'How I Met Your Mother' Series Finale Reaction: How We Met the End

After twenty hours of avoiding all social media and entertainment sites, I finally watched the series finale of How I Met Your Mother on Tuesday. Luckily, I was able to make it through the day without having the ending spoiled for me (I felt like I was reenacting the season two episode "Monday Night Football"). Having read the online reactions and taken time to figure out my thoughts, I'm ready to pitch in. Obviously SPOILERS follow, so if you haven't seen the finale, stop reading immediately.

Let me begin by saying that I fully understand the rage that many people are experiencing at the finale. We've spent nine years waiting for Ted to meet the mother of his children, expecting her to be his soulmate and them living happily ever after. Then we spent all of this last season learning about the mother, whose name we find out is Tracy, and seeing her and Ted together in flashforwards. I know I'm not alone in thinking that Tracy was perfect for Ted. But after all of that, Tracy dies from a terminal illness and six years later Ted goes after Robin one last time. It's hard not to feel cheated by this ending, so I understand why people are upset.

However, I'm okay with this ending, for the most part. When fans started speculating about the mother being dead when Ted tells the story, I didn't want to believe it. I was still holding onto the hope that they would have their happy ever after. But when it turned out to be true, I realized that it made sense, especially given the clues that the writers have been dropping since last season. What I didn't like was that Tracy's death came and went. I would have liked some sort of goodbye scene between Ted and the woman that he has been searching for for nine years, but instead we get a brief voiceover about her being sick and a shot of him reading to her in a hospital bed. I know that a scene like that would have been really heavy, but it would have made Ted's moving on at the end more powerful. That being said, I can look past this because how they handled Tracy's death was fine given the ultimate reveal that the story was really about Robin.

But that's where my main problem with the finale comes in. Actually, it's not even a problem with the finale but more with the series as a whole. I'm not angry that Ted went after Robin at the end, mostly because that is clearly what the creators had in mind from the beginning. The final scene with the kids was shot close to the beginning of the series because the actors needed to appear the same age. Plus, looking back, the pilot is all about how Ted meets Robin, so coming back to that in the finale makes perfect sense. My issue is that it has been made clear multiple times throughout the series that Ted and Robin are not right for each other, so that's what makes the ending unrealistic to me. Ted has also said on several occasions that he is over Robin. I know that I can't take Ted for his word on that because he's Ted, but I felt that this season's "Sunrise" provided closure in that regard. Even if Ted never did get over his feelings for Robin, that doesn't change the fact that she's always been focused on her career while he always wanted to settle down. Ted found someone who was able to give him everything that he wanted, and he clearly loved her, but now I'm supposed to believe that after being with Tracy for ten years he still thinks Robin is the one? I don't buy it. Maybe if Robin had shown some sort of change in character, I would be more inclined to believe it, but she still seemed very career-focused at the end. Like I said, the finale made sense logistically, but I wish they developed Robin's character a little more at the end so that I could more believably see them together.

Now on to the other characters. I'll start with Barney. Personally, I loved how Barney has grown so much over the course of the series. I thought his proposal to Robin was great and, although I may be alone in this, that they were good together because they each had their own issues with commitment. Then when he and Robin get divorced, he makes a complete reversal to the guy he was at the beginning of the series. I don't think that was the best choice, but giving him a daughter was a great touch. Seeing him as a devoted father was touching, even if it was the result of a one-night stand. I just wish that they could have gotten there a different way, but I don't know how else it could have happened.

Lily and Marshall have pretty much been the only constants in the series, except for when Lily went to San Francisco. But once they got married, the only issues they had were career-related. Their relationship never wavered, so there wasn't much for them to do in the finale because they had their biggest closure in "Daisy" when we found out Lily was pregnant. However, I will say that I'm glad Marshall got to be a judge and that they have a big happy family.

One more complaint that I've read that I must address is more about this final season as a whole. Many people have complained that this whole season was focused on a marriage that only lasted three years (and about fifteen minutes on screen). This comes on top of the complaints that this season dragged on and shouldn't have spanned a 72 hour period. I am in the small group of people who actually liked this season overall, but I agree that it seems weird that the divorce came so soon. Personally, I liked the idea of the season taking place within one weekend because it made for a more serialized season that led up to Ted meeting the mother. I always figured that that meeting wouldn't happen until the series finale anyway, and I never expected to get to know the mother as much as we did, which was a nice surprise. I agree that this season wasn't the greatest, but I didn't hate it nearly as much as a lot of other people did.

That said, I think that the finale could have been better served if the end of the wedding happened a few episodes previously and the divorce could have been announced more gradually. Then the finale could have spent some more time on Ted and Tracy's relationship and made her death more powerful as well as make us believe that Ted and Robin would work together.

