[WARNING! SPOILERS AHEAD. IF YOU HAVEN’T WATCHED THE FINALE YET OR ARE PLANNING TO WATCH THE SHOW IN THE NEAR FUTURE, DO NOT READ THIS!]
6,240 minutes. 104 hours. 208 episodes. 9 years. 5 friends. 1 story.
Nine years ago, on September 19, 2005, a father named Ted Mosby began to tell his two kids the long and extremely detailed story of how he met their mother; and so began “How I Met Your Mother,” a story filled with years of extraneous gags, escapades, and tales filled with enough laughs, heartaches and memories to last a lifetime.
The show based itself around a group of five friends in New York City called “The Gang,” consisting of Marshall Eriksen (played by Jason Segel), his wife Lily Aldrin (played by Alyson Hannigan), the womanizer Barney Stinson (played by Neil Patrick Harris), the ambitious reporter Robin Scherbatsky (played by Cobie Smulders), and the hopeful and optimistic architect Ted Mosby (played by Josh Radnor).
It’s been nine years since its debut and the time has come for the iconic sitcom to say its last goodbye, with a one hour series finale entitled “The Last Forever, Part 1 & 2.” On Monday, March 31, 2014, at 7pm, the world saw one of the last sitcoms from the early 2000s, sadly, end its comedic reign. Did it live up to the nine years of its existence?
Part 1 opens up with one of the most pivotal and memorable event to happen on the entire show, a flashback to the inclusion of Robin Scherbatsky in The Gang. For those unaware of the show’s plot points, Robin is the girl that Ted had a hard time letting go of after their relationship ended. This tie-back worked well for the entirety of the last season which focused on Robin’s marriage to Barney and how Ted has to accept it. The show’s creators, Carter Bays and Craig Thomas, use nostalgic moments as a chance to give fans a nice recollection of the events that made them love the show.
We then then fast forward to the wedding as Ted begins to discuss his move to Chicago. Meanwhile, Barney notices the bass player for the wedding band (Ted’s future wife, THE MOTHER) as the woman that told him to pursue Robin when Barney was left despondent with himself years prior. Discovering she is single, Barney tries to set her up with Ted with his iconic pickup line “Haaaaave you met Ted?” Ted quickly turns this meeting down, insisting he leave early for Chicago.
The show’s creators always utilize the theme of destiny and chance into the show, showing how every small moment and decision can impact your entire life. Here, Ted narrowly misses his encounter with The Mother. The Gang then bid their farewells as they say their last goodbyes to each other. However, a final high five between Barney and Ted, a big and epic one, results in Ted missing his train. While waiting, an old lady sitting next to Ted encourages him to chase after the bass player, who coincidentally is standing less than ten feet away from where he is sitting.
The show then goes through a series of time jumps before returning to their first encounter, an interesting way to tell the story in my opinion. Two days after the wedding, Marshall and Lily, distraught over Ted’s departure, find Ted at their usual booth in their usual bar, MacLaren’s Grill & Pub.It is revealed that Ted has met The Mother, and upon Marshall and Lily’s encouragement, Ted calls her. The show fast forwards to 2015, where The Gang has regrouped at MacLaren’s to discuss wedding ideas for Ted, now engaged. It is later revealed that The Mother is pregnant, therefore postponing the wedding. Despite this good news, Barney reveals that his marriage with Robin isn’t going so well due to her work as a traveling reporter.
The show then jumps AGAIN to 2016, where The Gang catches up with one another at Ted’s house. Marshall, sick of his desk job, hates his boss. Barney and Robin reveal that after three years of constant traveling and strain on their marriage, they have gotten a divorce. However, the mood lightens up when Lily reveals that she is pregnant with her third child.  From this point on, the show goes downhill. Now that Barney is single, he resorts back to his frivolous ways, picking up girls at MacLaren’s and drinking till the break of dawn. Robin continues to travel constantly as a reporter while Marshall & Lily and Ted & the Mother live their respected lives happily together. At the annual rooftop Halloween party at Marshall and Lily’s apartment (a tie back to prior events in the show), Ted, The Mother, Marshall, and Lily all enjoy each other’s company. Robin suddenly shows up, hoping for company while in town. The separation between Robin and 
The Gang and Barney’s womanizing ways reach a boiling point when Robin purposefully and reluctantly states that she can no longer be part of The Gang, distraught over Barney’s behavior and her unresolved feelings for Ted. A heartbroken Lily cries in their empty apartment as Part 1 ends.
In my opinion, the creators and writers made a very careless decision to have Barney resort back to his past ideals and ways. Because up to the point of the marriage, he had been rebuilding himself as a person: respecting women, cherishing Robin, and preparing to settle down. Now that he’s back to his old ways, nine years of character development has gone down the drain. Robin’s decision to leave The Gang provided a biting and solemn aspect to the normally comedic show as the characters were left to accept and deal with the future as it came towards them. Seeing Lily’s face in tears, alone in the empty apartment reminded me that reality was still lurking among them. In a show composed ENTIRELY of flashbacks, this is the point where the glory days begin to whither.
