin finding happiness apart. And they dismantled the entire happy ending of the season in two episodes to fit an ending they came up with when the show was first airing.

Every time they got together, the breakup was devastating. One of the last episodes of the show makes a point of providing closure for the pairing. They build up to Ted meeting the love of his life all season, Robin gets married, and in the final episode - the FINAL EPISODE - Robin and Barney break up, Ted's wife dies, and the closure they just provided for Ted and Robin as a couple doesn't mean shit any more.

And the reason it stings so much is because I grew up with the show, and I was expecting an ending that lived up to the promise of the show. And by the textbook definition, Ted met the mother of his children - promise fulfilled. But they barely have any screentime together, and then she dies so Ted can have some male pain and pursue a relationship that time and time again has been proven to be toxic and untenable for both of them. They could have pulled this ending halfway through the show's run, or they could have just not written a perfect closing for these characters and their relationships before taking a jackhammer to it. They could have pulled this ending if they didn't get Ted and Robin together four or so times over the course of the show, breaking them up in the most unceremonious, seething and petty of grounds to convince the audience that it was never gonna happen. Everything they did leading up to the finale made the ending completely untenable, and the only reason to keep it is because they filmed the kid characters at the start of the show reacting to this series of events. By the time they hit season 9, that ending just didn't work any more. So they didn't make a more fitting ending for the season, or a more fitting season for the ending. They tried to have their cake and eat it too, and it fucked everyone over.

---
But for you I came this far across the tracks, 10 miles above the limit with no seatbelt
Now Playing: Minecraft, Pokemon BD, World Flipper
... Copied to Clipboard!
Punished_Blinx
03/24/22 1:10:10 AM
#10:


MrMallard posted...
My issue is this. After nine years, they'd built up this character as like the prime endgoal for Ted Mosby - he's married, he's old and he has kids with this woman. We're seeing all of these foibles with women who are just right for him, or who he doesn't get along with, with the idea that at the end of the show everything's gonna turn out okay.

And if it turns out that the mother of his children had died and he was asking his kids for permission to pursue another woman? That's not inherently a slap in the face.

The mother being dead all along isn't what feels insulting and contrived. It's the fact that they strung us along for nine seasons - nine years - during which Ted and Robin CONSISTENTLY get together and break up and where it's hammered in ALL THE GODDAMN TIME that they aren't good for each other as romantic partners. It's that three episodes before the grand finale, they have a final goodbye moment where Ted realises that he's being petty and jealous and he lets Robin go. He lets her go, and he's happy, and then he finally meets the love of his life.

And then NOPE, MY TRUE LOVE DIED, GUESS I'M GOING AFTER ROBIN AGAIN HUH?

Three episodes ago, they made a grand, sweeping gesture of Ted and Robin finding happiness apart. And they dismantled the entire happy ending of the season in two episodes to fit an ending they came up with when the show was first airing.

Every time they got together, the breakup was devastating. One of the last episodes of the show makes a point of providing closure for the pairing. They build up to Ted meeting the love of his life all season, Robin gets married, and in the final episode - the FINAL EPISODE - Robin and Barney break up, Ted's wife dies, and the closure they just provided for Ted and Robin as a couple doesn't mean shit any more.

And the reason it stings so much is because I grew up with the show, and I was expecting an ending that lived up to the promise of the show. And by the textbook definition, Ted met the mother of his children - promise fulfilled. But they barely have any screentime together, and then she dies so Ted can have some male pain and pursue a relationship that time and time again has been proven to be toxic and untenable for both of them. They could have pulled this ending halfway through the show's run, or they could have just not written a perfect closing for these characters and their relationships before taking a jackhammer to it. They could have pulled this ending if they didn't get Ted and Robin together four or so times over the course of the show, breaking them up in the most unceremonious, seething and petty of grounds to convince the audience that it was never gonna happen. Everything they did leading up to the finale made the ending completely untenable, and the only reason to keep it is because they filmed the kid characters at the start of the show reacting to this series of events. By the time they hit season 9, that ending just didn't work any more. So they didn't make a more fitting ending for the season, or a more fitting season for the ending. They tried to have their cake and eat it too, and it fucked everyone over.

All good points.

