How I Met Your Mother - Part 5

[BatLobster]

It does matter, because if she did stick around, then anyone would be able to see that she still had feelings for Ted whether she finally realize that Ted was the one that got away or that she was alone, which could have driven a wedge between Ted and Tracy. She did the right thing albeit more self serving which again shows that Robin has a selfish streak.

You're assuming though. The original reason the gang saw less of Robin was that she started traveling more for her job (taking Barney with her). But she was still essentially a part of the gang, she was in their lives when she was in NYC. It wasn't until her and Barney divorced that she truly started to drift and go years without seeing them. Bottom line: Ted and Tracy found true happiness together and Ted was legitimately over Robin when they were together. Like Lily said, "this is different".

 

[Infinity9999x]

I really think a lot of the reason why the finale is being bashed so hard online is just that shipper-dom has gotten ****ing out of control.

The reason people are being hard on it is because it was just executed poorly. The concept itself wasn't horrible, but no matter how you shake it, when you center an entire season around two characters getting married, only to break them up in fifteen minutes of one episode, that is horrible writing. And not even seeing a scene of Ted dealing with the Mother's death.

The concept of the finale should have been the outline for the entire season. The events that happened in this episode needed time to be developed.

 

[Erzengel]

No more than anyone else's assumptions.

I don't have as much as a problem with Ted and Robin together but I just hated how they did it. If not the last few minutes than the whole season when they tried to get you to be on board with Robin and Barney.

It wasn't a great execution which is why the responses to this have been so polarizing.

I have no problem with Ted moving on in the grand scheme of things and I wanted a happier ending for everyone even if it was trite and predictable. But again, it felt like the significant parts of this season was Robin and Barney's wedding and meeting the mother and they did a lot of damage to that with the finale.

Showing flash forwards of Robin taking Ted's kids out would have probably just given rise to more people assuming the mother passing but I think it would have told a better story that more people would have found acceptable.

 

[BatLobster]

I guess I'm a much bigger fan of the earlier seasons of the show than I am of the last two, so for me it was more important for the finale to honor what the series was in its prime (that's what any good series finale should do IMO).

Plus, I never fell for the Barney/Robin thing. There were signs and hints the whole way through that it wasn't going to work out.

 

[Infinity9999x]

I guess I'm a much bigger fan of the earlier seasons of the show than I am of the last two, so for me it was more important for the finale to honor what the series was in its prime (that's what any good series finale should do IMO).

Plus, I never fell for the Barney/Robin thing. There were signs and hints the whole way through that it wasn't going to work out.

I mean, the idea of Robin and Barney getting divorced isn't one that I was necessarily against. I could see them breaking up. Robin was still having some major doubts on her wedding day. However, what I am against is a season building up their marriage and then breaking them up in ten minutes.

It all comes down to execution, and the execution here was not good.

 

[Jason Kane]

I've not seen the show throughout its run but not since The Sopranos, Lost, and Smallville (God damn it, Welling! Suck it up and wear the damn suit!) has a series finale divided its fandom that much as HIMYM has. Having seen the clip of the last two minutes yesterday on YouTube, I'm inclined to agree with a few posts on several sites that the film scene with the kids would've mad sense had the program got the cancellation axe by Spring of '07 instead of gaining another 7 seasons plus Britney Spears's part in it being off the cancelation bubble (granted that year was the time of Spears' bi-polar disorder being spilled out into public and Pap view so....).

Hays and Thomas should've hads a backup plan regarding that particular scene or at least left on the cutting room floor 'til DVD release time as a easter egg. Plus the kids reactions and enthusiasm was very unsettling to a point where some may now see them of the creators' mouthpieces rather than human beings in having Ted end up with Robin.

The future of the spin-off's pretty much in huge question as those displeased will wonder if the duo will pull the same plan here with the new show or take a different approach to avoid a repeat of the current divisive opinions.

 

[Erzengel]

Season 9 wasn't a sure thing, I wonder how they would have ended it in Season 8 if the show wasn't renewed. I guess we would have less of Tracy and that would have been worse. The one thing I did like about Season 9 was the flash forwards with Tracy which is probably why so many people were offended because she really did hit it off with fans.