The year is now 2018. Barney, Marshall, Lily and Ted are all hanging out at the bar. Barney insists they stay out till three in the morning, but now that Ted, Marshall, and Lily are parents, they decline the offer and propose a 9:45 dismissal. As Barney begins to flirt with women here and there, Lily condones his behavior, saying and repeating my opinion: “You haven’t changed.” Barney then defends himself saying “This is who I am. Why can’t you let me be me? If I couldn’t make it work with Robin, then I can’t make it work with anyone!” This ALMOST justifies his actions as the show does well with accepting people for who they are: Ted with his excessive optimism, Robin and her discontent of having children, just to mention a few. Now, here comes the big moment for Barney; the year is 2018 and Barney finds himself to have fathered a child. His new daughter, Ellie, causes his character to finally reach the destination 
that the creators had set for him as he criticizes the provocative clothing of the women at the bar and even supports the 9:45 bedtime for himself. With this all said and done, Barney’s character arc reaches a rocky yet fulfilling closure as he embraces fatherhood with open arms and ends his hedonistic voyages for good.
Later on, Ted runs into Robin, now a famous reporter, while showing his daughter, Penny, the GNB building in downtown New York City, a building he designed. I personally loved this scene because it showed Robin’s kind and loving nature towards Ted. Ted’s usual “lovey-dovey” demeanor towards Robin becomes almost platonic as Penny’s presence becomes a symbol of how Ted will never go down the road towards Robin again. Robin’s eyes show a strong sense of happiness and sorrow as she introduces herself to Penny. It’s a very crucial and memorable seen as it reminds the viewer of how much time has actually passed. A long series of events happen afterwards: Ted re-proposes to The Mother and Marshall announces he is running for New York Supreme Court judge, therefore updating his name from “Judge Fudge” to “Fudge Supreme.” The group toasts to Ted and Marshall’s good fortune and take a picture of themselves at the bar, in their usual booth. This is iconic to fans of the show for the opening sequence features The Gang’s first photo together, and this seems to be their last.
The story then resumes to Ted’s narration as he states that The Mother and Ted have been married, and that he never stopped loving The Mother, not even for a second up until her untimely death in 2024. (Here come the tears.) This is the point that stirred up many fans. Why devote a season to meet The mother if you’re just going to kill her off?! UGH!!
To counteract this unnecessary plot point, the story goes back to 2013, where Ted musters up the courage to talk The Mother, who then reveals herself to be named Tracy McConnell (Ted Mosby, Tracy McConnell, TM. They’re perfect for each other!). After talking about Ted’s ex-girlfriend, Tracy’s ex-roommate, they find that they have crossed paths numerous times in their lives prior to their first meeting with each other. Tracy then remarks “Funny how sometimes you just find things,” and with that said, the two re-introduce themselves as they stand under the most iconic symbol of the entire show, the yellow umbrella. Then, Ted says the sentence that fans of the entire series have been waiting for: “and that kids, is how I met your mother.”
Now, I wish I could end it there personally; however, it wasn’t what the writers had in store for us. The year is 2030 and Ted has just wrapped up the story to his kids, but they don’t buy it. They insist that the story was merely about how Ted is in love with their “Aunt” Robin, which Ted refutes immediately, saying “You completely missed the point. I kept this story short and to the point, and you completely missed it” (A little joke for fans of the show). 
The kids then encourage their dad to ask Robin out expressing their deep love for her and the obvious chemistry between her and Ted. Instead, Ted races to her apartment and stands outside of her window holding a blue french horn, which Ted stole for her on their first date. Why? Well, it’s a long story.
That blue horn did much more then just beckon Robin into another relationship, it showed Ted moving on, with enough ease and grace. For him, it’s a hard thing to do, but knowing that its Robin that he’s falling back into, he’s confident enough to give it another try. Alas, that’s how the story ends, take it or leave it.
Following the finale I checked my social networking sites and noticed a very divisive consensus between fans and friends, some praising the show for giving them the ending they’ve wanted for nine years and tying up all loose ends (except the pineapple) and some criticizing it saying how it completely destroys years of character development and plot. Despite these mixed feelings, the show is now officially over; whatever side you choose to go for is up to you. I, personally, am torn right down the middle; as much as I wanted Ted to be with Robin, the final season had pushed me towards Tracy and Ted being together and Barney and Robin being together. To rip that away in the final episode was a very clumsy and rushed ending to a great show.
Thanks for the memories ” How I Met Your Mother.” Regardless of your mishaps, your successful nine year run cannot be forgotten. You had your twists and turns, your ups and downs, but you proved to be all we ever wanted you to be: a nostalgic story of friendship and relationships that made us laugh, cry, and cheer. We took you for what you were and acknowledged every moment, every piece of advice, and every joke. Every slap, every high five, every rule of the Bro Code, and every play in The Playbook was worth the long and endearing journey. Although your finale didn’t go out with a bang, you proved to be of some worth, and, in my opinion, ended what was a “legen-wait for it-dary” run. The Monday 7pm slot on CBS will never be the same. Thank you and farewell.
