How I Met Your Mother always has unique Halloween costume choices for the characters. The details can be confusing, so I’ve put together images and dates in chronological order. Happy Halloween all!

1997: Marshall as salt, Lily as pepper and Ted as cumin

1998: Lily as Lady, Marshall as the Tramp, and Ted as their bowl of spaghetti

2000: Marshall as Lewis, Lily as Clark, and Ted as their canoe (or is Lily Lewis and Marshall Clark? idk!)

2001: Lily as Sonny, Marshall as Cher, and Ted as a hanging chad.

This is the Halloween where Ted meets The Slutty Pumpkin, aka Naomi.

2002-2003: Ted is still a hanging chad. At one point Marshall was Dracula so I assume Lily was one of his vampires…

The woman on the left side of the picture is A slutty pumpkin but not THE slutty pumpkin.

2004: Marshall as Tarzan, Lily as Jane. Ted was a hanging chad again. Sadly no picture available of this.

2005: Marshall as a gay pirate (Captain Jack Sparrow), Lily as his parrot, and Ted as a hanging chad. Barney as Maverick from Top Gun, a devil, & a penguin. Robin was supposed to be Gretel (her new guy was Hansel) but she didn’t dress up.

10-30-06: Barney as Borat

2006: Lily as Dr. Frankenstein, Marshall as his monster, and Ted as a scared villager

2007: Lily as R2D2, Marshall as C3PO, and Ted as the robot Luke’s Uncle almost bought from the Jawas

2008: Marshall as a wedding present (that looks like a Christmas present), Ted as a thank you note, and Lily as Paulie Bleeker from the movie Juno. Marshall was supposed to dress as a “pregnant teenager”, aka the title character from Juno. 

This is shown in S9E5 “The Poker Game”, but described as occurring after Lily and Marshall’s wedding. That wedding was in May of 2007, so the logical assumption is that this happened in October of 2007. But, we already know that in 2007, they had Star Wars robot costumes (see above). 2008 becomes the only choice when we consider that Juno came to theaters in December of 2007 and was released on DVD in April of 2008.

Nice cameo by the Slutty Pumpkin (Katie Holmes) in the background of this rooftop Halloween party. It shows that she has been coming back to the same party, in the same costume, looking for Ted. She might not do it every year, but she did it this year. Sadly, Ted wasn’t dressed in his memorable hanging chad costume, so she did not recognize him. That being said – his thank you card costume looks like he drew it on the back of his hanging chad costume, so it isn’t much of a stretch. Ted’s costume creation is apparently limited to cardboard hanging around his neck.

2009: The year they decided to go as The Breakfast Club but failed to coordinate their outfits…

This Halloween flashback is not dated. It is shown in a flashback from S7E23 “The Magician’s Code, Part One”, which aired 5/14/12. Robin and Barney are included, so it has to be from Halloween 2005 through 2011.  The only missing year in that span was 2009.

Also in 2009: Marshall and Lily get in a fight, because Lily doesn’t want to dress up as penguins with Marshall.

This fight is mentioned in S5E18 “Say Cheese” (aired 3/22/10). They describe it as happening “last Halloween”, which should indicate October of 2009. If this is the case, then Lily wanted to go as The Breakfast Club with the gang, and Marshall wanted penguins. This could explain why Lily and Marshall both showed up in the same costume (along with everyone else). If they were fighting they might not have discussed the costumes, and both could have been trying to one up the other by showing up as the coolest character. 

2010: Lily as a matador, Marshall as a bull, Ted as a hot dog, Robin as a nurse (for a commercial, not really for Halloween), Barney as Johnny Lawrence from the Cobra Kai dojo in The Karate Kid, and Randy as a lobster.

2011: Lily & Marshall as suburbanites (not in costume), Ted as the hanging chad, Naomi as the slutty pumpkin, Robin as a Vancouver Canuck (Canadian hockey player – if she is a specific player and someone knows who please let me know) and Barney as Apollo Creed in Rocky (and/or as Uncle Sam). Except that Barney lost a bet to Robin and was supposed to be a Canadian Mountie, but he just couldn’t handle anything less than all-American.

2012 & 2013: ???????

If you want to dress up as HIMYM characters for Halloween, you can of course go as any member of the gang. But if you want to mix things up, consider going as their doppelgängers (Mustache Marshall, Stripper Lily, Mexican Wrestler Ted, Lesbian Robin, and OB/GYN Barney). Or, go as fun bit characters like Korean Elvis and Not Moby. My favorite idea will always be Robin Sparkles and Jessica Glitter though!

We’ve seen her face, we’ve seen her interact with Lily and Ted (in the future)…but we still don’t know her name. Do you have any guesses as to The Mother’s name on HIMYM? There are some popular theories about this, and of course everyone has their own wild card guesses. Let’s break down the names that may be possible, based on evidence from prior and future episodes.

I would also like to make an official bid for the Mother’s name to be…Corina! It’s a lovely name, and it could very well suit a badass bass player. My name is Corina and I love dogs, doing the crossword puzzle, and dorky romantic guys like Ted. What more proof do you need? Fine, fine, I know it’s a long shot. :) But think about this – my name is associated with song lyrics that TOTALLY work for the story: “Corina, Corina, where you been so long?” CASE CLOSED Y’ALL.

Okay thanks for indulging me – here are the real guesses…

Possibilities:

• Robin
• Tracy
• Amber
• Emily
• Kim
• Marissa
• Rhiannon
• Violet
• Cristin
• Daisy

The Robin Theory

FYI, I don’t like this theory at all. But it’s worth including so here ya go. There are some (many?) fans that still want to see Ted and Robin end up together. I don’t buy that this will ever happen, but we all have our own theories and ideas. The theory here is that Ted won’t end up with THAT Robin…but he will end up with Robin because The Mother is ANOTHER Robin.

Some people feel that this neatly ties up the pilot episode, which ends with the kids groaning as Ted explains that’s how he met their Aunt Robin. There was no emphasis on the word “aunt” when he said it, but it’s still a little confusing. The whole time the kids thought that he was telling them how he met their mother, but it seems like they should have known from the get-go that this couldn’t possibly be about her…because her name isn’t Robin. So perhaps Ted clarifies this by explaining it’s their Aunt Robin and not their mom Robin. Or, Ted just didn’t specify her name when he told the story to the kids. Or, the kids assume he is using a fake name to obscure The Mother’s identity until the very end of the story.

The Tracy Theory

In S1E9 “Belly Full of Turkey”, we see Ted, Robin, and Barney at the Lusty Leopard strip club. This was the first appearance of the infamous Lusty Leopard location, and it gave us an interesting idea to consider. Here’s the conversation that sparked the theory:

Stripper: I’m Amber

Ted: I’m Ted

Stripper: Actually, it’s Tracy

Ted: Still Ted

- cut to Future Ted speaking to the Mosby kids -

Future Ted: And that, kids, is the true story of how I met your mother

Kids: WHAT?!?!

Future Ted: (laughs) Just kidding

Some fans felt that the shocked reactions meant the kids believed Future Ted’s story. And instead of saying, “wait, but mom’s name is _____”, the kids just gasped in astonishment. These fans believe that the kids accepted the statement so readily because Ted used The Mother’s actual name – Tracy. Other fans agree with this reasoning but think it indicates that The Mother’s name is Amber. This idea also holds credence to some because amber is a shade of yellow, the main symbolic hue of the show and The Mother.

The Emily Theory

In S2E12 “First Time in New York” we met Robin’s little sister, Katie Scherbatsky. She was wearing a nameplate necklace throughout the episode, but it wasn’t her own name that we saw around her neck. The necklace read “Emily”. Why? Who is Emily? This could be completely irrelevant to anything else in HIMYM. I’m just pointing out in advance that this is a particularly long shot. It may relate to someone that the actress playing Katie – Lucy Hale – knows or knew. It could also be a little clue as to the name of Robin’s mother. We still don’t know this information, so it is possible that Katie got the necklace from her own mother. It COULD be a very well disguised clue to the name of THE Mother, though! We will have to wait and see…

The Kim Theory

Kim Deal – Pixies, Kim Shattuck – Pixies, Kim Gordon – Sonic Youth

Now let’s jump back to one of my favorite episodes, S1E21 “Milk”. Here’s the conversation that got people thinking The Mother’s name could be Kim:

Ted: I realized why I’m still single. I’m picky. I’m not gonna settle. If I’m gonna marry someone, she has to be perfect.

Lily: Well, what’s perfect?

Ted: Well, it’s not like I have a list.

Robin: Oh, yes you do.

Ted: Attractive, college educated, she wants two kids; a boy and a girl.

Lily: Oh that’s not hard, I know at least -

Ted: I’m not done. She likes dogs, Otis Redding, does the crossword, she’s into sports but not so much that her legs are like more muscular than mine, that weirds me out. And she plays bass guitar, like Kim Deal from the Pixies.

Marshall: Or Kim Gordon from Sonic Youth.

Ted: Any Kim from any cool band really. Can’t be too picky.

Lily: You’re never gonna find this girl.

I am personally still a big believer in the “Milk Theory”, which posits that Ted’s missed Love Solutions date is actually The Mother. This theory holds weight because that woman – shown in pictures but with her face blurred out – seems to be Ted’s perfect match. As he explains:

“So I read the file, and by God this woman was perfect. She liked dogs, she spent her summers in North Carolina, she played bass guitar, she did the Times crossword, she played tennis, she liked old movies, her favorite food was lasagna, and her favorite book was Love in the Time of Cholera. Her favorite singer was Otis Redding and she wanted two kids, a boy and a girl.”

We know that The Mother also plays bass guitar and either wants – or is ultimately happy with – having two kids, a boy and a girl. The writers have never revisited this unseen character, so I think the theory still holds water. The point here, though, is that Ted’s dream girl plays bass like “any Kim from any cool band really”. So maybe her name is Kim!

The Marissa Theory

This is the only theory that offers a first and last name for The Mother – Marissa Heller.

In “Robots versus Wrestlers” (S5E22), we learn that mail for a prior resident (Marissa Heller) has consistently been delivered to the apartment ever since Ted and Marshall first moved in. When Ted spots Marissa Heller’s invitation to an exclusive party at the Alberta Building, he convinces the others to accompany him. They attempt to use her invitation, but the real Marissa Heller shows up.

