The Ending of How I Met Your Mother is about You, Not Ted

This blog post contains spoiler, and as you may notice this is a food blog. Anyway, I was really shaken up and moved by the finale of this series, so I wrote this up!

How I Met Your Mother - finally coming to an end
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I just finished watching the finale of How I Met Your Mother (HIMYM), and I honestly felt heavily dragged down. It was as if all the pain in my past came rushing down to that point of time, and I have to admit that I really got shocked and (as embarrassing it may sound) slightly teary just after the last seconds of the final episode. At first I thought the sadness was attributable to the fact that the series just ended, but then it soon became clear to me that it was emanating from the emptiness I felt upon watching the last scenes (or more like the entire finale).

The Controversial Unjust Ending that Deprived Us of Happy-Ending
Now, the ending might have totally deviated from what we have in mind. Being a big fan of romanticism, I eagerly anticipated for a fairy-tale ending. This anticipation soon slowly withered away as the flow of events runs a different path.

I couldn't get passed the point that Robin and Barney’s marriage came down crashing after 3 years. To top this, it was just the beginning of the tragedy because as the final episode progressed, things started to become worse. Robin decided to isolate herself from the group, and Barney went back to his old lifestyle of meet-bang-forget schemes with girls. Sadly, it didn't just end there, since later we found out that Tracy, wife of Ted, died of an unknown illness. Soon, we learned that the entire story wasn't actually about how Ted met the kids’ mom. Instead, the story-telling was simply a subtle way of airing out Ted’s deeply-rooted affection with Robin.  The ending of the series implied that Ted and Robin will finally be together after 25 years when he showed up in Robin’s apartment with the Blue French horn, and that’s it – the scene faded into black.

How I Met Your Mother Life Quotes
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Honestly, I loathed for almost an hour leaving me feeling empty and despaired. Then, suddenly waves of realization just struck me after minutes of figuring out what just happened.

I finally realized that How I Met Your Mother isn't just a series about Ted and the gang. It’s a reflection of basic reality that shows both the various ups and downs of life. The way it was sincere and true (except for some exaggerations and unbelievable tales told) felt like everything was real. We might even have thought for a while that they all exist because somehow they do – through us. We see an uncanny connection with the characters (mostly emotional) due to some noticeable patterns and streaks of similarities with the things that happened to them (i.e. fights with friends, losing a loved one, broken marriages, falling in love, falling out of love, loving again and lots of those stuff). In short, we simply can heavily relate with Ted, Lily, Marshall, Barney, Robin and perhaps even Tracy.

Bite-sized life lessons in How I Met Your Mother are simply moving
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The Practicality of the Subsequent Events
The failed marriage of Barney and Robin reminds us of the truth that sometimes people aren’t meant to be together, while Barney’s going back to his old lifestyle shows us that some people can’t really entirely change. They may at some point change, but it may also be just temporary. Tracy’s passing away makes us realize that people we love will eventually be gone, and that’s something true but hard to accept. Most important of all, Robin and Ted’s getting back together is a beautiful reminder that despite unfortunate and heart-breaking events, there’s still a room for hope and love.  In short, it makes us realize that in a perfectly imperfect world, people can still manage to find happiness.

The Story Not Being About the Characters
If you will think about it, the way the story ended isn't much important because the ending isn't about Ted or any other characters. It was all about the viewers – us!

If you didn't like the ending, chances are you are holding onto something that hinders you to appreciate the good side of it. Our perspective in life plays an integral part on how we see the finale of this series. If you have a more positive outlook, you are most likely to find the ending wonderfully done. On the other hand, if you are holding onto doubts, pains, anger and other sources of negativity, you will have higher probabilities of finding the final episode disappointingly tragic and trashy. Simply put, the ending gave us the entire liberty on how to interpret and to accept the things that unraveled between the characters.

Image Source: tinrific.tumblr.com
I asked myself this question, “Why am I seeking for a happy ending in this story”, and it didn't take long before I got the answer to this. I realized that lately my life had been dull as it took unexpected downturns, and somehow I wanted an escape by projecting my life into the series. Then I further realized that the reason why I wanted a happy ending is because I want a happy ending (or happiness in general) too for myself. Later, I had a brief eureka moment, as I figured out that I have full control of my life (and even the ending, in an indirect way). Slowly, things started to clear up, and I soon realized that the ending was “happy” after all. It showed us a vibrant gleam of hope and revealed a world full of second chances.

We all know that life is a crap-load, and HIMYM didn't deny but even gracefully embraced it. This is why the ending instills on us how to swallow those bitter pills in life, and start moving forward by looking at the brighter side of things. This, my friends, made the finale and the entire series a valuable treasure for keeps.

2 comments:

  1. I am a huge fan of this tv show and was kinda surprised with the ending although it was written all over the series. Maybe the lesson is about love and how we should not stop loving though it sometimes hurts. I loved this series so much that I wouldn't want to change how it ended. It was really meant to be that way.

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  2. Grabe no? I mean it was heartbreaking, but then it takes time for us to realize the value of everything that happened. Now, I think this is the best series I've watched to date. :)

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