TV TIME: HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER "LAST FOREVER" FINALE (SPOILERS)

I realize that I haven't done a TV Time in a long time, and I'm sorry about that. I knew that I couldn't let HIMYM's finale slip through the cracks, though. This show meant a whole lot to me and I'm going to tell you why. HIMYM is the story of 5 friends living in NYC facing challenges in their love lives, their relationships, their jobs, and each other. I found this show to be unique, even though a lot of people find it to be a Friends remake. I found the characters to all be unique and funny with all their little quirks or dislikes and mannerisms. Ted Mosby is nothing like Ross Geller. Barney Stinson and Marshall Erikson are no Joey and Chandler and Robin is certainly no Rachel Green. The characters created on this show are all their own. Lily is nothing like Monica Geller or Phoebe Buffay. She is Lily Aldrin, a kindergarten teacher and artist. Ted Mosby is an architect with dreams that are taller than any skyscraper he could design. These characters are their own people and I love that. I love their originality and their friendships with each other. I love how close they are no matter what the situation is. I love how much they really truly love each other.

If you haven't seen the finale or the show and just want to watch it DO NOT READ ON. Everything below is my opinion. I am no TV expert who will grade this episode (honestly I can't think of any grade suitable for it). I am just a fan talking about what I liked, didn't like, and so on and so forth. I also am a Tumblr user so many of my opinions weren't just influenced by the episode but by the many fans of the show online. I am going to talk about each character in bullet form as my "Things That Stood Out" section:

Lily

• I'm not sure what happens to Lily besides the fact that she and Marshall have 3 children. We don't find out anything about her and Marshall's time in Rome or if her art career went anywhere or if she even went back to work after having her second child, Daisy. I am disappointed with this. I would've loved to see more of Lily's story, since knowing her from episode one. I feel like she just wasn't as important to the writers even though she was. She was a great friend and a great wife and all she ever wanted was happiness for her friends and family. I just hope she got the happiness she deserved.

Marshall

• Marshall has the happiest ending of them all. He eventually becomes a judge (after rejecting his first offer for Lily) and runs for New York State Supreme Court. Marshall and Lily stay together and they have 3 children together, everything Marshall wanted. It may have taken him more time to get it but with the finale it seems like he got it all and I'm happy for him. Marshall deserved all the happiness in the world and knowing that he achieved greatness in his professional and personal life means a lot to me.

Barney

• Barney's story doesn't make sense to me. Remembering more recently that they filmed the parts with Ted's kids years ago it makes me think that the writers weren't prepared for Barney's changes. Barney loved Robin so much for years and we all knew it. We all knew he deserved her in the end, too, but couldn't hold onto her. I have a theory that maybe he knew that letting her go was what she really wanted, and even if he didn't want it he'd do anything for her. Even though he said he wouldn't lie to her again, if that was a lie I think he felt it was ok because it would be helping her become who she wanted to become. Except after Barney and Robin get divorced Barney turns into a worse version of his season 1 self. All of his character growth and development went flying out the window. And I know in real life that can happen, but not like this. Barney had so many good, redeeming qualities in him his whole life. He created this persona that was never really him. And then he just automatically switches back. He becomes a 40 something year old man hitting on women half his age. I liked that he found love in his illegitimate child, but that never turned him into a good person. His daughter's mother never had a name, she was just number 31 in his "perfect month". Barney didn't even want his daughter. He didn't care about her until he held her and loved her. That's ok. I understand that, but Barney still treated women like dirt after that. Instead of hitting on them he made them feel terrible about their lives (which was understandable since they did want shots during lunch but that's not the point). Being a father doesn't make you a good person. Barney was a good person and just lost it along the way. And his years of change were just thrown out. If the show had ended years ago that ending wouldn't have been so weird and maybe would've fit him. So many years of change and realizations and hard work were just wasted and Barney deserved more.

