How I Met Your Mother - Part 4

[Nathan]

Did anyone else hate how Tracy took a picture of the whole gang, without her in it? Made her feel kinda less important, since it made it seem she never became an integral part of the whole gang. And then we get the entire montage where she gets killed off like an afterthought, which really drives it home.

 

[Teelie]

BTW, one thing I feel really slighted about...there should've been a funeral scene. Just one last time, showing the gang together, showing how much they support Ted...even though they drifted apart, they are still there for him. We should've gotten to see that.

That was one thing I alluded to in a previous post. "She's alive. She's sick. She's been dead for six years." There was no funeral or memorial service. No group reunion to bridge the being sick scene to her being gone for six years gap.

Did anyone else hate how Tracy took a picture of the whole gang, without her in it? Made her feel kinda less important, since it made it seem she never became an integral part of the whole gang. And then we get the entire montage where she gets killed off like an afterthought, which really drives it home.

That was yet another callback, this time to the photos of the opening credits.

 

[runawayboulder]

Did anyone else hate how Tracy took a picture of the whole gang, without her in it? Made her feel kinda less important, since it made it seem she never became an integral part of the whole gang. And then we get the entire montage where she gets killed off like an afterthought, which really drives it home.

Not really to me because when the pic was shown it was like a nod to the opening credits.

 

[SpideyFan866]

I'd advise anyone who had a problem with the finale to go back and rewatch "How Your Mother Met Me", and every other segment with the mother.


They really did lay the groundwork for this twist, and have a plotted out reason for why it works.

 

[Webfoot Hero]

Robin doesn't seem to be traveling the world anymore. Her being on the bus, having an apartment in Manhattan with dogs, implies to me that she put down roots. My guess is she is now an anchor on WWN or something to that extent. It wasn't explicitly spelled out, but the dogs certainly imply as much.

That's sort of what I got from that but I still think she's still travelling at that point. Ted and Robin act like they haven't seen each other in awhile so I'm thinking she's more like an anchor that still goes to foreign locations when big stories break.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

I get why they did the horn also. This show is all about call backs and the French horn is the ultimate callback in the show's mythos. But I feel like its addition really shorted Ted and a simple phone call would've gotten the point across and made his final arc that much stronger.

All fair points.

However, I disagree with the idea that Ted wasn't Tracy's one. Granted, we don't know much about Tracy, but I feel like her boyfriend who died is more her Robin. Ted and Tracy completed each other. At least that is the vibe I got.

I can get behind that.

BTW, one thing I feel really slighted about...there should've been a funeral scene. Just one last time, showing the gang together, showing how much they support Ted...even though they drifted apart, they are still there for him. We should've gotten to see that.

Completely agree. Which is why I think the entire structure of the last season was a bad idea. I really wish they had spread the finale over the whole season. Have the wedding in the first 4 or 5 episodes. Devote the rest of the season to Ted and Tracy. So you can have those moments and thus the acceptance.

 

[Llama_Shepherd]

Was it ever though? That is kind of the point.

No. Which I think is ridiculous.

But is that not ignoring the show for your own personal feelings on it? I understand that you don't like it, and you are completely entitled to that. But that doesn't invalidate the ending from a storytelling standpoint.

I admit a story was told. I just think it invalidates a lot of what came before.

What do you mean here by "everything else"?

Seasons 7-9- Barney puts behind his playboy ways

>Nah, Playbook II, then some random lovechild from nameless bimbo to his bachelor life.

Seasons 6-9 Barney and Robin's wedding

>Divorced after 3 years, the episode after the wedding, which was built up to for over 20 straight episodes

Ted moving on from Robin

>lolnope, forget that

The Mother

> Dead (forgiveable though)

"This is how I met your mother"

> lol idgaf, this is about Robin, despite the fact she rejected me several times

 

[Webfoot Hero]

I'd advise anyone who had a problem with the finale to go back and rewatch "How Your Mother Met Me", and every other segment with the mother.


They really did lay the groundwork for this twist, and have a plotted out reason for why it works.

I'd say they laid the groundwork for Tracy being gone in the first several seasons since you never saw her and Ted always mentioned her in the past tense, never in the present. That right there should have been the biggest clue that she wouldn't make it through the entire episode. I didn't catch onto that until people pointed it out a few weeks ago and watching reruns has confirmed this.

 

[Sawyer]

I think this is the problem with the blue French horn. Ted shouldn't have showed up at her apartment with a French horn. He should've thought about it, but ultimately just called Robin. That would've shown growth. That would've created a lot less ambiguity as to whether Ted was in love with Robin, on some level, throughout his marriage. It would've signified that Ted is no longer obsessed with finding love...no longer defining himself by who he is with (which is something he has done throughout the show from Karen to Zoey to Robin to Victoria).