 

[Erzengel]

Here's are Craig Thomas's tweets before and after the airing. Obviously, he started seeing the reviews. I don't think he thanked us enough.

http://www.deadline.com/2014/04/him...sively-before-during-and-after-series-finale/

 

[BatLobster]

I mean, the idea of Robin and Barney getting divorced isn't one that I was necessarily against. I could see them breaking up. Robin was still having some major doubts on her wedding day. However, what I am against is a season building up their marriage and then breaking them up in ten minutes.

It all comes down to execution, and the execution here was not good.

That's just one opinion though. To me the execution was fine for the most part, with some legit brilliant moments including and most importantly, the meeting of Ted and Tracy. Could it have been a little better? Sure maybe a little. But it definitely was not awful to me. I'm excited to see the deleted material and possibly an extended cut: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1725372/amazing-how-i-met-your-mother-finale-scene-never-got-see.jhtml

I think our perspectives right now are a bit warped by the fact that we just spent the past 7 months at Barney and Robin's wedding. But in the grand scheme of things, in the Netflix age...that's a 2-3 day binge watch or less. It's nothing compared to all the time the show spent over its 9 seasons trying to show us that there's something special between Ted and Robin.

 

[Teelie]

I think he was using "Thanks" as a cover for expletives he'd like to use at the reactions.

 

[Erzengel]

That's just one opinion though. To me the execution was fine for the most part, with some legit brilliant moments including and most importantly, the meeting of Ted and Tracy. Could it have been a little better? Sure maybe a little. But it definitely was not awful to me. I'm excited to see the deleted material and possibly an extended cut: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/17...-your-mother-finale-scene-never-got-see.jhtml

I think our perspectives right now are a bit warped by the fact that we just spent the past 7 months at Barney and Robin's wedding. But in the grand scheme of things, in the Netflix age...that's a 2-3 day binge watch or less. It's nothing compared to all the time the show spent over its 9 seasons trying to show us that there's something special between Ted and Robin.

Again, I'm not the hugest fans of seasons 8 and 9, but almost all sitcoms that run that long start dipping in quality. I'd still rather a finale that honors the heart of the show while serving as a jarring conclusion to the final season than a finale that served the final season (despite all the signs that it wasn't going to work) but shortchanged the rest of the show.

More than one opinion. I know we live in an age of twitter but more than "one' person was upset by the finale. Then all you have to look at a lot of the polls ranking it, and if it's 50/50 it's generous. 40/60 in favor of dislike seems like the consensus of the episode.

How that "may" change in the future is up for debate. Although people are still upset by the Soprano's finale.

 

[BatLobster]

More than one opinion. I know we live in an age of twitter but more than "one' person was upset by the finale. Then all you have to look at a lot of the polls ranking it, and it's 50/50 it's generous. 40/60 in favor of dislike seems like the popular opinion.

How that "may" change in the future is up for debate. Although people are still upset by the Soprano's finale.

C'mon now, obviously I wasn't trying to imply that only person has that opinion lol. I have eyes and ears, I'm not oblivious to the backlash. It's one opinion shared by many, just like my opinion is also shared by many others- albeit probably less. And that's cool with me. I know where I stand and feel strongly about it.

You're also talking to one of the biggest fans of The Sopranos' ending you can meet. Though more people seem to be warming to that one with time.

 

[JP]

I completely disagree that the finale honored the first few seasons, or the "heart" of the show. I think it took a giant dump on the first few seasons. But that's just my one opinion.

 

[BatLobster]

Go re-watch the pilot and tell me the tension between Ted being seriously in love with Robin and the reveal that Robin isn't the mother was not THE hook of the show.

If it wasn't, they would've introduced the mother in the pilot and it could've been a different show altogether.

 

[Infinity9999x]

That's just one opinion though. To me the execution was fine for the most part, with some legit brilliant moments including and most importantly, the meeting of Ted and Tracy. Could it have been a little better? Sure maybe a little. But it definitely was not awful to me. I'm excited to see the deleted material and possibly an extended cut: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1725372/amazing-how-i-met-your-mother-finale-scene-never-got-see.jhtml

I think our perspectives right now are a bit warped by the fact that we just spent the past 7 months at Barney and Robin's wedding. But in the grand scheme of things, in the Netflix age...that's a 2-3 day binge watch or less. It's nothing compared to all the time the show spent over its 9 seasons trying to show us that there's something special between Ted and Robin.

