How I Met Your Mother - Season 9

Stabshauptmann

iguana wrote: »

Was even one single complaint that on this thread? I think most people felt that if they wanted to tell a story which involves a man have a wonderful marriage cut short by death and then move on with an old love they did that very, very badly. Most people have a problem with how the story was told, not with what they told us. (And they certainly told us rather than showed us.)

The most repeated thing people are saying is that they wished it ended with the umbrella scene at the train station.

I would have been so pissed off if that was the ending. My dread for the last couple of weeks was "And that kids, is how I met your mother".

If you knew this show at all, you knew there was going to be a twist. If they had simply ended it there, it wouldn't have been HIMYM!

The second most common tihng people are saying, and your post says it too, is that we didnt see enough of the mother. Ofcourse not, because this

was the story of Ted and Robin. That was the point, sorry the title of the show mislead you, but that was always the point. They didnt want to tell you about his wonderful marriage cut short, they wanted to tell you about TED AND ROBIN! And you cant kill someone in TV rom/com if the audience becomes attached to them, so we cant see more of the mother if the show is going to kill her

Killer_banana

Stabshauptmann wrote: »

So very happy with the ending of HIMYM!

Those who didnt see an ending of that sort coming were not paying attention and never got the story. Well written, well executed.
Every complaint seems to be that it could have been happier. Happiness is just one emotion, and it is really weird in my mind that 99.9% of TV and movies have to end that way to pander to soppy elements.

Great ending.

I hate over the top soppy endings, I hate how everything has to be wrapped up in a nice neat bow in the majority of shows, I've got no issues if something ends sadly. My issue was with the fact they ended the show with a couple who we saw time and again didn't work. If this show had ended in season 5 or maybe even 6 I might have liked that ending or even saw it coming sooner but after nine years of seeing how awful Ted and Robin really were together and having the characters change and evolve to have a lot of that undone in an hour (not just Ted and Robin either, for all the characters) felt lazy and cheap. Also if you're going to spend 20 something episodes building up to a wedding then spend some more time having the marriage break down. I still would be unhappy with the ending if the events over the finale were stretched over more episodes but I'd be happier with the season as a whole and enjoyed seeing those sixteen years more when they weren't so rushed.

Stabshauptmann wrote: »

The most repeated thing people are saying is that they wished it ended with the umbrella scene at the train station.

I would have been so pissed off if that was the ending. My dread for the last couple of weeks was "And that kids, is how I met your mother".

If you knew this show at all, you knew there was going to be a twist. If they had simply ended it there, it wouldn't have been HIMYM!

The second most common tihng people are saying, and your post says it too, is that we didnt see enough of the mother. Ofcourse not, because this

was the story of Ted and Robin. That was the point, sorry the title of the show mislead you, but that was always the point. They didnt want to tell you about his wonderful marriage cut short, they wanted to tell you about TED AND ROBIN! And you cant kill someone in TV rom/com if the audience becomes attached to them, so we cant see more of the mother if the show is going to kill her

Actually it wasn't the plan until season 2, It was originally meant to be about him meeting the mother. You saw it as they story of Ted and Robin, I saw it as the story of the man Ted had to become to be the right man for the mother when he met her. I saw all his interactions with Robin as showing just how wrong for each other they really were. The show has always focused on destiny and Robin and Ted always seemed like almost right but not good enough to last long term. The show was meant to be the story of Ted and Robin (at least seasons 3-9 anyway) but they didn't tell it well enough or clearly enough for fans to know it. I wasn't misdirected by the title, I was misdirected by nine seasons telling me it wasn't about Ted and Robin.

phasers

Hitler has accurately summed up my feelings about the finale.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84WTdDbQw1I

godtabh

Alterntive ending to be on dvd box set

Mr E

I haven't watched HIMYM for years, but wanted to see how it all ended. I just watched the last 2 episodes (single and double). I liked it. I didn't laugh once, but I thought it was.... nice. Inoffensive. Didn't love it, but didn't hate it.

Weird that in the final episode where Ted met the Mother, I think I preferred the scene where Barney met his daughter.

The alternative ending is much better too.

Deco99

I'm gutted. The past 3/4 seasons have been tough, havent enjoyed it but stuck with it as someone on here said, it was the first show i started watching online. A whole season on a wedding that gets tore down in 2 mins, marshall went from a great character to looking disinterested and bored. Barney was the star of the show and given muck. Ted had redeemed his character to meet the love of his life only for us to be told no, it was robin all along. Horrible ending. I worked out that i spent 3780 minutes watching this, thats 63 hours of my life, over two and a half days i wont get back. Then i realised i hadnt even added in the amount of time searching for links and buffering........

Killer_banana

Deco99 wrote: »

I'm gutted. The past 3/4 seasons have been tough, havent enjoyed it but stuck with it as someone on here said, it was the first show i started watching online. A whole season on a wedding that gets tore down in 2 mins, marshall went from a great character to looking disinterested and bored. Barney was the star of the show and given muck. Ted had redeemed his character to meet the love of his life only for us to be told no, it was robin all along. Horrible ending. I worked out that i spent 3780 minutes watching this, thats 63 hours of my life, over two and a half days i wont get back. Then i realised i hadnt even added in the amount of time searching for links and buffering........

