And then we can rant all over again.
We open again at the Farhampton Train Station. Ted is still being needled by the old lady to go talk to the bassist. She believes that the bassist is The One and asks to sing at Ted’s wedding. Ted’s like “No. Calm down.” But he’s drawn to the bassist.
Go for it, Ted. Doooooo eeeeeeeeeet.
Hey, it’s MacLaren’s again! Lily, Marshall, Ted and Barney have met up for a night out. Barney is trying to convince his friends to stay out to the wee hours of the morning but they are trying to convince him to call it a night earlier than that. After all, they have children and suburban houses to get back to. They turn to Barney and ask if he would ever get married again. But he doesn’t believe there is a perfect girl out there for him. And then they get drunk and stay out to the wee hours of the morning. Barney won.
Remember Barney’s perfect week? Where he banged seven different women, one for each day of the week? This time, he decides to go for a Perfect Month—31 women in 31 days. But there’s a problem. Barney stumbles in to wrestlers vs. robots to inform his couple friends—Lily and Marshall, Ted and the Mother—that number 31 is pregnant! Barney’s gonna be a dad! I liked this scene because it showed how well The Mother fits in with the gang. Unfortunately, no appearance by Mexican Wrestler!Ted.
The gang supports Barney as he prepares for the birth of his child. Lily, though, is upset that Robin isn’t here. Marshall and Ted try to convince her this would be an awkward moment for her. The birth of her ex-husband’s baby with a one night stand? Yeah, awkward. But Lily says it is a big thing and they promised to be there for those. I think Lily is just upset she’s lost her best friend. She needs a hug.
Barney comes out in surgical scrubs but the baby hasn’t been born yet. Except he baby has as a nurse comes out to announce Barney has a daughter! He goes in to meet his (clearly a) baby (doll) girl. And he falls in love. It’s sweet.
Time for a Robin sighting! Ted takes little Penny to see his building and she is impressed. Robin says that she heard the building before it was pretty spectacular. Ted and Robin have a nice reunion and he asks how her job is going. She says it is going well and she’s traveling all over the world. Her face is even on the side of a bus! Robin offers to go out to eat with Ted and Penny, who calls her “bus lady.” “Never call me that again,” Robin says.
I got a little confused at this point, I’ll admit. After all, it was established that Robin seemed to be close with Ted’s children growing up. They had drawn pictures of her taking them on cool trips after all!
Anyway, Ted decides it is time to make an honest woman out of The Mother. He proposes to her again, this time telling her they can get married that Thursday. She agrees. Yay! Ted’s finally marrying the Mother!
At MacLaren’s, Barney is passed out while Marshall pays Lily. You might remember that once upon, they bet about whether or not Ted would end up with Robin. Ted shows up and they are having one more drink before the wedding. If they ever wake Barney up, that is. Baby Ellie (adorable name) has been keeping him up at night. Lily, meanwhile, focuses on the fact that Robin isn’t there. Yet again. But surprise! She is! Ted thought Robin turned down his invitation but Robin says she received a very convincing phone call. From who? Why, the Mother of course!
She appears—in her wedding dress—holding a camera. The Mother explains that she called Robin because she knew how important her presence would be to everybody. She then encourages them to take a picture. You know, to mirror the first picture.
And so Ted finally marries the Mother. Future!Ted talks about how he had to fall in love with the Mother to understand what it meant to be in love. And that he had to keep loving her, no matter what happened. Like when she got sick. We see the Mother lying in a hospital bed as Ted reads to her.
God damn it, show!
But Future!Ted continues on to say that he would never have learned that love if he hadn’t crossed a train platform, tapped her on the shoulder and said “Hi.”
“Hi,” the Mother says back, staring into Ted’s eyes. It’s love!
She realizes it is raining and invites him to stand under her yellow umbrella. Ted says he once had an umbrella like that for a few years but he lost it. He looks at it and then declares that she stole his umbrella. The Mother declares that it was her umbrella. But Ted says that it has his initials—TM for Ted Mosby. But the Mother says her initials are TM—Tracy McConnell. Let us rejoice—we found out the poor thing’s name at last! And I like it. She and Ted exchange some banter and they are so adorable!
And that, dear audience, is how Ted Mosby met the Mother.
Why did they have to kill her?
Because, yes, the Mother—Tracy McConnell Mosby—is dead in 2030. She’s been dead this entire time. And Penny tells us she’s been dead for six years. This comes out as she and Luke are encouraging Ted to ask “Aunt Robin” out on a date. Because Penny points that the story wasn’t about their mother—she was hardly in it. The kids say the story was about how Ted was in love with Aunt Robin and still is. Penny argues that they can see it when Aunt Robin comes over for dinner. She and Luke tell him to ask her out.
We see Robin in her New York apartment, returning from a walk with her many dogs. They overtake her apartment as her buzzer sounds. She tries to get her automated system to answer it but it fails. So she opens a window instead. Standing outside is Ted, holding the blue French horn.
And…run end credits.
That’s it. Nine years later and it was Robin all along. Nine years of the show convincing us Robin wasn’t The One and it was all a lie. I know some people considered this their “happy ending.” As for me, I think it’s clear I’m in the “not a happy ending” camp. I liked the mother and felt tricked, lied to.
Instead, I’ll remember all the good times we had prior to that ending. Slap Bet. Robin Sparkles. The goat. And many, many more.
Thank you for taking this journey with me. Let’s raise our glass one more time, to our gang.
Cheers.
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