I know that all of this sounds like I didn't like the episode, but that's not true. Although there was a lot that they tried to fit into one hour, as finales go, it was pretty good overall. It hit all the right notes: I laughed, I cried (not really, but I did get choked up a bit), and I was surprised. The writers did a great job of bringing back recurring gags, including my favorite running joke, the Private Joke (when someone says a phrase that includes a military rank, Ted and Robin repeat it and salute, e.g. "Major pleasure"). The emotional scenes were all great as well, especially the gang's goodbye to Ted before he supposedly leaves for Chicago and the titular meeting between Ted and Tracy.

Overall I did like the finale. It's just some of the plot choices that bothered me, but that's going to be the case with any show. After spending years getting emotionally invested with a cast of characters, you're never going to be completely satisfied when you have to say goodbye. I got to see Ted meet his soulmate and some of their life together, and that's more than I could've hoped for. I'm sure that when I watch the episode again, I'll feel differently than I do now and appreciate the ending more. But these are just my initial reactions. I may not agree with all of the decisions that the creators made, but I'm glad to have been witness to their legendary creation.

'How I Met Your Mother' Premiere Review: This Is It

The fall TV season has arrived. And with it comes a whole slew of TV shows to look forward to. Unfortunately I didn't get around to writing a "most anticipated" list this year, so I will just be writing reviews as the shows premiere. First up is the final season of How I Met Your Mother. If you haven't seen the premiere yet, I recommend watching it before reading this post.

In last season's finale, the gang was getting ready to go to Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) and Robin's (Cobie Smulders) wedding (we also got our first look at The Mother, but I'll get to that). Last night's hour-long premiere picked up right where we left off, 55 hours before the wedding. This season will take place entirely within the wedding weekend and will culminate (I assume) in Ted (Josh Radnor) meeting The Mother. This is definitely an interesting choice because 24 episodes worth of story will only take up two and a half days, but based on the premiere, I think it will turn out alright.

A lot happened in this episode, so I will break it down by each character's storyline. First I'll talk about Marshall (Jason Segel). At the end of last season, Marshall was in Minnesota visiting his mother with Marvin before the planned move to Italy. However, he ends up taking a judgeship position without telling Lily (Alyson Hannigan). Now on the plane, Marshall sees an online post from his mother congratulating him. He then tries to get her to delete it before Lily sees it. This leads to an altercation with the passenger next to him, Daphne (Sherri Shepherd), which gets them both kicked off the plane, and there are no open flights to New York left. They eventually end up renting a car together to drive to New York. While this is one of the weakest Marshall subplots I've seen, Segel and Shepherd seemed to have some chemistry, so I am looking forward to their interactions on the road.

Next up is Barney and Robin. The first half of the premiere saw the couple in the back of the limo discussing "wild cards," people who could possibly ruin the wedding. They then realize that they share a crazy Cousin Mitch, and they are afraid they might be related. Although it turned out to be a false-alarm, it allowed for an awesome Game of Thrones reference and led to this exchange:

Barney: Our wedding is going to be legendary
Robin: No waitforit?
Barney: I’ve got you. I don’t have to wait for it anymore. 

As cheesy as this line is, this new side of Barney is nice to see. He has matured a lot in the last couple of seasons. This maturation is also seen in his reaction to finding out that his brother James (Wayne Brady), whose marriage made Barney believe in true love, is getting a divorce. Instead of freaking out like Robin expected, Barney takes it very well. I'm sure there will be hurdles to overcome in Barney and Robin's story this season, but for now, it's good to see them happy.

Speaking of being happy, let's go on to Ted, who repeatedly has to insist to the hotel clerk (Roger Bart) that he is happy after he asks for a single key to his room. (Sidebar: I loved this gag. I thought Bart was hilarious as the clerk, who was really concerned for Ted.) Ted didn't have much to do in this episode, but future Ted reveals that he will be the wild card at the wedding. That may or may not have something to do with the locket that Robin was looking for last season and that ended up in Ted's pencil box. In a flashback, we find out that the pencil box ended up with Stella, who has since moved to Los Angeles. Although Ted promised Lily that he wouldn't go after it, another flashback shows Ted buying a ticket to L.A. four days ago. I don't know where this storyline is going, but I'm excited to find out how Ted becomes the wild card. The episode ended with a flashforward to one year later, when Ted brings The Mother, played very well by Cristin Milioti, back to the hotel. This is the first scene with both Ted and The Mother, and even though it wasn't present-day Ted, it was still an amazing, heartwarming scene. Radnor and Milioti have great chemistry, and hopefully we will see more scenes with them together this season.

