How I Met Your Mother - Part 5

[slimshady247]

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.

Well, these are fair points. I mean, if you liked it, you liked it, I guess. I suppose there isn't really a point in trying to convince each other it's terrible or good and such.

 

[BatLobster]

Thank you.

That's all I've been trying to say, the argument can go around in circles and it probably will for years. I think there are valid reasons to like or dislike the ending, it's all just a matter of which side of the fence your gut reaction pulled you towards.

 

[Erzengel]

I was never going to buy the series on DVD or Blu-Ray regardless of the ending but for the time being, I'm soured on the show. Now to get invested in some other shows and hopefully not get upset about it. I'll probably watch the alternate ending on youtube sometime in the future.

 

[SV Fan]

If the internet were as prominent when Seinfeld was on the air....I can only imagine.

I never get the hate for the Seinfeld final episode. The show was about nothing that didn't rely on bigger storylines, so to try come up with some conclusion to the show where say Jerry ends up professing his feelings for Elaine or George's life ends up perfect or Kramer finally finds that special person, etc. would have been worse

The episode by no means was one of the better of the series, but it was just having fun mocking typical Hollywood shows doing everything you shouldn't do in a final episode, while paying homage having a bunch of old characters show up.

I don't think their is anyway Seinfeld could have had a good final episode because it wasn't that kind of series that needs some proper finish where everything great happens to the cast or we have some logical conclusion to what happens in their life. Seinfeld didn't play by the rules when it started, and it ended the exact same way. I personally think mocking the idea of a final episode was a much better ending for the show then trying to come up with some resolution to the show that would just feel sappy and forced.

 

[Llama_Shepherd]

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.

The audience surrogate (Ted's children) say the words "This is not about how you met mom. This is about how you have the hots for Aunt Robin".

That's message we're supposed to take away, which would negate your point.

EDIT- Whoops, I misread the post, sorry.

 

[TheBat812]

I agree with alot of what BatLobster has said and that the reasoning behind the ending works very well. However, the execution is poor enough with its timing that it honestly feels like it undermines alot of what it felt like it was trying to achieve. To an audience that spent the whole season getting to know this 'mythical' character and really getting to like her, we needed TIME to process her death. Maybe the extra footage fixed this. As it is, it's incredibly jarring, and causes a natural emotional confusion. Ted and the kids had time to grieve, but we did not, and it makes it feel very weird how quickly the kids push Ted to get back together with Robin. It also would have been better, imo, to see Ted and Robin become close again with no labels or definitions and just be there for each other and enjoying their companies - instead, they immediately make it clear that they will soon be back to dating in their old way which does feel like it undermines the growth/arc of both Ted and Robin. I would love the chance to see the longer version of the episode, I have a feeling alot of the hate for the end would have been dampened by simply allowing us some time to get to where Ted is when his kids tell him to go for Robin.

 

[Art Vandelay]

I never get the hate for the Seinfeld final episode. The show was about nothing that didn't rely on bigger storylines, so to try come up with some conclusion to the show where say Jerry ends up professing his feelings for Elaine or George's life ends up perfect or Kramer finally finds that special person, etc. would have been worse

The episode by no means was one of the better of the series, but it was just having fun mocking typical Hollywood shows doing everything you shouldn't do in a final episode, while paying homage having a bunch of old characters show up.

I don't think their is anyway Seinfeld could have had a good final episode because it wasn't that kind of series that needs some proper finish where everything great happens to the cast or we have some logical conclusion to what happens in their life. Seinfeld didn't play by the rules when it started, and it ended the exact same way. I personally think mocking the idea of a final episode was a much better ending for the show then trying to come up with some resolution to the show that would just feel sappy and forced.

Regarding your first point, literally no one was expecting any of those things to happen. And you're wrong about Seinfeld not doing big storylines. They did several. But I can think of two reasons why fans were disappointed with the Seinfeld finale. One, it wasn't funny. Now at the time there were obviously big expectations, but even revisiting the episode years later, it just isn't a funny episode. There is just something off about the episode, and I think it's one of the worst the show has done. And I never got any impression that it was trying to mock the idea of a "final episode".

