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Message
re: HIMYM The Final Season
Posted on 4/1/14 at 9:34 am to White Shadeaux
Posted on 4/1/14 at 9:34 am to White Shadeaux
quote:
How I Killed Time With Your Mother Until I Was Free To Pursue The True Love Of My Life, Robin(sorry your mom died, kids)"
1
Posted on 4/1/14 at 9:34 am to TeddyPadillac
All in all, I liked the finale. I didn’t think it was a stone cold classic, but anything that sends the internet off into fits of Nerd Rage can’t be all bad. Finales have the problem that if they meet fans’ theories, then it’s predictable, but if they differentiate, then it’s a betrayal and you hear what they “should’ve” done. Writers are in a bit of a no-win, so they did a bit of a grab bag. I have a lot thoughts, so I’ll split my usually verbose post into two verbose posts, first to talk about Barney and then Ted.
Though a quick note on Marhsall and Lilly. That was too much wish fulfillment. If you turn down a judgeship, you don’t get offered it again. I know the show wanted to reward Marshall, who is the most fundamentally decent person on the show, but come on. He gave it up. Part of a sacrifice is that there is an actual sacrifice. Instead, they get to have everything. I’m not inherently against wish fulfillment, but his victory rang hollow.
Anyway, on Barney. I’m not inherently against him getting divorced from Robin. An entire season about their wedding, only to destroy it in three minutes seemed like a dirty trick, though. I invested in their relationship, and rather liked the two of them, and then after this long build of Barney becoming a person, they take him back to square one.
Actually, a bit worse than square one, because we know Barney is capable of growth so his reversion back to the Fonz was just sad and pathetic. Lilly, speaking for the audience, even points it out. It would have been the most pathetic arc in TV history had it stood, so you knew it wasn’t done. I wasn’t mad that Barney went back to being a poon hound, just sad. He went from cartoon to person back to cartoon, with the knowledge he could be a real person. That’s just depressing.
The line in the bar when he said if he couldn’t change for Robin he couldn’t ever change was just so achingly sad (and pathetic). Here’s a guy who actually grew up, hit an actual adult road block, and then reverted back to his worst habits and admitted he was just giving up. He was so excited to have his friends back for their one night, it was very much like a wounded puppy. He needed affection so badly. He said just accept me for who I am, which was just such a pathetic give up, and then his friends gave up on him as well. It was depressing. I felt bad for Barney.
Then, he knocks #31 up and he gives the same speech to his newborn daughter that he gave in the bar. Anyone who thinks Barney is going to revert wasn’t paying attention. His “let me be me” scene was when he gave that “I don’t believe in love at first sight” speech, which he then gave, word for word, to his daughter. He loves his daughter, so much so that he shoos those two girls from the bar. His last lines in the series are “Daddy’s Home”, as he now defines himself as a father.
This transforms his post-divorce period into just another step into becoming an adult, and not the most depressing end for a character in TV history. Barney finally finds fulfillment. It ended up being a nice ending, though the divorce does beg the question why we spent a full season on his wedding.
Though a quick note on Marhsall and Lilly. That was too much wish fulfillment. If you turn down a judgeship, you don’t get offered it again. I know the show wanted to reward Marshall, who is the most fundamentally decent person on the show, but come on. He gave it up. Part of a sacrifice is that there is an actual sacrifice. Instead, they get to have everything. I’m not inherently against wish fulfillment, but his victory rang hollow.
Anyway, on Barney. I’m not inherently against him getting divorced from Robin. An entire season about their wedding, only to destroy it in three minutes seemed like a dirty trick, though. I invested in their relationship, and rather liked the two of them, and then after this long build of Barney becoming a person, they take him back to square one.
Actually, a bit worse than square one, because we know Barney is capable of growth so his reversion back to the Fonz was just sad and pathetic. Lilly, speaking for the audience, even points it out. It would have been the most pathetic arc in TV history had it stood, so you knew it wasn’t done. I wasn’t mad that Barney went back to being a poon hound, just sad. He went from cartoon to person back to cartoon, with the knowledge he could be a real person. That’s just depressing.