Finally we get to Lily. Like I said earlier, we got our first look at The Mother last season. In the first half hour, we get to see more of her when Lily meets her on the train. Lily is the first of the gang to meet The Mother, and they hit it off right away. We also learn through future Ted's narration some great things about The Mother, like her nickname for slow-driving Ted, Tedwina Slowsby, and her love for some of the same nerdy things that Ted loves. Lily's interactions with The Mother provided the beginning of a picture of Ted's future wife. So far Milioti is great in this high-pressure role, and I'm really excited to see how The Mother gets along with the rest of the gang. The rest of Lily's storyline was nothing special, but I'm sure she'll have more to do once Marshall gets there and tells her about the judgeship.

Overall, I really liked this episode. It wasn't perfect, but it was a solid start to what promises to be an eventful final season. It got the ball rolling for some interesting storylines, and gave us a look into who Ted is going to spend the rest of his life with. How exactly he meets her is still uncertain, but I look forward to seeing how he gets from the lonely single guy at his best friends' wedding to the happy, lovestruck guy we saw in the flashforward. 

'How I Met Your Mother' Finale Reaction: Buckle Up

Like my last HIMYM post, I'm not going to write a formal review because my feelings about last night's finale are mixed, and I don't really how to put them into words. Also, I want to address next season, which requires a lot of speculation. So excuse the randomness of this post because I'm going to rant.

There was a major reveal at the end of this episode, so if you haven't seen it, stop reading immediately.

I both liked and disliked this episode. I liked it because it had a good mix of comedy and drama, which is something that HIMYM does well most of the time. I loved Barney and Robin's interactions with the other couple. I also liked the more dramatic scenes between Lily and Ted, even though I'm sick of Ted pining over Robin. What I didn't like was that nothing was really resolved. I know that finales are supposed to end with cliffhangers, which this episode did, but they also should resolve the main plots of the season. It did resolve Barney and Robin's hesitance to get married, but Lily and Marshall's move to Italy was further complicated rather than resolved, and Ted's moving to Chicago came out of nowhere. In that sense, this episode felt more like a "part 1" of a finale than a finale.

That is, except for the last shot. Showing The Mother's face was a curveball I was not expecting and was a perfect way to end a finale. However, I don't know if it was the right choice given the nature of this show. For those of you who don't know, next season will be the last, so Ted has to meet The Mother next season. What worries me is when he'll meet her. Future Ted said that he meets her at the wedding, which will probably happen early next season. So if he meets her then, what will the rest of the season be about? I always thought that Ted would meet The Mother in the series finale, you know, since the title is How I Met Your Mother. I wonder if Ted will only briefly meet her at the wedding and the rest of the season will lead up to them starting to date. Or the entire season could be them dating, but  then what would be the endgame? A logical ending to that season would be Ted proposing, but to me, that would be too soon. But then again, that's something Ted would do. Anyway, I hope it's the former because I don't think I would like an entire season of them dating, leading up to a proposal. I would rather them start dating in the finale than get engaged or married. Whatever happens, I'm cautiously excited for next season. Final seasons are always a big deal, and I always look forward to them, even though it means the show is ending.

Last night's episode reminded me that we're so close. So buckle up because next season is going to be an interesting ride.

As always, feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments.

'How I Met Your Mother' Midseason Finale Reaction: What's Next?

How I Met Your Mother (HIMYM) aired an hour-long midseason finale on Monday. Instead of writing a formal review, I thought I would write a reaction in which I rant about my thoughts after seeing the episode. Once again, I must give a SPOILER ALERT since the ending was a rather big one, so if you haven't seen the episode yet, please do not keep reading. Seriously. Stop now.

If you are still reading, this is your last warning to stop if you don't want to be spoiled.

First of all, this episode was probably my favorite in a while. At the very beginning of Part 1, Barney is jinxed at the bar, so he cannot speak until somebody says his name. It's this kind of childishness that I love to see in the gang, and we haven't seen it a lot in the last few seasons. This episode reminded me of the early seasons, which were the best of the series, so it was a nice return to form.

Now on to that ending: Barney proposes to Robin. I'm still not sure how I feel about the two of them together, although I did like their storyline this season. I also really liked the proposal scene, so I guess I'm okay with their relationship. What I liked most about the proposal was that it combined the new Barney with the old Barney. Although Barney has changed and is no longer the womanizer that he once was, making his proposal his last "play" was very smart move. It is definitely something that Barney would do. It also made a lot of sense because I wasn't entirely convinced by his relationship with Patrice. Barney's proposal to Robin was a clever twist (even though we knew their wedding was on the horizon), and it sets up what will surely be an interesting second half of the season.