I think this is more to do with Jason Segel than the show. He has been talking about wanting to leave for years and said back in season five he wouldn't go more than 8 seasons (and that was only because he was contracted up until then so had no choice). Apparently season 9 came very close to not happening because of him (if only) so I think if he looks bored and disinterested it's probably because Jason was bored and disinterested. Even if you see interviews with the cast you can tell he doesn't want to be there a lot of the time.

Deco99

Ya, had heard that. But its not like he got any good material to work with either.... and dear god why a whole season on a wedding that ends in divorce at the first hurdle.

Saw this summary of the characters regression in the finale on IMDB.. Pretty accurate.

5. Lily- presumably went back to teaching after the rome gig/hated being a housewife/mom and still kept having kids she couldn't afford

4. Marshall- compromised his judgeship for lily's silly whim of being an art consultant. went back to corporate law which he hated

3. Ted- learned nothing, held out hope for Robin all these years

2. Robin- continued to put her career ahead of her relationships

1. Barney- lost all of the lessons and growth of the last 8 yrs, reverting back to a pathetic womanizer who was well past his prime.

FreudianSlippers

Deco99 wrote: »

I'm gutted. The past 3/4 seasons have been tough, havent enjoyed it but stuck with it as someone on here said, it was the first show i started watching online. A whole season on a wedding that gets tore down in 2 mins, marshall went from a great character to looking disinterested and bored. Barney was the star of the show and given muck. Ted had redeemed his character to meet the love of his life only for us to be told no, it was robin all along. Horrible ending. I worked out that i spent 3780 minutes watching this, thats 63 hours of my life, over two and a half days i wont get back. Then i realised i hadnt even added in the amount of time searching for links and buffering........

I won't defend the last 2 seasons, but you need to subtract all the years of good viewing from that figure. It's the best ending this show could have had in fairness. Some of us are into TV as an artform and some casual viewers, but this ending either way was conclusive and coherent with the show as a whole (I.e. Ted's obsession with Robin up to the end.

Deco99

FreudianSlippers wrote: »

I won't defend the last 2 seasons, but you need to subtract all the years of good viewing from that figure. It's the best ending this show could have had in fairness. Some of us are into TV as an artform and some casual viewers, but this ending either way was conclusive and coherent with the show as a whole (I.e. Ted's obsession with Robin up to the end.

my issue is that the finale undoes all the good stuff, why build up the mother and barney and robins wedding if it to be quickly undone so ted can go pandering to robin again. Artform smartform, it wasnt coherent with the last four series. So ted heads off with his best friends ex wife while barney is left as a single dad by accident. It was clear early on from fan reaction that ted and robin were not liked as a couple. Conversely chandler and monica were meant to be a one off but fans warmed to it. They made a big mistake sticking to original plan. The show evolved but bays and co ignored that.

Junior D

I hate the way people are saying they couldn't show the mother too much in case people became attached to her before being killed off.

TOO LATE!
I loved her, it seemed like Ted and her got on perfectly. Was so depressing to have it confirmed that she died at the end!

Deco99

Junior D wrote: »

I hate the way people are saying they couldn't show the mother too much in case people became attached to her before being killed off.

TOO LATE!
I loved her, it seemed like Ted and her got on perfectly. Was so depressing to have it confirmed that she died at the end!

really didnt seem ted got too attached to her, seems he was just looking at the clock til the six years were up. He married her in a civil ceremony despite all his grand gestures for robin. The wife was good enough to have his kids then put her in the ground, kick a bit of dirt on her and off with you. Chapter closed..... im taking this ending badly.

Dman001

Quote="Stabshauptmann;89800384"]But that would have made no sense.

The son summed it up perfectly. This is a 10 year story about Ted and Robin. We meet the mother only really in the last couple of episodes - not enough to emotionally connect. The story is does Ted ever end up with Robin.

[/quote]

But the show is called How I Met Your Mother in fairness, the fact the ending somewhat deviated away the Mother is where the issue/annoyance lies.

Your second point, where you say the Mother was only really introduced in the last couple of episodes and not enough to emotionally connect, I think the total opposite and think where the main issue lies. I think the audience really fell for the Mother, despite her minimal appearance, and took everyone for surprise. As a result, while we were rooting for the Mother and Ted to finally meet, the writers were still stuck in 2005 with a Ted/Robin ending in mind. I don't think they considered that the audience would like (for lack of better word) the Mother so much

iguana

Dman001 wrote: »

Your second point, where you say the Mother was only really introduced in the last couple of episodes and not enough to emotionally connect, I think the total opposite and think where the main issue lies. I think the audience really fell for the Mother, despite her minimal appearance, and took everyone for surprise. As a result, while we were rooting for the Mother and Ted to finally meet, the writers were still stuck in 2005 with a Ted/Robin ending in mind. I don't think they considered that the audience would like (for lack of better word) the Mother so much

I think by the end, the 5 main characters had become boring caricatures that the audience were just killing time with to get to the end. I certainly didn't particularly like any of them any more. Tracey, on the otherhand, was fresh, immensely likable, funny and had an interesting background. The only thing I didn't like about her was that she was going to end up with the sad sack Ted had become. She was the reason I think a lot of people stayed watching the show during season 9.