The line in the bar when he said if he couldn’t change for Robin he couldn’t ever change was just so achingly sad (and pathetic). Here’s a guy who actually grew up, hit an actual adult road block, and then reverted back to his worst habits and admitted he was just giving up. He was so excited to have his friends back for their one night, it was very much like a wounded puppy. He needed affection so badly. He said just accept me for who I am, which was just such a pathetic give up, and then his friends gave up on him as well. It was depressing. I felt bad for Barney.
Then, he knocks #31 up and he gives the same speech to his newborn daughter that he gave in the bar. Anyone who thinks Barney is going to revert wasn’t paying attention. His “let me be me” scene was when he gave that “I don’t believe in love at first sight” speech, which he then gave, word for word, to his daughter. He loves his daughter, so much so that he shoos those two girls from the bar. His last lines in the series are “Daddy’s Home”, as he now defines himself as a father.
This transforms his post-divorce period into just another step into becoming an adult, and not the most depressing end for a character in TV history. Barney finally finds fulfillment. It ended up being a nice ending, though the divorce does beg the question why we spent a full season on his wedding.
Posted on 4/1/14 at 9:35 am to Baloo
OK, your feelings about the finale probably hinge on Ted and the Mother. I thought the scene under the umbrella was pretty magical, and Ted finally had his sign that he had found The One. I loved how they showed how Tracy easily integrated herself into the group, and the scenes with them hanging out, she had, essentially, replaced Robin.
The show had foreshadowed her death, and there was always the possibility it was throwing us another curveball, but I wasn’t all that surprised when she got sick. It didn’t make it less sad, mainly because the show did a good job of making us love the Mother this year. She was pretty awesome, and she was The One for Ted. But HIMYM has always been real good about subverting sitcom clichés. This was no different.
Because “The One” is bullshite. Ted has spent nine years searching for the One, and he found a perfect person who fulfills him completely and gave him two children. It was Destiny for them to meet, as the umbrella was a sign from the gods. Ted loved Tracy totally and completely, and that’s pretty beautiful. But there’s not just “one person” for all of us. That’s romantic claptrap, and idealized version of Lilly and Marshall (which is why they get a wish fulfillment – they are a magic couple). We all have many loves and it doesn’t make any of them less valid.
This hasn’t been a story about the Mother, as the kids point out. It’s a story about how Ted loves Robin. It’s always been set up, and the show ends with the blue horn from the pilot. But it’s not a betrayal, he’s telling the kids that he did love their mother and she was the perfect person for him, but would it please be okay if he, as she wanted, for him to move forward instead of living in his stories? This is, ultimately, the story of a father asking his kids if its okay if he tries to love again.
And of course they say yes. What kind of sociopath wouldn’t? I saw it suggested in here that they wouldn’t want their parent to date anyone else. You are a selfish a-hole, if you honestly believe that. My mom dated other people about a year after my dad died, and it didn’t make her love my dad any less but her not dating didn’t make him any less dead. I thought Ted asking his children if he could move forward, though he still loved and always would love their mother, was sort of beautiful. It really did make me think of my mom, and I’m sure it was hard for her to ask us if it was okay if she could date someone else.
This story was always about Robin. It’s even why she even had her own episode in which she narrated. The final reveal that it was about Robin doesn’t make the series a cheat, it makes it all fit together.
The show had foreshadowed her death, and there was always the possibility it was throwing us another curveball, but I wasn’t all that surprised when she got sick. It didn’t make it less sad, mainly because the show did a good job of making us love the Mother this year. She was pretty awesome, and she was The One for Ted. But HIMYM has always been real good about subverting sitcom clichés. This was no different.
Because “The One” is bullshite. Ted has spent nine years searching for the One, and he found a perfect person who fulfills him completely and gave him two children. It was Destiny for them to meet, as the umbrella was a sign from the gods. Ted loved Tracy totally and completely, and that’s pretty beautiful. But there’s not just “one person” for all of us. That’s romantic claptrap, and idealized version of Lilly and Marshall (which is why they get a wish fulfillment – they are a magic couple). We all have many loves and it doesn’t make any of them less valid.
