I have really enjoyed How I Met Your Mother. I shed tears with Lily and Marshall as they experienced life as new parents, held out high hopes for Ted's future with awesome girls like Victoria, loved Barney's ridiculous antics and catchphrases and always looked forward to Robin Sparkles and the over-the-top Canada stereotypes. And when they finally cast the 'Mother', I loved her immediately. She was exactly the sweet, quirky, compassionate and beautiful woman I had imagined her to be... you know, the kind of girl you can become best friends with.

And through it all, I enjoyed seeing the characters grow. Marshall and Lily grew to respect and appreciate each other no matter what. Barney grew into a decent human being. And Ted and Robin grew up enough to see how toxic they really were for each other. That was possibly the only thing that got annoying with the show... the constant Robin/Ted circle, where they fell in and out of love until finally Robin realized that Barney was so much better for her than Ted was. And Ted realized that too. That right there is growth.
SPOILER ALERT.... if you haven't seen the series finale, stop here!

But then they had to ruin all that.

Robin and Barney got divorced. After a season long wedding, they got divorced. And Ted found his soul mate (named Tracy!) and they had two kids... and then she died. Ted and Tracy had a beautiful life together, they were best friends and bam. Dead.  And the whole story of how Ted met her ended up with him telling his kids in order to get their permission to ask out 'Aunt Robin'.

Sigh.

If this had happened a few seasons ago, before Ted and Robin legitimately moved on from one another, before Barney and Robin were shown to be really perfect for each other after all, and before Ted met his soul mate who treated him so well, then it would have been fine. But the last two seasons specifically demonstrated why Ted and Robin were not suited. At this point, them ending up together didn't seem happy for anyone. It was...sad. And not just sad because Tracy the mother had died. Death is part of life and if that's what they needed to show, then fine. But Ted should not have ended up with someone who was always so selfish. Robin didn't want kids, she wanted the career and the travel. Robin didn't want Ted. They wanted very different things in life, at least the entire nine seasons they did.

Not only that, but it seemed kind of icky... Barney and Ted were friends. True, Ted dated Robin first, but dating someone's ex-girlfriend (with his eventual blessing) is different than dating someone's ex-wife. Especially when that someone is one of your closest friends. Barney loved Robin. It seems so wrong that Ted went back to her.

I know, I know, this was the plan all along.  Some people loved the ending, some people hated the mother, blah blah blah. We are all entitled to our own opinions, and I respect that. But for me, I wish the ending had been happier.

Any chance they can re-do it? Tell us it was an April Fool's joke?

No?

Fine.

Let's just call the whole thing How I Met Robin and be done with it.

What did you think of the finale? Was it a let down? Or did you cry tears of happiness over these fictional characters that have somehow become friends?

And for those of you who like a bit more sunshine and flowers in your love stories, check out my three YA romantic comedy novels.  In the Stars - the story of the one who got away and seeing just how far a girl will go to get him back.  Tanned, Toned and Totally Faking It - Hollywood star falling for the one boy who doesn't have a clue who she is. And Iced Romance- where fame and escaping your life along with secrets and scandal makes for a fast paced adventure.

Have a great night, everyone!