It's an opinion, but it's a commonly held opinion for writing in general. If I gave you the first two books of LOTR, and then had you read half of the third and then gave you a ten page summary of the rest of Return of the King, not many people would like it. Sure, the idea that I present in the last ten pages would be fine, but the execution of giving only ten pages to wrap up the story with all those major events that happen would not be good writing.

Same with this finale. Look at it this way: We got an episode dedicated to the death of Marshall's father and multiple episodes showing him deal with the death. We don't even see Ted grieve over Tracey! And she was a much more influential character. Every other one of Ted's major girlfriends got a proper send off, she didn't. Last time Barney and Robin broke up, we got an entire episode dedicated to the break up, and multiple dealing with their fallout. In this season, after an ENTIRE SEASON of building up to their marriage, they're broken up in ten minutes.

That's just bad writing and bad execution, no matter how you shake it.

 

[Erzengel]

I think by them filming the ending during Season 1 and 2, they boxed themselves into a corner. I said previously that JK Rowling came out and said in hindsight Harry and Hermoine were the better match. I feel in the same way about this.

And I love Star Wars but if Lucas knew at ANH what he knew by Jedi, he wouldn't of had Luke and Leia kiss.

 

[BatLobster]

It's an opinion, but it's a commonly held opinion for writing in general. If I gave you the first two books of LOTR, and then had you read half of the third and then gave you a ten page summary of the rest of Return of the King, not many people would like it. Sure, the idea that I present in the last ten pages would be fine, but the execution of giving only ten pages to wrap up the story with all those major events that happen would not be good writing.

Same with this finale. Look at it this way: We got an episode dedicated to the death of Marshall's father and multiple episodes showing him deal with the death. We don't even see Ted grieve over Tracey! And she was a much more influential character. Every other one of Ted's major girlfriends got a proper send off, she didn't. Last time Barney and Robin broke up, we got an entire episode dedicated to the break up, and multiple dealing with their fallout. In this season, after an ENTIRE SEASON of building up to their marriage, they're broken up in ten minutes.

That's just bad writing and bad execution, no matter how you shake it.

Sorry, I just don't agree. I think each work is different, and this show had conditioned me to roll with the jumpy way it played with time from the very start. I was relieved when Barney and Robin didn't work out. The sudden way they announced the divorce (after hiding it from their friends) reminded me of the sudden way Ted and Robin broke up at the end of Season 2, when things had been going so well.

To me, a whole season (or even a whole episode) of Ted going through the grieving process is NOT good writing/execution because it makes NO SENSE why he'd want to be reliving that and putting his kids through it again. It would be too much of a violation of the illusion of this whole show being a story he told to his kids to me, and that would've taken me out of the story. It was always going to be focusing on the positive when it came to Tracy, and appreciating the time he had with her all the more because it was so short and precious.

 

[Infinity9999x]

Sorry, I just don't agree. I think each work is different, and this show had conditioned me to roll with how it played with time from the very start. I was relieved when Barney and Robin didn't work out.

To me, a whole season of Ted going through the grieving process is NOT good writing/execution because it makes NO SENSE why he'd want to be reliving that and putting his kids through it again.

It was always going to be focusing on the good times he had with Tracy.

I don't buy that really. I doubt we're supposed to believe that Ted gave them every detail of how often he banged his other girlfriends and all that info that we actually see in the show.

And again, I don't mind Barney and Robin breaking up. I don't even necessarily mind Ted going back to Robin, but it needed development. When literally EVERY other event like the ones that happened in the finale were given multiple episodes, only giving a few minutes to each of the very large and life changing events in the finale felt cheap and rushed. I'm sorry man, but you just don't cram major life events into a few minutes and expect people to think it's good story telling. Not when that hasn't been the style of the show for the past nine years. Fundamentally, that is poor writing.

 

[BatLobster]

I'm sorry man, but you just don't cram major life events into a few minutes and expect people to think it's good story telling. Not when that hasn't been the style of the show for the past nine years. Fundamentally, that is poor writing.

