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[Wolf Akela]

Just finished watching the entire series for the first time.

My god, I understand the whole outrage on the internet about the ending now. I've been a Ted/Robin fan since day one, never bought Robin/Barney at all, but they already deserved it. We already went through the amazing ending from Sunrise.
- Teddy officially and completely lets go of Robin. Robin flying could've been done a bit better, but the idea and symbolism were solid. Fantastic choice of music.
- Barney passed the torch. He gave the playbook, passed lessons about always being with friends, and pretty much said goodbye to his old ways.

This episode already made me accept Ted/Robin just isn't happening. Barney and Robin gets married, then 5 minuter they're divorced. The entire last season was already stretched beyond belief, and it was all about the buildup to the wedding, which they trashed in 5 minutes. I was not a fan of Ted asking his kids permission to date Robin, though the blue French horn was nice I guess.

I already watched the alternate ending even before I watched the series, but I decided to watch it again. It's just a flatout better ending. It ends with the scene that actually answered "how I met your mother".

Overall I'm still happy with the series. I think S6-8 were extremely forgettable. I legit cannot remember anything from those seasons. My favorite scenes were:
- The Sunrise scenes mentioned
- The yellow umbrella scene after Robin left Ted's apartment
- Ted getting busted in when Robin answered the phone and found out he still had a girlfriend ("nothing good ever happens after 2am")
- Season 1 ending when Ted goes home to find Marshall holding Lily's engagement ring.
- Too many Barney scenes to count. I wish Barney's camera superpower lasted more than one episode. It was brought up in a latter episode like... once.
- edit: Remembered the scene where Robin was telling a story to her non-existent kids. What a punch in the gut!

Favorite character: Ted or Robin
Least liked character: Lily. I think she's just overly emotional and incredibly manipulative.

 

[VendettaRed07]

Worst last episode ever

 

[Pop-O-Matic]

Worst last episode ever

Dexter

 

[Davide]

This reminds me I've watched the entire series except for the finale.

I think Series 6 was still pretty good still. Subway Wars, Natural History. The first two seasons were the best, but I don't think it ever got as bad as the last few Friends years and it never fell off a cliff like Community. I binge watched the whole show too and loved it.

 

[arts&crafts]

I actually watched it all except season 8 and I just googled the ending, seems pretty bad. I enjoyed the first 6 seasons though. Ted has to be my least favorite character though, hes just so whiny.

 

[Zen Aku]

Lily is great, Ted is my least favorite.

 

[Goro Majima]

Ted is an asshole and the worst sitcom character of all time

He ruins relationship after relationship because these women don't meet his impossible standards and then bitches and moans that he can't find love. If the whole human race had his standards, we'd go extinct.

The whole ending was a shitshow that invalidated the entire last season where Barney grew tremendously as a person. And they just go "nevermind, Barney doesn't really change"

Awful

 

[Dryk]

Dexter

Within six months of each other too, that was a rough time

 

[Gin-Shiio]

Seasons 1-5 remain among my favorite of all time, but everything that came after was not only forgettable, but downright terrible.

The cast became caricatures of themself, Ted's girlfriends while never meant to last, became episodic fodder that didn't serve much purpose and were hardly even characters. Ted himself became an unlikeable prick, hypocritical beyond belief, and him snatching Victoria at the altar after the same thing had happened to him was what finally broke the camel's back, and the moment I decided to call it quits.

 

[Maintenance]

Such a fucked up ending it soured me on the whole series. Even if I could watch again I wouldn't.

 

[Wolf Akela]

The whole ending was a shitshow that invalidated the entire last season where Barney grew tremendously as a person. And they just go "nevermind, Barney doesn't really change"

Yeah, this did not sit well with me at all. They spent so much time transitioning Barney into someone responsible, suddenly throw that away, but then not really.

I remembered another favorite scene from the series was where Robing was telling a story to her kids... who did not exist. Jesus that was really painful to watch (in a great sad way).

 

[RumblingRosco]

I loved the ending, but generally thought 80-90% of the final season was bad. It was a huge mistake to build-up Barney/Robin's wedding only to crush it all in the course of about an episode.

 

[dejay]

The entire last season was already stretched beyond belief, and it was all about the buildup to the wedding, which they trashed in 5 minutes.

Pretty much the thing that made me quite resentful of the whole show. That season was pure garbage and the pacing was bullshit. Really, you're bringing back slap-bet for a third time for an entire episode?

