Ted: “And
that, kids... is how I met your mother.”
Those two finally under one umbrella. As train passes by, Ted says these words. Fade to black. That's how I choose to believe the series ended.
If only
they stopped here, then it would have been an almost perfect finale. The one
that I could live with. The one that will make me want to re-watch my favorite
episodes of the series again. The one that didn’t insult the audience.
The one that didn’t betray the characters that we saw grow up. If they
ended it here I’d give the episode a solid 4 out of 5. But what happened in the last few
minutes left me with one reaction only – WTF!?
I fell in love with the show when it was in its 6th year. I marathoned through first 5 seasons and then watched live like the rest of the world. My interest was gradually falling over the last couple of seasons. This last one was just a drag, so much that the best and memorable episodes of this year can easily be counted on the fingers of one hand. Some episodes were so bad that even though it's only 20 minutes I had to fast-forward while wondering why I am still watching at all. The answer was of course obvious. It’s the last season and I wanted to see how it will all end for the characters that have been guests at my home on a weekly basis for so long.
I have to
say that I was enjoying this finale right up until the almost very end. I cried
more times than I’m willing to admit. But then again… what the heck... why not?
Ted saying goodbye to his friends got to me, Barney professing eternal love for
his daughter brought me to tears and every single big moment got me crying, partly
because Alyson Hannigan was very emotional. Whenever I see Alyson crying on
screen I cry along. I think it’s a spell cast back when she was Willow and it still
holds.
Every
moment between Ted and Tracy was precious gold, especially since there were so few of
them. I kept thinking that this last season could have turned into something
incredible had they spent less time on the marriage that ended almost
immediately, and more on the main couple. I know Barney and
Robin stayed married for three years, but it felt like three seconds. Many have
said that Barney/Robin’s wedding was important because that’s where Ted met the Mother. Fine. No argument
here. But they could have done it in an episode or like five. Instead we got what we got.
I honestly
didn’t suspect anything bad or tragic, but then Robin said “We got divorced”… and then it went
pretty much downhill after that. It was painful and tiring to watch Barney return to his
previous womanizing self. One thing it’s when you are in your 20s, yet another
when you’re in your 40s. The writers understand that, otherwise Lily would never
have said what she said: “It’s sad”.
I personally think it took a lot of screen
time, I’m sure many people would have preferred not to see this side of Barney again.
Instead we should have spent more time with Ted and the Mother. Cristin and
Josh have an amazing chemistry. Seriously the whole scene under umbrella was
electric. The Mother’s casting was so spot on it’s frightening. They are so
meant for each other that it is hard to match that. We should have seen more of
them falling in love, dating, arguing…. Living. Instead we got an extremely
short version and then before we knew it she was gone.
Some observations
So, they decided to waste an entire season on a wedding week-end and then
squeeze like 20 years of life into 40 minutes. Whose brilliant idea was it? This
is obviously a rhetorical question.
The voiceover and the montage
of screen shots and pictures of Ted and Tracy with the kids was one of the most
beautiful I’ve seen in a long while.
Barney's scene
with his daughter was outstanding.
Lily’s face
when Ted called Tracy
to ask her out on a date was precious.
Lily in a
white whale costume was totally adorable
I was actually among
those who believed the mother might be dead, but I kind of hoped they wouldn’t go
there. And when they did, I swear to God my heart stopped for a second.
Memorable Quotes:
Ted: “Look,
I know that odds are the love of my life isn't gonna magically walk through
that door in a pumpkin costume at... in the morning, but... this seems as nice
a spot as any to just, you know... sit and wait."
Ted: “Lily,
you okay?”
Lily: “Of
course I'm not okay. This ruins everything.”
Well, she
said it!
To sum up
my thoughts, I feel cheated. I think breaking Robin and Barney up was a huge
mistake because they are perfect for each other. I think having Ted run to
Robin in the end was an epic mistake, because it felt like the Mother didn’t
mean much. Because the kids were portrayed as insensitive. Because to me this show was
all about a guy who believed that somewhere there is this one woman for him, his soul mate and that he
will wait for her no matter what and as long as it takes. It was a beautiful
journey and he finally met her.
“Aunt Lily
wasn't wrong. It was at times a long, difficult road. But I'm glad it was long
and difficult, because if I hadn't gone through hell to get there, the lesson
might not have been as clear. You see, kids, right from the moment I met your
mom, I knew... I have to love this woman as much as I can for as long as I can,
and I can never stop loving her, not even for a second. I carried that lesson
with me through every stupid fight we ever had, every 5:00 a.m. Christmas
morning, every sleepy Sunday afternoon, through every speed bump. Every pang of
jealousy or boredom or uncertainty that came our way, I carried that lesson
with me. And I carried it with me when she got sick. Even then, in what can
only be called the worst of times, all I could
do was look at her and thank God, thank every god there is, or ever was, or
will be, and the whole universe, and anyone else I can possibly thank... that I
saw that beautiful girl on that train platform, and that I had the guts to
stand up, walk over to her, tap her on the shoulder, open my mouth, and speak.”
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