How I Met Your Mother: Ranking All Of Ted Mosby’s Serious Relationships From Worst To Best

1. Tracy McConnell (Played By Cristin Milioti)

Has there ever been a more perfect partner for a main character in television history? Introducing Tracy McConnell with an entire season to go seemed like a mis-step by the show. It turned out to be a savvy move as it allowed viewers to get to know the character of The Mother, particularly all of the ways in which she was damn near perfectly suited to Ted Mosby.

Throughout the first eight seasons of the sitcom, Ted and Tracy drifted in and out of each other’s orbits, without their paths ever crossing. Few details were known about Ted’s future wife. Then, in the first episode of the final season, upon meeting Lily on the train, it was revealed that, like Ted, Tracy had her own leather driving gloves, she planned her road trips meticulously, and she was familiar with the works of bucklesmith Florian van Otterloop. In each subsequent appearance, Tracy’s similarities to Ted- and the way in which their lives were intertwined- became more evident, with clever references to the history of the show. Tracy considered herself “a bit of a detective” when she was younger; while sitting in MacLaren’s, she had wondered whether naming a bar Puzzles was the puzzle itself; and she was the reason The Naked Man was given a 66% success rate.

Ted and Tracy’s journeys to finding each other were so similar that if fate does exist, these two were definitely star-crossed lovers. There is no doubt Tracy is the girl of Ted’s dreams.