I started watching How I Met Your Father which is what inspired this. Interestingly in that one they've already decided one of the main cast members is the Dad. But I wonder if they're waiting and see who Duff has the strongest connection with before actually committing to anyone.

---
A Fallen Mascot
... Copied to Clipboard!
Dakimakura
03/24/22 1:11:30 AM
#11:


It was kind of an amazing ending if they just left the final scene as the scene where they meet in the rain at the train stop. Everything else was already so highly implied that it could easily be assumed if someone wanted to go there, if not then they could just enjoy the simple ending.

---
This is signature
Not waste of data at all
... Copied to Clipboard!
Medussa
03/24/22 1:13:37 AM
#12:


MrMallard posted...


i think you can put this guy down for a no, lol.

---
Boom! That's right, this is all happening! You cannot change the channel now!
It's frozen water. They call it ice, and it's going to change the world!
... Copied to Clipboard!
skermy
03/24/22 1:15:21 AM
#13:


I didnt see the ending yet

---
I love gaming
... Copied to Clipboard!
#14
Post #14 was unavailable or deleted.
I4NRulez
03/24/22 1:24:40 AM
#15:


Ted was a toxic asshole and was constantly trying to manipulate Robin.

Then the mother dies and he's like "welp let me fuck with Robin again"

All while knowing that she MARRIED his best friend.

---
The night brims with defiled scum,and is permeated by their rotten stench.
Just think. Now you're all set to hunt and kill to your heart's content.
... Copied to Clipboard!
ChocoboMog123
03/24/22 1:26:23 AM
#16:


MrMallard posted...

And the problem with that is that it's a fucking sitcom. The show isn't just about the characters, the show IS the characters. Shoehorning in some character you don't meet until the last season, at the earliest, isn't ever going to be satisfying. There was no situation where everyone could be happy, and certainly they could have let the ending land better, but the idea of it being Robin and the little twist isn't the slap in the face people pretend it is. At least the mystery is resolved, at least there's a logic to the story, it could have been so much worse.

---
"You're sorely underestimating the power of nostalgia goggles." - adjl
http://www.smbc-comics.com/comics/20110218.gif
... Copied to Clipboard!
GawainIndoril
03/24/22 1:27:05 AM
#17:


I've never seen an episode or even more than like 2 minutes of that show.

---
The artist formerly known as RebelElite791
... Copied to Clipboard!
gigageek1500
03/24/22 1:29:16 AM
#18:


I'm most mad about undoing all of Barney and Robin's growth, separately and together. I'm not on the Ted's-the-worst train, but to me he's basically scaffolding for the show, whatever about him. But Barney especially learned a lot over the years, then lol nope

---
"Like you're standing in front of them with your hands behind your back, and then present a small ribbon-wrapped gift to them."
Duskmon on the colon
... Copied to Clipboard!
Punished_Blinx
03/24/22 1:36:57 AM
#19:


ChocoboMog123 posted...
And the problem with that is that it's a fucking sitcom. The show isn't just about the characters, the show IS the characters. Shoehorning in some character you don't meet until the last season, at the earliest, isn't ever going to be satisfying. There was no situation where everyone could be happy, and certainly they could have let the ending land better, but the idea of it being Robin and the little twist isn't the slap in the face people pretend it is. At least the mystery is resolved, at least there's a logic to the story, it could have been so much worse.

The interesting thing is that somehow they actually did manage to find a Mother who seemed to mostly live up to the hype. Which was why so many people got so pissed lol. I see what you're saying though.

But yeah the long ass gap between meeting the Mother and the story to the kids was always going to be awkward to work around and they never figured that out.

gigageek1500 posted...
I'm most mad about undoing all of Barney and Robin's growth, separately and together. I'm not on the Ted's-the-worst train, but to me he's basically scaffolding for the show, whatever about him. But Barney especially learned a lot over the years, then lol nope

I was overall okay with that. Barney did grow. He reverts back to his old ways for a little bit after his divorce but ends up changing and maturing completely when he has a kid. I think all of that is relatable but yeah needed a lot more room to breathe after spending an entire season on their wedding.

---
A Fallen Mascot
... Copied to Clipboard!
YugiNoob
03/24/22 1:38:59 AM
#20:


GawainIndoril posted...
I've never seen an episode or even more than like 2 minutes of that show.
So you're posting in a topic about it...why?

