5 Reasons How I Met Your Mother Finale Is As Bad As You Remember (And 3 Reasons It Isn't)

In the end, though, there is one moment above all others that makes fans seethe at the very mention of the show's finale, and that is the sudden, cruel reveal that Tracy McConnell (the Mother) had died six years before Ted sat their kids down to tell his tale.

Fans had theorised about the fate of the Mother for a couple seasons by this point (look at the episodes The Time Travelers and Vesuvius to see the foreshadowing), but actually being hit out of nowhere with the fact that Tracy is dead and Ted is just telling his story so he can get back with Robin is a sore spot for many fans.

Season nine had done an admirable job of making fans fall in love with Tracy alongside Ted, and proving just how right the pair were together. And though they have a solid amount of time together, killing her off in such left-field fashion felt as though the writers were going for shock over substance, trying to keep up with their themes about life and love only to alienate fans who were after a happy ending.

All told, the finale isn't quite as bad as you may remember, but even with high points such as Barney's final moments, Last Forever remains a messy and unnecessarily rushed ending to a show that really should have ended on a happy high note. Like, say, the alternate ending they never used...