How I Met Your Mother - Part 5

UNLESS, viewers have the option to watch the series finale WITH that alternate ending as opposed to it being just a cut scene found on the extras of the DVD, I can't see it changing most peoples view...
 
I bet CBS will push to include an alternate cut of the finale with the alternate ending.

People can live in denial all they want, but what aired is the true finale no matter what.

I'm also curious as to whether this alternate cut manages to make sense of all the prior hints that the mother was dead.
 
I would even be ok with the mother being dead. Going from his soul mate to the girl that was basically the cause of many ruined relationships, because he was too obsessed with her, is what I take issue with.
 
Yeah, but of course a majority of their fans didn't like the true finale.
 
All's I'm saying is this doesn't mean Carter/Bays are backing down from their decision. It's nice to get a peak into what could've been, but they both have clearly stated that they stand behind what aired. No doubt some people will take this to mean they're caving though.

And Nathan, but if Ted wasn't so obsessed with Robin, he might've ended up with one of the other ones (like Victoria) and his kids would've never been born. There's a beautiful irony at play there. No matter what Ted does he can't escape the fact that Robin is of monumental importance to his life. If he's gonna pick someone to try and move on with after 6 years, why NOT her? Even if they hypothetically don't work out in the end, it's still a nice notion that he takes his first step towards moving forward after Tracy's death with her.
 
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It just sounded like you were indignant about it.
 
If they would have stopped the show early like they planned at first, Victoria would have been the planned Mother anyway. But they aired 9 seasons and stuck to an ending, that was meant for the end of season 2/3. Of course during 9 seasons, they did a pretty good job of convincing us that they weren't meant for each other, and that Ted had to go through all these hardships, to be ready for his soul mate and mother of his children.

Of course in the end that all meant diddly squat, since he's still pining over the very same girl.
 
I'm not indignant in the least, but I'll just be annoyed if people act like including an alternate ending is them backing down from their stance (which I've seen bits of on some other forums). They took a creative risk and I applaud that.

The current ending was still a go for their 8 season plan though. The only season they didn't plan for was 9, that's why we got the high-concept wedding final season. Victoria being the mom was just a cancellation backup plan, kudos to them for even having one. And if Victoria was gonna be the mom, she probably would've been revealed to be dead too.
 
i am disappointed that there was no Bob Saget cameo in the finale :(

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I'm not indignant in the least, but I'll just be annoyed if people act like including an alternate ending is them backing down from their stance (which I've seen bits of on some other forums). They took a creative risk and I applaud that.

The current ending was still a go for their 8 season plan though. The only season they didn't plan for was 9, that's why we got the high-concept wedding final season. Victoria being the mom was just a cancellation backup plan, kudos to them for even having one. And if Victoria was gonna be the mom, she probably would've been revealed to be dead too.

A creative risk that might have sealed the future of HYMYD. It might do ok ratings wise but not enough to sustain longivity of its sister show due to the divisive aftertaste of the finale.
 
I'm not indignant in the least, but I'll just be annoyed if people act like including an alternate ending is them backing down from their stance (which I've seen bits of on some other forums). They took a creative risk and I applaud that.

The current ending was still a go for their 8 season plan though. The only season they didn't plan for was 9, that's why we got the high-concept wedding final season. Victoria being the mom was just a cancellation backup plan, kudos to them for even having one. And if Victoria was gonna be the mom, she probably would've been revealed to be dead too.

Yeah. If Victoria the ending was done in Season 2, I wouldn't have been upset. If ending was done in Season 8 and we were not given a Season 9, I'd be upset. I feel like I'm being pretty consistent.
 
They took a creative risk and I applaud that.
It amuses me that stupidity and/or bad writing can be considered a "creative risk" by some people.

It was just poor writing. It wasn't creative, it was dumb, and undid years upon years of character development for all of the characters. What was wrong with just being a simple ending and fulfilling the show's title? Doesn't cutting straight from Ted holding up that blue horn to the title card make literally no sense? The answer to each of these respectively is nothing and yes.
 
And it amuses me that people can't just accept the fact that it's a divisive ending and all that comes with that. That means that people who like it have legitimate reasons for liking as much as people who didn't like it have legitimate reasons for disliking it.

For me, the simple ending is the one we got, because I never for a second believed this was just a story about how he met the mother. Fulfilling the title just for the sake of fulfilling the title doesn't have any inherent merit. Is the The Wizard of Oz a bad movie because the "Wizard" is a total sham?

This was not a left field twist, many predicted it. It's just that a lot of people didn't want it.
 
It amuses me that stupidity and/or bad writing can be considered a "creative risk" by some people.

It was just poor writing. It wasn't creative, it was dumb, and undid years upon years of character development for all of the characters. What was wrong with just being a simple ending and fulfilling the show's title? Doesn't cutting straight from Ted holding up that blue horn to the title card make literally no sense? The answer to each of these respectively is nothing and yes.

Fecking A!

No matter how you spin it Lobster, the creators made a stupid decision
 
I'm not trying to spin anything. I'm just backing up my opinion based on how I honestly reacted to the ending. If people can give reasons why they thought the ending sucked, then surely people who enjoy the ending should be able to explain why they thought it was an appropriate ending. People just need to deal with the fact that there's solid case to made for the ending whether one likes it or not. Cause I guarantee you, if they ended with Barney/Robin living happily ever after, Ted meets the Mother, fade to black...I'd be on here giving it a pretty brutal bashing. But I also know that the ending clearly rubbed many the wrong way, so I get that too. There doesn't have to be a right and wrong here. It's an ending that was always going to get big reactions one way or the other.

