How I Met Your Mother: 10 Worst Characters Who Appeared After Season One
5. Jeanette Peterson
Portrayed by Abby Elliott, the daughter of Mickey actor Chris Elliott, Jeanette Peterson turns up toward the end of How I Met Your Mother's run as Ted's last major girlfriend before he finally meets Tracy.
Initially set up as a fateful partner for Ted, it's quickly revealed during her season eight debut that she's incredibly emotional, scarily manipulative, prone to bursts of violence, and the antithesis of everything that Ted wants.
Though there are moments where Elliott's comedy skills sell the more extreme oddness of her character, Jeanette ultimately ends up watching like a crude, over-the-top antagonist designed to make Ted's life awkward and nothing else.
When she returns in the final season, she's much of the same, and somehow even more jarring given how cruelly she treats Ted. She's a waste of a good actress, and not nearly as funny as she should be.