Correction: You don't expect EVERYONE to think it's good storytelling, because you can't please everyone. They took a clear risk and split the audience, but they did so telling the story that they wanted to tell, how they wanted to tell it.

Also, I think it's kinda funny that here we are with this sitcom and everyone is debating and dissecting the finale like this is LOST or a Nolan film or something. For plot and the quality of storytelling in to be at the forefront of the discussion and debate of a sitcom finale, I find that to be a mini-triumph in its own right, whether you think it was good or horrible storytelling. At least the expectation for good storytelling was there regardless, even though the show's quality had been on the decline.

And true enough point about Ted banging his other gfs, I thought about that...but the only way to really deal with Tracy's death was via montage and narration, with music. Any other way would've been too stark and heavy for a sitcom. And when he's in narration mode, we know he is 100% talking to the kids.

End of the day, the show had a clever premise and hook...some people think they tried to get too clever for their own good and crumbled under the weight of the high concept, others feel that the show quite simply delivered what was obvious and natural from Day 1. Nobody's really right or wrong, there's a solid case for both sides IMO.

 

[Infinity9999x]

Correction: You don't expect EVERYONE to think it's good storytelling, because you can't please everyone. They took a clear risk and split the audience, but they did so telling the story that they wanted to tell.

I get that. And I do agree that there were nice moments in the finale. My point is that I think they still could have told the story they wanted to tell, I just think that it would have been much smarter had they taken the finale and stretched that concept out over a whole season. They still tell their story, but they actually give sufficient development to the events instead of a few minutes.

Again, it's not the concept that I disagree with. The outline for their story was fine, it was just that it wasn't fleshed out well. And it didn't fit with how they had been telling the rest of the series.

As for the debate about the plot...I mean, we're not debating a certain style or thematic change. We're just talking about basic storytelling, which the series had done very well with until this episode honestly.

 

[BatLobster]

Well, I find myself debating people about what the show was about from Day 1, so to me the micro-debate starts to turn into a macro-debate about the whole show. Bottom line, I'll say this. Regardless of what I think of the execution of the finale, even if I hated it...

I'd still take comfort in going back to re-watch the series with the knowledge that Ted and Robin end up getting one more chance to make it work in the end. Even if the finale made Season 9 "worse" (I'm not sure where I stand on that yet tbh), it still actually adds something nice to the earlier seasons to me by going full circle. Re-watched the first three episodes last night and it was a nice feeling knowing the outcome.

 

[Infinity9999x]

Well, I find myself debating people about what the show was about from Day 1, so to me the micro-debate starts to turn into a macro-debate about the whole show. Bottom line, I'll say this. Regardless of what I think of the execution of the finale, even if I hated it...

I'd still take comfort in going back to re-watch the series with the knowledge that Ted and Robin end up getting one more chance to make it work in the end. Even if the finale made Season 9 "worse" (I'm not sure where I stand on that yet tbh), it still actually adds something nice to the earlier seasons to me by going full circle. Re-watched the first three episodes last night and it was a nice feeling knowing the outcome.

I can understand that. The concept of the finale wasn't really what I wanted to see, but I don't mind the idea. I just wanted more time for them to get to that point.

 

[BatLobster]

I can understand that. The concept of the finale wasn't really what I wanted to see, but I don't mind the idea. I just wanted more time for them to get to that point.

Cool, glad we can reach a middle ground on that. I do see where you (and others) are coming from- after first watching the finale the first time I was more mixed, but it's grown on me a lot over the past few days to where I really like it now. The episode itself is also much less jarring once you know all the twists and turns.

 

[Infinity9999x]

Cool, glad we can reach a middle ground on that. I do see where you (and others) are coming from- after first watching the finale the first time I was more mixed, but it's grown on me a lot over the past few days to where I really like it now. The episode itself is also much less jarring once you know all the twists and turns.

Yeah, and hey, it still isn't as bad as the Dexter finale to met:

And the finale didn't ruin the series for me or anything like that, it just wasn't what I was hoping for.

 

[BatLobster]

Yeah, I don't take issue with someone not liking the episode. Saying it ruined the series as a whole is where I find it to be a bit over-dramatic and excessive.