This hasn’t been a story about the Mother, as the kids point out. It’s a story about how Ted loves Robin. It’s always been set up, and the show ends with the blue horn from the pilot. But it’s not a betrayal, he’s telling the kids that he did love their mother and she was the perfect person for him, but would it please be okay if he, as she wanted, for him to move forward instead of living in his stories? This is, ultimately, the story of a father asking his kids if its okay if he tries to love again.
And of course they say yes. What kind of sociopath wouldn’t? I saw it suggested in here that they wouldn’t want their parent to date anyone else. You are a selfish a-hole, if you honestly believe that. My mom dated other people about a year after my dad died, and it didn’t make her love my dad any less but her not dating didn’t make him any less dead. I thought Ted asking his children if he could move forward, though he still loved and always would love their mother, was sort of beautiful. It really did make me think of my mom, and I’m sure it was hard for her to ask us if it was okay if she could date someone else.
This story was always about Robin. It’s even why she even had her own episode in which she narrated. The final reveal that it was about Robin doesn’t make the series a cheat, it makes it all fit together.
Posted on 4/1/14 at 9:37 am to FairhopeTider
quote:
because they went for the everybody wins path, and that's not how life works. i want real. i want messy. not clever writing. that's just dumb.
shite, i called this was going to happen last season, but i was hoping so hard it wouldn't.
it wasn't my favorite finale by far but i'd hardly say they went with the "everybody wins" route with the mother dying and barney and robin getting divorced, etc.
quote:
Yeah, the whole theme of the show was "How Ted met his wife." They dedicated the entire season to building up to that moment. Then it's rendered meaningless. Not to mention Ted and Tracy don't even get married for 7+ years after meeting. Making that proposal scene in Farhampton seem really pointless now
agreed and i think most are in agreement the show went about 2 seasons too long.
quote:
Remember that scene where Robin floated away symbolizing Ted letting her go? Pointless.
people keep saying that. he HAD to let her go bc she was marrying barney. it also allowed him to move on to the mother. not pointless at all.
Posted on 4/1/14 at 9:40 am to TeddyPadillac
quote:
What i got from the show is that maybe there isn't just one person out there for you. Maybe there's more than one, and there's nothing wrong with that. Tracy was perfect for Ted, and he enjoyed his life with her and their kids.
Robin is his first love.
I agree. The ending reminded me of someone I know personally. This man is much older than Ted, but he fell in love with a woman he met in Europe while he was working there 60 years ago. When his work was done, he moved back to the states and married his high school sweetheart. They raised several kids and after 50+ years of a happy/faithful marriage, his wife passed. Through a mutual friend, he reconnected with his 'girlfriend' overseas who had lived a similar life (married, buried her spouse, etc). After almost 60 years of no communication, they picked up where they left off and the old man now refers to the lady as his girlfriend and they frequently travel to visit each other.
To this day, he will talk glowingly about his wife. But he will also tell you that it's possible to love more than one woman. Knowing this man's story somehow makes me find the HIMYM finale more believable and I actually liked it.
Posted on 4/1/14 at 9:41 am to Sheep
quote:
When life keeps on coming at you, you do your best to ride the wave, but in the end we're all looking for comfort, and to find somewhere (and someone) that we KNOW. Robin and Ted were that comfortable place for each other.
I don't think that's wrong at all. And ending the show like that can work. But they bungled that completely.
Is it realistic? Sure. Is it realistic to what we've seen these characters do and become? I don't think so. And that is why it failed for me.
Posted on 4/1/14 at 9:41 am to Baloo
quote:
Anyway, on Barney. I’m not inherently against him getting divorced from Robin. An entire season about their wedding, only to destroy it in three minutes seemed like a dirty trick, though. I invested in their relationship, and rather liked the two of them, and then after this long build of Barney becoming a person, they take him back to square one.
Actually, a bit worse than square one, because we know Barney is capable of growth so his reversion back to the Fonz was just sad and pathetic. Lilly, speaking for the audience, even points it out. It would have been the most pathetic arc in TV history had it stood, so you knew it wasn’t done. I wasn’t mad that Barney went back to being a poon hound, just sad. He went from cartoon to person back to cartoon, with the knowledge he could be a real person. That’s just depressing.
