Tuesday, April 1, 2014

goodbye, HIMYM. you were and will always be legend-waitforit-dary.

Ah nine years. So much has happened IRL and in TV Land. But these were mostly good times, and we've been through a lot. We knew an end was inevitable as fans' patience is running its course.. and because nothing lasts forever, the ironical title of the 2-episode finale notwithstanding.

Warning: Everything ahead is a spoiler. Do not proceed below these images. You have been warned. :)




This is a truly bittersweet farewell because.. brace yourself, I'm gonna to rant for the rest of this write-up.




Wow. Like, WOW.

Nine years, and then this, this unworthy finale?!?!?! We didn't lose the slap bet, but we might as well have, from the burning marks left on our cheeks! I didn't need a happy ending, but conveniently killing off the mother with nary a breath of us to grieve after making us fall in love with her just so Ted could go back to how-many-times-have-we-flogged-this-dead-horse Robin? What kinda twisted happy ending is that? Ted, you went after your best friend's ex-wife?? How could you?? As someone said, this was supposed to be about the yellow umbrella, not the blue french horn!

And then, they stretched one wedding weekend to an entire season, but then cramming up the next 22 years in 40 minutes?! The finale felt really rushed like they were cancelled in the penultimate episode, when they had years to figure this out. And I don't buy it that you couldn't rewrite the ending because you have planned it from the beginning. Things have changed so much, the characters have evolved so much, times have changed so much, don't you know??

But that's a minor gripe, compared to the severe injustice you did to Barney's character. Every bit of it that was salvaged in the past 3 seasons, mercilessly obliterated in mere minutes, now that was just gross. Whoever was it that thought that it was a great idea to split Barney up from the love of his life, have him degenerate back to the scumbag he was who would proceed to have a string of one-night-stands (31 in a row) which resulted in him with a daughter (touching moment, but I couldn't get out of my head that the mother of the child didn't even deserve the decency of a name). Why couldn't he and Robin stay together and have a kid via surrogacy? This plot twist broke my heart the most. And Robin, you need to remember you were the one who caused the divorce and Barney's subsequent meltdown. You strung him around and then decided that your career is more important.. so what now, you suddenly have time for Ted? Again, Ted, your best friend's ex-wife? Really??

This is a bad, bad dream. Truly, the darkest timeline.










I could only manage two tweets myself because it was just so upsetting that I didn't know how to describe the intensity of emotions I have. It doesn't help that my friends all haven't watched this, and I have to pretend that everything is okay so not to spoil it for them when I'm dying inside. :( So drama right, but that's cos I'm really invested in the show.

This following comment, from the top comment in the series' FB page, sums it up nicely. While you read, I'll excuse myself to the corner and sulk. Wake me up when September ends.
Dear How I Met Your Mother Creators,

To say I was disappointed in the series finale of How I Met Your Mother is a gross understatement. I am disconcertingly, irretrievably, unfathomably disappointed in the way you chose to end what used to be my absolute favorite television series of all time, to the point where it makes me physically ill to think about. For nine seasons you taught us to believe in magic, and in destiny, and happy endings, and in the fates always working out in the end, no matter how bumpy the road to get there was. This ending absolutely destroyed everything that was magical about this series. A few things you destroyed:

Barney Stinson. From the moment we saw Barney asking about his tie at the end of season 6, and realized that he was getting married, we have seen the character of Barney Stinson evolve, albeit slowly from a manipulative womanizer to a gentlemen worthy of marrying Robin Sherbatsky. When he finally vowed to always tell Robin the truth the moment before he married her, I was proud of him and the full circle that he had done. And then, in one episode, you destroyed three seasons of character development for Barney and made him devolve into an unfunny, immature scumbag of a guy who knocked somebody up and who wasn't even happy about having a child until the moment he held her in his arms. What a SAD, MISERABLE ending for one of the most diverse characters in the show.

Robin Sherbatsky. Ruined her character as well. So she becomes famous, ditches all of her friends and her husband for her career, and lives an anti-social life where she eventually ends up all alone in her old apartment with more dogs?

I could have lived with the mother dying. I could have lived with this. I could have been happy. I could have made it work.

But you decided to take it one step further.

You decided to ruin Ted Mosby. You decided to turn Ted Mosby from a hopeless romantic telling an amazingly beautiful story of how he met the mother of his children into some elaborate ploy to ask his kids' permission to pursue Robin again. Robin. THE SAME WOMAN WHO MARRIED HIS BEST FRIEND AND WHO TOLD TED SHE DID NOT LOVE HIM AND THAT THEY WOULD NEVER WORK OUT EVER BECAUSE THEY WERE TOO FUNDAMENTALLY DIFFERENT PEOPLE. By the way, way to break the bro code, Ted. You shattered Ted's character by convincing us he finally moved on from Robin. But no. Still pining after the same woman after 20+ years. Makes me physically ill.

But the worst thing....

You ruined The Mother and her story. You turned her death into a minor part, another hurdle Ted had to jump to finally reach Robin. We did not see ANY mourning from Ted for the death of his wife. We did not see their final moments together. We did not see the funeral. We did not hear any sadness from her kids. All we heard was "Oh by the way, the mother got sick and died, let's talk about Robin instead". Makes me absolutely sick to my stomach.

You ruined the magic. And for that, I will forever be disappointed.

In my mind, the series ended with Barney and Robin's wedding. A snippet of Ted seeing the mother playing bass on stage. Finally meeting her at the train station. Flash forwards of their lives together. Ted proposes. They have an amazing life and two children together. She slowly gets sick and eventually passes away. And in order to honor her memory, he sits his kids down and tells them the long, amazing story of how he met the love of his life.

And that's the true story of how Ted met the mother, the love of his life. At least, that's the story I will be remembering.

Sincerely,

A Disappointed Viewer

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Edit 2-Apr-14

'Tis the morning after. It still stings. But hmm. Found this clip online. And this is how I'm going to remember how it ended. This is how it should have gone down, and in my head, this is how it went down. I'm stuck between denial and anger in my stages of grief, and I think I'm going to be here for a while.



Anyway, I just want to say I will always remember the laughter and the tears and the catchphrases and the reruns and all the good things HIMYM was.. So long, and thanks for all the fish!

xoxo.
@ 11:30 PM
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