Jump to content
DVDVR Message Board

How I Met Your Mother Season 9


RandomAct

Recommended Posts

I was fine with the way things ended up.  They never built Tracy/the Mother much as a character, so I was never really invested in her and Ted.  And the scene at the train station was cute.

 

Also fine with them devoting an entire season to Robin/Barney's wedding, then quicky-divorcing them.  If the lead-in and the finale had been solidly written, I'd be fine with the twist.

 

That said, I didn't find much to like in the finale.  Writing seemed pretty flat, and was anyone really clamoring to find out how the group fell apart?  It was kind of a downer running through a series of scenes that show the group dynamic unwinding - with Robin as the main culprit.  It was only two episodes ago that older Ted delivered his voiceover at the end about appreciating people in your life and not losing track of them. 

 

My main issue was the writing - it didn't seem sharp, funny, or insightful.  If the writing was solid, I'd probably have been fine with however they chose to end things.

 

Also, older Ted is kinda of an ass.  I get that he was telling the story as a way of achieving closure and asking his kids for permission to move on, but.....   Even if was true, I can't imagine telling my kids that I met their mother at the wedding of the love of my life, whose marriage to another guy was so painful I almost moved across the country and whom I never quite got over.  Oh, and that I didn't marry their mother until they were all several years old.  Oh, and that I still talk a lot about that former lover and not much about their mom.  Seriously, mom gone or not, I can't imagine my kids want to hear that much about the one who got away.  He basically told his kids that their mother was his rebound relationship.  Weird.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think what is bugging me the most is that if you think about it - The Mother turned out to be Ted's 4th choice...

Robin (of course), Stella and Victoria (who I believe someone said was the writers original choice to be the mother)

 

For me - the whole thing with Robin would have worked better if they never actually introduced the Mother. The problem is that they made her too perfect for everyone (including Ted) and I feel like a sucker that I cared about her.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't have a problem with Ted ending up with Robin. That felt like it had to happen on some level, even a couple of episodes ago.

 

It was going to be bittersweet that he didn't, but ultimately alright because we liked Barney/Robin and they did such a masterful job getting there with the playbook last page, etc, and because after spending years of watching Ted, we're happy that he got someone that was actually a good match for him. With Robin, she was permanently damaged goods in a lot of ways and he'd be spending his life taking care of her, which was fine, since it's what he wanted to do more than anything else in the world, but in some ways she and barney deserved each other and Ted, now that he's gone through this character development, which still didn't make him perfectly functional, but did make him a lot better, deserved something better. 

 

The biggest problem to me, is that they erased not just the wedding, but Barney's entire character development throughout the show in a matter of minutes and then tried to toss us a consolation prize with the baby, which was a messed up situation in a hundred ways.

 

It's not that they made the mother too perfect. They could have spent the season developing her, which would have made her sickness matter all the more instead of just a gimmick and then we could have been okay with the Robin thing because that's what T.M. (I don't even remember her name) would have wanted for Ted, to be happy. 

 

The problem, even then, though, is Barney. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Victoria wasn't the original choice, but she was the plan in case the show got cancelled in the first season.

 

And I agree with Rippa wholeheartedly.

 

They really made us care and love the Mother and in the final episode, the Mother was an afterthought to Robin.

 

So the two big things built up in the final season, The Mother and The Wedding, were both pretty much pissed on and set on fire to close the show.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think what is bugging me the most is that if you think about it - The Mother turned out to be Ted's 4th choice...

Robin (of course), Stella and Victoria (who I believe someone said was the writers original choice to be the mother)

 

For me - the whole thing with Robin would have worked better if they never actually introduced the Mother. The problem is that they made her too perfect for everyone (including Ted) and I feel like a sucker that I cared about her.

 

Yeah, I liked the mother with Ted so much that I guess I would have been fine with her still dying if the endgame wasn't Ted and Robin. After all the on and off again stuff with Robin though, the Mother was always going to end up as the silver medal.

 

I don't have a problem with Ted ending up with Robin. That felt like it had to happen on some level, even a couple of episodes ago.

 

It was going to be bittersweet that he didn't, but ultimately alright because we liked Barney/Robin and they did such a masterful job getting there with the playbook last page, etc, and because after spending years of watching Ted, we're happy that he got someone that was actually a good match for him. With Robin, she was permanently damaged goods in a lot of ways and he'd be spending his life taking care of her, which was fine, since it's what he wanted to do more than anything else in the world, but in some ways she and barney deserved each other and Ted, now that he's gone through this character development, which still didn't make him perfectly functional, but did make him a lot better, deserved something better. 

 

The biggest problem to me, is that they erased not just the wedding, but Barney's entire character development throughout the show in a matter of minutes and then tried to toss us a consolation prize with the baby, which was a messed up situation in a hundred ways.

