There is a curious undercurrent in TV history that is so prevalent that it almost seems like a curse: that is the popular TV series that absolutely crashes and burns on the landing, offering a terrible ending that leaves a sour note in the memory of the devoted fans who have been following the show since the beginning. Otherwise beloved series that drew viewers in for years, like Seinfeld, Lost, and Game of Thrones, are some of the most classic examples of shows that stumbled across the finish line. However, the finale of How I Met Your Mother easily holds one of the top slots of all time in the category of disappointing finales to beloved and popular TV series. The twist ending and the resolution to the main character arcs left many fans in disbelief as to how everything came to a close in the story. Fortunately enough, though, for the majority of fans who were dissatisfied by the resolution to the show, there is some consolation: there is an alternate ending that actually gives you everything you wanted out of the finale.
How ‘How I Met Your Mother’ Became a Fan Favorite
How I Met Your Mother ran for 9 seasons as one of the more popular series on TV, largely due to witty and quippy fast-paced comedic writing and the consistent chemistry among the five leads: the lovable and naive couple in Marshall (Jason Segel) and Lily (Alyson Hannigan), the hopeless romantic in Ted (Josh Radnor), the gun-toting Canadian in Robin (Cobie Smulders), and the womanizing comedic caricature in Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris). Barney’s wild and ridiculous escapades, the unfulfilled dreams of Marshall and Lily, and the ridiculous lengths Ted would go to find “the one” made for some of the most entertaining (if light) comedy on TV at the time, and a strong viewership followed the story narrated by the voice-over of Bob Saget as an older Ted telling his kids the lengthy story of how he met their mother (roll credits).
Where the Finale Went off the Rails
Despite the strong viewership, entertaining comedy, and well-matched cast, however, even among the most dedicated fans of the series there is general agreement that the ending is one of the worst finales of all time. This reaction is largely due to the understandable sense of betrayal many fans felt when the series that had been building up the heartfelt romance Ted had been hinting at over the course of nine years suddenly shifted gears in the final episode, killed off the mother in the span of about two sentences of narration, unraveled the last three seasons of Barney’s character growth in the last ten minutes of the last episode (before giving him one redeeming moment as a consolation prize), and shoehorned in a (supposedly) “happily ever after” between Ted and Robin. While some ironically contend that this is the perfect ending because Ted and Robin are the worst characters in the show and deserve each other, that is not the way most people land on the issue.
Many fans were understandably put off by this, as the budding romance that they had been led to believe in for the last nine seasons was suddenly derailed, killing off one of the most beloved characters along the way before the show rapidly shifted gears and in the final few minutes asked the audience to believe in a romance between Ted and Robin that the last several seasons of the show had emphasized would never work.
Many fans were also dissatisfied with the way that Barney’s character was handled at the end. A character who had started as a comedic caricature grew over the course of the series, so that he came around to being more generous, less self-centered, and capped of his character growth by marrying Robin in the penultimate episode of the series — something his Season 1 persona would never have done, displaying just how much he had grown with time. Yet in the last episode, Barney’s growth over the previous seasons was seemingly “unwritten” on the turn of a dime for the finale so that it turned out that he didn’t really change enough before he got married, leading to irreconcilable differences between himself and Robin and the end of their marriage — which, incidentally, the entire length of Season 9 was building up to, which made the entirety of the last season seem utterly pointless.
Thankfully, ‘How I Met Your Mother’ Has an Alternate Ending
Justifiably, a number of fans were put off by these developments; for the many who found the ending unsatisfying, however, there is some consolation: the producers of the show made two different cuts of the final scenes of the series, and one of them is the ending that most of the fans actually wanted. Originally released as part of the DVD boxed set of the series, the alternate ending was much more straightforward, but also delivered on the promise most fans thought they had been waiting for over the last 9 years.
The way that the alternate ending runs, there are no added scenes, but rather a different editing sequence and a different closing voice-over. One of the final scenes is the gathering at MacLaren’s pub in which Marshall, Lily, Barney, Robin, Ted, and Tracy (Cristin Milioti) are all present, and Lily gives her impassioned speech about Ted’s fortitude in finally finding “the one” after all these years. But instead of the later revelation that Barney and Robin have broken up, there is no such scene, and the audience is left to assume that Barney and Robin are still happily married. Instead of the tragic death of Tracy, the wistful reminiscences, and the final romantic gesture of Ted stealing the blue french horn for Robin again, Bob Saget’s voice-over narrates Ted’s devotion and love for Tracy, and the final scene of the series is the one the audience would have expected to be the last: the scene in the rain at the train station where Ted and Tracy actually meet.
While How I Met Your Mother occasionally tried to be more significant and have more to say about life, love, and relationships, it was really at its best when it just stuck to comedy and light romance. As such, while the alternate ending adds no new scenes, it is much more satisfying than the one audiences actually got. The prospect of Tracy and Ted being happily married (as well as Barney and Robin) is immensely satisfying, and to some, this alternate has consequently replaced the original cut as their “definitive” series finale. The alternate ending, though originally only a special feature, was subsequently uploaded to YouTube, so you can even watch it for yourself now and bask in the alternate reality where the ending actually made sense.
