As if I should have to say this, but obviously...
WARNING--SPOILERS ABOUNDING
Last night was the series finale of CBS's How I Met Your Mother. I've been a casual fan since the start--not watching it regularly, but definitely enjoying any episode I saw.
Two years ago, I caught a new episode as it was airing. I, for some reason, was instantly hooked. I watched what I could find, and watched any new releases. I even tried to watch all previous episodes before last year's Mother reveal (failed mainly due to lack of access to Internet the few days before). I did finally watch all the episodes ever, so I had caught up before this season started.
I'll be honest, I was worried when I heard their plan to extend one long weekend over an entire, full-length season. And while I wasn't completed disappointed, some of those earlier episodes (looking at you, "Bedtime Stories"), it definitely had some well-hit high points. "How Your Mother Met Me" was one of the best episodes I've seen and definitely helped us as viewers to see her more as a person rather than a goal.
And last night? I liked a lot of it. BUT! Here's what I didn't like:
WARNING--SPOILERS ABOUNDING
Last night was the series finale of CBS's How I Met Your Mother. I've been a casual fan since the start--not watching it regularly, but definitely enjoying any episode I saw.
Two years ago, I caught a new episode as it was airing. I, for some reason, was instantly hooked. I watched what I could find, and watched any new releases. I even tried to watch all previous episodes before last year's Mother reveal (failed mainly due to lack of access to Internet the few days before). I did finally watch all the episodes ever, so I had caught up before this season started.
I'll be honest, I was worried when I heard their plan to extend one long weekend over an entire, full-length season. And while I wasn't completed disappointed, some of those earlier episodes (looking at you, "Bedtime Stories"), it definitely had some well-hit high points. "How Your Mother Met Me" was one of the best episodes I've seen and definitely helped us as viewers to see her more as a person rather than a goal.
And last night? I liked a lot of it. BUT! Here's what I didn't like:
- Barney and Robin's divorce--I've heard valid arguments that it couldn't have lasted, and I agree to a point. My main issue was the fact that we just spend an entire season on their wedding weekend! It's like the Kim Kardashian/Kris Humphries ordeal--you put a whole lot of effort into the hullaboo, and seriously, it's over like *snap*. If it had been a two to three episode arc, that would have been okay, but it wasn't.
- Teaser information--what was the deal with Barney's baby sitch? Does he have custody? Just super duper supportive? What the hell?
And Marshall/Lily's third child--how can you drop that on us, and then be like, Nope, no information about that child. - Timeline run-through--Let's literally go through 25 years of time in the span of 40 minutes. (Fall '05 flashback as earliest, 2030 as latest). All that happened in that time-span? A whole lot. And while, Penny & Luke, you're cool with your dad dating again after your mom's death six years ago, we're not. We literally just learned her name and not yet okay with her death.
- The last two minutes, pretty much--so, I could have been okay if they had cut off everything at Ted/Tracy's wedding. Tracy could have died still (I would have managed), and we learn that we're learning all this because she's just died. Maybe he wants the kids to know as much as possible, so they feel they have more time with her. I don't know. All I know is that the Return of the French Horn? Not cool, guys.
- The Pilot replay--I get it. Sometimes, after a few years, you do rekindle an old flame. I've seen the news stories about people finding one another again after an extended amount of time. And it's entirely plausible, if vomit-inducingly cliché, that Ted and Robin do get back together in their later years. It's one of the lessons from HIMYM that we loved--life doesn't always turn out with a bow on top.
But another lesson of the show was how we change and grow as time passes. How we learn from our experiences and mistakes. And the Blue French Horn scene remake? Well...shows that all those lessons that led him to Tracy McConnell? Irrelevant, 'cause that former Canadian pop star turned worldwide news sensation was the one in the end all along. - The Ending wasn't fit for the length of time we invested--Bays & Thomas have said all along that the ending was set from the beginning. And if the original Mother choice of Victoria (back when the show thought it wasn't going to be renewed) had been that? Well, I would have been cool with this ending. But we been following Ted's journey to Tracy for NINE. LONG. YEARS. And this is the payoff?