I actually liked the content of the final, just didn't like that it was crammed into the final episode. If they would have spread it over the whole of the season, I think it would have better received.
Yeah, a little too long in the wedding for how it ended up playing out. Then again, heard there's a ton of extra footage from the finale that wasn't aired, so when the DVD comes out, we'll see how much editing/pacing was a problem. Maybe if there was a 90 minute finale instead of an hour, or spaced out over 2 weeks, it would have played better? Definitely felt rushed at the end, needed more time to breath around the death. And there WERE scenes in the middle cut, as some of the spoiler photos were from unused scenes in the middle. If there was less rush from death to Robin, maybe it would have felt differently. Didn't need a season out of that montage, but maybe an hour would have been enough. Or maybe just 5 minutes between the death and Robin would have worked better. Dunno. Either way, I was fine with the finale, as sad as it was. Show has always had some of that bittersweet vibe to it, and there'd been hints about this for a while. Would have worked better a year or two ago, as they stretched things a bit at the end, but still, I'm fine with it. Just needed to take a beat after the mother died in the montage... I'd have rather had a whole season with them dating, I think, but not really the story they were trying to tell, so hard to take the complaint in that direction.
Good. Now that we're all on the same page on opinions... If the overwhelming public and critical opinion on something is that "it was bad", then it was factually bad. Opinions become fact when the entire point of something is to be liked. It's ok to like bad things.
I liked it. I thought it was very good. If I overwhelm the thread with my critical opinion, does that make it factually good? No? Ah well ...
People here and elsewhere on the internet keep referring to hints that the mother would die in the finale. Apart from that one hint two or three episodes before the actual finale, when Ted and Tracy revisit the Farhampton Inn and talk about mothers missing their daughter's wedding, what exactly were all those hints I missed?
The mother never speaks up during the entire time Ted is telling a story about sex, debauchery and failed relationships to the kids, for one. Whenever they did flashforwards, the mother was never there. In "The Time Travelers," future Ted said he would give anything to have some extra time with the mother. I'm sure there were others but those immediately come to mind.
QFT. Also, may I add for emphasis that it was Ted's daughter's chirpy line, "Gosh, Dad, you tell a story about mom and she's barely in it....You're totally in love with aunt Robin," which sealed the shit sandwich deal for me. Oh My Ga-awd. Mom's dead but she was like totally your second choice and that's like totally okay with us. You like....totally love aunt Robin better. That's what it felt like hearing that line. What was the point of the narrative if that was the end game all along? Yeah, mom died. Sad but...not that hard to overcome. We all love Aunt Robin. Barf.
I'm in the camp that I was disappointed by the finale, but at least it is a reasonable end to the story. It didn't come out of left field (or at least, not too far, since many predicted it) but I think that it was the presentation that disappointed me. The wedding ends up being unimportant to the overall story, so choosing to spend a whole season on it was a bad choice. Meanwhile, the time he does spend with Tracy is important, so it sucks that they don't spend nearly enough time on that. 30 minutes or 60 minutes more of finale won't fix that error.
Also agreed. I can accept that the mother died, but the presentation was awful. The lack of time spent on Tracy and Ted, their daughter's flippant remark, never seeing Tracy truly being a part of the gang. No chance for the audience to grieve. Just quick, quick, quick...and throwing away Barney and Robin after building to the wedding for so long. It was ridiculous.
I don't get the need for the "audience to grieve." The mother was never really the focus of the show. It was all about the Big Five. The mother was only in a few episodes at the end of the series. There wasn't a lot time for "the audience" to develop an emotional attachment, at least not enough to warrant the kind of whining I'm seeing online. The Mother served her purpose. She was there at the time Ted was ready to move past Robin, and she gave him two kids before she died. What else do we need to know? The story was called How I Met Your Mother, but the real story was Ted and Robin. It always was.
I don't think that's really being disputed by anyone. The question is, though, *what* the story they were telling was - if they noticed it or not. Concretely speaking, as the show wore on, it was that Ted and Robin as a couple simply don't work. On a more abstract level, it was that you cannot make a relationship work by pretending that your partner is someone they're not, and that you *don't have to*. You don't have to settle with someone that doesn't truly get you when there are people out there that might actually get you. ... another factor to what a shit sandwich the finale felt was: Yeah, the mother was originally a McGuffin. As as been said earlier in the thread, this ending would've probably even worked back when she still was (i.e., back when they shot the scenes with the kids). This last season, though, the mother was the only character on the show that was in any way engaging. Robin in particular had been turned in an utterly unlikable caricature of the character she once was, IMO. SRSLY, I can't even put into words how much the running "joke" that was her behaviour towards Patrice annoyed me.
Thank you! I thought I was being sacreligious thinking that Robin just wasn't that likable a character. She and Ted had developed as characters past the point where the idea of them as a OTP was appealing. A few seasons ago this ending might have worked. Not anymore. Not after the characters' development presented by the writers and yes, the mother was a sweetheart. It isn't whining to say that it fucking sucked that she was presented as a second choice/after thought by the writers. The daughter's line really, really bugged me. Oh, you really love Aunt Robin. What a masochist you must be, Ted. Idiot. A few years ago I could have bought Ted and Robin ending up together. Not anymore. How very....unsatisfying.
The thing of it is, I agree with you both. I enjoyed the finale and never felt that Ted was pining for Robin the entire time he was with Tracy. If she had not died, I think Ted would have gone on loving her and never giving Robin another shot. Her death and his grieving process (unless you're someone who believes you should be beholden to your deceased spouse until your death, I'd think 6 years is more than reasonable) gave him a second (Third? Fourth? I lost count) chance with Robin. But, yes, I was never sold on Robin and I think some of my feelings have transferred on to Cobie Smulders. Posts I see on the internet seem to make her out to be an "ultimate woman," and I have never seen it. While it's nice seeing her in Avengers and Captain America: The Winter Solider, it seems she plays both characters the same way. I thought Robin and Barney made a good pair as they both seemed to compliment each other. Then again, the show had a whole episode dedicated to how horrible the two of them were for each other and we're still upset that they divorced.
<< While it's nice seeing her in Avengers and Captain America: The Winter Solider, it seems she plays both characters the same way. >> It's the same character. (joke)
She's not exactly a versatile actress. She's in Broken Lizard's: "Slammon Salmon" and plays pretty much the same character there too. It's actually a pretty funny comedy from the same guys that did Super Troopers. I recommend it.
It's nice to hear someone acknowledging how disappointed and angry most fans were over the finale... the creators and NPH seemed pretty unapologetic about it.
^ Why should they apologize? If everyone in Hollywood apologized just because fans didn't like something they wouldn't get much done.
No apology necessary. Just acknowledge that it's sort of kind of maybe slightly possible that it sucked and move on.