The line in the bar when he said if he couldn’t change for Robin he couldn’t ever change was just so achingly sad (and pathetic). Here’s a guy who actually grew up, hit an actual adult road block, and then reverted back to his worst habits and admitted he was just giving up. He was so excited to have his friends back for their one night, it was very much like a wounded puppy. He needed affection so badly. He said just accept me for who I am, which was just such a pathetic give up, and then his friends gave up on him as well. It was depressing. I felt bad for Barney.
Then, he knocks #31 up and he gives the same speech to his newborn daughter that he gave in the bar. Anyone who thinks Barney is going to revert wasn’t paying attention. His “let me be me” scene was when he gave that “I don’t believe in love at first sight” speech, which he then gave, word for word, to his daughter. He loves his daughter, so much so that he shoos those two girls from the bar. His last lines in the series are “Daddy’s Home”, as he now defines himself as a father.
This transforms his post-divorce period into just another step into becoming an adult, and not the most depressing end for a character in TV history. Barney finally finds fulfillment. It ended up being a nice ending, though the divorce does beg the question why we spent a full season on his wedding.
You don't know Barney, you never knew Barney. He will revert. You clearly played this with Robin and you were wrong. Barney is Barney, that is exactly who he is, he is enjoying his child. There is still life beyond that, maybe he will be a little nicer to the women he bangs, but he will most likely still be banging them out left and right.
He is the Fonz, but good try in denying that you were wrong about him.
Posted on 4/1/14 at 9:43 am to lsufan251875
quote:
They spent an entire season showing us how perfect Tracy was for Ted, at the same time showing us how not right Ted and Robin were. What do Ted and Robin have in common? Their 'Major' inside joke, and history.
Robin as the ending should have sailed after season 5 or 6. You cannot get me to believe that after 23 years, including possibly as many as 14 years of little to no contact, that Ted still loves Robin. If anything, he is still wrong in that he loves the idea of Robin.
Just more proof that Ted Mosby sucks. He just freaking sucks.
Posted on 4/1/14 at 9:44 am to Dam Guide
I avoided reading any recaps until I posted my thoughts, but I did like what the AV Club said (more succinctly than I):
quote:
The hour finale was a strange ride, marvelous in some ways, confounding in others. Endings are difficult, and I don’t think any objective assessment would say they nailed this one. But there’s a reason for even the most upsetting details, and they all contribute to a moment where fate deposits Ted back at a moment where he makes a choice and becomes, yet again, the protagonist of his own story. It might be too neat by half, but it errs on the side of being generous to this character. It gives him, as Barney says in 2018 about something far different (and in a state of far more self-delusion), a chance to “just be me.”
Barney and Robin can’t make it work, and both of them go back off the rails, unable to handle the failure. Marshall and Lily compromise and put their dreams on hold. Everybody that was once ahead of Ted in the moving-on department, in the maturity race, slips backward into the regrets and nostalgia of adulthood. For once, Ted has it all, short-lived as it may be. His romantic idealism that was so ill-suited to the dating world turns out to be perfectly suited for making the most of a few years, loving as intensely and completely as possible.
Posted on 4/1/14 at 9:45 am to Dam Guide
quote:
Her character made this series as good as the old days when she was on the show, it was such a disservice to her character not to make the finale better and change course on what they planned.
I said years ago that the writers were in a tough spot. Either they wait to introduce the mother until the very last scene (which would lead to people bitching about not knowing anything about her) or they introduce well ahead of time (which would spoil the big moment of meeting the mother.) The writers seemingly walked that tight rope until the end. They had seemingly set everything up...and then they stumbled...big time. Instead of setting up the meeting of the mother, this was all about getting back with Robin. Speaking as a Bama fan, it was the sitcom equivalent of watching Chris Davis take the game winning FG 109 yards the other way.
Looking back, the best episode of the season was the one where we saw how many times the mother almost met Ted. Would've been great if they had woven their near misses into the finale with the meeting being the big ending scene. Instead we got a bunch of crap shoved down our throat so every storyline could basically be tied up. Again, it's par for the course for these writers. For every brilliant episode, there a few really shitty filler ones. They never found any consistency and I guess expecting them to find it in the finale was obviously asking way too much...but still surprising considering HIMYM usually nailed emotional/sentimental moments.
