An unpopular opinion: I liked the HIMYM ending

a thread.

before we start, this video prompted me to make this and will bring up points of discussion that i tackle here in this thread so check it out!

so, yes... the HIMYM ending makes sense and brought the story into full circle.

But instead of properly tying things up in a season finale, the writers barely gave consideration for the audience and the characters leading to the conclusion, and that's why its infamous.

Honestly, if there was better writing and didn't skip so much to the conclusion, the writers wouldn't have to hastily contradict some character developments and subsequently betray audiences for the finale to be as controversial after how long its been running.

Writers should have known it was an investment for the fans and characters. They underestimated Tracy, which was the downfall of the events leading to the finale. It affected everything especially since Cristin made Tracy so likable.

That being said, bad ending?

I think we should be asking the question, "why Robin?"

Answering this question leads me to the reason why I liked the ending.

If you didn't know, it was Ted and Robin from the start, and the journey with their friends through all that made the show what it is.

Like Ted said, you stand so close to the puzzle that you just gotta step back and see the whole picture it's forming. The picture was them and the journey of achieving happiness & their dreams.

They did achieve their dreams but that doesn't mean their feelings never went away.

Ted knew that he wanted to be happy in settling with someone he loved, and that's what he chased for so long. He finally found it in Tracy, so when he did tell his children how he met their mother, why didn't it end there?

That's because it wasn't about Tracy and Ted...

Think about this: Why does Ted start the story with meeting Robin?

Maybe that's because his feelings for Robin never went away especially now that he's widowed.

BarneyxRobin were a great couple, but it seems like Robin did the dream job > marriage thing.

In that marriage, it was so good yet things had to end so harshly. Same with Tracy's death (which is pretty foul tbh, as a viewer) for Ted.

Despite the betrayals and error the writers made, one thing must still be commended: They answered the "what now?"

Call me manhid, but the development and sudden contradictions made sense in spite of everything that has happened. If writers didn't skip forward into the years and we had the time to be with the characters before the timely end, the finale would have been brilliant.

In the ending, the kids exclaimed, "that's it?" with a lack of sincerity and remorse. I've heard Tracy became a plot device for Robin. Yes, it's logical that she conveniently died, Ted was married and has kids so his dreams were achieved. Ted could finally go to Robin blah blah.

But this is honestly just a VERY CYNICAL way of seeing it. I would think this was contempt built up after being betrayed.

Although I do agree that the kids' reactions were not a great creative choice, i think the context got lost in that scene.

It's been SIX years since Tracy died, and the children saw how much hurt their dad went through not only through the death of Tracy but in his stories from when he met Robin.

Dude's been through a lot of heartbreaks yet he keeps on going because he wants to be happy.

That's why I smiled when his kids told him to go for Robin because they knew how much she made Ted happy.

We already got the answer to what happened. Now, we just got an answer to what now for Ted after all that: let's rekindle an old fire that's been there for so long.

Hate the ending or not, you cannot deny that Robin means a lot to Ted.

You can wish that the show ended with Ted and Tracy meeting under that yellow umbrella, but that's honestly superficial. It answers the question of how Ted met his mother, but that's not the ending.

The official ending actually made everything more interesting because it shows that Ted already reached a destination with Tracy and his kids.

So, what now?

You also needed an answer to what happens to Robin after her divorce. Robin is a very crucial and central character.

That's why Robin has to be at the end. Even if you think she already closed a door, was it ever really closed?

Well, like when Ted rose that blue French horn for Robin, he did it again in the end. This time, you can see that things are going to finally be alright. Full circle.