Take out the Robin/Barney divorce and the finale would've been aces.

Too build all of that up, and to build the Mother up only to have it all end like that is idiotic.

Yeah it seemed like everyone on Twitter was watching it.

They should've ended the show at the train station.

It ran 3 extra minutes too long.

The more I think about the ending, the more pissed I get. They should have called it "How I never really loved your mother". Up until the final season they showed how much Ted still loves Robin. Then they bring in the mother, but only give them a few moments together and then instantly rip her away. It feels if Robin hadn't married Barney, Ted would have never fallen in love with the mother.

Ted used the mother to have kids. Just cuz Robin couldnt have kids. That's the only reason why The. Mther exists.

A replacement for Robin's Uterus

This x10

I would've been very satisfied if them meeting like that was literally the last scene of the show.

Fan edit. Soooooooo much better.

Yeah, the Robin thing at the very end is what ruined it.

My two cents. I liked the finale, in fact I like it the more I think about it.

What this episode did was basically cement some of the bigger parts of the show which I enjoyed, that being life just isn't fair at times. Yes we went through a whole season leading to the wedding and it ending in divorce, but sometimes things just don't work out. Barney's fallback into his previous lifestyle makes sense for him because as he said if he couldn't keep Robin, who could he keep? With Ted and Tracy, we got the moments this season and in the finale that we really needed. I don't think a finale filled with them doing all these fun events throughout their years just to end up killing her off would have sat well with me.

Also, the whole Ted going to Robin ending is completely getting bashed in the wrong way. Tracy didn't just die and go "Sweet, now I can get Robin!" He honestly loved racy and it showed in the finale and what we had seen so far. If the mother's death was always the case, would we really want an ending where Ted was just lonely with his kids while everyone else moved on to their own successes? Hell no. So it makes sense there that Ted would try and get back out there with Robin being the best one.

Probably the biggest thing that set me back was Barney's story, not the divorce, just his story. It was hard hitting but ended in one of NPH's best acting moments of the whole show.

Bays & Thomas knew what they were doing with the finale. There was no way this was going to be an all out happy episode because the series isn't know for doing just that. It's known for giving the harsh realities when needed such as with Ted left at the altar or Marshall losing his dad. It's what made the series something else and still made the finale something truly special. It was also still hilarious with a lot of references for those of us who have spent time on this long journey. Plus, we got the scene we wanted of meeting Tracy and it was as perfect as can be.

So while the episode isn't my favorite of the series or even the season (that'll be How Your Mother Met Me), it still displayed the series at some of it's best. It was full of surprises and a send away to great characters that won't be forgotten. This show will definitely remain as one of my all-time favorites.

So the real question is: how badly does this episode hurt HOW I MET YOUR DAD? I just spent fifteen minutes on the phone with my Mom where she talked about how much she hated this finale.

WTF, Ted+Robin = no way, it was the reason I stopped watching the show between seasons 5 and 9, yet the writers insist upon thus nonsense.

awg so very disappointed.

I watched the finale was a non-regular viewer of the show even knowing about the backlash and what happens and I found it handled really weird. Not sure the problem was the plan to make Ted end up with Robin after the mother's death, it's all just the execution. The episode plays out as if everything but the last few minutes was filmed under a "he ends up with the mother" plan (and then Barney+Robin after she sees he's a new man?), but as if they decided to insert the alternate Robin ending as a last minute change of heart. I don't understand how the episode wasn't more built around Ted and Robin as one true pairing centric if they were picking that ending. The kids telling him he should end up with Robin feels hilariously tacked on, after the whole episode was Ted and Tracy feels.

Really if the mother died 15-20 minutes before the end of the episode, it may have worked. That would've given it some distance from the marriage and train station sequence and then allowed him and Robin to slowly get back together

Then they shouldn't have shown Ted pining for Robin right up to the wedding. You never get the sense that the mother is anything but second choice for him the way the series is/was constructed

Horrible finish to a mediocre season which had few good moments(basically last few episodes leading up to finale). I guess makers were stuck with the ending done years back and decided to stick to the "plan". Worst thing about final season was the focus entirely on Barney/Robin wedding only to discard that in few minutes of finale.

But actors were top notch especially Cristin Milioti. Unfortunately she became an afterthought instead of being the core.

The more I think about the ending, the more I hate it. Ted constantly whining and pining for Robin made the show worse than it should've been. And then to have THAT pay off?

Give me a fucking break.

I know I'm in the minority but I don't think my mind will be changed on the episode.

Plus, we all know the true reason everyone hated the finale. No Bob Saget.

This

The finale was a fucking joke. They should burn in hell for what they've done to Robin & Barney alone. Don't even let me get started on Ted and the mother.

You know what, showing the mother after 8 seasons of build-up was risky as hell, but a miracle happened and Cristin Milioti was just a perfect, perfect choice. It was sooo easy to root for her and Ted, those two worked so well together, it felt natural. Same with Barney and Robin, on a lesser level, they gave us enough reason to believe that these two are perfect for eachother. They worked. Ted and Robin fucking DON'T.

rullll bad

Although I think the idea was destined for failure anyway. Maybe this only hastens the inevitable demise.

I feel like this wouldn't have been a terrible end if it didn't get rushed into two episodes. Since they were changing the format of the show anyway, spending the first 4 episodes on the Wedding, then Ted and Mother dating for 2-3 while Robin and Barney and the whole gang is happy, then spending the rest of the season jumping forward a few years would have worked a lot better.

Focusing on the wedding for 19 episodes (and showing roughly 30 seconds of the wedding itself) forced far too many unnecessary subplots and secondary characters, when they should have focused on the Mother being part of the group, Ted wooing her, and then eventually have Robin and Barney at least reconcile to the point that the group could happily be together again (A great moment like that should have been an entire episode)

This season overall was a big turd and an epic fail. Can't say if they structured it better the finale could have worked. like said, that should have been the entire season.

Also Barney and Robin couldn't work, but yet now Robin being a huge success and having to deal with emotional ted and two kids will work? Yeah, give me a break. Also the kids were terrible acting wise. They missed out on a nice joke of actually showing the kids 9 years later and saying that the story was ridiculous.

Why does a globetrotting Robin have like 4 dogs?

That's very irresponsible.