Instead, it is just Ted, now an adult rather than a 20-something kid, content with who he is, wanting to spend some time with someone who was at one point very dear to him and see where it goes. No pressure. No need to say, "I love you," on the first date. Ted, no longer needs to find the one because he already has and Robin who has never been interested in finding the one can just enjoy her relationship with Ted for what it is. It wouldn't be so grand, it would just be two adults enjoying one another's company at a different stage in life.

I feel like that is where Carter and Bays were trying to go, in which case it is a great ****ing arc for Ted. But I feel like the blue horn kinda undermines that. Instead, it is just another grand romantic gesture that says, "OMGZ! I'M STILL IN LOVE WITH ROBIN!"

I think that is why I am having so much difficulty with the ending. I think a more subtle approach, to the same ultimate ending, would've made a word of difference.

That being said, the ending is not nearly as terrible as some are acting. The ending, in a way, perfectly completes Ted's story arc. But it also does not do so in a perfect manner (or anywhere close to it). So I disagree that the show "outgrew," its ending. It is still the logical end point for Ted. But the show failed to conclude the arc as effectively as it could.

Probably the most sensible perspective on the finale I've seen here.

And I agree. I don't care for the inclusion of the blue french horn. I don't like the idea that a widower and a father of two in his early/mid-fifties would make the same kind of romantic gesture that he made in his late 20s. I just read the music supervisor saying that the end with Robin was more about companionship than romance. Which is fine, but the blue french horn kind of flew in the face of that. The objective of the story, I was fine with, but the execution left a bit to be desired.

I read on Alyson Hannigan's twitter that apparently the finale was 18 minutes longer than what aired. I'd like to see that extended cut on the DVD, because it definitely felt like alot of those moments could used more time to breath than just jumping from one to the next.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

No. Which I think is ridiculous.

That ship sailed years ago.

I admit a story was told. I just think it invalidates a lot of what came before.

Not sure how.

Seasons 7-9- Barney puts behind his playboy ways

>Nah, Playbook II, then some random lovechild from nameless bimbo to his bachelor life.

Seasons 6-9 Barney and Robin's wedding

>Divorced after 3 years, the episode after the wedding, which was built up to for over 20 straight episodes

Ted moving on from Robin

>lolnope, forget that

The Mother

> Dead (forgiveable though)

"This is how I met your mother"

> lol idgaf, this is about Robin, despite the fact she rejected me several times

Barney not being able to handle marriage was really a surprise? Same with Robin. And Ted did move on. I know the execution wasn't great, but I thought that was pretty clear. That doesn't mean that as older souls they cannot reconnect.

 

[TheBat812]

It's hard to sum up my feelings on this ending/final season but I'd overall say it made sense in a very forced way but was very poorly executed. Robin always felt like the roadblock in Ted's way from happiness and I don't really think it was a very satisfying conclusion at all to just skirt over the girl who seemed to truly make Ted happy and then kind of cheapen the 'point of the story' that Ted was telling his kids.

It really did feel like she was just a consolation prize for not getting Robin, and once she was gone he was happy to go back to the 'true one'. In a way it's nice because Ted does learn that there isn't just one "one" as he'd been obsessing over since day 1. But with the way they executed it, everything felt incredibly sudden and hollow. Just not a very well executed final season if this was where they wanted to go with it. There wasn't really a need of a twist death (SOOO poorly handled btw), and the final reveal of Ted talking to the kids definitely kind of ruined that nice moment they'd just built with Ted's first meeting with the mother. Honestly, I'm probably just going to pretend the part after that never existed (ala Harry Potter and that horrible epilogue). It was incredibly unnecessary given the context they presented it in and while there's an argument to be made that it was the natural (and intended) conclusion of the show, the way they pulled it off did not earn it whatsoever. Luckily it doesn't really ruin the show for me at all. It's just a shame and wasted opportunity.

It's just so bizarre that for me it went from, 'wow what a great and perfect meeting with the mother for Ted' to 'Wow, she's dead, and Ted and his kids are all gungho about him getting with Robin?!' There's just no time to really process much and it feels very detached and emotionless after Ted and the mother's first meeting. The main feeling everyone I watched it with was confusion.

EDIT: interesting to hear they cut 18 minutes from the finale - almost certainly contributed to the bizarre pacing of the end.

 

[Webfoot Hero]

Probably the most sensible perspective on the finale I've seen here.

And I agree. I don't care for the inclusion of the blue french horn. I don't like the idea that a widower and a father of two in his early/mid-fifties would make the same kind of romantic gesture that he made in his late 20s. I just read the music supervisor saying that the end with Robin was more about companionship than romance. Which is fine, but the blue french horn kind of flew in the face of that. The objective of the story, I was fine with, but the execution left a bit to be desired.