Killer_banana

iguana wrote: »

She was the reason I think a lot of people stayed watching the show during season 9.

If we hadn't seen the mother in the season 8 finale I wouldn't have watched season 9.

pickarooney

iguana wrote: »

I think by the end, the 5 main characters had become boring caricatures that the audience were just killing time with to get to the end. I certainly didn't particularly like any of them any more. Tracey, on the otherhand, was fresh, immensely likable, funny and had an interesting background. The only thing I didn't like about her was that she was going to end up with the sad sack Ted had become. She was the reason I think a lot of people stayed watching the show during season 9.

Yeah, not sure why people who liked the mother are pissed off she didn't end up with Ted. She dodged a bullet by dying of cancer or whatever.

Deco99

pickarooney wrote: »

Yeah, not sure why people who liked the mother are pissed off she didn't end up with Ted. She dodged a bullet by dying of cancer or whatever.

Well, she didnt have to die maybe, she could have realised what a pathetic ass he is and divorced him cause he jumped to robins tune one time too many.

iguana

Victoria sure dodged a bullet.

Deco99

that guy the mother dumped after he proposed just before she met ted must have been some moron that he made ted look good.

Stabshauptmann

Dman001 wrote: »

But the show is called How I Met Your Mother in fairness, the fact the ending somewhat deviated away the Mother...

... took everyone for surprise

EXACTLY!

It was a clever, original ending. An ending very much in keeping with the shows 8 seasons.

phasers

Stabshauptmann wrote: »

EXACTLY!

It was a clever, original ending. An ending very much in keeping with the shows 8 seasons.

Well not really, there's been speculation that this would happen for years. And there's nine seasons...

iguana

And it's not in keeping because from the end of season 2 onwards, we've been beaten over the head again and again that Ted and Robin are not right for each other.

Clareman

Alyson Hannigan is saying that there was a deleted scene about the mother's funeral but it was cut.
http://www.411mania.com/movies/news/320884/Alyson-Hannigan-Reveals-A-Deleted-Scene-From-How-I-Met-Your-Mother-Finale-(SPOILERS).htm

On the "one second" montage of Tracy's funeral that was cut from the episode: "Honestly, if you saw [that] cut, it would be even more heart-wrenching than what the finale was. They were like, ‘No. It's just too gut-wrenching.' And I was like, ‘That's what I want. I want my heart ripped out and slammed on the floor and, like, stomped on!' [It] would have been better for the audience, so that then they can process, ‘Oh, [Ted] mourned. He got closure.' And then they'd be happy that [he and Robin] got together. Rather than be like, ‘Oh, wait. She died? What? They're together, huh?' And credits. That's what I think was too fast."

Lisha

Am I the only one who would have preferred if Barney and Robyn stayed together and were happy ever after?

Ballyv24

Lisha wrote: »

Am I the only one who would have preferred if Barney and Robyn stayed together and were happy ever after?

Nope, I agree with you. They had the final season showing how they were perfect together and then they just dropped the relationship in a few minutes.

It's as if the writers thought they were only on episode 12.. then when someone reminded them that they were filming the last episode they just thought.. "feck it, lets cram the rest of the season into the last episode. I hope we don't forget anything.. What!! Barney is with Robyn.. but she is supposed to end up with Ted at then end, I'll fix that. Get my red pen"

My guess is that they had some new guy typing out the scripts and he kept mixing up Ted and Barney, so the last season really should have been about Robyn and Ted getting married

Clareman

In my opinion they wrote themselves into a proverbial corner and had to pull the trigger on Ted and Robin, the whole on again/off again, will they/won't they thing over the past few seasons, along with Ted pretty much descending into a secondary character with no romantic interests for the last couple of seasons meant that they had to do something to tie it all back up together, to do that they had to have Robin get involved with someone, they couldn't just introduce a new main character so they went with the only other option they had. Having them break up because they weren't spending enough time together was a bit meh though, Barney was shown to give up his career so why couldn't he follow Robin around for a while.

Just watched the episode when Stella leaves Ted at the altar and it really underlines just how **** the ending was.

Alfred Borden

It just gets worse the more you think about it. Worst ending to a show for me (lucky not to have seen Lost or Dexter).

They have lost their loyal fans that would have watched the new show out of loyalty too. Going nowhere near it.

Killer_banana

Deleted User wrote: »

Just watched the episode when Stella leaves Ted at the altar and it really underlines just how **** the ending was.

Saw the start of that earlier and then he got to the bit about not inviting an ex to a wedding and it had so much more implied meaning I turned it off. I have watched a few episodes since it finished but there are some I think are just pretty much ruined by the ending.

pedatron

I'd forgotten they had so much screen time together. If you erase the Robin bit and watch this it's an improvement!