Or does she?! Marissa invites Ted, Barney, Lily, and Marshall to join her. In the elevator, Lily tries to chat with Marissa about mail-related interests. Lily saw that Marissa received Soap Opera Digest, for example, so she asks Marissa about her favorite soaps. Marissa isn’t into that, though, and everyone thinks she’s pretty douchey. Except Ted, of course, because he was a little douchey himself in that episode.

One Redditor posited that elevator-Marissa’s lack of interest means that she wasn’t the real Marissa at all. The real Marissa could have been busy that night – busy being The Mother! We actually only know of one other event occurring that event – a little thing called Robots VS Wrestlers. Who might be interested in such a thing? Maybe a woman who paints ROBOTS DOING SPORTS. Is your mind blown just a little? :)

The Mother may not be Marissa, but she certainly could have attended Robots Versus Wrestlers. It is a yearly event, after all. Ted notes that this becomes an annual tradition for the whole group, so it’s likely that The Mother ends up going once they meet and get together. I like this theory because it’s a unique take that isn’t discussed much. It’s a long shot, but such an intriguing possibility. Marissa Mosby does have a certain ring to it, no?

The Rhiannon Theory:

This concept comes from S7E20 “Trilogy Time”, where we see how the gang imagines themselves three years into the future. This begins in 2000, and Ted predicts that in 2003 he will have an awesome bass playing girlfriend named Rhiannon. They use Robin for this imagined sequence of events, but at this point she just represents Ted’s dream girl and not actually herself.

This scene/episode demonstrates that the imagined name of Ted’s dream girl is Rhiannon. So it could be a fun twist if the writers called back to this and made it her actual name. I personally think this theory has a low probability of actually panning out.

The Violet Theory

Ever since season 7, episode 1 we have been seeing a TON of purple clothing in the show. Seriously, nearly every episode since and including that one has had main characters in purple. This has been going on for literally years now. There’s a whole lot to consider in terms of color theory, the symbolism of purple, how purple and yellow are complementary colors on the color wheel, etc. Some fans have a simple explanation for all the purple – maybe The Mother’s name is Violet. How sweet would that be?! I like this theory just because it makes all of the speculation about the purple washing of the show much easier to understand. It seems a little too easy, though, so it’s probably not too likely.

The Cristin Theory

This one is pretty easy-peasy: the actress playing The Mother is named Cristin, so perhaps The Mother shares the same name. It could also be a fun callback to S8E24 (season 8 finale) “Something New”. This episode showed Barney and Robin celebrating being engaged and about to be married. Then, a super annoying couple at the restaurant ruins some of their fun and are thus determined to be Barney and Robin’s arch rivals. The woman – played by Casey Wilson – was named Krirsten. No, that’s not a typo. It’s Krirsten with two Rs. The writers could use both of these factors to make The Mother’s name more significant. But, I think they will go further outside the box than that.

Note – At some point, someone posted about how there is a picture frame in Cindy’s (Rachel Bilson’s) apartment that she shared with The Mother. Supposedly the frame said “C+C”. Since Cindy is the one roommate, many guessed that the other roommate (The Mother) must also have a name that starts with C.

The problem is that nobody can actually find a screen cap of this moment and I don’t think it even exists. I believed in it when it first came to light, so I was not exempt from getting caught up in the theory! But, I don’t think it’s real at all. And even if it were, it could be a small Easter egg referencing the show’s writers, Craig Thomas and Carter Bays.

The Daisy Theory

This is the only theory that relies on past and future episodes, and there’s some real potential with it. This idea came about from the title of the last show in the series: Season 9, episode 20 “Daisy”. That doesn’t seem like much, but there’s some supporting evidence that might sway you in favor of this idea:

• Many female characters have flower inspired names. Lily is the most obvious, of course, but there’s also Heather (Ted’s sister), Buttercup (Victoria’s fake name and the real name of her bakery), Daphne (Marshall is currently traveling to the wedding with a woman named Daphne), and now (potentially) a Daisy.
• Daisy is the name of the female protagonist in The Great Gatsby. This book is referenced in S1E2 “Purple Giraffe”, where Ted acts like Gatsby by throwing multiple parties in the hopes that a certain lady will appear. So Gatsby throws parties to get Daisy, and Ted throws parties to get Robin.
• An open yellow umbrella looks an awful lot like a yellow daisy!

My thought on this – I don’t think they would spoil a big reveal like that by releasing it as an episode title. I think someone else will be named Daisy, perhaps, but not the actual Mother. My best guess is that this is either the name of their daughter (I know, I want it to be Leia also but there’s no guarantee there) or, as some people on Reddit think, the name of a new Robin Sparkles/Daggers song. I’m still going with that being their daughter’s name, because tying her into the final episode of the series makes a lot of sense.

So that’s what we have to go by so far…what do you think The Mother’s name will be? The writers have confirmed that we WILL find out her name before the series ends, so we will know soon enough!

Strange things are afoot at the Circle K Farhampton Inn, Ted. Before we proceed, let’s take note of the big fat SPOILER ALERT that applies to everything from here on out.

Okay, so. Wow. Last night’s HIMYM was (in my opinion) a definite improvement over recent episodes from this season, excluding S9E1 and S9E2. At the end, we see Ted propose to The Mother! Joy!

But then fans all over realized that things were a wee bit confusing.

Let’s look at the timeline up until the “Lighthouse” episode that aired last night. I did this for Ted-Mosby.com and have copied and pasted a section of it here:

2030: Ted tells his kids the story of how he met their mother.

4/2021: Ted runs into Wendy the Waitress at the airport, tells her about his wife & two kids.

2021: Barney’s exploding meatball prank

2020: Ted and his wife, along with Marshall and Lily, attend the Wesleyan University 20 year reunion.

Winter 2015: Lily and Marshall take Ted’s daughter to meet Santa Claus for the first time.

Spring 2015: Ted introduces his baby girl to Trilogy Time with Barney and Marshall.

2015: Baby Girl Mosby is born!

May, 23rd 2014: Ted and The Mother return to Farhampton Inn, very much in love with each other. (S9E2)

6/2013: Ted quits smoking, two weeks into dating The Mother.

5/26/13: Ted meets The Mother at the Farhampton Train Station.

So far everything is on the up and up. But, there was a wrench thrown in the works last night. In the flash forward scene at the lighthouse, Ted mentions that he wishes The Mother had been with him when he was there two years earlier. This means the lighthouse proposal flash forward is in May of 2015. 

Why is this so significant? Look at the timeline again – this means that Ted proposes to The Mother AFTER their daughter has been born. It doesn’t seem very Teddish, now does it? But, in my opinion, it all makes sense. Here’s how I see it going down:

Curtis – the front desk guy at the Farhampton Inn – has already mentioned that countless babies have been conceived within the hotel’s walls. Ted and The Mother return to the inn, one year after they have met. It’s their first anniversary. Ted is super romantic. So amidst all of this romance and excitement, it is very easy to believe that a baby could have been accidentally created. Maybe they had a moment like Ted and Robin in season one, where they both decided to just “risk it”.  But in this case, the risk resulted in an actual kid and not just a scare for Barney.

So they make the baby in May 2014, have the baby in February 2015, putting the baby at about 2-3 months old when we see her in “Trilogy Time”.

I’m guessing that Ted proposes to The Mother when he finds out she is pregnant. That’s a very Ted thing to do. I know having a baby out of wedlock doesn’t seem like a Mosby move, but what are the alternatives? If the character of Ted accidentally got someone pregnant, how do you think he would react? By proposing, of course. Ted is a proposal slut already, but this time he would mean it with his whole heart.

In real life, people get pregnant outside of marriage all the time. I get that this is a sitcom and not real life. I get that we would not expect Ted to be one of those people. But in a show that has covered taking risks with birth control in at least 3 prior episodes, it’s not unheard of. It’s not even unlikely. And if that happens, Ted isn’t going to be someone who wants an abortion or to put the baby up for adoption. He’s not going to be someone who says, peace out, have fun raising a baby on your own because you won’t ever see me again. He’s not even the type to pay child support but not have contact with his kid. Ted is the type that will propose, because this is exactly what he truly wants – a family with the woman that he loves. So he pops the question.

BUT – The Mother will say no. Or say yes, but not right now. Like most women, she wants her proposal to be special, and motivated by true love. She doesn’t want to be one of those couples that marries because of a baby and is then miserable down the road. She doesn’t want a forced proposal. So Ted accepts that challenge and vows to propose again later, in a romantic grand gesture that they both want and deserve.

So, down the road, and after the baby is born, Ted proposes again. It isn’t about their daughter this time. It’s purely about how much he loves her, with no sense of obligation or necessity to take away from the gesture. This seems very Ted-like to me.

So far, so good, right? Well, there’s the little hiccup of  S7E20 “Trilogy Time” to consider.

L: Ted holding daughter in Trilogy Time, spring/summer 2015
R: Ted holding daughter in Lobster Crawl, December 2015

When we see Ted holding his daughter, he’s wearing a wedding ring. But this is supposed to occur either before (likely) or very shortly after (less likely) the lighthouse proposal in 2015. Trilogy time traditionally occurs during finals week, so late spring or early summer. It started in an April episode, so I usually assume it’s around then.

Why would Ted be wearing a wedding ring before he has even proposed? Solo and I have been debating this over at Ted-Mosby.com, and I’ve come up with a few ideas. At this point he – and many, many others – are thinking this is a continuity error by the writers. These fans believe that the writers, creators, and actor all made the mistake of saying “two years” instead of “one year” ago in this lighthouse flash forward scene. I find that to be highly implausible. I just can’t believe that nobody noticed this glaring continuity error before it actually aired. So here are my ideas for how to make sense of that:

Trilogy Time in 2015 could have occurred later in the summer, after the proposal. Ted could be wearing a “man-gagement ring”. This is a relatively new trend where men wear engagement or wedding rings before the marriage. The reasons are simple – don’t want to seem single when you’re really taken, want to match your fiance in showing a symbol of commitment pre-marriage, or they just already consider themselves married in their hearts so why not wear the ring.

So Ted could be newly engaged and rocking his own version of an engagement ring. Based on timing, though, I believe that Trilogy Time 2015 occurs BEFORE the lighthouse proposal.

