How I Met Your Mother: Did The Alternate Ending Miss The Point Of The Series?

Many of you are aware of the reason behind the inclusion of the alternate ending of How I Met Your Mother’s DVD box set: it was to appease fans who hated the original conclusion. Over nine seasons, the show built significant character development, and fans felt betrayed when it was all seemingly undone. Robin and Ted were shown time and again to be incompatible, so forcing them back together felt wrong to many viewers.

The hatred toward the original ending largely stemmed from this sense of betrayal. After all, the title of the series is How I Met Your Mother, yet the story ended with the mother dying and Ted getting back together with Robin. As for Barney, his character arc was also undermined. The final season focused heavily on his relationship and marriage with Robin. Only for them to divorce, and for Barney to return to his old playboy ways, eventually fathering a daughter with a random woman, which served as a vague form of redemption.

In Defense of the Original Ending: Why How I Met Your Mother Stayed True to Its Story

Let us play devil’s advocate: from the very beginning, the show was always meant to be a love story between Ted and Robin. This was set up in the very first episode. The ending was preplanned, some might even call it destiny. The final scene with Ted’s children was actually filmed during the second season because the child actors were growing up, and the creators had already decided how the story would end.

So, no matter how upset fans may feel about the original ending, it was always the intended one. And there’s a certain beauty in that. Like in real life, not everything wraps up neatly or happily. Maybe Ted and Robin work things out, or maybe they don’t. But in the end, this was Ted and Robin’s love story. A messy, bittersweet ending that made fans feel something – sadness, anger, disappointment — is arguably more powerful than simply ending with Ted kissing the Mother under the yellow umbrella in the rain.

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