Was How I Met Your Mother An April Fools?

4 reasons we are right to be moaning about the episode finale!

1. The Mother was an anti- climax

Having spent all this time hearing Ted's voice-over muse about his wife, it felt like nine years of build up and we never really got to see what was so special about her. Why was she more important than anybody else, EVEN ROBIN? She was revealed dead before we really got attached and we never really saw Ted grieve either. Over the show, we had all that build up around the Farhampton train station, but then nothing, a cute conversation at best. Maybe if this was the end of the first season or the conclusion to a smaller show it would have been fine. But after nine seasons, the viewers were curious to know why this was a tale worth telling for so long, and more importantly why he waited until the very end to reveal how they met at that station. I guess, Ted really does just really ramble on about things.

2. The tone of the ending was strange

So as the episode goes on, we realise that the wedding is not the gang's happily ever after. In fact on the contrary, a part from Ted, the others seem to be having a rough time of life. I really like stories that break traditional romantic conventions. I like the idea that there was some kind of message about friendships evolving in the episode. Ted and Robin getting together echoed the idea that relationships are not just about the strength of your affection but also about timing. The episode had a pinch of cynicism that was quite clever. Yet, let's be honest, over nine seasons the show has been serving up a lot of mushy, romantic “the world will give you a sign” moments; leaving the “life has it's hard ups and downs” to the last episode felt forced. By this point, we wanted a happy ending. And having Tracey (the mother) die is romantic, but we could at least see Ted struggle with the idea that he wants to rekindle something with Robin. Tracey would definitely be the Love that you would never get over. So yes, this is probably how all the relationships would end up: Barney and Robin would have ended up burning the candle at both ends, Robin would disappear as soon as Ted had settled down. But If I am looking for non-romantic realism, HIMYM is not where I go. Ted stops his whole move to Chicago because he met a cute girl for goodness sake, why try and claim that this series can be cynical, now?

3. Barney was superfluous

So after the marriage episode, they get divorced. Robin and Barney had to separate for the twist to work I guess. But once again, it is insanely depressing and confusing. Why would the writers spend so much time developing that relationship if it were to destroy it in one episode. We don't really get to see the break down of the couple. All that the viewers understand is that their love has been the centre of attention for a whole season and suddenly it turns out that their break up is not even worth spending more than a few lines on. What's more, Barney Stintson has been the character with the most development over the series. For the final episode he returns to being a childlike-post-Robin player. “Can't I just be me” he says, but I heard “So, what you thought they were actually going to make me three-dimensional, that would ruin everything?” We never really get to see what comes of Barney and Ted's friendship. And Barney ends up being the Dad of some unknown hook up. Ok, ok we get it, you are trying to balance out the romantic stuff...

4. The strange pacing

Maybe I could deal with all the storylines and strange “plot-twists” if it had been dealt out properly. One of the most annoying parts of the episode was the constant flash forwards to short scenes. According to the writers, 48 hours is enough to fill in an entire series, but 15 years can be packed into the same episode. This is probably why it felt like most of the character decisions were confusing. The writers of the show normally spend so much time working emotions in gradually that here we don't get to make sense of the personal developments. Why would you spend so much time taking us down one road if that wasn't the point? Yes, ok maybe life feels like that sometimes, but this isn't life, this is a sitcom.

I didn't think that this is where the writers were going to go with the series, and I feel like they didn't think they were going down that road either- as if they suddenly changed their minds. They realised that they had set up the story for Robin and Ted so much whilst “keeping us guessing”, that they had to go through with it. “If we kill off the mother, that makes sense. Ted's not a jerk. We'll make Barney the jerk because he already was one and they can get divorced: Simples”

5. But....

But of course, let's not forget the awesome performances from the actors. And as everybody knows, every time Alyson Hannigan cries on film a fairies dies-even when she is wearing a big whale costume.

Considering the date, I am wondering, maybe this is some kind of April fools?