If this is the case, Ted could be wearing a wedding ring for the same reasons. He doesn’t want to give off the impression that he’s single when he’s really not. He doesn’t want to deal with being hit on – we all know a cute baby is great lady bait, right? He may be actively seeking the same effect that Lily and Robin dealt with when wearing their engagement rings. Ted probably wouldn’t mind being invisible to other women at this point in his life.

Ted could also be wearing a wedding ring to avoid dealing with judgemental and/or questioning people who don’t approve of or understand a child born out of wedlock. Maybe him and The Mother are tired of doctors, strangers on the street, etc, asking nosy questions about the lack of a wedding ring along with a new baby. I doubt him and The Mother would actually care about other people’s opinions, but it is likely that they want to protect their baby from judgement. There are, unfortunately, doctors and nurses that would look down on them for this situation. A professional in the medical industry shouldn’t discriminate, berate, or inquire about their marital status, but it does happen.

Another idea – Ted has already proposed. He and The Mother have agreed to wait on that until after the baby is born. But, Ted is in love with his soulmate already. He knows that they are meant to be together and he knows that he would have proposed even if she never got pregnant. So he tells her that she can take all the time she needs, but he’s wearing the ring because his mind is made up. The flaw in this theory is that he is NOT wearing a ring in the scene with the lighthouse proposal.

More likely – Ted and The Mother DID get married before the baby was born. But it was a marriage of necessity, not romance. There probably wasn’t enough time to plan a fairy tale wedding and pull it off before the baby was born. The logistics of wedding dress shopping mean that it would be difficult to get the dress in time and in the right size, because they would be estimated how big she would get as she progresses with the pregnancy. So maybe it was a court ceremony, or just something simple.

But that’s not very romantic, so Ted takes the opportunity to propose again, this time for the fancy wedding and big, family filled joyous occasion that they both originally dreamed of. I personally like this idea quite a bit.

If this is the case, then Ted would have had to take the ring off at some point before the lighthouse proposal. Maybe it’s lost for real, or he just said it was lost for the symbolism of the moment. Maybe it’s being sized, idk.

Another possibility – maybe Ted’s dad or grandpa died, and now Ted is wearing his ring. It’s not unheard of.

Basically, the wedding ring that Ted wears in “Trilogy Time” is the only element that directly contradicts what happened last night. I don’t personally see this as evidence of a mistake in the timeline or continuity error. I might not be enjoying everything from this season, but I trust that the writers are at least paying enough attention to get a HUGE fact like that correct.

What seems more likely – multiple people screwed up a major plot element and no one noticed before it aired…or, the writers are adding another layer of unexpected surprises to the love story? I’m guessing the timeline is correct.

Here’s another thing to consider – we know that the kids filmed the final reveal scene back when they were filming season one. They’ve saved it because they correctly predicted that the kids would be too old for it to make sense when they finally did get to the end of the series.

But they didn’t know, at that point, that Cristin would be cast as The Mother. And she isn’t a character that has been previously referenced, so what’s so shocking about that? Why does that information require a reaction scene from the kids that the actors still remember as a memorable, big moment?

So kids, I met your mom at Aunt Robin and Uncle Barney’s wedding. Surprise!

Okay, with all of the near misses and connective elements like the yellow umbrella, it’s still a very special story. But it’s not shocking. It’s not THAT dramatic. You know what is dramatic? This:

So kids, your mom and I actually got pregnant before we were married.

THAT would justify a shocked reaction scene. That would justify telling this whole story, really. I know Ted has mentioned before that he’s telling them the whole story because his mom and dad told a brief, boring story about how they met, and Ted wanted it to be different for his kids. (S2E3 “Brunch”)

This plotline gives new life to why Ted would bother with this story. His kids would probably assume – using basic addition and subtraction skills – that their mom and dad got married because they were pregnant. Nothing romantic, nothing destined to be, just two people who are stuck together via circumstances. But that’s so far from the truth! The whole story is so much bigger than that, and it’s worth telling. It justifies the entire explanation from start to finish.

What are your thoughts? Did everyone on the show make a mistake with the timeline? I can’t deny that there have been (smaller) continuity errors in the past. I’ve been working on a post compiling all of them and it is taking more time than I expected. So that is a possibility. Or, do you think that the ring is a mistake, or a red herring? Maybe you have a new idea that makes more sense than anything that anyone has come up with so far. Please share, whatever your thoughts may be!

Have you been wondering just who the mother is on How I Met Your Mother? Want to see her face, finally, and know who the actress is?!?! Or are you seeking information on fan ideas like the ever-popular missed date matchmaker theory, or the (disproved) Carly Theory? If so, you’re in exactly the right place (at the right time)!

*ORIGINALLY POSTED 1/4/13*

*UPDATED THROUGH SEASON 9, EPISODE 16 “HOW YOUR MOTHER MET ME”*

This page is meant to be a singular source for ALL theories, details, facts, clues, inferences, and extrapolations regarding The Mother of How I Met Your Mother, so you don’t have to click through to find what you’re looking for. 

The season 8 finale “Something New” episode of HIMYM revealed that actress Cristin Milioti plays The Mother! Ted hasn’t met her yet, but he’s getting close!

Season 9 has revealed a whole lot about The Mother so far, but there are some big mysteries that remain. The most obvious one is that she doesn’t have a name yet! There’s also some confusion about the timeline, which so far deviates from the traditional love story some fans were expecting.

What’s cool is that some of the fan theories are still very much in play! Her name could be Tracy, or Hannah. She isn’t the same actress as we’ve seen in some other scenarios, but her character could still be the bump girl or the missed date. Ted as a slightly unreliable narrator can explain (via memories that are decades old) inconsistencies in how he thought or imagined she looked back then.

With that in mind, here’s the mother lode index – click to jump ahead to any section:

Who She Isn’t
Basic Info
Before They Meet
The First Meeting
The First Date
The Early Days
The Future
Who She Isn’t – Extra Details
Basic Info – Extra Details
Before They Meet – Extra Details
The First Meeting – Extra Details
The First Date – Extra Details
Season 6 DVD Extras Info
The Early Days – Extra Details
The Future – Extra Details
Color Theory in HIMYM
The Tracy Theory – POSSIBLE
The Bump Girl Theory – DISPROVED
The “Milk” Theory – DISPROVED
The Carly Theory – DISPROVED
The Wedding Band Theory – CONFIRMED
The Marissa Heller Theory – POSSIBLE
The Sister Theory – DISPROVED
The Michelle Tanner Theory – DISPROVED
The Jennifer Birmingham Theory – DISPROVED
The Cast Connection Theory – DISPROVED
The Joss Whedon Theory – DISPROVED
The Lyndsy Fonseca Theory – DISPROVED
The Hannah Theory – POSSIBLE
The Slutty Pumpkin Theory – DISPROVED
The Dead People Theory – POSSIBLE

Here is everything that we currently know about The Mother. Just consider me an honorary member of The Mosby Boys Detective Agency!

CLUES ABOUT THE MOTHER & HOW TED MEETS HER

Who She Isn’t

• She’s not Robin (S6 DVD extra “What We Know About Your Mother”)
• No really, I promise, she’s NOT ROBIN. Let it go guys :)
• She’s not Victoria (S6 DVD extra “What We Know About Your Mother”)
• She’s not Stella – but she almost was (S6 DVD extra “What We Know About Your Mother”)
• She was never going to be Zoey (S6 DVD extra “What We Know About Your Mother”)
• She’s not Naomi, The Slutty Pumpkin (S7E8 “The Slutty Pumpkin Returns”)
• She’s not Carly, Barney’s half-sister (upcoming S8E14 “Ring Up!” to air on 1/21/13) (I know, this theory has gone strong for a long time but it is officially DISPROVED – more details below)
• She’s not the coat check girl (aka coat check wench aka Jayma Mays) We already knew this per S1E5 “Okay Awesome” but she was brought back for S8E20 “The Time Travelers”. She’s still not the mother.
• She’s not ANYONE  that we have seen before on the show, including everyone’s relatives, all of Ted’s exes, and any random woman we may have spotted.
• BUT – given the nature of this show – it is still possible (though not as probable) that she could still be an extra or bit character formerly portrayed by a different actress.

Basic Info:

• She is played by actress Cristin Milioti (S8E24 “Something New”)
• She was born on September 9th, 1994. This is based on her 21st birthday occuring the same night as S1E1 “Pilot” air date of 9/19/05). As such she is 28 years old when she meets Ted in May of 2013. (S9E16 “How Your Mother Met Me”)
• She has a yellow umbrella (S3E1 “Wait For It”) (S3E12 “No Tomorrow”) (S5E12 “Girls Versus Suits”) (S6 DVD extra “What We Know About Your Mother”) (plus many other episodes)
• She was dating a man named Max, who was the love of her life, for at least 2 years. Unfortunately he died on her 21st birthday. (S9E16 “How Your Mother Met Me”)
• She owns a replica of Pee Wee Herman’s bike from Pee Wee’s Great Adventure. It was a birthday gift from Max (S9E16 “How Your Mother Met Me”)
• She owns a one man band suit, complete with cymbals. It was also a birthday gift from Max. (S9E16 “How Your Mother Met Me”)
• She shared her apartment with her best friend until the fall of 2009 (S9E16 “How Your Mother Met Me”)
• She lived with Cindy, who is a PhD candidate attending Columbia University (S5E12 “Girls Versus Suits”)
• The Mother and Cindy were both in Economics 305 (S5E12 “Girls Versus Suits”)
• The Mother is “getting a degree in economics”. This was true as of April 2013, 45 days before her and Ted meet for the first time. (S8E20 “The Time Travelers”)
• She makes paintings of robots playing sports (S5E12 “Girls Versus Suits”)
• She enjoys making breakfast foods sing show tunes: “Your mother’s rendition of ‘Memory’, as performed by an English muffin is, to this day, the most hauntingly beautiful thing I have ever heard.” (S5E12 “Girls Versus Suits”)
• Cindy said her crushes are “always falling in love with” The Mother (S5E12 “Girls Versus Suits”)
• She owns a little yellow bus – first mentioned when seen in Cindy’s apartment, but also shown in the background of many scenes with Future Ted’s kids (S5E12 “Girls Versus Suits”)
• She plays bass guitar (S5E12 “Girls Versus Suits”) (S6 DVD extra “What We Know About Your Mother”)
• She never leaves uneaten food on her plate (S6 DVD extra “What We Know About Your Mother”)
• She befriends waitresses and often scores free desserts (S6 DVD extra “What We Know About Your Mother”)
• She likes Pablo Neruda’s poems, particularly one entitled “Desnuda Eres.” (S5E12 “The Naked Man”) 
• Lilacs are her favorite flower (S6 DVD extra “What We Know About Your Mother”)
• She owns and wears a pair of leather driving gloves (S9E1 “The Locket”)
• She knows about Florian Van Otterloop, a buckle maker that Ted says “revolutionized the belt industry” (S9E1 “The Locket”)
• She makes delicious cookies called Sumbitches, which include chocolate, peanut butter, and caramel (S9E1 “The Locket”)
• She went to business school (S9E13 “Bass Player Wanted”)
• She started a band called Super Freakonomics with some dorks from business school. She originally played bass and did lead vocals until the arrival of the evil Darren, who tried to take over her band. (S9E13 “Bass Player Wanted”) (S9E16 “How Your Mother Met Me”)
• She knits (S9E13 “Bass Player Wanted”)
• She went to orchestra camp (and Mitch The Naked Man was her instructor there, although he was presumably not naked at that point) (S9E16 “How Your Mother Met Me”)
• She knows how to play the cello but hasn’t “since the popular girls locked me inside the case” (S9E16 “How Your Mother Met Me”)
• She is the 1 out of 3 girls that The Naked Man move does not work on (S9E16 “How Your Mother Met Me”)
• She has a calligraphy set (S9E16 “How Your Mother Met Me”)
• She has a coin collection (S9E16 “How Your Mother Met Me”)
• She has a chainmail corset from the Renaissance faire (S9E16 “How Your Mother Met Me”)
• She pronounces “Renaissance” in the same douchey way that Ted does, but it doesn’t seem douchey coming from her (S9E16 “How Your Mother Met Me”)
• She does the crossword (S9E16 “How Your Mother Met Me”)
• She plays the eukele