And I didn't really care about the ending. It was a pretty standard shot at the feels cop out, but I watched the show more for the individual episodes rather than character development. Like from what I heard people didn't like how Barney went from player king of New York City to respect woomun when he first held his newborn daughter. But for me the enjoyment came from all the dumb shit he did beforehand, and his defining personality being so abruptly changed didn't change that.

But this is coming from a guy who gives zero fucks about stories. I like fighting games and given the opportunity, will skip the story in any game I play.

---
@taylorswift13
I want to rub my junk over every square inch of your body taylor - No_U_L7
... Copied to Clipboard!
Punished_Blinx
03/24/22 1:47:10 AM
#21:


As mean as the death angle of it is it does give some of the older scenes like this more meaning

https://youtu.be/5kr9uPjvgx8

Although that was late enough they probably knew where they were taking it. Dunno if there were some older scenes that also implied it.

---
A Fallen Mascot
... Copied to Clipboard!
Sariana21
03/24/22 2:02:06 AM
#22:


Didnt the series start with Ted mourning the loss of his fiance? Is he an agent of death or something? Robin should run away far and fast.

---
___
Sari, Mom to DS (07/04) and DD (01/08); Pronouns: she/her/hers
... Copied to Clipboard!
Dakimakura
03/24/22 2:09:54 AM
#23:


Punished_Blinx posted...
As mean as the death angle of it is it does give some of the older scenes like this more meaning

Although that was late enough they probably knew where they were taking it. Dunno if there were some older scenes that also implied it.

The whole reason that episode exists is foreshadowing the death.

---
This is signature
Not waste of data at all
... Copied to Clipboard!
omega cookie
03/24/22 2:13:15 AM
#24:


YugiNoob posted...
So you're posting in a topic about it...why?
Because that's Rebel. That should tell you everything you need to know.

---
FFRK: BRKB - Eiko - Guardian Mog
... Copied to Clipboard!
Axiom
03/24/22 2:17:57 AM
#25:


It was a bad show that had a bad ending. Nothing to be forgiven. It stayed consistent
... Copied to Clipboard!
gigageek1500
03/24/22 2:19:27 AM
#26:


Punished_Blinx posted...
Dunno if there were some older scenes that also implied it.
Not sure about the timeline, but was she alive at the reunion with "sandwiches" when he says "Where's my wife?"

---
"Like you're standing in front of them with your hands behind your back, and then present a small ribbon-wrapped gift to them."
Duskmon on the colon
... Copied to Clipboard!
Punished_Blinx
03/24/22 2:33:36 AM
#27:


gigageek1500 posted...
Not sure about the timeline, but was she alive at the reunion with "sandwiches" when he says "Where's my wife?"

She dies in 2023 and I think the reunions are all in the 2010s?

---
A Fallen Mascot
... Copied to Clipboard!
GawainIndoril
03/24/22 9:57:43 AM
#28:


omega cookie posted...
Because that's Rebel. That should tell you everything you need to know.
It was on the front page of CE and I was bored. Sorry to offend you over your shitty sitcom lol

---
The artist formerly known as RebelElite791
... Copied to Clipboard!
omega cookie
03/24/22 2:16:36 PM
#29:


GawainIndoril posted...
offend
You overestimate your importance to an extreme degree.

---
FFRK: BRKB - Eiko - Guardian Mog
... Copied to Clipboard!
Smiffwilm
03/24/22 2:20:58 PM
#30:


It's a prime example of where you may have had an ending in mind for your story when you started, but as time goes on you ABSOLUTELY NEED to change it.

---
My Mario Maker 2 ID is 6RG-5XK-JCG
... Copied to Clipboard!
ScarfForLife
03/24/22 2:22:27 PM
#31:


pauIie posted...
nah fuck that ending

Smiffwilm posted...
It's a prime example of where you may have had an ending in mind for your story when you started, but as time goes on you ABSOLUTELY NEED to change it.

Also agree with this 100%. And they were open to changing when they thought they might be cancelled after the first season because they admitted they were going to say Victoria was the mother.

