HIMYM Finale (Revisited)
Thanks to the new "How We Made Your Mother" podcast revising HIMYM, I wanted to revisit the finale and thoughts I had at the time. The finale was controversial at the time and I still see the occasional reference to how it was either bad or the "alternate" version that ends on the train station tracks was better.
Note: I can't find the original post which are probably on a blog somewhere buried far under a password and username I don't even remember at this point. But, the podcast made me think of one of the points below in particular.
In short, the original broadcast version was good and clearly better in my opinion. It actually stuck the landing. You can always quibble here and there, but it was a good finale.
In the end, it was a story with many misdirections and twists. Their storytelling always withheld information and it turns out they were withholding the real purpose of the series. We find out that Ted was just rambling Ted's his way through trying to tell his kids "I love your mom, but I might try dating again, and good news, this person you already know, like, and might be happy to be with" to soften the blow. In the end, it was one more misdirect.
No Bob Saget. This is crucial to the entire tone of the show and thie finale. In the finale Bob doesn't narrate once. When "present" Ted (Josh Radnor) talks about love, it's always hopeful and looking forward to what love could be and will be. When "future" Ted (Saget) narrates, it's about the love that was and the life lived. In the finale, Future Ted doesn't exist any more. At the end of the series, when future Ted would normally come in a give a summary or life lesson, it's now Present Ted who comes in to wrap things up. The show was about what love could be and what possibilities exist. That can only be through Present/Josh Ted's voice and, now, at the end of the show, looking into the future of what could be. In the alternate version, Bob is narrating at the end. The story is over, that's kinda depressing.
The mom is still dead. No alternate version or editing of the last episode changes that. So the alternate version that some people want to be the real one ends terribly. The story is closed. As mentioned above, Future Ted comes in and just ends the story of meeting the mom, who we now know dies (8 years?) later. This makes the whole series very sad.
(or 3a) Tracy (in episode 9.19) tells Ted that she's worried he'll be stuck and should always move forward when they both know what's coming.
There were more points from before, but those are the ones I felt were most relevant. Credit to Cristin Milioti to coming into the cast after 8 years and just nailing her performance in every way and easily becoming a fan favorite as the mom, but, it just wasn't the story in the end. Nothing is taken away from Ted and Tracy's story or their marriage or the life they had when they had it.
Since the launch of the podcast, there is one point I wanted to add to the above. I believe it was in the original list, but, the other point was a disappoint in the criticisms themselves. Many of them came close to "that's not how I would have ended it." When that's the reason, that's not criticism, it's fan fiction. On one of the first episodes of How We Made Your Mother Podcast, they talk about a panel in Austin where a reporter asked the question, "do you regret not making Robin the mother considering the chemistry Josh and Colby had?" To which they basically replied, "no, that's a different story, if you want to see that story, go write it."
You can criticize the show or the ending, but it has to be focused on the execution, not what you wished the story had been. That's all. And I felt a little validated hearing them talk about it as well.
(For the record, I was never rooting for Robin. I was hoping it was going to be Victoria through much of the show but, again, in order for it to be Victoria, that would have had to be a different story altogether.)