Robin

• Robin's character development also hurt me. Robin was a strong woman. She knew what she wanted in life and knew how to get it. She worked so hard to become a famous journalist and she always loved her career, but in this finale she seemed to hate it. I know that her breaking up with Barney hurt her a lot and I understand that, but Robin just couldn't be happy with her career taking off like she should've. She loved traveling in the past for work and just loved her job in general. I guess the weight of a failed marriage was just too much for her. Her love for Barney was amazing and I wish it never had to end. They made each other better people and genuinely cared for one another. They were almost the same person and even though they were two lone wolves I was surprised when their relationship didn't work out well. Barney loved adventures and Robin and I know he loved NYC, too, but seeing as how Robin was in NY a lot more after they broke up I feel like they should've given the marriage more time. 3 years isn't that long. Robin wanting Ted bothered me. She only wanted him when one of them wasn't available and that's wrong. Ted needed to be with someone that wanted him 100% of the time all the time, not someone who changes their mind so much about him. Robin turned into a cold shell after traveling so much and just disappeared from the gang, hurting Lily so much. My main issue with that was that Robin was Lily's best friend and couldn't call her or anything like that. I understand that she didn't want to see Barney who turned into a worse version of himself, but Lily loved her and would've made time for the two of them to just hang out or something. Seeing Robin break Lily's heart in the apartment broke mine too.

Ted

• Teddy boy, I don't know with you. You and Tracy (the mother) were absolutely perfect and one of my all time favorite TV relationships. You guys had so much in common and wanted the same things and were just so happy together. They fit together from the moment they met at the train station and I was so happy. He met her! The mother! But of course this show changed things. The entire time this story was being told it felt like a fairy tale. "Kids, this may sound bad but wait! Your mom's coming up soon!" and then when she did she was taken away. Many people knew this would happen (I hoped it wouldn't), but Tracy passes away after getting sick with some unnamed illness. Ted fell for her so fast and we could see how much he loved her when he was with her, but this wasn't really a story about her. This was a story about Robin, as it usually is with Ted. This was the story of how Ted loved Robin so much through his 25 years of knowing her and always wanted to be with her no matter what. Ted loved Tracy, but she wasn't Robin and she never could be. Robin and Ted had a complicated relationship filled with fights, break ups, regrets, and hook ups. But as past Ted has said before, it's always been about Robin. Even if their relationship wasn't really true love Ted always felt it was and he never stopped feeling for her. Throughout his relationships with Victoria, Stella, and Zoey, Ted always wanted Robin. And I'm not sure if he always wanted Robin during his time with Tracy or not, it's never said, but I'm afraid he did. But that happens, when you find your first love, your first true love, that's all you want. And if you lose it you want it back no matter what. I hoped that Tracy was Ted's true love, but I don't think we'll ever really know for sure if she was. I think Robin might have been, even though they never worked and, let's face it, in 2030 I doubt they will. Robin would have step kids she never wanted and live in the suburbs like she never ever wanted. They never wanted the same things, unless in 25 years Robin changed her mind, but we'll never know. 

I always thought that if Ted dreamed big enough and fought as hard as he did maybe he'd get the dream ending he wanted. That show gave me hope that the finale kind of took from me. I have never really been like Ted but I kind of want to be now. I want to dream big and try hard and just work for what I want, no matter how big or silly it could be. Ted Mosby was the ultimate dreamer and the ultimate influence on someone who just needs a reason to push forward. No matter what happened with him he tried and tried and he even tried letting go, even if it never really worked. He put more effort into his life and relationships than any real person did and I find that inspiring. Even though he lost Tracy he knew he still wanted love. He loved Tracy so much and seeing their relationship this past season meant a lot to me. Knowing that you can find someone who is your perfect match out their and keep them in your life until you just can't anymore. That gives me hope that I can hold onto love for my whole life if I really want to and try to. Maybe I didn't agree with Ted and Robin the past 9 seasons and I didn't really agree with them in 2030 last night, but Ted Mosby is a dreamer and Robin is the woman of his dreams according to season 1 Ted, and maybe she was, but so was Tracy. Tracy thought she'd only have one big love in life with Max, but she had another with Ted, and maybe Ted got two big loves in life, too.

During this I came to some more realizations I never thought of before and I bet if you got this far you can see that. I will miss How I Met Your Mother so much. Every Monday night they were there for me making me laugh after a rough week or making me cry after tugging at my heart strings. That show will always have a special place in my heart, a special red cowboy boot shaped place.