Which brings me to my final point: the rest of this season. The creators are still in talks about whether this will be the last season. Personally, I hope it is. As much as I enjoy the show, I think it is time for them to wrap things up. We already know that Ted meets "the mother" at Barney's wedding, so now that Barney and Robin are engaged, 12 episodes is plenty of time to get us to that point. Adding another season would just drag things out more than necessary.

That's about all I have to say about the episode. It was a great one, so I look forward to the rest of the (possibly final) season to see where they go from here. As always, leave your thoughts in the comments, whether they're on the episode or where you want the season to go.

This blog will likely be dormant for the next few weeks since most shows are in hiatus until January. Therefore, I wish you all a Happy Holidays, and I'll see you (in a sense) in the New Year.

'Elementary' Pilot Review: Is There Room for Another Sherlock?

It's been a pretty busy week, so I'm a little behind in my TV. But I did watch the Elementary pilot, so here's my review.

Elementary is a new drama on CBS and a modern adaptation of Sherlock Holmes. In this adaptation Sherlock (Jonny Lee Miller) has been sent to New York by his father to recover from his drug problem. His father hires Joan Watson (Lucy Liu) as a live-in sober companion. Holmes spends his time as a consulting detective for the NYPD.

Miller plays Holmes with all the usual traits and eccentricities. He is able to deduce things about people just by looking at them. He also has little regard for people's feelings. Miller did a fine job portraying these traits, which are common in Holmes adaptations. What surprised me, though, was that toward the end of the episode, Holmes was, at times, a bit more sentimental, something we don't always see in a Sherlock Holmes story. Miller did a great job in these scenes, proving that he was the right choice for Holmes.

We got to know Watson fairly well in this episode, as Holmes deduced that she used to be a surgeon by looking at her hands. A background plot line involved Watson's past and led to those sentimental moments toward the end. I thought Liu did a decent job as Watson, but I found her to be a little dry at times. However, I think that as episodes go on, she will get better. I think my problem may be with the fact that they are using a female Watson. One of my favorite things about the Holmes stories is the bromance between Holmes and Watson, so it was odd seeing a female as a character who becomes Holmes's best friend. I fear that the writers may be tempted to create romantic tension between the two, and I hope they resist that temptation. I think this show will work best as long as the two characters become friends and nothing more.

Speaking of the writers, I thought the writing in this episode was very strong, especially in the dialogue between Holmes and Watson. Now I must bring up BBC's Sherlock, which has some of the best writing on any TV show that I watch. Elementary's writing was not as good as Sherlock's, but it held up pretty well. I think they can make his deductions slicker and some of the other dialogue smoother, but the Holmes-Watson dialogue is good so far. I was pleasantly surprised.

Being a CBS procedural, the plot was quite predictable. But other than that, I thought this was a strong pilot. Although I don't usually like procedurals (with a few exceptions), I will try to keep up with Elementary since I am a fan of Sherlock Holmes. However, it will not be very high priority, so don't expect me to write about it a lot.

If you watched the pilot, feel free to let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

Prelude to Premiere Week

The 2012 fall TV season is upon us. While some shows have already premiered, the vast majority of shows start this week. This means that I have a very difficult task ahead of me: watching a large number shows in the little free time that I have. That said, I would like to warn you that most of my posts from here on out will likely be at least a day or two after the shows they are about air. I will do my best to watch some shows live if I can, in which case I may write a post that night, but don't expect many of those. Also, I may end up grouping shows together to save time. Lastly, my plan for this first week is to wait until I have watched everything and do one post with short reviews for everything. Then, in the weeks that follow, I will probably do more focused posts.

What I want to do now is provide you with a list of which premieres I plan on watching this week. The shows in bold are ones that I'm not sure if I will watch and will probably only watch if I have time. All times are Eastern.

Monday 9/24
How I Met Your Mother (CBS 8:00)
Hawaii Five-0 (CBS 10:00)

Tuesday 9/25
New Girl (FOX 8:00)
Ben and Kate (FOX 8:30)
Vegas (CBS 10:00)

Wednesday 9/26
Modern Family (ABC 9:00)
The Neighbors (ABC 9:30)*

Thursday 9/27
Last Resort (ABC 8:00)
The Big Bang Theory (CBS 8:00)
Person of Interest (CBS 9:00)
Elementary (CBS 10:00)

Sunday 9/30
Family Guy (FOX 9:00)
Homeland (Showtime)
666 Park Avenue (ABC 10:00)

*I don't really have any desire to watch The Neighbors, but I think I might watch the pilot just to see how ridiculous it is. If you haven't heard about it, you can watch the trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_iJy5auBko

So that's what I have ahead of me this week, not to mention the few other shows that have already premiered. Wish me luck, and happy viewing!