Hello Friends,
With the end of How I Met Your Mother last night, millions of viewers experienced the conclusion of one of this generations most influential television shows. If you’re twenty something years old like myself, this show probably took up a large percentage of your life. It made me want to move to New York City (though it was filmed in LA) and have friends like Marshall and Lily and get drunk at McClarens. And I’m sure the show has influenced tons of people to resort back to becoming hopeless Romantics like Ted Mosby. But after the finale aired last night, social media was screaming with outrage…and I’m here to ask, why? Yes, the series had nine seasons leading up to explaining how Ted met the mother of his children and she ends up dying. People are complaining that they should have stopped watching after the first season because this event rendered the remaining eight meaningless. But let’s be real, as the series went on, the search for the mother was put on the back-burner in all of our minds and our main focus was shifted to the development of these characters and their friendships. The mother wasn’t even introduced until the final season, and although she was a delightful and cute character, she barely had any impact on the series as whole. The bottom line is, the title of the show is misleading because it distorts the overall theme that How I Met Your Mother stood for.
This was a show that leveled with the hardships of life and taught us all the sometimes everything doesn’t work out as planned, and that’s ok. The finale summarized this pretty well. We learn shortly into the episode that Barney and Robin’s season-long anticipated wedding has already ended in divorce after only three years. But with the characters we got to know before this point was that all that shocking? Barney was never supposed to be a married man and the argument could be made that he felt pressured into the marriage by the people he was surrounded with (Lily and Marshall/Ted’s constant search for love). He decided to marry Robin in a state of emotional vulnerability. This is further solidified later in the episode when Barney reveals to the entire gang that his “womanizer way” is who he is and he wished they would just accept that. Robin’s side of the marriage also shows an obvious sign it was never meant to last. In the episode prior to the finale, Robin reveals to Ted that she thinks he is the one she should be marrying after she finds out he is the one who tracked down her locket. After this is blurted out, it is pretty clear that Robin’s heart is not fully invested into the impending marriage. But whatever! The marriage ends and both characters still go on to be successful in different ways. Barney becomes a good father and Robin goes on to be a famous worldwide news anchor. This is a perfect example of life’s setbacks not being detrimental.
We see similar hurdles overcome by Lily and Marshall in the finale. Lily’s main struggle is keeping the gang together, while Marshall hates the corporate lawyer job he is stuck with since he gave up the judge position to go to Italy with his family. Even in the midst of this, we find out that the two will be having their third child, which seems to belittle any other drama they are experiencing. Eventually, Marshall does get offered a judgeship in Queens. The day of Ted’s wedding, Marshall also reveals that he will be running for the Supreme Court. That same day the gang is reunited, so both characters get what they wanted in the long run. The hindrances these characters endured were realistic and show that life does not follow any sort of pre-determined plan.
Finally there is Ted. Who after 9 long seasons finally falls in love with “the one.” After a perpetual engagement they finally get married and it is revealed that she gets sick and dies. This outraged a lot of people, but the final scene justifies it completely. The end of the episode shows Ted conversing with his kids and finishing the story of how he met their mother. After he finishes the kids basically say, “This is bullshit you’re in love with Robin, moms been dead for six years now so go be with her.” The series ends with Ted going to Robin’s apartment with the blue horn from season one and standing outside her window to parallel the same event that took place when they first met. So it is implied that Ted and Robin end up together. Now, is this REALLY that surprising? How many times did we hear Ted confess his love for Robin throughout the series? It was borderline obsession if you ask me. I think that after Robin and Barney were finally married, Ted clung on to the first girl he met, the mother, to deal with the wound that was left by his best friend marrying the girl that he loved. This wasn’t a series about how Ted met the mother, but about how Ted always loved Robin, even after he met the mother of his children.
I think that the worlds outrage with this finale is a perfect example of how society hates to be slapped in the face with reality (sad that Marshall will never slap Barney again). We use the entertainment industry, television, and movies to escape from everyday life – a world where shit happens and no one ever gets exactly what they want. This concept is what How I Met Your Mother wanted to display in its finale. Friends grow apart, relationships end and people die, but through it all, the human race perseveres. We are resilient. Our hearts break but we move on. Our job sucks but we get out of bed every morning and go. The series could have ended with Ted living happily ever after with his wife, Robin and Barney sticking it out, and the whole gang staying close until they die, but unfortunately that isn’t how things pan out. So don’t hate the series for misleading you, instead learn from the lessons that it has offered us. Friends might not always be there, but they will be for the big moments and rough times. If you have a goal, keep working towards it, even if it takes years. And if you love something, don’t bury it inside of you, speak up and chase after it.
Live, Love, Learn,