The biggest problem, however, is the finale was suddenly asking the audience to judge these characters after all of these years. As despicable as these characters could be, I was still on their side, I liked these characters, I understood them, and so did most fans, I'd imagine. I don't think too many fans of the show were hoping to see these characters get their comeuppance. For years the show's mantra had been "no hugging, no learning", so it was strange that after all that time they decided to pass moral judgement on these characters.

 

[Visceral]

I can understand how people are upset with the finale. Its incredibly real, when the show was somewhat lofty.

I however love that all these characters do things that make complete sense for them to do. Compared to the Seinfeld finale which shows how helplessly despondent the characters are. Here we have a finale that shows us that the characters are able to move on from this stage in their lives and although it may be sad, its good. Its healthy.

Ted never stops loving anybody he loves, neither the mother nor robin. And these two loves conflict in his mind, because he loves each individually so much, which is a very good reason for the creation of this story to his kids.

Barney and Marshall still sit at two ends of the spectrum. Marshall never anything but a constant. Barney was always a wild card. His marriage to robin never rang true. Had they ended the show like that I would not have been satisfied, no one would believe it. Having a child with a random girl makes complete sense, now Barney has to protect his daughter from all of the men in the world like himself.

You cant beat that ending. That ending is how stuff happens in real life.

 

[Art Vandelay]

I wish people would stop using "it's like real life" as an argument for this being a good finale. It's just inane. This show isn't realistic, never has been.

 

[SV Fan]

The biggest problem, however, is the finale was suddenly asking the audience to judge these characters after all of these years. As despicable as these characters could be, I was still on their side, I liked these characters, I understood them, and so did most fans, I'd imagine. I don't think too many fans of the show were hoping to see these characters get their comeuppance. For years the show's mantra had been "no hugging, no learning", so it was strange that after all that time they decided to pass moral judgement on these characters.

The whole trial thing was played up as a joke though, as I said I don't think Seinfeld was the type of show where you could have let's see what happens to the characters as they move on with their life type ending. I also don't think it was supposed to be some message what truly bad people they are, or be some life lesson the characters get(like most sitcoms). It just was a fun way to reminisce about some of their interactions with other people, and poke fun that maybe the main characters at times can be a little self centered

While I agree it wasn't one of the better episodes I don't think if they did a farewell episode in a more normal fashion it wouldn't have been that great of an episode either compared to other episodes in the series. I didn't watch the show for long drawn out story lines of what events happen in this characters lives(ie this isn't friends), I watched for 22 minutes to see what happens when these character face a certain issue each episode(then move on to the next issue the following episode)

 

[Prison Mike]

I wish people would stop using "it's like real life" as an argument for this being a good finale. It's just inane. This show isn't realistic, never has been.

What part of the show was not realistic for you?

 

[Llama_Shepherd]

Shall we start with Barney running a marathon in good time with no training, just sheer force of will?

 

[Nathan]

 

[Prison Mike]

Shall we start with Barney running a marathon in good time with no training, just sheer force of will?

I haven't seen that episode in a long time but I'm sure he was lying.

 

[Nathan]

Actually, he wasn't. They tracked his movements per gps, even saw him pass the marks with their own eyes. The whole joke was that, after the marathon, his legs got numb and he was sitting on the train for hours, because he couldn't walk and leave.

 

[Erzengel]

Or the multiple women that Barney slept with using inane scenarios and lying.

 

[Prison Mike]

I need to rewatch some of these episodes.

 

[Lily Adler]

Or the multiple women that Barney slept with using inane scenarios and lying.

Don't you dare say John Nacho would not work on you.

 

[Erzengel]

No. Only doing the naked Arnold Schwarzeneggerr/T2 naked stand up would work for me.

 

[Lily Adler]

Well Neil at least has a good body to semi pull that off.

 

[Visceral]

I wish people would stop using "it's like real life" as an argument for this being a good finale. It's just inane. This show isn't realistic, never has been.

Well you missed what I was saying. But that's okay.

 

[Dwarf lord]

I think while the show certainly wasn't realistic, there was a lot of truth in it. Which are often two very different things, especially in comedy.

 

[Spider-Fan83]

Or the multiple women that Barney slept with using inane scenarios and lying.

the naked man does work, 2 out of 3 times, guaranteed

 

[dark_b]

Cristin Milioti

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TPdxWBmYLE

 

[Naked Shia]

People saying it's like real life obviously didn't watch a lot of episodes....