Before They Meet

• In September of 2005, Ted meets Robin at the MacLaren’s on the West Side, and The Mother celebrates her 21st birthday at the MacLaren’s on the East Side. The Mother’s boyfriend and first love of her life, Max, passes away. He leaves her a ukelele as a birthday gift.
• On approximately September 24th, 2007, (air date) The Mother (umbrella in hand) walks by MacLaren’s
• She and Ted were both at the same club, Low Point, in New York on St. Patrick’s Day, 2008: “I found out years later that your mom was at that party. I just didn’t meet her.” (S3E12 “No Tomorrow”)
• The Mother leaves with Mitch, aka The Naked Man, and forgets her umbrella at the club. She asks him over so she can donate her cello to his school. He tries TNM move on her but she is the 1 out 3 that it didn’t work on. Meanwhile, Ted makes out with a married lady, commits credit card fraud, and gets punched in the face.
• She forgets her yellow umbrella at that club, and Ted takes it home the next day (S3E12 “No Tomorrow”)

• Ted takes the umbrella out one day when it is raining (air date May 4th, 2009), and ends up running into Stella while holding it. Future Ted explains that this encounter was an essential step in the story of how he meets The Mother. We now understand that seeing Stella again led to Ted’s job at the university, which in turn led him to Cindy and The Mother. (S4E22 “Right Place, Right Time”)
• The Mother and Cindy both saw Ted when he tried to teach the wrong class on his first day of work as a professor at Columbia University (S5E12 “Girls Versus Suits”)

• Ted thought he was teaching Architecture 101, he was actually in Econ 305: “Kids, you remember the wrong classroom story. I thought it was Architecture 101, but it was Econ 305.” (S5E12 “Girls Versus Suits”)
• The Mother laughed at Ted’s shellfish joke (S9E16 “How Your Mother Met Me”)
• The Mother loaned Cindy the album “Who Will Cut Our Hair When We’re Gone” by The Unicorns. Ted had never met anyone else that had it. (S5E12 “Girls Versus Suits”)
• The Mother gave Cindy the book At World’s End, by T. Coraghessan Boyle (S5E12 “Girls Versus Suits”)
• Ted sees The Mother’s foot and ankle as she enters her bedroom. (S5E12 “Girls Versus Suits”)

• Ted forgets the yellow umbrella at Cindy and The Mother’s apartment, thus inadvertently returning it to her (S5E12 “Girls Versus Suits”)

• “A few years ago” (as of season 9, set in May 2013) The Mother started a band with “a couple of dorks from business school”. She originally sang lead vocals and played bass for the band, Super Freakonomics. (S9E13 “Bass Player Wanted”)
• At an undetermined point between the band starting and the present, she invited Darren into the band to do backup vocals. By April of 2012 he has assumed control. He took over lead vocals and relegated her to bass player in her own band. (S9E13 “Bass Player Wanted”)
• The Mother meets Louis when he helps her carry band equipment to Darren’s van. He asks if he can buy her a drink, and they head to the West Side MacLaren’s. Louis mentions that the last time he was there, he thought the place was called Puzzles. The Mother gets the brilliance of a bar named Puzzles! Louis and The Mother start dating. (S9E16 “How Your Mother Met Me”)
• Once Ted and Robin are officially no longer a possibility (at least in his mind and her mind – Marshall seems to still be holding out hope), Ted is finally emotionally free and open to meeting someone new. This new phase is demonstrated by him walking outside and seeing a veritable sea of yellow umbrellas passing by MacLaren’s. This is presumably symbolic and didn’t actually happen – it is unlikely that a yellow umbrella convention happened to appear right when Ted walked outside. As such we cannot assume that The Mother was among the crowd. (S7E17 “No Pressure”)
• The Mother meets Barney in the fall of 2012 (“six months earlier” than the wedding date) when he tries to hit on her in the drugstore. She shuts him down, expresses concern for his clearly damaged soul, and they have a heart to heart chat. She convinces Barney to go back to Robin, and to do so with a grand gesture that will take everything he has. Without this encounter, Barney and Robin may not have ever gotten back together. The Mother says she has a boyfriend, but then says “I think maybe I still haven’t met the right guy”. (S9E9 “Platonish”)
• Ted runs into Cindy and her wife on the train. He mentions that Barney and Robin need a wedding band, and Cindy suggests The Mother’s band! This is how The Mother ends up at the wedding and therefore meets Ted (S8E13 “Band or DJ?”)
• She is confirmed to be the bass player in Barney and Robin’s wedding band! (S8E13 “Band or DJ?”)
• As of April 2013 – exactly 45 days before her and Ted meet – “she was dating some finance guy named Louis”. Based on the image of the Wall Street sign show when this fact is announced, Louis works on Wall St. Also Louis (at least as Ted imagined him) was played by Lou Ferrigno Jr. (S8E20 “The Time Travelers”)
• As of April 2013 – exactly 45 days before her and Ted meet – her address was 7A on West 115th St.
• We see her at the Long Island train station, buying a ticket to Farhampton, right before Barney and Robin’s wedding. (SE24 “Something New”)

• She meets Lily while they are both on the train, heading to Farhampton on the Friday before Barney and Robin’s wedding. (S9E1 “The Locket”)
• She shares her homemade Sumbitches cookies with Lily & they become friends (S9E1 “The Locket”)
• On the Saturday before the wedding, The Mother sees that Darren has posted a “Bass Player Wanted” ad. She realizes he is trying to kick her out of her own band. (S9E13 “Bass Player Wanted”)
• The Mother runs into Lily at the hotel bar, and they discusses their troubles. Lily advises The Mother to steal Darren’s van (Aldrin Justice in effect), and then confides in her about Marshall taking the judge job. (S9E13 “Bass Player Wanted”)
• The Mother is in the process of returning the stolen van (which she plans to gas up and get washed) when she sees Marshall and baby Marvin on the road. She picks up the adorable hitchhikers and freaks out Marshall with her uncanny knowledge of his life.
• After talking to Marshall, and realizing that she is (like him) too nice, she decides to address her fear of confrontation and take back control of the band. (S9E13 “Bass Player Wanted”)
• Ted ends up punching out Darren, and The Mother buys him a double shot of 35 year Glenn McKenna as a thank you. Neither has seen or met the other yet. (S9E13 “Bass Player Wanted”)
• Louis proposes to The Mother, and she talks to Max (in heaven) about the situation. She feel sthat she receives his blessing to move, but she says no to Louis. She is ready to move on but knows he is not the right one for her.
• The Mother checks into the Farhampton Inn. She takes room 6, which was originally intended for Robin’s mother. Ted is in the room right next door. The Mother plays La Vie En Rose on the ukulele and Ted listens, intrigued, from the other side of the balcony.

The First Meeting

• Barney and Robin are set to be married on May 26, 2013
• Ted and The Mother officially meet for the first time at the Farhampton Train Station, after Barney and Robin’s wedding (S8E1 “Farhampton”)

• She carries a bass guitar, a yellow umbrella, and a purple purse (S8E1 “Farhampton”)
• Her dress and shoes are also purple (S8E1 “Farhampton”)
• She has her bass guitar, which she used a member of the wedding band (S8E1 “Farhampton”) (S8E13 “Band or DJ?”)
• Ted gives her a lilac the first moment that they meet (S6 DVD extra “What We Know About Your Mother”)
• The wedding colors are lilac and cream, which can explain both her purple attire/accessories and the flower that Ted gives her (S8E13 “Band or DJ?”)
• Ted’s right hand is bandaged, perhaps from being in a fight (S8E1 “Farhampton”)

The First Date

• She laughed at his first date shellfish joke (“Do you want to share the oysters? Good, because if you didn’t, that would be shellfish” (S5E2 “Double Date”)
• She presumably did “the check dance”* (S5E2 “Double Date”) (S7E2 “The Naked Truth”)
• Ted called her “right away” afterwards (S5E2 “Double Date”)

The Early Days

• Ted quits smoking within two weeks of their first date (S5E11 “Last Cigarette Ever”)
• Robin is the last person that Ted says “I love you” to, so The Mother is the next person (S7E17 “No Pressure”)
• Ted says “I love you” to The Mother when they go to see the movie The Wedding Bride III. She is holding the yellow umbrella in this scene. (S7E17 “No Pressure”)

• She nicknames Ted “Lady Tedwina Slowsby” as a way to make him stop driving slow like a little girl. It works. (S9E1 “The Locket”)

