The big one. It doesn't just hit the reset button on many character developments, it does so to take them away from what fans had grown to care about more than the original plan. Yes, Tracy pretty much had to die from a narrative standpoint, but there was no reason to have Ted just run back to Robin. Fans had grown sick and tired of all the back-and-forth with Robin, and it is a big disservice to Cristin Milioti. She managed to walk into the final season of a nearly decade-long hit comedy and not only immediately fit in, but also have the fanbase feel she is the woman they want the main character to be with. The audience had been screaming for more Milioti throughout season nine, particularly together with Ted, because their chemistry was just so perfect that it didn't matter how little was known of her, the fans just knew. Ending the show on the symbolism of the blue horn shows how the ending was planned years ago when Robin was who fans wanted to see Ted with (even though Victoria overtook her as many fans favourite in the shows earlier seasons), whereas the true symbol that fans cared about was the yellow umbrella. The meeting was executed so, so well and delivered what fans had been waiting for and if the episode needed a happy ending to move on from the sorrow of her death, this would've been a better placed final scene. Or their wedding. But the best ending scene was written by the writers themselves years ago and mentioned so frequently that it had to have a place in the finale right? Wrong. Most fans will already know "the dream" referred to, the front porch. Lily and Ted have so frequently told of Lily's vision of the future gang sitting out on the front porch, and the finale could have delivered the perfect one to close the show on a happy note after the news that Tracy was dead. Showing it achieved some time between their marriage in 2020 and her death in 2024, with Marshall and Lily, Ted and Tracy and if they had chosen to keep them together Barney and Robin. All six happily married and fulfilling the prophecy. A much more perfect ending to induce a happy nostalgia, and a fond memory for Ted to end his epic relaying of how he met his children's mother. What were your opinions on the finale? And what would you want to see changed? Or maybe you wouldn't change a thing? Make your thoughts known in the comments section below.