I read on Alyson Hannigan's twitter that apparently the finale was 18 minutes longer than what aired. I'd like to see that extended cut on the DVD, because it definitely felt like alot of those moments could used more time to breath than just jumping from one to the next.

If the finale was indeed 18 minutes longer, then I kind of wonder if Bays/Thomas/CBS thought taking up 90 minutes for the finale was overkill and just drawing out the inevitable too long. I'd be interested to see what's in those 18 minutes and if they included shots of the group at Tracy's funeral consoling Ted.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Probably the most sensible perspective on the finale I've seen here.

And I agree. I don't care for the inclusion of the blue french horn. I don't like the idea that a widower and a father of two in his early/mid-fifties would make the same kind of romantic gesture that he made in his late 20s. I just read the music supervisor saying that the end with Robin was more about companionship than romance. Which is fine, but the blue french horn kind of flew in the face of that. The objective of the story, I was fine with, but the execution left a bit to be desired.

I read on Alyson Hannigan's twitter that apparently the finale was 18 minutes longer than what aired. I'd like to see that extended cut on the DVD, because it definitely felt like alot of those moments could used more time to breath than just jumping from one to the next.

18 mins? That is another whole episode.

 

[Prison Mike]

I loved the finale.

 

[Sawyer]

18 mins? That is another whole episode.

Seems kind of egregious when you put it that way. I mean, there's always going to be material that gets cut in order to air, but 18 minutes! Of the FINALE.

Good lord...

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Seems kind of egregious when you put it that way. I mean, there's always going to be material that gets cut in order to air, but 18 minutes! Of the FINALE.

Good lord...

Yep. Kind of shocking when you start thinking about it.

 

[Orb]

Im guessing this is one of those cut scenes:

 

[Nathan]

Im guessing this is one of those cut scenes:

Good. Honestly, the less Robin we get, the better.

 

[Sun_Down]

I loved the ending, and here's why: this show was never really the story of Ted meeting his wife, it was the story of the gang growing up. The central theme has always been that adult life is complicated, unpredictable, and often very, very strange.

And that's the ending we got. A bittersweet, twisting and turning journey that took our protagonists somewhere unexpected. Ted's heartbreak was not only very poignant, but it made sense within the narrative. Ted has always been the sad clown prone to incredible heartbreak. And Tracy was always more of an idea than a tangible person - like a ghost that we barely get a glimpse of. It was fitting that her time was too short.

The idea of The One drove Ted throughout this series, but he discovered, as all adults do, that the human heart is much bigger than that. And tougher. Ted's story was all the more satisfying because he discovered that.

People are upset because they were so emotionally invested in these characters and wanted them all to be happy. And we got that, just not in the way we anticipated. Just like real life.

 

[Sawyer]

Good. Honestly, the less Robin we get, the better.

Adorable.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Could be a post-death scene. Talking about the loss of Tracy. Dealing. Or perhaps Robin realizing what she missed.

 

[Webfoot Hero]

I loved the ending, and here's why: this show was never really the story of Ted meeting his wife, it was the story of the gang growing up. The central theme has always been that adult life is complicated, unpredictable, and often very, very strange.

And that's the ending we got. A bittersweet, twisting and turning journey that took our protagonists somewhere unexpected. Ted's heartbreak was not only very poignant, but it made sense within the narrative. Ted has always been the sad clown prone to incredible heartbreak. And Tracy was always more of an idea than a tangible person - like a ghost that we barely get a glimpse of. It was fitting that her time was too short.

The idea of The One drove Ted throughout this series, but he discovered, as all adults do, that the human heart is much bigger than that. And tougher. Ted's story was all the more satisfying because he discovered that.

People are upset because they were so emotionally invested in these characters and wanted them all to be happy. And we got that, just not in the way we anticipated. Just like real life.

I also think, along with there not being completely happy endings for everyone, was the use of Barney and Robin's wedding as a framing for the entire season when many, including me, thought spreading out the time covered in the finale would have been better. I think the glossing over of much of Ted and Tracy's relationship makes the payoff of knowing who the mother was feel shallow, when there could have been much needed depth had they explored it more. It's a case of execution not being as good as the outcome.

 

[Webfoot Hero]

Could be a post-death scene. Talking about the loss of Tracy. Dealing. Or perhaps Robin realizing what she missed.

Or what was up with the pineapple. Or who was Ted's perfect match at the matchmaking service.

 

[Prison Mike]

What's with the hatred for Robin? It's not like she killed Tracy herself.

 

[Orb]

What's with the hatred for Robin? It's not like she killed Tracy herself.

You just gave me a disturbing mental image...