The mother is dead.
Well, maybe. Some sites confirm it while the actress playing the mother herself says, “That’s insane. There’s some crazy conspiracy theories, which actually just makes me love the fans more… There’s such passion there. That is so crazy.” That's not quite a denial, so I don't know what will happen, but even the idea of this being true upsets me.
And may I just say, on behalf of the entire HIMYM fandom, of which I'm not even a very committed member, what. the. fuck. If it's not true, thank God, but if it is, here's why I wouldn't accept it.
Until this season, I wasn't even sure I still liked Ted. He became mopey and self-obsessed and whiney. But it's Ted, and even with all his blathering, I wanted him to find the mother and live happily ever after. The beauty of this show was that we could all keep watching it with or without the mystery of the mother's identity. I wanted to know, sure, but knowing Ted had a wife and kids was enough. The flash-forwards showing Ted with the mother being all happy and together and having children and being adorable was absurdly satisfying. Again, I didn't even think I cared anymore but then you watch his proposal and I immediately thought, "Awww, Ted, you did it, buddy. Good job." And now that could be RIPPED AWAY FROM US FOR NO REASON AT ALL. The show is ENDING. Why would they want the protagonist to be in pain? I understand that Ted and the mother have a good life and he still has his children but there's no time for me to believe in his recovery. And honestly, can Ted catch a break please? He has a weirdly melancholy life. All he's ever wanted was to love and be loved in return. He's a bit weird, sure, but that really shouldn't be so hard. I truly don't understand what the purpose of kicking him the face right before curtain could be.
This show is supposed to be a comedy. I understand there's a level of depth and you need to hit both sides of the emotional scale, but not at the end. Why at the end? I'll grant them the death of Marshall's father, which was beautifully written and well acted. Watching a character you love lose someone important to them is heartbreaking and seeing their friends do whatever they can to keep their head above water is possibly worse. Barney's struggle with discovering the truth about his own father was just as emotional. All the characters have fought to figure out who they are and what they want. It's not a show without layers, but we have four episodes left. Four. Again, maybe this is all a ploy to get us riled up so the writers can laugh in our faces, or maybe they're going to give us yet another twist, one that will leave us with tears in our eyes, and not the good kind. I wanted to end this show smiling, knowing that maybe these five aren't all they have anymore. They have families and lives outside their love for each other. That will be okay because they had nine years (some had more) of memories together. I'm bummed we might have to say goodbye to a revolutionary sitcom while simultaneously being incredibly pissed off.
I am invested, man. And I don't appreciate that all my time dedicated to Ted's happiness could be for naught because we regardless of the outcome - we aren't even able to experience the time he DOES have with his wife. We're just told it happens. Well, maybe I don't want to take their word for it because all I got to see was him waiting for a woman that was going to give him everything he'd been looking for OR dealing with her passing. There's a chunk of time there where they're together, but none of that is shared with us as an audience. We watched this show for nine years. NINE. YEARS. That's a lot of dedication. Give us a happy ending, please. Please please please. We deserve it as much as Ted does. Also, the show will be remembered more fondly if we can all believe Ted and the mother live happily ever after.
You know I'm right.