How I Met Your Mother: Every Season Ranked Worst To Best

Of course, season nine has two glaring issues. First, there's the fact that all the episodes (save the last two) are set over one weekend, and so the whole season ends up watching like a forced mismatch of filler episodes such as "Mom and Dad" and "The Broken Code." Secondly, and perhaps most glaringly, there's the final two-parter, which throws away everything the show had been building toward just so Ted could revert to frustrating type and get back together with Robin.

Yes, the finale is meant to capture life's messy, unpredictable nature, but after nine seasons, that's not what anyone wanted.

Outside of these irrefutable problems, though, season nine does have some genuinely effective moments of character and storytelling. The Mother/Tracy's standalone episode still stands as the best episode of the entire series, and "Gary Blauman" offers Future Ted the chance to let us know what happened to the major players in his story.

It will always be remembered for that ending, but season nine is still mostly solid TV, with enough emotion and humour to make it bearable. Looking back, both season eight and nine would perhaps have benefitted from being just one, shorter season, and had it had a tighter focus on Ted and Tracy's relationship, it could have been the final act fans were hoping for.

Best Episodes: How Your Mother Met Me, Gary Blauman, The Lighthouse