Whilst I would want the final show to be more spread out, I understand the concern that people would guess the ending very easily if they had multiple episodes to ponder things. But fuck that noise. They're writers; they should have done something better.

To me they just shouldn't have been that married to the original story line/payoff that they had been working towards.

This reminds me I've watched the entire series except for the finale.

I think Series 6 was still pretty good still. Subway Wars, Natural History. The first two seasons were the best, but I don't think it ever got as bad as the last few Friends years and it never fell off a cliff like Community. I binge watched the whole show too and loved it.

The very last season of Friends was actually solid, well written, and produced with, for the most part, dedication from the cast and writers. The seasons between the first few and the last season were crap and mostly lazy.

I remembered another favorite scene from the series was where Robing was telling a story to her kids... who did not exist. Jesus that was really painful to watch (in a great sad way).

My fav episode.

 

[Mighty Chin]

Nope nope nope nope nope nope I loved the show, loved the ending. My only gripe is the show could have ended much sooner. They dragged it out too long.

 

[Jigorath]

I really hated how in the last couple of seasons the showrunners decided to go back and do "sequel episodes" to some of the classics from the first few seasons. Like we really needed to see the Slutty Pumpkin again. I can't think of a better way than that to prove you've long since run out of ideas.

 

[pablito]

Nope nope nope nope nope nope I loved the show, loved the ending.

I don't mind the show's last few seasons like most seem to. But fuck the ending. Undo the character development that over half the main cast goes through over the course of the whole show...in a few minutes. Awful.

 

[Strangelove77]

The show would have been great if it wasn't for Ted.

 

[GonzoCR]

I was already getting tired of the show with the later seasons, but the last one completely ruined it for me. I find it difficult to even go back and watch the earlier episodes as I just get reminded of how it all ends. Really disappointing as I loved the show in its first seasons.

 

[MisterJabo]

Hated the final season as it was airing. Waiting week after week was so painful cause they were really stretching the material thin. Binge watching it on Netflix on the other hand made the final season and its ending somewhat bearable.

 

[Gero]

Not going to lie, other than Ted'a standards for women, I can relate to him. I'm in school for architecture and I really don't think I'll find a job for it but I can teach if I wanted to. There's a girl that I want to date in my circle of friends (She will be Robin), give me 20 more years and we will be together. At least if I stick to Ted's way of life and not have kids and not get married.

 

[Blackpuppy]

I'd always felt that Robin represented an ideal woman for Ted that didn't actually exist. I think we've all had these moments when we've idealized people beyond reason only to find out that they were extremely flawed.

Ted was never supposed to be with Robin; he would be miserable with her. But I had thought the last season was going to be about him learning and evolving.

But nope.

 

[Gero]

Barney should have ended up with the one he broke up with because of the prenup... I thought they were perfect together.

 

[The Real Abed]

I loved how the finale ended.

The whole season leading up to it however was meh.

But it had its moments.

Dexter's finale was terrible though.

As was the four seasons leading up to it.

 

[Phased]

I really hated the final season, however the ending itself I was ok with.

Realistically it's the only ending that even remotely makes sense since he talks Robin up SO fucking much for the entire series it'd be creepy as fuck if that was just how he always talked about 'Aunt Robin'

Spending quite literally an entire goddamn season on that wedding just to split them up within minutes was absolute garbage. I'm glad he ends up with her in the end though.

 

[WrenchNinja]

When I see HIMYM reruns on, I still get angry and change the channel. It has gotten to the point where I can't even watch episodes I used to like without thinking of the insulting ending.

 

[Jest Chillin]

Ted is an asshole and the worst sitcom character of all time

He ruins relationship after relationship because these women don't meet his impossible standards and then bitches and moans that he can't find love. If the whole human race had his standards, we'd go extinct.

The whole ending was a shitshow that invalidated the entire last season where Barney grew tremendously as a person. And they just go "nevermind, Barney doesn't really change"

Awful

He didn't change though. His entire proposal "play" was massively fucked up and manipulative. It was definitely his greatest play in that it's the peak of the mountain that is his fucked up view on women and relationships.

 

[MegaManTrigger]

HIMYM to me is How I Ruined a TV Comedy Show in 9 Seasons

 

[Kamek]

I was upset because I thought Ted truly moved on with the yellow umbrella scene after Robin moved out.

