LogFAQs


Current Events > Why did people hate the ending of HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER?

Topic List
Page List: 1
SaccharineSmile
02/02/21 7:38:39 PM
#1:


sorry it wasnt like FRIENDS where its all happy endings at the present time

its what life is like in the real world that finale of how I met ur mom

---
Sent from my IPhone X
... Copied to Clipboard!
Irony
02/02/21 7:41:17 PM
#2:


It made the entire series pointless

---
I am Mogar, God of Irony and The Devourer of Topics.
... Copied to Clipboard!
pfh1001
02/02/21 7:43:54 PM
#3:


Irony posted...
It made the entire series pointless
... Copied to Clipboard!
monkmith
02/02/21 7:46:10 PM
#4:


you'd have to watch the show to hate the ending.

---
Taarsidath-an halsaam.
Quando il gioco e finito, il re e il pedone vanno nella stessa scatola
... Copied to Clipboard!
PatrickMahomes
02/04/21 3:09:08 PM
#5:


Irony posted...
It made the entire series pointless


---
NFLB 2020 Summersim Roster mk. 1 (12-4): https://imgur.com/4Pvr5rT
NFLB 2020 Summersim Roster mk. 2 (11-5) (ELIMINATED): https://imgur.com/BBhN2z3
... Copied to Clipboard!
pinky0926
02/04/21 3:09:47 PM
#6:


It was the world's longest shaggy dog joke

---
CE's Resident Scotsman.
https://imgur.com/ILz2ZbV
... Copied to Clipboard!
#7
Post #7 was unavailable or deleted.
Squall28
02/04/21 3:16:10 PM
#8:


monkmith posted...
you'd have to watch the show to hate the ending.


---
You can't go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.
-Misattributed to CS Lewis
... Copied to Clipboard!
MaxEffingBemis
02/04/21 3:17:36 PM
#9:


It was a bad ending. The mom died and Ted ends up with Robin anyway. It was stupid

---
She took pity on me, horizontally, but most likely because of my band
... Copied to Clipboard!
#10
Post #10 was unavailable or deleted.
philsov
02/04/21 3:22:38 PM
#11:


SaccharineSmile posted...
its what life is like in the real world


If you overlook the entire premise of the show is Ted talking to his children about his bachelor-life antics as an homage to his now-dead wife, sure
---
Remember that I won't rest, 'til we share the same tense
Just know, to me, you're better late than never again.
... Copied to Clipboard!
#12
Post #12 was unavailable or deleted.
g0ldie
02/04/21 3:55:03 PM
#13:


I didn't dislike it, but I wasn't big on the message behind Ted telling his kids the long, roundabout story of meeting their mom - it was so they knew how much Robin meant to him, and it was an indirect way of getting their blessing to try to be with her again


if one of my parents tried that with me, I'd be disappointed in them.

---
The means of production should belong to the collective unconscious
... Copied to Clipboard!
PatrickMahomes
02/04/21 4:06:57 PM
#14:


ArianaGrandSlam posted...
not necessarily
?????

---
NFLB 2020 Summersim Roster mk. 1 (12-4): https://imgur.com/4Pvr5rT
NFLB 2020 Summersim Roster mk. 2 (11-5) (ELIMINATED): https://imgur.com/BBhN2z3
... Copied to Clipboard!
#15
Post #15 was unavailable or deleted.
NoxObscuras
02/04/21 4:20:06 PM
#16:


Because they spent 9 fucking seasons building up to Ted finally dating Tracy, only to reveal that she died six years before Ted started telling this story. It was basically the most long winded possible way for Ted to admit to his kids that he wanted to start dating "Aunt Robin"

---
Formerly ox0Shadow0xo | PSN - NoxObscuras
i7-7700K | EVGA 3080 FTW3 Ultra | 32GB DDR4 | 4TB SSD
... Copied to Clipboard!
Webmaster4531
02/04/21 4:24:04 PM
#17:


g0ldie posted...
I didn't dislike it, but I wasn't big on the message behind Ted telling his kids the long, roundabout story of meeting their mom - it was so they knew how much Robin meant to him, and it was an indirect way of getting their blessing to try to be with her again


if one of my parents tried that with me, I'd be disappointed in them.
That seems pretty contrived. The show isn't called "Why I'm marrying your future stepmother."

