SPOILERS******
I think too many people took the title of the show too seriously. A lot of people wondered why Ted decided to sit down and tell his kids a story about meeting their mother which included his ex-girlfriends. Well without some of the girlfriends, he would not have grown and become the man he did. He also would not have lucked into the opportunity of meeting their mother. And without those stories we would have not had a TV show.
The show has a great combination of funny and heartfelt moments going on that I've only seen matched with Friends and Scrubs. There were some episodes along the way in season 7-9 that were forgettable but a lot of shows get like that when they're on past their prime. Now that I know the full story and that Ted ends up with Robin, I want to watch the entire series over. To me it makes perfect sense to end the show the way they did, because Robin was a main character to the story and not necessarily so with Tracy. It was clear through most of the series that Robin was the one that got away from Ted and the one that had the biggest impact on him. Robin helped make Ted into the man that the kids saw and helped shape him into the man that would fall in love with their mother.
Barney's story was also very interesting. A lot of people felt that the writers undid all of his development in one show. The thing I like about what they did, was that it felt real. Barney's character was complex. He had been let down throughout his life and had his own very deep seeded psychological problems. Those were not necessarily gone by the time he married Robin. I think they were still within him, hence the jokes that he was still able to make about other women's boobs and so on. The thing Barney gained from his relationship with Robin was that she helped him love someone. She helped him see that he was capable of doing so. Little by little, Nora, then Quinn, then Robin helped Barney see that he was capable of more. I think Barney was heartbroken by his marriage with Robin. He felt that it was going to be a certain way. He was as excited if not more excited than her to be married to each other. Hence his nervousness leading up to the wedding and how perfect he wanted it to be. I just think that he couldn't handle what their relationship was becoming kind of like the first go around. He loved her too much to lie to her. But he learned how to love and become a bit more stable. His 31 day spree after his divorce was more about him going to a dark place than it was about him wanting to be that guy. The other thing is that Robin never would have been able to give Barney a child. His daughter was the love of his life and I found that sweet. She changed him forever.
Going back to Ted and Robin. What people might forget is that present Ted is telling the story and not past Ted. People felt like he wasn't genuine in his love for the mother Tracy. I think he loved her with every ounce of his heart. Present Ted was 6 years removed from his wife's death. He wanted to tell his kids the story of how he met the most incredible woman of his life. The only problem was that there was more than one woman that had that effect on him. He just didn't realize the effect Robin still had on him and how important she was to him. His kids helped him realize that. He wasn't the only person in the story who loved multiple people. Robin fell in love with two different men and Tracy had fallen in love with Max before Ted. The show was very real in that sense.
So to sum it up, the mother was a Macguffin but a very beautiful one and one that helped the story have a direction. The last scene b/w the mother and Ted where they finally met was beautifully written and acted. And the final scene to me has not stopped running through my head. The music hit, and Robin brought out the romantic side of Ted again. No words needed to be spoken there and I'm happy for that. We all knew and in the end I was happy b/c these fantastic characters that I've come to love were all in a better place.
I think too many people took the title of the show too seriously. A lot of people wondered why Ted decided to sit down and tell his kids a story about meeting their mother which included his ex-girlfriends. Well without some of the girlfriends, he would not have grown and become the man he did. He also would not have lucked into the opportunity of meeting their mother. And without those stories we would have not had a TV show.
The show has a great combination of funny and heartfelt moments going on that I've only seen matched with Friends and Scrubs. There were some episodes along the way in season 7-9 that were forgettable but a lot of shows get like that when they're on past their prime. Now that I know the full story and that Ted ends up with Robin, I want to watch the entire series over. To me it makes perfect sense to end the show the way they did, because Robin was a main character to the story and not necessarily so with Tracy. It was clear through most of the series that Robin was the one that got away from Ted and the one that had the biggest impact on him. Robin helped make Ted into the man that the kids saw and helped shape him into the man that would fall in love with their mother.
Barney's story was also very interesting. A lot of people felt that the writers undid all of his development in one show. The thing I like about what they did, was that it felt real. Barney's character was complex. He had been let down throughout his life and had his own very deep seeded psychological problems. Those were not necessarily gone by the time he married Robin. I think they were still within him, hence the jokes that he was still able to make about other women's boobs and so on. The thing Barney gained from his relationship with Robin was that she helped him love someone. She helped him see that he was capable of doing so. Little by little, Nora, then Quinn, then Robin helped Barney see that he was capable of more. I think Barney was heartbroken by his marriage with Robin. He felt that it was going to be a certain way. He was as excited if not more excited than her to be married to each other. Hence his nervousness leading up to the wedding and how perfect he wanted it to be. I just think that he couldn't handle what their relationship was becoming kind of like the first go around. He loved her too much to lie to her. But he learned how to love and become a bit more stable. His 31 day spree after his divorce was more about him going to a dark place than it was about him wanting to be that guy. The other thing is that Robin never would have been able to give Barney a child. His daughter was the love of his life and I found that sweet. She changed him forever.
Going back to Ted and Robin. What people might forget is that present Ted is telling the story and not past Ted. People felt like he wasn't genuine in his love for the mother Tracy. I think he loved her with every ounce of his heart. Present Ted was 6 years removed from his wife's death. He wanted to tell his kids the story of how he met the most incredible woman of his life. The only problem was that there was more than one woman that had that effect on him. He just didn't realize the effect Robin still had on him and how important she was to him. His kids helped him realize that. He wasn't the only person in the story who loved multiple people. Robin fell in love with two different men and Tracy had fallen in love with Max before Ted. The show was very real in that sense.
So to sum it up, the mother was a Macguffin but a very beautiful one and one that helped the story have a direction. The last scene b/w the mother and Ted where they finally met was beautifully written and acted. And the final scene to me has not stopped running through my head. The music hit, and Robin brought out the romantic side of Ted again. No words needed to be spoken there and I'm happy for that. We all knew and in the end I was happy b/c these fantastic characters that I've come to love were all in a better place.