DuneMuadDib
Sr Member
Well yeah, a NDA which likely had a massive fine if they spoiled it would keep their traps shut. Lyndsy claimed previously to have forgotten what had been filmed.
That was September 2013The show never fails with constructing insightfully poignant moments.
I trust the writers to concoct a satisfying closure to his relationship with Robin. Since it's a whole new season then almost anything is possible (possimpible?).
Maybe Ted is telling them this because his wife died many years ago (when they were babies?). Maybe he's been a single dad ... or married to Robin who is their stepmom after a divorce with Barney.
But then they call her "aunt Robin" so forget that latter part.
Or she's just divorcing Barney and he's explaining why he's hooking up with aunt Robin.
The more I think about it the more certain I am that the real mom dies.
Ted will not end up with Robin.
Period. End of story. It's NOT going to happen. I realize people can't see past this, but I'm hopeful that after tonight, we'll start to see a change in that.
Anyway, I went back and re-watched seasons 3-7 this summer, and I have to say that I'm in a considerably better frame of mind now. Also, more info has been revealed re: the direction of this season, and it's confirmed that we will indeed see much of the Mother and Ted together after they've met.
I do see SOME character growth with Ted, and I see the through-line of what had to change around him for him to change himself. Also, I have to say that I think in some ways the Ted-spinning-his-wheels thing is pretty true to life. Sometimes it takes a period of prolonged wheel-spinning before you have a great leap forward. Here's hoping that's what we see this season.
That was September 2013
I called it!!!
Do you want 5 quick slaps now or 10 at random intervals?
And that's the problem. They lied about what the story was about. Bottom line. It was a bait and switch. Was it true to life? Poignantly real? Maybe. But even if it was....so ****ing what? The writers conned the audience and hid behind "Oh, but it's ART," as their justification for why it's ok to have spent 9 years BSing the audience.
My wife and I had a love/hate relationship with the last three seasons or so and probably only watched about half the episodes, often wondering why we were watching at all. We really didn't like what they'd done with Robin and Ted had just become a hapless schmuck. We somewhat reluctantly watched the finale and were pretty much sorry we did. For something that had been planned for so long it was executed poorly.
The only positive thing was they left out that the reason the wife got sick is because Ted slowly poisoned her after finding out Robin and Barney had filed for divorce. Then waited six years to pursue her, not out of guilt, but out of fear that it would look bad and might raise suspicions about how his otherwise healthy wife suddenly became ill.
I'm right there with you. I am so going to show this to my wife.This is the ending I'm going to keep permanently etched in my brain.
I agree about the "gimmick-iness" but it seems that just about every long running sitcom inevitably dabbles in this. In that respect I've seen it done worse in other shows and I believed they showed sufficient restraint that I never felt it was going to jump the shark. I agree they're characteristically superfluous, but the strengths easily protect the integrity if HIMYM.Here's something I realized about the show.
The creators are good writers. The creators are not good storytellers.
They can write a compelling scene that makes you crack up or pulls at your heartstrings or any number of other things. But they have shown, particularly in the latter seasons, no facility for plotting or pacing or telling a story as a whole. HIMYM has had a whole range of amazing scenes. But HIMYM is not a particularly well-told story, regardless of whether one likes the eventual outcome or hates it.
The other thing that I've noticed about them is that they seem way more impressed with themselves and their ability to play with storytelling gimmicks like telling a story about an event from three different perspectives in a 22 minute bloc (e.g., The Burning Beekeeper), or layering stories upon stories (e.g., The Platinum Rule), or telling a story entirely in rhyme (e.g., Bedtime Stories), or telling a story in almost-real-time (e.g., Season 9). Frankly, gimmickry doesn't impress me in the slightest, but I gather it really impresses them or at least really entertains them. I actually found all of the examples above except The Platinum Rule to be some of the absolute worst episodes of the show because they were so clearly about just using the gimmick. Save that **** for your screenwriting class, pal, and don't waste my ****ing time.
To be fair to the writers, as Wes grads themselves they may have been inspired by Joss Whedon and his experiments with Buffy episodes. There was one that was completely in song in Buffy and HIMYM in a way does give a framework to experiment a little.
In terms of storytelling, it does make sense that the pacing can be off as each episode is a short story that Ted the narrator finds memorable. But I completely agree that the pacing was terrible. The early seasons had decent pacing with the threat of cancellation looming but the later seasons were really slow. Maybe they never expected Cristi to be so good but I would have preferred the wedding end mid season and the later half Ted getting to know the mother.
Given the huge amount of press on the finale, Im wondering if this was the right decision in terms of ratings.
I agree about the "gimmick-iness" but it seems that just about every long running sitcom inevitably dabbles in this. In that respect I've seen it done worse in other shows and I believed they showed sufficient restraint that I never felt it was going to jump the shark. I agree they're characteristically superfluous, but the strengths easily protect the integrity if HIMYM.
As you mention the writers are adept at constructing emotionally resonant moments. I believe if you wait a few months then watch the finale again you'll find does have that same quality. I don't think it takes away from the significance of the Tracy arc.
Those two goals are diametrically opposed to each other, because narratively speaking, they work at cross-purposes. If you move Ted towards getting over Robin and being ready to meet the Mother, you undermine #2. If you showcase Ted being perpetually in love with Robin, you undermine #1. You could maybe do them both, but if you do, you need to show the relationship with the Mother after the meeting and how that truly was a wonderful romance for Ted, as well as the aftermath of the Mother's death in much longer form. You'd need to show Ted as a broken man after the Mother dies. You'd need to show him spending time with Robin over the years after her death, gradually reconnecting with her and growing closer to her. You'd need to see the kids happy that their father is obviously connecting with Robin, and that Robin and he are both sufficiently different now as people than they were in their 20s and 30s, that they can actually make it work. Only after doing that would it make sense to have the kids reactions be "No worries, dad. Mom's been gone for six years and you and Robin get on like a house on fire. Go for it!" Instead, they just told you all of that info in a minute or two and then completely reversed Ted's character growth from the last nine seasons.
They write good scenes and good jokes, and good individual episodes. They do not write a good story overall.