Edit: It's been a while, I thought he was asking his kids if he could marry Robin not date.
---
Ad Hominem.
... Copied to Clipboard!
philsov
02/04/21 4:25:29 PM
#18:


Webmaster4531 posted...
That seems pretty contrived.


Which is why the ending sucked. QED.
---
Remember that I won't rest, 'til we share the same tense
Just know, to me, you're better late than never again.
... Copied to Clipboard!
MJOLNRVII
02/04/21 4:45:37 PM
#19:


The entire last season is fucking worthless with the original ending. Like if you just skipped to the ending after the second to last season it wouldn't be as bad. The title also becomes pretty worthless when the point of the story he's telling the kids is for another woman.

---
https://i.imgtc.ws/WBp3VHL.gif https://i.imgtc.ws/aGc8opg.gif https://i.imgtc.ws/tQBwJ35.gif
... Copied to Clipboard!
LameFAQs
02/04/21 4:58:10 PM
#20:


ArianaGrandSlam posted...
its deliberately left unclear whether he actually succeeds or not

I thought it's pretty much implied with her facial expression when she sees the blue horn
... Copied to Clipboard!
_MorningStar
02/04/21 5:00:27 PM
#21:


I still get mad to this day when I think about the ending. So bad. Glad they fucked it up so bad they never got to do the spinoff.

---
https://imgur.com/UM1VO2V
https://imgur.com/fd6WS3f
... Copied to Clipboard!
bobbysjoby
02/04/21 5:22:11 PM
#22:


NoxObscuras posted...
Because they spent 9 fucking seasons building up to Ted finally dating Tracy, only to reveal that she died six years before Ted started telling this story. It was basically the most long winded possible way for Ted to admit to his kids that he wanted to start dating "Aunt Robin"
lol they didn't build tracy up at all they just threw her in last minute cuz they at the time decided robin and neil patrick harris was an actual thing and needed to give ted somebody lmao that's what happens when you stretch out a show way too far because of good ratings
... Copied to Clipboard!
NoxObscuras
02/04/21 5:48:34 PM
#23:


bobbysjoby posted...
lol they didn't build tracy up at all they just threw her in last minute cuz they at the time decided robin and neil patrick harris was an actual thing and needed to give ted somebody lmao that's what happens when you stretch out a show way too far because of good ratings
No, no, I'm not saying they built up Tracy as a character. I'm saying that the whole point of the show was to show who the mom was and how Ted eventually married her. Then we finally get there and it's like "oh by the way, she died already".

They had apparently planned the death from the beginning, because they shot the "present day" scenes for the finale, back in 2006 (they didn't want the kids to grow up and look too old, if they filmed it years later). They just dragged the story out because the show was popular.


---
Formerly ox0Shadow0xo | PSN - NoxObscuras
i7-7700K | EVGA 3080 FTW3 Ultra | 32GB DDR4 | 4TB SSD
... Copied to Clipboard!
hockeybub89
02/04/21 5:52:23 PM
#24:


... Copied to Clipboard!
Proto_Spark
02/04/21 6:06:46 PM
#25:


NoxObscuras posted...
Because they spent 9 fucking seasons building up to Ted finally dating Tracy, only to reveal that she died six years before Ted started telling this story. It was basically the most long winded possible way for Ted to admit to his kids that he wanted to start dating "Aunt Robin"

Not just this, but the show spent the last 6 seasons beating you over the head with how Ted and Robin are never ever ever ever ever going to be together, they just aren't right for each other, and 6 seasons of establishing Barney as the guy who's actually right for Robin, only to literally throw all of that away in the last episode.

It would have been a fine finale in like season 3, but not in season 9.
... Copied to Clipboard!
NoxObscuras
02/04/21 6:23:21 PM
#26:


Proto_Spark posted...
Not just this, but the show spent the last 6 seasons beating you over the head with how Ted and Robin are never ever ever ever ever going to be together, they just aren't right for each other, and 6 seasons of establishing Barney as the guy who's actually right for Robin, only to literally throw all of that away in the last episode.

It would have been a fine finale in like season 3, but not in season 9.
True, and the entirety of season 9 is basically the big wedding weekend, so the finale is even more stupid.