The Future

• She and Ted return to the Farhampton Inn in May of 2014, exactly a year after Ted sits alone and vows to bring her back (at this point, “her” is just him thinking of his soulmate, not The Mother specifically) (S9E2 “Coming Back”)
• Ted is shown holding his infant daughter in 2015 (S7E20 “Trilogy Time”)
• Ted and The Mother’s daughter is named Penny! (S9E15 “Unpause”)

• “Trilogy Time” occurs once every 3 years, beginning in 2000. The first time (2000), Ted and Marshall watch the Star Wars trilogy instead of studying for their Economics final. (This is also interesting because of The Mother’s connection to Economics classes). In 2003, it seems to be the summer before Marshall begins law school. In 2006, Marshall is sad about Lily breaking off their engagement and going to a summer art internship in San Francisco. In 2009, Barney and Robin are carrying on their secret summer romance. The 2012 episode aired on April 9, 2012. It seems that Trilogy Time officially occurs in late spring/early summer each year. (S7E20 “Trilogy Time”)
• Given this information, we can assume that Ted’s daughter Penny (appears to be approximately 1-3 months old) must have been born in early 2015. This matches with the original time frame that shows her as a teenager in 2030. (S7E20 “Trilogy Time”)
• In May of 2013, Ted has a disasterous trip to the Farhampton lighthouse with a girl named Cassie. In a flash forward scene set “Not 2 Years Later”, we see Ted at the lighthouse with The Mother. Ted says to her, “Why couldn’t it have been you here with me two years ago”? (S9E8 “The Lighthouse”)
• Ted proposes to The Mother at the top of the lighthouse! (S9E8 “The Lighthouse”)
• Some fans are confused because this indicates that baby Penny was conceived and born prior to Ted and The Mother getting engaged/married. The Mother does not appear pregnant in the scene, so it would either have to be set when she was not at all pregnant, when she was in the early stages (first trimester perhaps), or after the baby is born. Since the baby is alive for Trilogy Time in spring/summer of 2015, it seems that she was already born as of the proposal scene. Trilogy Time 2015 must have occurred around the same time, either shortly before or after this scene. Ted is wearing a wedding ring in the Trilogy Time 2015 scene, so that furthers confuses the matter. But, the show’s writers have tweeted to confirm the timeline IS correct and is not an error. (S7E20 “Trilogy Time”) (S9E8 “The Lighthouse”)
• Ted and The Mother let Lily and Marshall babysit Penny in December of 2015. They take Penny to meet Santa for the first time as a long awaited revenge for Ted doing the same with baby Marvin in December of 2012. (S8E9 “Lobster Crawl”)
• Ted, The Mother, and Penny return to visit Farhampton in 2017. The Mother is very pregnant and goes into labor after 2 AM. We see her, Ted, and Penny getting in the car and preparing to deliver their second baby. (S9E15 “Unpause”)

• Ted and The Mother’s son is named Luke! (S9E15 “Unpause”)
• As of the night of Luke’s birth, Penny looks to be the wrong age. The timeline strongly indicates she is born in late 2014/early 2015, which would make her around two years old as of 2017. The actual baby that played Penny is the second child of writer Carter Bays and wife Denise Cox Bays. Little Georgina was born in (approximately) August of 2012. This scene was shot in November, making the tiny actress just about 1 year and 3 months (15 months) old as of filming. Even if the night of Luke’s birth was January 1st, 2017, that still gives us a baby that was born in late 2015. We know that Trilogy Time 2015 should occur in spring/summer, and that Penny meets Santa for the first time when is an infant in December of 2015. We also know that The Mother must have delivered Penny and lost the baby weight as of the lighthouse proposal scene set in May 2015. At first the age discrepancy seemed like a mistake or a change in the timeline. But upon realizing it is the writer’s own child, it makes sense that would sacrific a bit of age accuracy for such a special guest star cameo. (S7E20 “Trilogy Time”) (S9E15 “Unpause”)

https://twitter.com/Denise_Cox/status/425397266254286849

https://twitter.com/CarterBays/status/425461149149048832

• At some point when the kids are growing up, she insists on the whole family taking a seven hour detour while en route to Disney World, so she can see a goat in South Carolina that blows smoke rings. (S9E1 “The Locket”)
• Ted and The Mother are married as of the Wesleyan Reunion that they attend with Lily and Marshall in 2020 (S3E5 “How I Met Everyone Else”)
• Ted reports being happily married and with two kids when he runs into Wendy the Waitress in 2021 (S6E20 “The Exploding Meatball Sub”) 

Who She Isn’t – Extra Details

• At different points in the series, there were plans for existing characters (Victoria and Stella) to be The Mother in case the show was cancelled:

1) The writers, knowing that they only had as good a chance in their first season as any other new sitcom, wanted to make sure if they got cancelled after their initial 13 episodes that they still gave the fans a satisfying ending. You’ll notice that episode 13 of season 1 is “Drumroll, Please”: Ted (Josh Radnor) meets a wonderful girl named Victoria (Ashley Williams) at his friend’s wedding, but they part ways without exchanging information.

Robin (Cobie Smulders), who’s just realized she has feelings for Ted, tracks down Victoria because she wants Ted to be happy. Had the show gotten cancelled, the writers could have easily ended the series there, with a quick voiceover from Future Ted (Bob Saget) saying, “And that, kids, is how I met your mother.”

2) HIMYM hit another snag at the end of season 2; the finale, “Something Blue,” aired before the writers knew if the show had actually been renewed. In this case, we wouldn’t have had a specific woman to pinpoint as The Mother, but you can’t deny that it would’ve made a great series finale: Marshall (Jason Segel) and Lily (Alyson Hannigan) finally got married; Ted and Robin took their relationship as far as they could and parted as friends; and Barney ends on “Legen…”

3) The show’s fourth-season renewal didn’t come until late in season 3, long before Stella (Sarah Chalke) could leave Ted at the altar. Before then, the first episode “Ten Sessions” could’ve been an ideal finale: We would’ve watched Ted’s ten-week attempt to win over his dermatologist Stella, their two-minute date — which is still ranked as one of the series’ best moments — and the ending, where she says she’ll call him if she has time. Again, all it would’ve taken was a last-minute addendum from Future Ted.

-Did You Know That How I Met Your Mother Has Had Three “Contingency Mothers”? 9/19/11

-Who have the “contingency mothers” been? FAQ on IMDB

• Victoria returned later in the show, but she’s still officially ruled out:

TV Guide: Ted’s driving off with Victoria, but we know that she’s not the mother.

Thomas: That’s why it’s really fun with storytelling time! [Laughs] But it felt very relatable to us. I think everybody in their love life has had someone they felt they screwed it up with or that person could’ve been the one or if circumstances had been different, maybe that was the one. That’s how Ted feels about Victoria. He screwed that up in Season 1… Ted doesn’t know this in 2012 — he still thinks Victoria could be the mother of his children — but we, the audience, and astute HIMYM fans know more than him thanks to Bob Saget. We love Victoria representing the door that’s still open a crack in Ted’s mind. He has to see what’s behind that door and eventually close it to be able to meet the mother. As we head toward the end of the series, it’s one of the last things Ted has to do.

-How I Met Your Mother Boss on Barney’s Bride: “It Had to Be Her” 5/15/12

• She was indeed “almost Stella” – look at this clever set design element that could have tied current Stella to Future Ted and the Mosby family:

• We can rule out Naomi, aka The Slutty Pumpkin, played by Katie Holmes. Naomi and Ted were super awkward together when they finally reunited, and they both agreed it wasn’t a love match. (S7E8 “The Slutty Pumpkin Returns”)
• The Carly Theory is DEAD, guys. In S8E14 “Ring Up!” we have Ashley Benson playing Carly. Ted clearly meets her before the day of the wedding, and that is enough right there to prove it’s not the winning theory.

Basic Info – Extra Details

• Cindy is currently “writing a dissertation titled Foreign Direct Investment and Inter-generational Linkages in Consumption Behavior.” This sounds pretty Economics-y to me, but I can’t say for sure :) (S5E12 “Girls Versus Suits”)
• Ted is trying to teach an introductory course, Architecture 101. Therefore 101 equals the first, introductory course in a given subject.
• The course numbering system likely means that 100-level courses are for undergraduates, 200-level classes are for those majoring/minoring in the subject OR are only for graduate students, and 300-level classes are for PhD candidates/graduate students only. Alternately, 100-level courses may be for freshmen, 200-level courses may be for sophomores, 300-level for juniors, and 400-level for seniors. I believe the former makes more sense.
• Thus, The Mother is likely either a PhD candidate working on her own dissertation, or a graduate/upper level student taking a required Economics course for a different degree. She could be a junior taking an undergraduate class but that doesn’t seem to make as much sense.
• Some fans assume The Mother must be in the 17-22 age range, because she is a college student. Given the type of class and caliber of classmates (Cindy), I think that The Mother must be in her mid to late twenties when that show aired in 2010.
• The Mother is probably close to Cindy’s age. We don’t know Cindy’s exact age but we do know Rachel Bilson, the actress, was 28 years old when the episode aired in January of 2010 (IMDB). This age makes sense for Cindy, given that a PhD candidate should  already have a high school diploma, a four-year college degree, and some years of post-graduate work completed.
• In “Shelter Island”, we see a flash forward of how the future may have looked if Ted and Stella had gotten married. Both children are blonde in this image, indicating that a blonde mother plus brunette Ted equals blonde kids. Since we know that the children actually have dark hair, it is very likely that The Mother has dark hair as well. This is further demonstrated in the pictures seen in the background behind the children, which feature what looks like Ted, two children, and a dark-haired woman. This picture is also present in the image with the imaginary Stella-kids, though, so it may be a childhood picture of Ted, his sister, and their parents. (S4E5 “Shelter Island”)

 The First Meeting – Extra Details

• The show’s creators have confirmed that Ted and The Mother officially meet at the Farhampton train station:

She was still obscured by her yellow umbrella, of course, but the couple’s future together officially kicks off on a train station platform — the episode’s namesake, Farhampton. And while you ponder the likely fake-out of her hopping on a different train, showrunners Carter Bays and Craig Thomas insist that’s not the case.

“There won’t be a swerve,” Thomas told The Hollywood Reporter and other press at a screening. “That’s the moment. We can very honestly say it. He’s moments away from meeting her.”