I have no agenda here. I went into the finale with fairly low expectations and came out pleasantly surprised by it. In fact it has pushed me to start re-watching the show.
 
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BatLobster. the series was more than just how he met the mother. between season 1 and season 9. but IMO the ending should just be her dying and him giving a life leasson to the kids. there was no need with Ted to use status quo.
 
dark_b, I think that would've been a bold ending, and pretty dark ending for a sitcom...but IMO there had to be some sort of silver lining for Ted beyond just preaching some strange convoluted lesson to his kids (I was totally in love with your Aunt Robin for many years, it ruined many of my relationships, but if it wasn't for that I may not have met your mom...something something lifes twists and turns, something something enjoy the journey and don't worry about the destination. yeah ok.). If they didn't show him getting back with Robin I'd probably still assume that it was going to happen at some point, but I'd be annoyed with them for keeping it ambiguous.

And I don't know if I'd call Ted/Robin the status quo. The only season they actually dated was Season 2. Always wanted to see them get another shot. It's one of the main reasons I stayed interested in the story of the show. Sure, the big buildup to the reveal of the mother's identity was a hook of the show. I understand why that upsets people, but as a Ted/Robin fan I would've felt strung along too by stuff like Marshall/Lily's bet, Ted and Robin's "40 and single" bet, etc. If they wanted to kill that storyline, they should've just stopped even teasing the possibility, but they always threw a little fuel to the flame from time to time. So it would've been misleading people either way.

Anyhow, I feel like I've said my piece on the matter. I truly have no problem with anyone's opinions on the ending, and I've been on either side of a controversial debate enough times to know that some arguments can just go in circles forever. In truth I'm just using this thread as prep for the arguments I've been having with my friends in real life, haha.

At the end of the day, I still think it's odd and cool in a way that the ending to a sitcom stirred up so much controversy. Hasn't happened since Seinfeld, and probably not to this strong a degree.
 
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If the internet were as prominent when Seinfeld was on the air....I can only imagine. :wow:
 
And it amuses me that people can't just accept the fact that it's a divisive ending and all that comes with that. That means that people who like it have legitimate reasons for liking as much as people who didn't like it have legitimate reasons for disliking it.

For me, the simple ending is the one we got, because I never for a second believed this was just a story about how he met the mother. Fulfilling the title just for the sake of fulfilling the title doesn't have any inherent merit. Is the The Wizard of Oz a bad movie because the "Wizard" is a total sham?

This was not a left field twist, many predicted it. It's just that a lot of people didn't want it.

It's not that I can't "accept" your opinion. Honestly, my post wasn't even entirely aimed at you - it was aimed at everyone who's defending the ending as some kind of bold move or creative decision that the writers should really be commended for when it completely trashed all the rest of the character development in the show. As others have said, Ted, despite several seasons of being on and off with Robin and it being made clear several times that they aren't really meant for each other due to a myriad of issue, ends up with the girl he's been obsessing over for the whole series instead of just having him end up with, you know, the mother, as would be expected.

And I don't think you understand what I mean when I say that it's ridiculous for the show to cut to the title from the final scene that they used. There is no "fulfilling the title for the sake of fulfilling the title." The title is, in essence, the entire premise of the show and what the whole story is predicated on. Fulfilling the title is what is satisfying - especially after 9 seasons of waiting for the damn thing to happen. And that's just an erroneous example with Wizard of Oz right there, so just stop with that. That's not comparable and you know it.

And having been predicted doesn't make it any less poorly written.
 
If you really want to be technical about it, the title of the show only promises that we'd get to see how they met. We got to see that, and the entire show climaxed with that nice meeting under the umbrella, and it hammered home that it was destiny. It's not called "How I Met Your Mother and Then Went On to Have the Longest and Happiest Marriage Ever".

And, sorry, while I was going to an extreme example to make a point with The Wizard of Oz comparison- my point is it's not unheard of for a title of a work of fiction to take on a different meaning than what you originally thought it meant. That's just the most famous example. So I just think using the title of the show as an argument against the ending isn't the strongest argument to rest on. Especially when I always saw the title as a bit of a misnomer. So for me FINALLY confirming the title as a smokescreen is what was truly satisfying.

Some say the title was the premise- I say it was the gimmick/MacGuffin. And it was a great hook for the show, but it wasn't the meat and potatoes emotional content. And it could never have been, as the mother is a total mystery for most of the show. End of the day, Ted/Robin was the backbone of the show. I'd go as far as saying that without the "That's how I met your Aunt Robin" twist at the end of the pilot, the show may not have even been picked up in the first place.

That said, I TOTALLY understand why some would feel that it's unfair to the audience that they went to such lengths over 9 years to get them on board with the fact that everything was boiling down to the mother. I get it. There's just a flipside there, in that I felt like they went to such lengths to keep reminding us time and time again that Ted and Robin's story was the central one being told regardless of the fact that they didn't work "on paper". But we all know TV romances don't work logically.
 
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