 

[The Real Abed]

I really hated the final season, however the ending itself I was ok with.

Realistically it's the only ending that even remotely makes sense since he talks Robin up SO fucking much for the entire series it'd be creepy as fuck if that was just how he always talked about 'Aunt Robin'

Spending quite literally an entire goddamn season on that wedding just to split them up within minutes was absolute garbage. I'm glad he ends up with her in the end though.

Agreed.

 

[jdstorm]

Worst last episode is still Chuck. What were they thinking. Luckily they managed a complete proper ending a few episodes earlier.

Would like to nominate "the bracket" as one of my favourite HIMYM episodes. That one was fun. Also really liked Bekki Newton (Karma the Stripper) with Barney. Those 2 were the best part of the later seasons and its a shame they got broken up to feed into the Robin trainwreck ending.

 

[maruchan]

Tend perfect match was always Barney, according to the pilot. Teds perfect women.

Loves scotch, check
Can quote obscure ghostbusters lines, check..

Barney was the perfect bro..

 

[pantsmith]

So I'm a HIMYM apologist, and I really like the ending.

The whole series is about grappling with the kind of person you thought you'd be versus the one you end up becoming, constantly selling your dreams short as you try and navigate growing up. Good news is constantly coupled with bad news and theres really no separating the two. Theres a strong emphasis on looking back at the little things that were seemingly innocuous at the time but ultimately led you down your very specific path through life, a combination of optimism and fate.

Anyway: dedicating the entire last season to Barny and Robin's wedding only to divorce them in the final episode was a mistake, from just about every angle. The worst part is they make a really great case for them as a couple. But to be clear, its the way they handled it that was the problem, not that they got divorced. Good, well-meaning people get divorced, its realistic, and I'm mostly convinced it was Robin who couldnt grow up, and not Barney.

That Ted ends up with Robin makes sense - the two of them are impossibly close friends who have both gotten what they wanted out of life (a career in Robin's case, and a family in Ted's). Robin is by no means the mother, and could never replace her, but shes the other love in his life.

Its one of those shows I can probably watch forever. Season 4, 7, and 8 contrast poorly with the other seasons, but its also mostly good up until the end, with some consistant stand out episodes every season.

 

[Tagyhag]

When I see HIMYM reruns on, I still get angry and change the channel. It has gotten to the point where I can't even watch episodes I used to like without thinking of the insulting ending.

Heh, it's kind of the same to me.

I really loved how during the first season they were like "we're not going to treat our audience like idiots, Robin is not a red herring, she will NOT be the mother".

So it's like "OK cool, thanks writers" "SIKE, we never said they wouldn't end up together in the end you idiots, fuck the mother".

 

[gforguava]

Ted is an asshole and the worst sitcom character of all time.

The show would have been great if it wasn't for Ted.

Yes, fellow Ted haters unite. HIMYM was a pretty decent show(mostly) but it was shackled to that horribly coiffed black hole named Ted Mosby and the finale just collapsed the show under his immense terribleness.

 

[Volimar]

They stretched the whole last season out way more than they should have and then the pacing of the last episode is such that you might be fine in thinking that they were abruptly cancelled and had to scramble for an ending. Robin and Barneys wedding/marriage/divorce was awful as an arc.


Btw, if you haven't seen that short of the kids' reacting to their dad keeping them there for years for Comic-Con I think, you should. It's funny.

 

[Volimar]

Yes, fellow Ted haters unite. HIMYM was a pretty decent show(mostly) but it was shackled to that horribly coiffed black hole named Ted Mosby and the finale just collapsed the show under his immense terribleness.

Why don't we take Ross from Friends and have him be the focus for a whole show?

 

[IdreamofHIME]

Best show about a dad telling his kids about how he thought long and hard about raping a drunk girl.

What a mess.

 

[ironmang]

Worst last episode is still Chuck. What were they thinking. Luckily they managed a complete proper ending a few episodes earlier.

Would like to nominate "the bracket" as one of my favourite HIMYM episodes. That one was fun. Also really liked Bekki Newton (Karma the Stripper) with Barney. Those 2 were the best part of the later seasons and its a shame they got broken up to feed into the Robin trainwreck ending.

I liked the Chuck ending lol. The initial response was pretty harsh but I thought fans came around on it after a while.

 

[jviggy43]

Worst last episode ever

lost

 

[MCN]

Worst last episode ever

Star Trek: Enterprise.