 

It's not that they made the mother too perfect. They could have spent the season developing her, which would have made her sickness matter all the more instead of just a gimmick and then we could have been okay with the Robin thing because that's what T.M. (I don't even remember her name) would have wanted for Ted, to be happy. 

 

The problem, even then, though, is Barney. 

 

Someone else somewhere said that in order for Ted and Robin to get together they had to sacrifice the life of the Mother and Barney's character. Two things that they spent years building up just to trash it all in an hour or so. Also, the mother's name is Tracy (if they said it during the show I think I missed it but it was in the closing credits).

 

I will forever be annoyed that Ted got to have his romance with the mother and fulfill all the different things that he said he wanted in a woman yet still end up with the woman who didn't embody any of those things but still loved for ever and ever. I'm sticking with my idea that Ted and Robin, regardless of how they've changed over the years, will not work in the future. They get together and break up and get together and break up and one of them will die before they settle on whether they should have just stayed together all these years.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Is this a case where the title and perceived premise of the show had people more invested in the payoff than in the characters?  Not directing that at anyone here, because many of you brought up legit concerns that I agree with.  But much of the reaction online is "grrr that's not the ending I wanted".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't think so.

 

Actually, let me rephrase. I think a lot of media outlets are picking up on that because it's an easy story and you don't really need to be invested in the show to understand it. I don't think the fans are really feeling it. I think people are more upset with the execution and the russo-tastic swerve where you take something of substance that has weight and worth behind it and sacrifice it for a flashy twist. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I still really feel like they threw too many clues at us for years to call it a bait and switch though.  Like, a shit ton of them now that I think about it.  They couldn't have Tracy just die and end the show like that, because fuck, what a downer.  The whole point of the show was for Ted to end on a high note.  Now I do agree that the perfect ending would have been the train station.  "Funny how sometimes you just find things" is a top 5 moment in the show for me, and I would have been A-ok if that was the last line ever spoken on the show.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There are plenty of clues for Ted and Robin, but in doing so, they complete negate a ton of episodes about the Mother.

 

And still, no one has explained to me how the hell her own kids would not care to hear about her at all. The better reaction would have been, "All you did was talk about Robin, we want to hear about Mom."

 

Someone on reddit said they're probably tired of hearing about her by this point, to which I call absolute horseshit.

 

She's been dead six years. If the song is 14 like they said he is, that means The Mom died when he was 8. I highly doubt he has that many memories of his mom that'd he be sick of hearing about her.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

What I am finding ironic (for myself) is that I get irritated when the WWE changes a finish because EVERYONE FIGURED IT OUT!!! but in this case I am bothered that they didn't make the change after people started figuring out the ending like three seasons ago.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

 

Also, the mother's name is Tracy (if they said it during the show I think I missed it but it was in the closing credits).

 

 

 

It was at the train station when they were arguing over the umbrella with their initials on it. T,M. Ted Mosby & Tracy McConnell.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Is this a case where the title and perceived premise of the show had people more invested in the payoff than in the characters?  Not directing that at anyone here, because many of you brought up legit concerns that I agree with.  But much of the reaction online is "grrr that's not the ending I wanted".

Random is right.  A lot of the negative reaction is exactly "This is not what *I* wanted."

 

And this is the Internet after all.  Its all about what *I* want, and I'll bitch to no end when I don't get it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There are plenty of clues for Ted and Robin, but in doing so, they complete negate a ton of episodes about the Mother.

 

And still, no one has explained to me how the hell her own kids would not care to hear about her at all. The better reaction would have been, "All you did was talk about Robin, we want to hear about Mom."

 

Someone on reddit said they're probably tired of hearing about her by this point, to which I call absolute horseshit.

 

She's been dead six years. If the song is 14 like they said he is, that means The Mom died when he was 8. I highly doubt he has that many memories of his mom that'd he be sick of hearing about her.

I could have sworn that was a line from the daughter about how they had heard it already or something like that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I know Phil has concerns, but to me, the issue isn't the mother at all, it's Barney. 

 

They DID give us clues all along and I think everyone felt a bit iffy on the Ted/Robin stuff of the last few weeks. I can't say enough that I thought Ted DID grow, but not to the point where he was past Robin, just to the point where he could finally successfully have a relationship with her. 

 

I know people who refused to watch the show because it was on CBS and had a laugh track and I think ultimately, that's what the show proved itself to be last night. Another comedy with goofy characters with a laugh track. Barney reverting and flippantly joking about how he hadn't changed at all and it was just a big joke makes him Big Bang Theory level when it comes to that sort of thing. Or Two Broke Girls or whatever. 

 

I think they'd accomplished something a little more and maybe that was their own folly. They put a big tree in the middle of their road and they cut it down but we still had to drive over the stump and it was pretty damn awkward. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There are plenty of clues for Ted and Robin, but in doing so, they complete negate a ton of episodes about the Mother.