This post was edited on 4/1/14 at 9:55 am
Posted on 4/1/14 at 9:47 am to ashy larry
quote:
What i got from the show is that maybe there isn't just one person out there for you. Maybe there's more than one, and there's nothing wrong with that. Tracy was perfect for Ted, and he enjoyed his life with her and their kids.
They did this with Max for Tracy as well. The biggest issue for the series was going too long which forced Robin/Barney II and having too much of a likable character in the mother. The ending was perfect for what the show was, not what it had become through the end of season 8/all of season 9.
Posted on 4/1/14 at 9:48 am to Baloo
quote:
Baloo
For the most part I agree with you. I just feel they cheated the audience out of the Mom's character by the way the concluded everything.
Posted on 4/1/14 at 9:48 am to Baloo
quote:exactly
Finales have the problem that if they meet fans’ theories, then it’s predictable, but if they differentiate, then it’s a betrayal and you hear what they “should’ve” done. Writers are in a bit of a no-win,
Posted on 4/1/14 at 9:51 am to FairhopeTider
quote:
Would've been great if they had woven their near misses into the finale with the meeting being the big ending scene
This. Could have been an absolutely amazing montage right after the TM scene.
Posted on 4/1/14 at 9:55 am to Baloo
Barney doesn't want to be to his daughter what his father was to him.
Posted on 4/1/14 at 10:01 am to CarRamrod
quote:
CarRamrod
The frick is your problem?
Posted on 4/1/14 at 10:02 am to quail man
quote:
Barney doesn't want to be to his daughter what his father was to him.
Barney will be there for his daughter, but there is still life outside of parenthood. Plus, we are left to assume that the mother didn't want him as a partner by not having him in the delivery room. Barney is still very much free to roam, he is in the middle of just had a baby fever, there wasn't even time to see it wear off because we leave him just after the birth of his girl.
There are people like Barney, I am great friends with an older guy that is like him. He had a bad marriage and divorced. He's done with the idea of relationships and happy with himself and where he ended up. He isn't a sad pathetic individual.
The reality is you are projecting your own ideas of happiness and who you are on a character/person that is completely different than you. He wasn't giving up and his friends weren't giving up on him. He was wanting their acceptance to be himself and for his friends to finally accept him for that. If you don't like that type of person, don't be friends with them, don't force them to change to the way you believe is the correct way to live. Not everyone is happy living the way you believe.
This post was edited on 4/1/14 at 10:05 am
Posted on 4/1/14 at 10:05 am to quail man
quote:
Barney doesn't want to be to his daughter what his father was to him.
And that's cool with me. I have no problem with how they ended Barney changing for his daughter. While I wished they would've just left him alone so he would remain the perpetual ladies man, I can live with his ending. It was the entire season and a half leading up to it that made everything feel forced in the finale. He uses his last play for Robin. We see an entire season of him growing up, professing his love for Robin, and moving on by passing the torch to the younger guys he met in the early morning hours of his wedding day. Within 15 minutes of the finale, poof.....All of that is a moot point.
This post was edited on 4/1/14 at 10:07 am
Posted on 4/1/14 at 10:05 am to quail man
quote:
Barney doesn't want to be to his daughter what his father was to him.
Yeah Barney had Daddy issues that he projected onto other girls and found comfort in girls that had the same issue. In the same way Ted yearns to find "the one", Barney is searching for that paternal love he never got, he just doesnt know it or how to obtain it. Although he shows signs throughout of wanting to be a parent
He finally realizes that he is missing something in his life, and looks at Ted and assumes he has the same issue as him so he looks for love. He even goes so far as to go after The love of Teds life, in order to achieve it but ultimately realizes hes still hallow because she cant give him kids (and doesnt want them but he is still not able to realize that that is what he is missing
It takes Classic Barney to finally show him what he really needed in his life to be content, a daughter to show his love as a father to.
Posted on 4/1/14 at 10:06 am to FairhopeTider
quote:
It was the entire season and a half leading up to it that made everything feel forced in the finale. He uses his last play for Robin. We see an entire season of him growing up, professing his love for Robin, and moving on by passing the torch to the younger guys he met in the early morning hours of his wedding day. Within 15 minutes of the finale, poof. All of that is moot
Substitue "Nora" for Robin and you can say the same fricking thing about the seasons before that.
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