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***SPOILERS AHEAD***
So this part two months, I have watched the whole series of HIMYM. I was invested in how Ted would meet his future wife, but a little disappointed, because there were too many time jumps and the whole premise of the story was not about the wife.
My take on all of the characters is that Robin was HV despite being painted as this person who messed up. However, I think she made the right choice by distancing herself towards the group. What I don’t like about her is that she’s not a “girls girl” and that she doesn’t have many female friends. However, she did manage to stay in touch with Lily.
As for Tracy, they did her character so dirty because she’s just so complacent with the group and Ted’s antics. She was still grieving over Max, and had recently rejected a proposal. I felt like her character was not developed properly, because it seemed as though she just magically fell in love with Ted once he met her. It was not realistic for me.
As for the male characters, the least person I hate is Marshall. I don’t like how he waged a bet and let Barney see Lily’s breast. If my SO made a bet like that, I’d reconsider the relationship.
With Ted, it seemed like he didn’t settle for Tracy, but he did. He lost Robin, and decided to move to Chicago until he met Tracy. He lived with Tracy and had kids with her (don’t get me started on the wedding and her pregnancy). But through all of this, he still wanted to be with Robin, which is the purpose for the series. The writers are trying to paint this off as the ultimate love story of a man that loves strongly. However, I don’t see that way, I see it as the story about this guy that pines over a girl for most of his life and is constantly waiting for a turn. Six years after his wife’s passing, he tells his story to the kids and most of it is about Robin. Thats horrible. If he hadn’t met Tracy he would have left for Chicago, sure, but also, if he wasn’t with Tracy during Robin’s divorce, he would have found a way to get with her sooner.
As Barney, his character he is a zero value guy. Writers try to paint him as comedic relief and whatever he does is funny. But they don’t really consider how many women he’s hurt with his lies. With the birth of his daughter Ellie, he tries to turn things around, but again, it’s not fleshed out properly, and he just magically becomes a good father.
As for Lily, Idk what to think of her. I think she’s a product of male writing. Lily and Marshall get to go Italy but it was only for a short time. She does gets what she wants…kind of… through every barrier, it seems as though writers make her pregnant, or focus on her maternal role. Again, the only women that gets to kind of follow their dreams is Robin, but writers turn her into this loner/outsider archetype.
Anyways what do you guys think? I thought the show was well organized with all the little “Easter eggs” given. It made think a lot about “the red string theory”.
I had to look up "red string theory", and sure enough, it goes back to the ancient god in the Chinese pantheon who appears as an old man and ties couples together with red string. I'd say most Chinese take that mythological story about as seriously as Westerners take Cupid. But it's a whole theory now? That's wild to me.
That could be a whole post in itself, but back on the topic of How I Met Your Mother. Everyone hated the ending so much when it aired. Welcome to the club 🤣
They wasted so much time on Barney and Robin's wedding when they could have used that time to flesh out some of that other stuff you mentioned.
Also the show couldn't reshoot the last scene with Ted's kids - they shot that back when the show just started. No really a great excuse, they should have scraped that anyway. Sometimes a piece of writing takes on a life of its own and grows in a direction the writers couldn't have foreseen. This is one of those times. They had years to come to that realization and change the ending. My guess is the writers were running on fumes by the end.
I did like how this was one show that depicted the male lead as desperate for marriage, and didn't so much depict women as desperate for marriage.
I think HIMYM should have been three seasons tops. I hate it when they over-extend a series that has a very time sensitive plot, because this is what you get. I loved the first two seasons and if I recall I watched the 3rd one too but got frustrated and bored because they still didn't reveal who the mother was lmao.
I didn't watch the series through but I know how it ended. I hate that they shoe horned Robin to be Ted's The One and made Tracy basically a walking uterus. The show had so much potential when it started and at the time it felt fresh, like Friends in the 00s. Most of the stuff aged like milk though.
I remember watching the show when it first started in 2006 and then watched it regularly til the finale!
Everyone hated the end. Lots of people felt they did Tracey so dirty.
They kinda fucked up a lot of character development too.
Barney is a nasty lvm but I do think as the series went on he did change for the better but the ending took away all the character development he went through.
You’re right about Robin too, she kinda lives her life the way she wants to but they make her seem lonely. Like if she pursues her career she ends up alone. But she is written by men. Overall she’s the character I liked the most
I couldn’t stand lily and Marshall. Together as a couple or when by themselves they are just the worst.
I will say Ted mentions his favourite book is Love in the Time of Cholera. The book gets mentioned throughout the series too.
In the book 2 people meet but it’s not the right time to have a relationship and they end up marrying other people. Then I believe the spouses die and the two meet years later and finally get together.
Which is basically Ted, Robin, Tracey.