*SPOILER ALERT*
*SPOILER ALERT*
*SPOILER ALERT* *SPOILER ALERT* *SPOILER ALERT* *SPOILER ALERT*
*SPOILER ALERT!*
If you are planning on watching the series finale of "How I Met Your Mother" but it's still waiting for you on your Tivo™, or you are in some part of the world where it hasn't aired yet...
GO AWAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
GO AWAY, NOW!!!!!!!!!
If you need someplace to go, go read The Blogs thoughts about the "Noah" movie.
There are no spoilers there.
Did I mention...?
This is a...
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Are you sure?
If you are still thinking about it...
Here is a picture of a cute puppy you can look at while you make up your mind.
Because SPOILERS are coming.
Are they gone?
Okay, now let's get down to this.
Your Blog, after spending two days avoiding spoilers, caught up with the series finale of "HIMYM" this evening.
I went into it knowing only that fans and critics had made it more controversial than the finales of "The Sopranos" and "Lost," combined.
The Blog was a fan of the show during it's early seasons.
Your Uncle PC even got to work with the cast one day, early in it's run. I was pleased that I got to do it, but had no inkling, at the time, that the show would take off the way it did. At the time, Alyson Hannigan was the show's only really established "star," thanks to her run on "Buffy" and as the "Band Camp Girl." Cobie Smulders had not yet become an "Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D." Jason Segel's movie star and Muppet reinvigorator days were still ahead of him.
And Neil Patrick Harris was still "the guy who used to be Doogie Houser," and had not yet become the star of everything.
I don't know, exactly why I drifted away from the show in it's later seasons.
I suspect that it is because, I had finally, subconsciously, admitted to myself that I had gotten too old to relate to the story of a bunch of 20 somethings.
But, I check in now and then.
As TV writer/blogger Ken Levine put it...
"...the way you peek in on your kids at night just to see that they’re alright."By some coincidence, I seem to have caught most of the important points.
The "Slutty Pumpkin," Brittany Spears, one or two "Robin Sparkles" episodes.
Ted's ill fated engagement to Sarah Chalke ("Roseanne," "Scrubs.")
The story arc with Ted dating Jennifer Morrison ("House," "Once Upon a Time.")
I was even there for the episode, at the end of last season, when Ted first laid eyes on "The Mother."
But, to be really honest, I had no real emotional investment in the characters or the show.
But, after nine years, I sure as hell was going to find out how it ended.
Even Mrs. Blog, who hated the show from episode one, felt the need for some closure.
So, we watched the final episode tonight.
And, maybe it's just because I was not that invested in it, but I just don't get the outrage of so many of the hardcore fans.
Mrs. Blog, who has trouble following flashbacks and flash forwards, found the whole thing confusing. I get that. If you had trouble following the plot of "Cloud Atlas," then this episode probably gave you migraines, and I get that.
As a time travel buff, I had no problem with it.
It all made perfect sense to me.
Sure, there may have been too many sad moments packed into a one hour comedy.
I'm going to add one more *SPOILER ALERT* here, because there is no turning back at this point.
Of course, I say, Robin and Barney's marriage didn't work. That relationship never made any sense, says I.
That Robin's successful career took her away from her friends for long periods of time is just a real thing. And, "HIMYM," for all of it's flights of fancy, never shied away from portraying real, emotion. That she managed to put her life on hold long enough to make it to Ted's wedding makes her a better person than you and me.
Or, at least, me.
Barney was never going to grow up, without something... dare I say it? ...Epic... happening.
The moment when Barney holds his infant daughter, the product of a one night stand with a woman that we only know as "Number 31," for the first time, and proclaims his undying love for her, it is not only one of the most moving moments from the entire series, it is also one of the most believable.
It wasn't all sad.
(We will get back to sad in a moment.)
Perpetual sad sack Marshal, after years of toiling in a soul-sucking law firm job, finally gets the judgeship that he once sacrificed to stay with his wife, Lily. And later, a nomination to the Supreme Court.
And, finally...
Ted and "The Mother," who we finally learn is named Tracy, have the "meet cute" to end all "meet cutes," become engaged, have two kids, then finally, get married.
And then comes the emotional gut punch.
(I told you we would get back to sad,)
Five little words...
Some considered it cheap, emotional manipulation...
But, for your humble Blog, if you have followed this space for awhile and read between the lines, or if you know me, personally...
Those five little words hit a little bit too close to home.
"When your mother got sick..."
Those five words ripped the tears from your Blog's eyes.
From there, we were returned to the aforementioned "meet cute."
And the show could have ended there. Many think that it should have.
Some say that the next seven minutes were an unnecessary punchline.
Your Blog disagrees.
Like the last few minutes of "Toy Story 3," that last scene was needed to give the viewers a couple of moments to pull their shit together.
And, to end the story on a much needed happy note.
Series finales for long running, well loved shows, are hard.
Most shows don't even get the luxury.
I found the finale of "HIMYM" satisfying.
And, because federal law mandates that any commentary about "HIMYM" must include this, I will say that the finale was...
"Legend... (...wait for it...) ...ary!"
Cyber High Five!
For me, only one question was left unanswered.
What was the deal with Bob Saget as "Future Ted"/ "Narrator?"
Can someone explain Bob Saget to me?
No, seriously.
Can someone explain Bob Saget to me?
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