-  ‘How I Met Your Mother’ Showrunners Promise No More Fake-Outs After Season 8 Premier 9/24/12

This scene is presented to us as the immediate moment  before Ted actually meets the mother. Here’s the question we need to focus on now – are we thinking of when Ted officially or unofficially meets the mother?

Here’s what is awesome about the end of S8E13 “Band or DJ?”…

I absolutely LOVE this scene because it proves something I’ve suspected for quite a while – Ted does meet The Mother at the Farhampton station, but he sees her at least once before (shown above). If he’s seen her once before he meets here, that opens up waaaay more possibilities for tie-ins to prior characters and encounters. The writers nicely tied up the issue, for example, of him already meeting the St. Patrick’s Day party girl. She could still be The Mother now, because he saw/ran into her but did not technically meet her. Similarly, he saw the bass player at the reception, but did not technically meet her until the train station scene. So much more fun this way!

The First Date – Extra Details

• Ted uses “the check dance” as a measure of compatibility on first dates. He plans to pay for dinner, but he appreciates when the woman reaches for the check as though she will pay. This demonstrates general good manners and consideration, and it also gives Ted the chance to feel like a big man when he goes ahead and takes care of it. This is noted as an important diagnostic tool for him in two episodes: “The Double Date” (S5E2) and “The Naked Truth” (S7E2).

*Season 6 DVD Extra: “What We Know About Your Mother”

Future Ted recaps clues that we already know:

• She’s not Robin
• She was almost Stella
• She was Cindy’s roommate
• She plays bass
• She has a yellow umbrella
• She was in what Ted thought was his architecture class
• She paints robots doing sports
• She makes breakfast foods sing show tunes
• She was never going to be Zoey
• Ted met her on the day of a wedding

And some brand new information:

• She never leaves uneaten food on her plate: “She never would’ve left that much of her sandwich uneaten. No joke, I’ve seen that woman get a half a pad of butter wrapped up to go…”
• She befriends waitresses and often scores free desserts: “Oh, and your mother definitely would’ve befriended the waitress, which inevitably would have led to a free desert…Mom’s ability to get free pie; supernatural”
• Lilacs are her favorite flower, and they are also the first flower that Ted ever gives her: “Oh, and I wouldn’t have had much luck with an orchid. I’d have given her lilacs; her favorite…which just just happened to be the first flower I ever gave her…the very moment we met…”

POSSIBILITIES & THEORIES

COLOR THEORY IN HIMYM

I’ve been giving this quite a bit of thought (as it is clearly VERY IMPORTANT lol) and I have some newish conclusions. Most of them are fueled by the fact that EVERYONE IS WEARING PURPLE ALL SEASON LONG. Seriously, idk if the Gap had a sale on all things eggplant and lilac or what, but these guys are rocking more purple than Barney. Yes, THAT Barney:

We all know that yellow is the main color for this show – the yellow umbrella, little yellow school bus, Robin’s yellow raincoat, all of the pivotal moments that occur in yellow cabs, etc. There are two schools of thought regarding purple. One theory is that, since purple is the complementary/opposite color for yellow, it indicates a lack of romance. By this theory, anyone with yellow symbolism is a viable candidate to be someone’s happily ever after, and anyone wearing purple is disqualified.

But that doesn’t really mesh with how this season in particular has progressed, so I think I’m going with the alternate theory. This theory holds that Ted’s happily ever after color is yellow, whereas Barney’s happily ever after color is purple. This just means that purple people – like Robin with the purple giraffe – are not suited for Ted. But – since Barney is a foil character for Ted – this means that Robin and all her purple giraffe glory could be Barney’s true soul mate. Quinn is in purple because she is a contender, and everyone else is in purple because it signifies Barney’s upcoming nuptials.

UPDATE – I’ve been reading some other blogs, and they pointed out a couple additional facts. We could assume that Ted is purple, and looking for his yellow, whereas Barney is yellow, and looking for his purple. Or we could assume that both are purples, looking for their yellows. When we see both members of a couple in the same color – Robin and Kevin both wearing purple, for example, or Barney and Nora both wearing yellow, or Barney and Quinn both wearing purple – that means that they’re NOT meant to be together. Ex:

It has also been noted that Robin seems to only wear yellow when she’s involved with Barney. I’m not sure if this is accurate but I’ve documented all of the Robin in yellow episodes I’ve found so far:

Season 4, episode 24 “The Leap”, where Barney and Robin finally kiss and get together for reals.

Season 6, episode 9 “Glitter” – Barney is the one that tracked down the glorious Space Teens video starring Robin Sparkles and Jessica Glitter…

Season 7, episode 8 “The Slutty Pumpkin Returns” – this is the one where we find out that Barney is (gasp!) part Canadian…like Robin…

Season 7, episode 9 “Disaster Averted”, where Barney and Robin reminisce about what might have been had they hooked up in the (yellow) cab.

Season 7, episode 15 “The Drunk Train”. This one is a Robin with Kevin episode, which ends with them breaking up. Maybe stripes indicate ambivalence? If so that could apply to the earlier image of Robin and Ted in purple/blue stripes and plaids. I will have to investigate further…

UPDATE: As of the season 9, episode 4, the gang is still doing the purple wardrobe thing every week. There have also been some interesting new color theories to arise. For example, some theorize that the show is going through the entire progression of the colors of the rainbow. This doesn’t make as much sense to me, because why would they skip over the other colors so much and emphasize this hue for three plus seasons? In terms of the order of colors in the rainbow, the acronym ROY G. BIV does remind us that violet is at the very end. 

That being said, The Mother is shown to be wearing purple when we finally see her at the Long Island train station, AND when Ted meets her at the Farhampton train station. Both times she is carrying the yellow umbrella, which might balance out her purple? This would work better if Ted was somehow wearing tons of yellow with a purple accent, but I don’t see that happening. :)

Basically, we can see the plethora of purple as all indicative of Barney and Robin getting married, or as Ted finally meeting The Mother. Barney and Robin’s relationship is essential to Ted meeting The Mother, though, so it can of course be indicative of both. 

It might make more sense to focus on traditional color theory, and the well known meanings and symbolism associated with purple. Here are some interesting traditional associations to consider:

• Purple indicates royalty. I doubt that The Mother happens to be an actual princess or queen, but we could widen the parameters a bit. If we look at purple as indicating wealth and/or power, it is the appropriate color for a member of the extremely rich Van Smoot family. That option could lend credence to the Hannah Theory (see below).
• Purple can also indicate uniqueness – or artifice. It is the color that appears most rarely in nature, and it is said to be the first hue that was artificially created. We can certainly gleen from this that The Mother is unique, but the “fake” implications don’t fit what we know of her.
• Purple can mean uncertainity. This can be said of any color that is comprised of two primary colors. We can see it as a mix between the symbolism of blue (loyalty, nature, truth, sincerity, and faith) and red (passion, love, strength, and excitement). These would suit what we know of The Mother. 
• Purple in American pop culture is associated with the band Deep Purple (of “Smoke on the Water” fame), “Purple Rain” (the song, album, and movie) by Prince, and “Purple Haze” by Jimi Hendrix. I have no idea if any of this relates to The Mother but I always like to consider the pop culture connections.
• One of my favorite ideas for the symbolism of purple in How I Met Your Mother actually comes from the world of science. Violet is one of the colors on the visible spectrum. It can be seen in rainbows and it was identified by Isaac Newton. Purple, however, is totally different. It is a non-spectral color. Here’s the part that I love the most, as quoted from Wikipedia:”It exists in culture and art, but not, in the same way that violet does, in optics.” This totally reminds me of how The Mother has existed in this show since day one, but she has not been a visible element until very recently. 

Here are thumbnails with examples of purple throughout season 7. I’m compiling additional examples from seasons 8 and 9 to post here as well.

The Amber/Stripper/Tracy Theory

Way back in the early days of HIMYM, an intriguing fan theory came about. To understand it best, we should revisit the specific scene, which is set at a familiar location – The Lusty Leopard Strip Club.

Stripper: I’m Amber

Ted: I’m Ted

Stripper: Actually, it’s Tracy

Ted: Still Ted

- cut to Future Ted speaking to the Mosby kids -

Future Ted: And that, kids, is the true story of how I met your mother

Kids: WHAT?!?!

Future Ted: (laughs) Just kidding

-S1E9 “Belly Full of Turkey”

Some fans felt that the shocked reactions meant the kids believed Future Ted’s story. And instead of saying, “wait, but mom’s name is _____”, the kids just gasped in astonishment. These fans believe that the kids accepted the statement so readily because Ted used The Mother’s actual name – Tracy. Other fans agree with this reasoning but think it indicates that The Mother’s name is Amber. This idea also holds credence to some because amber is a shade of yellow, the main symbolic hue of the show and The Mother.

As of the season 8 finale, we do not know The Mother’s name. As such, it could still be Tracy. Or Amber.

IF IT’S TRUE: The mother’s name is Tracy. Or Amber.

WHY IT MIGHT NOT BE: The shock expressed by the kids could also be simple confusion because none of the information – names or occupation – match what they know about their mother. Alternately, the name may be irrelevant, because strippers (particularly those at The Lusty Leopard) often have stage names. So the kids may have just assumed that Amber and/or Tracy were the mother’s stripper names, and thus not her real name. Finally, we have to remember that Ted is not a reliable narrator.

The Bump Girl/St. Patrick’s Day/”No Tomorrow” Girl Theory: DISPROVED

In the aforementioned “No Tomorrow” (S3E12), there is an interesting scene set inside the bar. Ted bumps into an attractive dark-haired girl, and they both part ways after a brief moment of acknowledgement. Ted says “oh, I’m sorry”, and she responds “it’s okay”. Many fans suspect that this woman is The Mother. We do know that both Ted and The Mother were at same bar at the same time, but Ted notes that he did not meet her that night. “I found out years later that your mom was at that party. I just didn’t meet her.” (S3E12 “No Tomorrow”) Since bumping into someone doesn’t technically constitute a real meeting, this character may in fact be The Mother.

Let’s compare this actress to the woman holding the yellow umbrella – my thanks to Jack Cola for the pictures:

The actress – Nicole Muirbrook Wagner, played “Woman” on this episode per IMDB - may be called back to play the role, or she may just represent Ted’s hazy memory of her.

If the former is true, we may see a flashback that shows the same scene but with the “official” actress playing this character. This theory has big appeal, because there is no obvious reason to include the scene otherwise. 

