'HIMYM' Recap: Series Finale

"And that, kids, is how I met your mother."

Those long-awaited words were finally spoken last night as “How I Met Your Mother” came to a close after nine, crazy seasons. And while fan reactions to the finale have been very polarized, I found both flawed and amazing moments in these final 43 minutes with Ted, Robin, Barney, Lily and Marshall.

Let’s wrap up each storyline by character.

Barney: In the first fifteen minutes, we learned that merely three years later, Barney and Robin divorced. This is the one flaw I wanted to point out. Why spend an entire season leading up to the nuptials of two important characters, only to rip out the rug from under us in the final episode? But, it’s fine. I understand that this is one of those “the ends justify the means” type of thing. On the other side, I applaud the writers for sticking to the true character of Barney Stinson. I always found it a little cheesy that he would end up married and live happily ever after with one woman for the rest of his life. It’s more realistic that he told Robin the truth and knew that this wasn’t for him, regardless of how much he loved her. Sometimes that isn’t enough.

On a happier note, Barney knocked up one of his conquests a few years later. And while I was peeved that he was seemingly turning into a deadbeat dad, Barney (and the very talented Neil Patrick Harris), in his character’s sweetest scene, surprisingly found the real love of his life: his newborn daughter, Ellie. Excuse me while I tear up again.

Lily & Marshall: Alyson Hannigan made me cry so many times! Her cry face is just so sad. After their return to Italy, Marshall painstakingly moved back to corporate law for work until he got his call to be a judge. Meanwhile, Lily was pregnant with baby No. 3! So obviously, they had to move out of the iconic apartment and into a bigger space to accommodate their growing family.

Four years later, Marshall got the call! Please welcome Judge Fudge to the bench. And a little ways down the road, he eventually gets promoted to the state Supreme Court, effectively becoming Supreme Fudge. The mention of his nicknames made me laugh every time.

Robin: After her divorce from Barney, Robin continued to travel the globe for World Wide News, garnering a celebrity-like status and ultimately fulfilling her dream. But this is where the heartbreak began: Robin, understandably, pulled back from hanging out with the gang, not only because of her job, but because of the painful memories it brings back.

“Do you know who the gang is to me, Lily? Here’s what the gang is: The gang is a married couple who I never see anymore about to have a third kid, it’s my ex-husband hitting on slutty cops right in front of me and it’s the guy I probably should have ended up with with the beautiful mother of his child. Who in their right mind would call that group of people ‘the gang’?”

More kudos to the writers for depicting the reality of growing up. Friends drift a part and things change. But Robin promised to come back to the gang for the “big moments” like the apartment farewell and Ted’s wedding. So where does Robin ultimately end up? More on that as we discuss…

Ted & the Mother: The writers saved the actual meeting for the final minutes (and rightfully so), but we still got plenty of heartwarming/breaking scenes between the two. Shortly after the wedding, Ted and the Mother get engaged but their nuptials are put on hold after she reveals she’s pregnant. And, as it usually does, life gets in the way and they end up post-poning wedding until seven years down the road, still happily together with two kids.

This is where the heartbreak climaxed. Through voice-over, we learn that the Mother passed away in 2024.

"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 even for a second… 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 thank God, thank every God there is or ever was or will be and the whole universe and anyone else I could 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.”

Cut to the moment we’ve been waiting nine years for. Ted timidly approaches the Mother, who reveals her name is Tracy McConnell, and the two have the most adorable and realistic first conversation. It was everything I hoped it would be and so much more.

And with that, Ted finishes his story. But his kids aren’t satisfied. Penny believes this story was meant for them to realize that their father is in love with Aunt Robin. Ted, as usual, is clueless about his own feelings and finally realizes, as we do, that she’s right. And in Ted-fashion, he races over to Robin’s apartment to ask her out on a date, blue french horn in hand.

I was shocked and saddened immediately after watching. How horrible that Ted had to wait so long to meet his wife, only to have her die of cancer? But the more I thought about it, the more I accepted it and grew to respect the decision.

Penny was right: this story really was always about Robin and Ted. She was that cool dream girl he always aspired to marry. But the two would never have been happy together at such an early point in their lives. Ted had to have kids and Robin had to travel the world. And they eventually both got what they wanted out of life: he met his soulmate and lived 12 happy years with her, and she thrived at work and journeyed to places like Morocco and Argentina.

Yet again, I applaud the writers for such meticulous planning (they filmed that final scene with the kids nine years ago, after all). I always love when shows, in their series finales, give a nod to their beginnings, and “HIMYM” did that in spades.

Yes, the finale was utterly devastating, but it was real. It was about the messy timeline of life and the ups and downs that come with it. Sure, it packed in a lot of storyline at an almost overwhelming pace, but we needed every one of those scenes.

To conclude, I’ll miss this show dearly, but the entire ride was just… legendary.