 

And still, no one has explained to me how the hell her own kids would not care to hear about her at all. The better reaction would have been, "All you did was talk about Robin, we want to hear about Mom."

 

Someone on reddit said they're probably tired of hearing about her by this point, to which I call absolute horseshit.

 

She's been dead six years. If the song is 14 like they said he is, that means The Mom died when he was 8. I highly doubt he has that many memories of his mom that'd he be sick of hearing about her.

Or the kids picked up on Dad's got vibes for Aunt Robin (which they explicitly said they did), and after they knew he started the story with how he met Robin (they did), they realized that Dad had some shit to get out and went with it.  And maybe they're OK because Ted did an entire speech how how he loved Tracy for every minute he knew her and they were together, even through her dying, and he won't stop loving her.  But he did love another at one time, and if he explains all the history between him and Robin that the kids didn't know about, they'd understand, which they did.

 

People get over shit in their own way.  

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I know Phil has concerns, but to me, the issue isn't the mother at all, it's Barney. 

 

Oh I agree with about Barney - I just haven't gotten there yet in my irritation.

 

I am still focused on the "Hey Kids - let me tell you about all the women I banged who weren't your Mom and how I really want to keep doing your "Aunt" under the guise that I am telling you how special your Mom was (which I clearly had neglected to do so before)"

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I know Phil has concerns, but to me, the issue isn't the mother at all, it's Barney. 

 

They DID give us clues all along and I think everyone felt a bit iffy on the Ted/Robin stuff of the last few weeks. I can't say enough that I thought Ted DID grow, but not to the point where he was past Robin, just to the point where he could finally successfully have a relationship with her. 

 

I know people who refused to watch the show because it was on CBS and had a laugh track and I think ultimately, that's what the show proved itself to be last night. Another comedy with goofy characters with a laugh track. Barney reverting and flippantly joking about how he hadn't changed at all and it was just a big joke makes him Big Bang Theory level when it comes to that sort of thing. Or Two Broke Girls or whatever. 

 

I think they'd accomplished something a little more and maybe that was their own folly. They put a big tree in the middle of their road and they cut it down but we still had to drive over the stump and it was pretty damn awkward. 

I took that as Barney just losing his shit after a divorce.  I watched both of my parents act like fucking children well into middle age after they divorced.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

See, some of this is because Ted Mosby is a pretty shitty person.

 

He's overblown and arrogant and self-conscious about his status and yeah he's also loyal and dedicated and cares about grand gestures but some of that is to get recognition for them.Ted's complicated. At best, he's a good person for all the worst reasons. He's gotten better in some ways, but they're mainly due to life beating some of this out of him. Acceptance. A level of peace. 
 
I just said the show was full of two dimensional characters, basically, or worse. Ted's the exception. It's entirely believable that he would tell this story to his kids, about how he met the mother but more than that, about his love not even for Robin (because what about Robin does he even love other than the fact he can take care of her and that she needs him?) but about the IDEA of Robin. 
 
That's Ted Mosby, folks. That he grew to deserve someone better than Robin actually says more about Robin than Ted. 
 
 

I took that as Barney just losing his shit after a divorce.  I watched both of my parents act like fucking children well into middle age after they divorced.

 

 

Barney Stinson, if you look at the last season or two, is a genius. They built him up to be the guy who managed the last page of the playbook, who was able to pull an amazing long game to screw his evil boss at work, who invented twenty or thirty twisted brilliant things to put in his apartment, and who got through every bit of jitters and accepted a ton of really difficult things in his life despite a messed up childhood.

 

It's not just how he acted after the divorce but the fact that  they got to that point over such little things in the first place about travel they knew about, about just the boredom that came with three years of marriage.

 

Maybe that's real. Maybe people deal with that everyday and weddings end over that, but they built him up into something sort of special and then they just ignored all that and he took the first convenient off-ramp he could because it suited the story.

 

He's the guy whose whole point is that everything is legendary and that every day with Barney is an adventure. He's stuck in all these exciting cities and he just hangs out in a hotel room instead of having adventures. They, maybe, could have built to it in some way that worked (though not in any way that wouldn't make him look even worse than he did in that last episode) but they sure as heck didn't do it well over the span of five minutes or whatever they gave it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The show treated Robin prettty badly in the end. She doesn't get Ted for at least a decade and then loses Barney in less than a half a decade all because she can't have babies (it was a big hurdle for Ted, Barney finally changes after he has a child).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's a fine point. Not one I agree with, but it shoots flaws in the whole show because Ted is SUPPOSED to be likeable.

 

It's not that Ted is likable. He's not. It's that Ted is relatable. Most of us aren't likable either. There's a bit of Ted in most of us in this conversation.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is a show where people aren't supposed to be likable.  They're supposed to be real.  That's the hook for a lot of people.  All the characters are easy to relate to in some way.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...