- Lily went to Italy and lived the bohemian lifestyle. She got her art career going and became a mother
- Marshall became a judge and a father
- Barney found the love of his life in his daughter
- Robin traveled the world, became a famous journalist, and rekindled her romance with Ted
- Ted found one of the loves of his life, had the children he wanted, and reconnected with the other love of his life
- Tracy won the lottery twice with Max and Ted, shared a beautiful life with the former, and in the end reunited with Max
I would have done a couple of things differently if I ran the show:
- Show Barney and Robin's marriage breaking down due to irreconcilable differences and the inherent nature of both characters. The way it was done made it seem like they only divorced because of Robin's schedule, which isn't ideal.
- Show Robin playing a huge role in Ted and the kids' grieving. She helps them pull through those difficult times, and we get to see them actually mourn Tracy's death. This would give the audience time to process her death
- We see Robin becoming a part of Ted and the kids' lives as it was hinted in earlier seasons, making it more obvious why Ted would go after Robin six years later
The show misled us!
From the very first episode, where Future Ted says "and that's how I met... your Aunt Robin" we should have known the writers were going to take us for a ride. Misdirection has been used time and again in this show, and it's part of what made it special.
The title doesn't make sense!
Funny retitling aside, they did show us how Ted met their mother. That promise was fulfilled when we saw Ted Mosby meeting Tracy McConnell at the train station.
Why are the kids reacting this way?
Both Ted and Tracy have shown the propensity to tell long-winded stories. It's natural to assume the kids have heard many of their stories and know exactly what is coming. Besides, they already know how their mom and dad met. Future Ted confirms this in "Wait For It":
"You know the short version, the thing with your mom's yellow umbrella."What does the Mother even die of?
That's not really important to the story. But since yellow umbrella is a symbol for cervical cancer, I'd guess that's her illness.
Damn it man, what about the pineapple?
Future Ted says he never found out where the pineapple came from. I believe keeping it a mystery would be a better option. But apparently this will be included as part of the DVD's bonus content.
Robin as a bullfighter?
I don't like the ending! I demand Craig and Carter to change it!
I think we should respect the artists' vision, and if this is how they wanted to end it, then so be it.
This was a wonderful show that gave us many laughs over the years, with just the right amount of real dramatic and poignant moments. It will stand as one of my favorite shows of all time.
Thank you Carter Bays and Craig Thomas! I will miss HIMYM!
Thank you for your post, I love HIMYM and the ending it was just perfect. Most of people we've watched the show from season 1 are pleased with the end.
ReplyDeleteI don't know some references, for example the Yellow Umbrella organization, I share this web on Reddit.
Again, thanks a lot for your post.
Great work, and i cannot agree more with your point of view. Craig Thomas and Carter Bays wrote together one of the most epic love stories of american television's history. Ted's love for Robin was such a thunderstorm that has dared to challenge not only time, Barney's competition, the obstacles and turmoils of the 25 years on camera time (marriage, kids and even death, for Christ's sake), and off camera too, as showed by the desire of some of the cast members, producers and network executives; not only all that, but it was so overwhelming that dared to challenge almost the entire fanbase of its own show. And when that happened, it crossed fiction's frontier and became REAL, something that Craig and Carter realized before everyone. Nothing could stop Ted for lifting the Blue French Horn on that last scene. That's what the Swarkles people and the critics who bashed the finale can't understand. They were also completely clueless of what character Robin really was, something that hides a message of inherent misoginy behind it. HIMYM showed again and again how Robin never trusted Barney, how she found his proposal deplorable (she was basically forced to accept it, if you look at that scene carefully), and how she was always showed as being sickened by his antics, something that happened before, during and after her relantionship with him, from the pilot until the very last episode with the "husband hitting on girls" line. She liked him, but she never respected him as a serious man and partner, and rightfully so, as he never deserved to be respected by her in that sense. And with Ted was always different. She was allergic to the idea of marriage and kids for a good dozen of years, and she miscalculated when she chose Barney, thinking that he offered the easy way for the marriage she wanted, and if she married Ted and the children's thing got it in the way, she would lose him forever, something that almost happened anyway. So the Swarkles people badly wanted her to stay together and forever with a unpredictable, immature and sociophatic man, who would only hurt her, again and again, just because they prefered Barney and Neil Patrick Harris over Ted and Josh Radnor. Too bad, they lose. The Blue French Horn will play forever. Let them deal with that. The only thing that i beg to differ is that i believe that Ted always loved Robin, even during the marriage with Tracy, and that Tracy also loved Max more. It's polemic and very up to debate, but that's my belief.
ReplyDeleteThis is one of the best finale explainers out there.
ReplyDeleteI just have one problem it's the use of the words "pursue", "go after" in the finale. It is quite inaccurate to put it that way for a guy who spent 10 years not returning Robin's feelings for him. The more accurate thing to say would be he gave her the green light she had been waiting for a very long time and thought might never come.
In a way I also believe that Robin is the mother because she steps in to look after his children following Tracy's death. Not many sexes who said they hate kids and love their job would do that.
I have a theory: 2030 is the year Robin turns 50. What if returning his feelings for her then was her present?