[Warning: this article contains spoilers, viewer discretion is advised]
Released in 2005, How I Met Your Mother revolves around the aspiring architect Ted Mosby as he tells the story of how he met his future wife. In the show, you meet all of Ted’s friends. Lily and Marshall are Ted’s best friends from college who are engaged. Ted is also friends with Barney Stinson, a playboy who Ted met randomly at a bar one night.
During the first episode, Ted meets Robin Scherbatsky, a journalist from Canada working for the local news station. Ted immediately falls for Robin asking her out on a date for the next day. The date, where he steals a blue French horn for Robin, ends with Ted telling Robin that he is in love with her.
It becomes clear from the beginning that Robin and Ted will not work out. Ted wants to find the love of his life, someone to be the mother of his kids, while Robin doesn’t want kids and wants a low-commitment relationship. Throughout the show Ted and Robin have a “will they, won’t they” fling. Having Ted want Robin when Robin doesn’t want Ted, and Robin wanting Ted when Ted doesn’t want Robin.
The two characters’ values do not align, and they should not be together. Every time they date it ends in a messy breakup, destroying one of them. The show makes it extremely clear that the couple doesn’t work together. Most of the time, Robin doesn’t even want Ted. She continuously rejects him. They never line up and they have completely different needs. The times they date they work out for a while until it becomes clear that they can’t work out anymore. They should not be together.
So then, towards the end, Robin and Barney begin to date. Their relationship makes perfect sense. They both want something casual. They are one of the best couples on the show. They match each other’s needs, and Robin is one of the only girls who can make Barney even consider marriage. Barney is in love with Robin. Robin is what makes Barney give up on his destructive lifestyle and settle down. They were the perfect match, yet Robin still wanted more. Barney wasn’t enough. Robin had never wanted Ted till she couldn’t have him. Robin wants Ted back all of a sudden after years of rejecting him. Robin makes zero sense in the last season as she has doubts about marrying Barney, the man who fits her perfectly, because she randomly wants the guy she doesn’t line up with in any way. They have different values, different needs, and different wants. They make zero sense together, and Robin has rejected Ted multiple times. Barney and Robin’s marriage eventually ends in divorce which is one of the biggest tragedies of the season.
Robin’s behavior in the final season is not even my major issue with the last season. The finale is horrible. The whole show has led up to finding out who the mother is. And in the final season, it’s revealed that the mother is the bassist in the wedding band. A fantastic ending that they could’ve left there. Instead, they decided to end it with the kids telling their dad, Ted, to go after their aunt Robin. They say that all Ted has talked about is Robin and that he should pursue her.
He then goes to her apartment, gifting her the blue French horn he stole on their very first date. So, in the end, Ted and Robin end up together, which makes zero sense. The show brought up the fact that Robin and Ted will not work together so many times. It is made so clear that they don’t work together. So why throw it in at the last second?
The ending of the show felt lazy. The show is about meeting the mother, but they quickly get rid of her: having it be revealed that all this time she had died of an illness. Then making Ted go after Robin. If Ted and Robin were the end game they should’ve made that the plot, not looking for this “mother,” then barely getting to see her, and then her dying. The last scene of the finale felt like it was thrown in at the very last second to satisfy the fans of Ted and Robin together.
Outside of its issues, the show is fantastic and easily became one of my favorite sitcoms. The characters all have great development. It takes a little bit to get into, but once you get all the characters and jokes it becomes ten times funnier. The only issue is the finale that was honestly lazy. Aside from that it’s an amazing show and a must watch for anyone that loves sitcoms. I give How I Met Your Mother an 8/10.