---
Formerly ox0Shadow0xo | PSN - NoxObscuras
i7-7700K | EVGA 3080 FTW3 Ultra | 32GB DDR4 | 4TB SSD
... Copied to Clipboard!
creativeme
02/04/21 6:41:11 PM
#27:


plus the show went over why ted and robin were wrong for each other just to retcon that.

didn't they show an alternative ending when the box set released? or was that just a fan made thing?
... Copied to Clipboard!
ssj3vegeta_
02/04/21 6:44:32 PM
#28:


... Copied to Clipboard!
Gheb
02/04/21 7:02:24 PM
#29:


The showrunners had a plan, they knew the ending from the beginning, had the foresight to film time-sensitive pieces of that ending during the first season and were committed to making that ending work. It was the story they were going to tell and their creative imperative as the showrunners.

The problem is that television shows, particularly long-running, lightly-structured sitcoms are kind of like a living thing. Actors change, writers and directors change, new storylines are constantly being created, characters naturally evolve in ways nobody could ever have predicted during the creation of the show because it happened slowly over time. Characters that were never meant to be together, end up together, not because it was planned, but because the actors had chemistry nobody had planned for, or maybe because scenes with those two characters were popular with the fans or the writers so they kept making them. And the opposite can happen, characters that were meant to be together end up not being together for the reverse of all those reasons. This is a good thing. It personalizes the story and makes the whole thing feel lived in and real. You end up with characters and relationships that make sense because they built that way over time.

HIMYM had an ending they were clearly in love with, planned out, and prepared for. The ending would have worked if the show was 1 or 2 seasons long, maybe even 3. But it was not an ending that made sense for the show that HIMYM had become when it ended and the showrunner's insistence on sticking to it was effectively a betrayal of the show and characters the fans have come to love. That's why everyone hated it.

If you want a show with a definitive ending and story beats, then don't make it more than two seasons long and have a lot of structured plots along the way. If you are just slice of life-ing it for an unknown amount of time, then don't get attached to whatever ending you planned. It probably won't make sense in the end.

---
S*** I have to stop doing that," Gheb said, as he lay back down and died again. - Forgotten Love
The Chiefs won the Super Bowl!
... Copied to Clipboard!
bobbysjoby
02/05/21 5:13:42 AM
#30:


Gheb posted...
The showrunners had a plan, they knew the ending from the beginning, had the foresight to film time-sensitive pieces of that ending during the first season and were committed to making that ending work. It was the story they were going to tell and their creative imperative as the showrunners.

The problem is that television shows, particularly long-running, lightly-structured sitcoms are kind of like a living thing. Actors change, writers and directors change, new storylines are constantly being created, characters naturally evolve in ways nobody could ever have predicted during the creation of the show because it happened slowly over time. Characters that were never meant to be together, end up together, not because it was planned, but because the actors had chemistry nobody had planned for, or maybe because scenes with those two characters were popular with the fans or the writers so they kept making them. And the opposite can happen, characters that were meant to be together end up not being together for the reverse of all those reasons. This is a good thing. It personalizes the story and makes the whole thing feel lived in and real. You end up with characters and relationships that make sense because they built that way over time.

HIMYM had an ending they were clearly in love with, planned out, and prepared for. The ending would have worked if the show was 1 or 2 seasons long, maybe even 3. But it was not an ending that made sense for the show that HIMYM had become when it ended and the showrunner's insistence on sticking to it was effectively a betrayal of the show and characters the fans have come to love. That's why everyone hated it.

If you want a show with a definitive ending and story beats, then don't make it more than two seasons long and have a lot of structured plots along the way. If you are just slice of life-ing it for an unknown amount of time, then don't get attached to whatever ending you planned. It probably won't make sense in the end.
They couldn't have been planning to still use that ending while writing the last 2 or 3 seasons, it had to have been something decided/minds changed at the very last minute

I'd be shocked if an alternate ending hadn't been filmed during the last season tbqh
... Copied to Clipboard!
bobbysjoby
02/05/21 5:14:42 AM
#31:


Cuz if they were always planning to keep that ending all the last couple seasons make no sense unless they originally planned to keep going longer and then last minute found out they weren't renewed for a new season and slapped the ending on it lmao
... Copied to Clipboard!
Topic List
Page List: 1