IF IT’S TRUE: We know that The Mother is slim, beautiful, and has long dark hair. That’s really all we can discern from these without knowing if this specific actress ends up playing The Mother. I guess we can assume that she has a penchant for clutch purses and print tank tops but that’s a stretch. I think she’s adorable and I would love to see her play The Mother! That being said, she looks a little bit too much like actress Lindsay Price, who played Cathy in S3E8 “Spoiler Alert”.

WHY IT MIGHT NOT BE: The scene seems relevant, but we have to remember that the writers may be throwing in red herrings to distract/deter us from discovering The Mother’s identity. These twists and turns are part of what we love about How I Met Your Mother!

UPDATE: We saw in the season 8 finale that The Mother is played by Cristin Milioti. That is obviously not the same actress as Nicole Wuirbrook Wagner, shown above. In S9E16 “How Your Mother Met Me” we see The Mother in a different part of the club as Ted is bumping into the bump girl. Therefore The Mother is NOT the bump girl as many previously tought!

The Matchmaker/Missed Date Girl Theory/”Milk” Theory: DISPROVED

I wrote about this theory extensively already (HIMYM: I’m 99% Sure These Are Pics Of “The Mother) so most of this content is pulled straight from there:

In “Matchmaker” (S1E7), Ted signs up for a matchmaking service. He is not matched up with anyone suitable. There is one match – a 9.6 out of 10 – but she (Sarah O’Brian) is already matched up. Undeterred, Ted sneaks into the office to print the info sheets for Sarah. He reads them and learns her occupation, guilty pleasure song, likes and dislikes, etc. He is able to locate her and meet her in person, but she is engaged to her match and not interested.

Ok, now let’s skip ahead to “Milk” (S1E21). Ted receives a phone call from the new owner of the matchmaking agency, informing him that his match has been found. Ted ponies up the $500 needed for her information, and receives her file in return. We see 10 photos (shown above) which indicate that the woman is Ted’s perfect match.

So I read the file, and by God this woman was perfect. She liked dogs, she spent her summers in North Carolina, she played bass guitar, she did the Times crossword, she played tennis, she liked old movies, her favorite food was lasagna, and her favorite book was Love in the Time of Cholera. Her favorite singer was Otis Redding and she wanted two kids, a boy and a girl.

Later, when speaking to Robin, Ted also mentions that ”she’s 28, just like me” and “college-educated”. When Robin asks if the mystery woman is looking to get married, Ted says yes.

The photos are either in the file, or what Ted is imagining based on her profile information. If the photos are in the file, why are they shown with the faces blurred out? Is it perhaps because she is indeed The Mother, and the show creators are keeping her face a secret? If Ted is imagining the images based on the information given, why is he imagining them with the face blurred out? Is it because she was intangible at that point, and Ted simply couldn’t put a face to her profile? Or is it because Future Ted is reflecting on this past experience and purposely obscuring information so he doesn’t spoil the surprise for his kids?

The last picture, at least, has to be imagined, because it shows two young children that the woman presumably wished to have someday. The only issue with this is how the picture shows a little girl and her older brother, while the siblings on the show seem to be an older sister and her little brother. In real life, the actress who plays the daughter (Lyndsy Fonseca) is two years older than David Henrie, who plays the son. So I’m not sure, but I’m still intrigued. 

It could also be an image of that woman’s childhood, with her beside her older brother. Who knows!

Notice anything else interesting about this pictures? Half of them show the woman wearing a silver ring on her right ring finger. I suspect it might be a little clue for the discerning fans and not just an oversight. Now look at these two photos of the children – one from the pilot episode, and one from season six:

A silver ring! Could be coincidence, sure, but I like the idea of it being the mother’s ring, gifted to her daughter. The daughter wears her ring on her left middle finger though – maybe it’s still too big for her ring finger? I don’t know!

A final thought…we never find out the name of Ted’s match. They schedule a blind date, and Ted is able to contact her to delay their meeting when Lily needs him ASAP. It seems likely that he would know her name, don’t you think? Especially since he paid for the full file and didn’t just print and steal a summary sheet. If he knew Sarah O’Brian’s name,  I think he should have known the match’s name as well. So why do we never hear it?

Later, in “Rabbit or Duck” (S5E15), Ted asks Lily and Marshall to set him up. They consider women from his past, including Trudy (married), Blah Blah (committed – relationship? no, Bellevue), and Natalie (Ted is her least favorite person in the world). But they never think of the “Milk” maiden. Based on prior episodes, neither Natalie nor Blah Blah are viable options, but this woman is still a real possibility. And yet we never hear of her again…

IF IT’S TRUE: We know that The Mother likes dogs, spent summers in North Carolina, plays bass guitar, does the NY Times crossword, plays tennis, likes old movies, her favorite food is lasagna, her favorite book is Love in the Time of Cholera, her favorite singer is Otis Redding, and she ended up with two kids just like she wanted, a boy and a girl. We can also see that she has/had a golden retriever (I think that’s the dog breed shown above?), is right-handed, and rocks a silver ring on her right hand. We also know that she is the same age as Ted (28 as of this episode’s May 28th, 2006 air date), college educated, and looking to get married.

Actress Lisa Claire is credited as “Beautiful Woman #2″ in S1E21 “Milk”. The first “Beautiful Woman” was the girl that Barney hits at the bar. Anyway this woman’s hair feels like it could match the pictures, but there are no guarantees:

WHY IT MIGHT NOT BE TRUE: There is a brief conversation that may rule out this possibility:

Future Ted: I didn’t know it, but I was about to hear the very first description of the woman I’d one day marry.

Cindy: She’s a whore.

-S5E12 “Girls Versus Suits”

If we get really technical, we can go with the idea that Ted read/saw the information from the matchmaker profile, and thus did not hear a description of The Mother until meeting Cindy. That’s a bit of a jump, so it could completely eliminate the Matchmaker Girl Theory, depending on how you look at it. There is also the continuing possibility of this being a red herring, planted by the writers to add even more mystery. BUT loose ends are generally resolved on this show, so I expect to see some reference to this particular character again.

UPDATE: We saw in the season 8 finale that The Mother is played by Cristin Milioti. That is obviously not the same actress as Lisa Claire, shown above. Beyond that, the body shape, height, and hair don’t seem to match how Cristin looks as The Mother at all.

In S9E16 “How Your Mother Met Me” we learn that The Mother is six years younger than Ted. The Milk girl is said to be the same age as Ted. Therefore, The Mother cannot be the milk girl.

The Carly Theory/The Barney’s Sister Theory: DISPROVED

People visit my blog for a variety of writing, but there’s one specific concept that draws in more readers than anything else: articles on the possibility of Barney’s sister, Carly Whittaker, being THE mother on How I Met Your Mother. It was fun while it lasted, but it’s been officially squashed. Check this info out:

BARNEY BEGS TED TO CONTINUE SEEING HIS YOUNGER, WILDER GIRLFRIEND, EVEN THOUGH TED HAS NOTHING IN COMMON WITH HER, ON “HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER,” MONDAY, JAN. 21

Ashley Benson (“Pretty Little Liars”) Guest Stars as Carly, Ted’s New Girlfriend

CHEAT TWEET: Barney begs Ted to continue dating a much younger girl @AshBenzo until he learns who she is! #HIMYM 1/21 @8PM ET/PT http://bit.ly/SmKGNn“Ring Up” — Barney begs Ted to continue seeing his much younger, much wilder girlfriend, even though Ted has nothing in common with her. Meanwhile, Robin must adjust to the power of the bling, on HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER, Monday, Jan. 21 (8:00-8:30 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Ashley Benson (“Pretty Little Liars”) guest stars as Carly, Ted’s new girlfriend.

GUEST CAST:

Carly (Ashley Benson)

Those who want all the details can still review all the facts; just keep reading…

Since I’ve already written about this topic extensively, I will once again be pulling some content straight from my previous posts NEW Pic of the Mom – HIMYM – Does Ted Marry Barney’s Sister? I’m 99.99% Sure Yes and The Latest How I Met Your Mother Theories (HIMYM – Including Season 8).

Here’s what we know about Carly Whittaker, per “Legendaddy” (S6E19):

• She’s the daughter of Jerome Whittaker and Cheryl Whittaker.
• She’s the sister of Jerome Jr. (J.J.)
• She’s the half-sister of Barney Stinson
• We haven’t seen or met her character yet
• When Barney visits his father’s home, he meets his younger half-brother, JJ, and hears about his younger half-sister, Carly
• Jerome says that Carly is away at college and doesn’t live at home

Those are pretty much the only facts that we have so far. But, we can see if Carly Whittaker meets the requirements that are already established for the mother.

• Carly could be going to school at Columbia University (the same school that Cindy goes to and Ted teaches at)
• Carly could be Cindy’s roommate
• The Whittaker’s home and Cindy/The Mother’s home are both decorated in a similar manner (animal figurines, pillows, pictures, etc.)
• Cindy says that guys are always falling in love with The Mother. We know that women are always falling in love (or at least lust) with Barney. Perhaps him and baby sister share the same set of sex appeal genes?
• As Barney’s sister, Carly will likely be at the Barney and Robin wedding
• If she happens to be musical, Barney may have asked her to be a part of the wedding band
• Ted meets The Mother on the day of the wedding
• Future Ted refers to Barney and Robin as “Uncle Barney” and “Aunt Robin”
• Ted’s bandaged hand in “Farhampton” may be due to a fight with Barney over his violation of The Bro Code (hooking up with Barney’s sister at the wedding?)
• Note – Ted could hook up with Barney’s sister Carly at the wedding, fight with Barney, and then go on to meet the actual mother at the train station

If Ted married Barney’s sister, Barney and Robin would in fact be uncle and aunt to the kids. But Ted also refers to “Uncle Marshall” and “Aunt Lily”, and we know that they aren’t technically related to Ted. So this clue doesn’t hold much weight.

Ted hooking up with Barney’s sister is a clear violation of The Bro Code. BUT, Barney has already violated his own code of ethics twice where Ted is concerned – he made out with Ted’s mom, and he slept with Ted’s ex-girlfriend Robin. I’m not sure if marriage negates that violation or what, but Ted hooking up with Barney’s sister would certainly balance things out a bit.

This concept is particularly amusing because of the following exchange:

Ted: Check it out. I just got that girl’s number. See? Holly.