 

[Sober]

Should've introduced the mother like in season 4 or 5 even. Could've kept going from there with another regular in the gang for as many more seasons tbh. Just establish that yes she is going to be the mother but it's how her and Ted get there that's the new focus of the story.

Would've been even better if that were true we could have future mother calling bullshit on future Ted's stories as he's narrating them.

 

[Wiped89]

I think I'm the only one on the Internet who liked the ending of How I Met Your Mother.

I feel like it was a great antidote to the typical Hollywood happy ever after endings on every other show.

The ending is like 'this is real life'. Real life isn't always simple. It doesn't always work out the way you expect. People die. People divorce. Things change. It felt like a much more realistic and plausible ending than most shows I've ever seen. It just felt quick because it was condensing all the rest of the next phase of their lives into an hour.

 

[ChubbyHuggs]

Really wish they would have a done a spin off of Marshall and Barney at work. Even just two seasons.

 

[KNT-Zero]

Most people bitch about the ending because Barney & Robin's marriage begins and ends within minutes, in one episode, when they actually were married for years. Do people need to be reminded about whose point of view the show is told from? Ted's. He only skips to the parts he knows about or was told about.

Also yeah, he had that whole "I'm letting you go, Robin" on Sunrise, but those feelings never fade. Robin said that right before he almost got married to Stella: "Of course there is still something between us. That kind of stuff doesn't dissappear without a trace."
If Robin meant literally nothing to Ted, we would've never went far from Season One.

 

[peanutbutterlatte]

I think I'm the only one on the Internet who liked the ending of How I Met Your Mother.

I feel like it was a great antidote to the typical Hollywood happy ever after endings on every other show.

The ending is like 'this is real life'. Real life isn't always simple. It doesn't always work out the way you expect. People die. People divorce. Things change. It felt like a much more realistic and plausible ending than most shows I've ever seen. It just felt quick because it was condensing all the rest of the next phase of their lives into an hour.

That's what I go to for my laugh-track sitcoms, sobering realism!

 

[Symphonia]

Least liked character: Lily. I think she's just overly emotional and incredibly manipulative.

I thought I was alone in thinking this, so this makes me happy. How she treats Marshal just really, really pisses me off, especially when she disappears to San Fransisco for her art degree or whatever it was. And then she made the decision to move to Italy without even discussing it with Marshal. Just a horrible, horrible woman.

 

[Xenoboy]

Fuck Robin, she sucks.

 

[VAD]

What I hate is that they killed Cristina Milloti's character instead of just making Ted being true to his feelings and leaving her for Robin.

 

[Fliesen]

Here's what i feel happened:

The showrunners (obviously) always had this ending in mind. (duh, they shot it, scene with the kids and all).
The show got immensely successful and got renewed over and over again, 2-3 seasons too many for its own good.

Throughout the last 3 seasons, all the build-up about when we'd finally meet the mother was too much, that whole will-they-won't-they Robin shit was re-used too many times, always with increasing degrees of finality. (*cough* the beach scene ...)
(Too many times, Barney met that one soulmate that made him let go off his 'Barney' ways. Too many times Ted realized that Robin and him would never work out - this time for realsies.)

So the whole cocktail of: A shitty last season, over-stretching the audience's patience too many times, as well as their biggest mistake - making the mother just too perfect and loveable for the show's own good, as well as how we then were rushed from meeting her to having to let go off her within a few episodes - is what frustrated so many people.

Imho they should've course corrected. Read the room. Discard the pre-shot footage (they just were too much in love with their clever 'the ending was known almost 10 years ago' idea), and maybe make that the DVD-release extra ending.


I feel like the last season is what will make HIMYM - in my mind - a failed attempt to replicate Friends, which was on a great trajectory but due to a very "risky" premise had to one-up itself again and again and would finally - by not sticking the landing - go down in TV history as the inferior product.

[IMG]https://i.imgur.com/xl2k37d.png[/IMG]

[IMG]https://i.imgur.com/uprm04w.png[/IMG]

 

[Wiped89]

That's what I go to for my laugh-track sitcoms, sobering realism!

It's the ending. They always have more emotional weight, and HIMYM has always had that serious undertone to its story about love and life underneath all the silliness, and of course the padding in the later seasons. No denying that the last series was bad and they strung it out way too long, but the ending was good.