---
Father of 3
... Copied to Clipboard!
Irony
03/24/22 2:22:34 PM
#32:


Fuck no

---
I am Mogar, God of Irony and The Devourer of Topics.
... Copied to Clipboard!
DrizztLink
03/24/22 2:28:21 PM
#33:


The alt ending is the real ending.

https://youtu.be/nhB5oQgQpOI

---
http://guidesmedia.ign.com/guides/9846/images/slowpoke.gif https://i.imgur.com/M8h2ATe.png
https://i.imgur.com/6ezFwG1.png
... Copied to Clipboard!
MrToothHasYou
03/24/22 2:54:55 PM
#34:


I think the biggest failure of the series is that it tells basically the same story that "Definitely, Maybe" told in under 2 hours, only it took 9 years and doesn't do it as well.

---
An Injury to One is an Injury to All
https://iww.org/
... Copied to Clipboard!
burns112233
03/24/22 3:04:06 PM
#35:


The thing is, the show wasn't meant to last nine seasons.

I think they only planned out like 3 years worth of material and recorded the ending thinking it wouldn't last long.

Then the show kept getting extended and of course the creators aren't going to say no to money.

The bad choice was thinking they had to use the recorded ending. They should have been like, you know what this was the original plan, but the way these characters interacted and grew over the last 9 years, we have to change it, but they stuck with it.
... Copied to Clipboard!
garan
03/24/22 3:51:54 PM
#36:


pauIie posted...
nah fuck that ending
... Copied to Clipboard!
MICHALECOLE
03/24/22 4:14:22 PM
#37:


The wife was a fan of the band the unicorns and owns a copy of the album who will cut our hair when were gone and Ted has a mustard plug poster and likes ska

thats my favorite part of the show
... Copied to Clipboard!
#38
Post #38 was unavailable or deleted.
Teh_Dr_Phil
03/26/22 1:10:50 AM
#39:


pauIie posted...
nah fuck that ending


---
Yep.
... Copied to Clipboard!
#40
Post #40 was unavailable or deleted.
PMarth2002
03/26/22 1:14:23 AM
#41:


I only saw the first few seasons and never finished.

---
They have taken untold millions that they never toiled to earn
But without our brain and muscle not a single wheel can turn
... Copied to Clipboard!
pfh1001
03/26/22 1:21:55 AM
#42:


pauIie posted...
nah fuck that ending
... Copied to Clipboard!
Scintillant
03/26/22 1:33:31 AM
#43:


I liked the ending.

I think even though it wasn't what I hoped for, and Cristin Milioti is so unbelievably fabulous that something even fictionally bad happening to her breaks my heart, it kind of is just a reflection of Ted's journey overall.

I think one of the key themes with the show is being in the right place at the right time, and for Ted and Robin it just never was. Ted (and Robin too) goes through this with a lot of his other relationships (almost all of the major ones, actually), and I think that's what the creators wanted to convey. Even the speech Klaus gives to Ted about the German word reflects this (to me at least).

I think Ted is just the kind of guy who grew to roll with the punches and once he and Robin found themselves in that special place together it all worked out.

It wasn't my first choice as an ending, but I think it was cute enough of an ending for Ted and Robin.

---
whats cat up to
... Copied to Clipboard!
HovaRex
03/26/22 1:54:07 AM
#44:


I stopped watching it by then, but friends have filled me in. It's just Robin right?

Cause yeah, that's lame af.

---
I come back to you now, at the turn of the tide.
... Copied to Clipboard!
#45
Post #45 was unavailable or deleted.
HovaRex
03/26/22 1:57:29 AM
#46:


[LFAQs-redacted-quote]


Oh that's a whole other thing. Idk I don't think I like it.

---
I come back to you now, at the turn of the tide.
... Copied to Clipboard!
AlCalavicci
03/26/22 2:30:01 AM
#47:


stupid ending was stupid

---
http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20111123223446/simpsons/images/9/99/K.png
I didn't even give you my coat!
... Copied to Clipboard!
cjsdowg
03/26/22 3:12:26 AM
#48:


People have made great points. But also Barney grew as a person and they reverted that just so we can have the told toxic relationship.

---
To be a poor man is hard, but to be a poor race in a land of dollars is the very bottom of hardships.
W.E.B. Du Bois
... Copied to Clipboard!
Topic List
Page List: 1