Barney: Nice! Girls with “ly” at the end of their names are dirty. Carly, Shirly, Lily.

Marshall: Hey!… all right, it’s true.

Barney: Don’t even get me started on girls whose name should end in “ly”, but instead end in I. Those girls are like roller-coasters. You’ve got to wait in a long line, but once you get up there, you just hold on for dear life and hope you don’t lose your keys.

-S4E21 “The Three Days Rule”

Lord help the men of New York if Barney’s sister spells her name Carli… :)

There’s been a persistent rumor running around the interwebs about how Cindy’s apartment has a picture frame (I think?) that says C + C. This could refer to Cindy + Carly (= Best Friends 4Eva?) but it could also refer to the show’s creators, Craig Thomas and Carter Bays. From what I can tell, though, nobody has been able to find a screenshot or anything actually showing this elusive symbolic object. As such I don’t think it’s all that relevant.

So at this point, Carly Whittaker is a loose end. She has been mentioned but not truly incorporated into the show. Proponents of this theory are encouraged by the lack of discussion of Carly before or after on the show. I feel the same way about her that I do about the missed date from the “Milk” episode – she might not be The Mother, but her character will be revisited. If we had to spend all this time with effing Victoria and The Slutty Pumpkin and Robin again and again, they can certainly find time to delve into this mini mystery.

IF IT’S TRUE: Carly Whittaker, Barney’s half-sister, is The Mother. The Bro Code slate would be wiped clean. Mystery solved!

WHY IT MIGHT NOT BE: It’s established, it’s for sure not her.

Other Assorted Mother Theories

The Wedding Band Theory – CONFIRMED!!:

Many fans suspect The Mother is a member of the wedding band (or DJ) :) We know that she does play bass guitar, and we see her at the Farhampton train station on the night of Barney and Robin’s wedding. She’s dressed in formal wear, and she has her guitar case with her. I can’t think of any reason why this may not be true, so for now it’s a strong possibility.

UPDATE: We just discovered that the original wedding band falls through, and Ted fortuitously runs into Cindy (Rachel Bilson) and her wife on the subway. Cindy asks if Ted believes in destiny, and then explains that her former roommate – the one that was a perfect match for Ted – happens to be the bass player for the BEST wedding band in NYC. Then we see Ted, at the reception, eyes fixed upon the bass player. At the same time, we hear Future Ted talking about how everything worked out as it should…

The Marissa Heller Theory: 

In “Robots versus Wrestlers” (S5E22), we learn that mail for a prior resident (Marissa Heller) has consistently been delivered to the apartment ever since Ted and Marshall first moved in. When Ted spots Marissa Heller’s invitation to an exclusive party at the Alberta Building, he convinces the others to accompany him. They attempt to use her invitation, but the real Marissa Heller shows up.

Or does she?! Marissa invites Ted, Barney, Lily, and Marshall to join her. In the elevator, Lily tries to chat with Marissa about mail-related interests. Lily saw that Marissa received Soap Opera Digest, for example, so she asks Marissa about her favorite soaps. Marissa isn’t into that, though, and everyone thinks she’s pretty douchey. Except Ted, of course, because he was a little douchey himself in that episode.

One Redditor posited that elevator-Marissa’s lack of interest means that she wasn’t the real Marissa at all. The real Marissa could have been busy that night – busy being The Mother! We actually only know of one other event occurring that event – a little thing called Robots VS Wrestlers. Who might be interested in such a thing? Maybe a woman who paints ROBOTS DOING SPORTS. Is your mind blown just a little? :)

The Mother may not be Marissa, but she certainly could have attended Robots Versus Wrestlers. It is a yearly event, after all. Ted notes that this becomes an annual tradition for the whole group, so it’s likely that The Mother ends up going once they meet and get together. I like this theory because it’s a unique take that isn’t discussed much. It’s a long shot, but such an intriguing possibility. Marissa Mosby does have a certain ring to it, no?

UPDATE: We still don’t know the name of The Mother, so it could very well be Marissa Heller. 

The Sister Theories: DISPROVED

The whole Aunt Robin and Uncle Barney thing has really thrown off some fans. As I noted in a prior article, many are holding strong to The Carly Theory because of this:

Future Ted refers to Barney as “Uncle Barney”.

Conflict: Ted also calls his other friends “Uncle Marshall”, “Aunt Lily”, and “Aunt Robin”

Conclusion: If Barney is Ted’s brother-in-law by marriage, and that’s why Ted refers to him as “Uncle Barney”, then we can presume that Robin is “Aunt Robin” because she is married to Barney.

Alternate Conclusion: Like many of us, Ted refers to close family friends as “aunt” and “uncle”.

-NEW Pic of the Mom – HIMYM – Does Ted Marry Barney’s Sister? I’m 99.99% Sure Yes. 2/7/12

If we really want to stretch our imaginations, these other marriages would fulfil the technical requirements: Ted marries Robin’s younger sister Katie Scherbatsky, or Barney marries Ted’s younger (already married) sister Heather Mosby. Other fans have speculated that Ted ends up with Stella’s sister Nora Zinman. All three of these possibilities are ruled out – Ted has already met both Katie and Nora prior to the wedding, and Barney is definitely marrying Robin.

UPDATE: Now that we’ve seen actress Cristin Milioti, we know without a doubt that she isn’t any of these characters that Ted has met before. 

The Michelle Tanner Theory/The Full House Theory:

Update – it looks like Dave McKain (the Facebooker that created the image below) was the first to post this theory online. I don’t know if he and Justin came up with the ideas separately, or were influenced by one another, but I wanted to make sure to give proper credit where it’s due. Here is Dave’s take, as published on Have-You-Met-Ted.com in early 2012:

HIMYM can cross over with Full House by making Michelle Tanner the mother. Bear with me…there are lots of things that can make this work. As unlikely as this probably is, it might make sense on a lot of levels. My thought is that we have not met the mother character as of yet. They have said as much throughout the first 6 seasons, but we like to twist words and give double meanings to make it possible to mean other things. I think a lot of the ‘clues’ that we have are purposeful misleadings to get different theories circulating. But also, I don’t think they would just spring a random character that the audience is not attached to as well. I think the creators want the ending and the reveal to be iconic in the “nobody saw that coming” Newhart fashion.
REASONS THAT SUPPORT MICHELLE TANNER

1. They casted Bob Saget as the ‘voice’ of future Ted. Now we have seen future Ted with his grey hair many a time over the years and he always had Josh Radnor’s voice. I believe the voice of Bob Saget is more a metaphorical representation in the kid’s minds as a combination of a paternal and maternal story telling…with the Grandfather being thrown in…kind of a hint to the mother’s lineage. And as we know, Bob Saget (aka Danny Tanner) would be the Grandfather to these kids.

2. The Age. If we can assume that Michelle Tanner and the Olsen’s are the same age, then as of today the Olsen’s are 25. Which as of the first day of Ted’s teaching career (Sept 2009), Michelle Tanner would have been 23 years old…the perfect age for a grad student taking Economics 305. The St Patty’s day party was Mar 17, 2008…making Michelle Tanner 21 and old enough to go bar hopping (not that under 21 would stop people).

3. Rachel Bilson as the roommate. This tie in is more of a funny real-life one. Rachel Bilson has listed Ashley Olsen as one of her major fashion influence, and it is common knowledge that they are good friends and they run in the same circles.

4. Lily. When Lily and Marshall broke up, Lily went off to San Francisco. The Tanners were from San Francisco. The creators could make an easy tie in as to why Michelle Tanner is at a wedding that Lily is at…maybe Lily invited them after befriending during her time in San Fran.

5. Robin. Robin is in TV journalism…as was Danny Tanner. They have had the exact same job, but Danny Tanner was just a little more accomplished. Robin’s career path could be a tie in to how they all meet each other.

6. Bass guitar. Ted’s future wife plays bass guitar. What 23 year old, good looking chic would have a better opportunity to have played a rock’n’roll instrument than the niece of Uncle Jesse. For all we know, Michelle Tanner could have been playing since she was a kid. Easy tie in.

7. Admittedly (and proudly) I never watched Full House. But from what my wife has told me, Michelle’s best friend growing up was a boy named…you guessed it…Ted. I’m not saying that this Ted is Ted Mosby (cause we know its not), but what a great hint and an even better Ice-Breaker for when the two meet.

8. Doppelganger…what an easy and perfect twin…you know that whoever Ted gets with eventually will have to have a doppelganger to be a permanent fixture in the group.

9. Josh Radnor is directing and starring in a movie in 2012 called Liberal Arts. The lead actress…Elizabeth Olsen…yes the younger sister of the Twins. I think he’d have some pull in that family for casting purposes.

10. I know this is likely not the ending…but I just wanted to float ‘out-of-the-box’ thoughts out there and get people’s opinions.

One blog commenter, Justin Banker, has a very unique take on who The Mother may be. He has put together evidence supporting the idea of Michelle Tanner from Full House being The Mother! Wait, what? Click here to check out the information on his blog. I’ve put together the relevant details in bullet point here:

• Lily spent a summer in San Francisco doing her art program. Full House is set in SF, so perhaps Michelle Tanner/The Mother became friends with Lily at that point.
• Uncle Jesse played bass, and he was always very close to Michelle, so he could have taught her how to play.
• Future Ted is voiced by Bob Saget, aka Danny Tanner (Michelle’s father) on Full House.
• Josh Radnor (Ted) was in a movie (Liberal Arts) with Elizabeth Olsen; she is the real life younger sister of actresses Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, who both played Michelle Tanner on Full House.
• Josh Radnor and Elizabeth Olsen share the same agent (I haven’t confirmed this info, btw)
• Michelle Tanner – if played by one of the original actresses – would have the perfect doppelganger…her twin sister!
• Michelle’s childhood BFF was named Teddy.
• Both Danny Tanner and Robin Scherbatsky are broadcast journalists. Their paths could potentially cross this way, although I suspect Danny is up near retirement age by now. Then again, Bob Saget hasn’t retired yet, so what do I know.

Regarding her age – Justin says:

First off everyone will say how is he going to marry some kid, shes like 6 years old! In the TV Show yeah but Full House ended in 1995 with the character of Michelle being the same age as her actresses, 9 years old. She would be 19 by the time HIMYM started in 2005 and would be 22 on Mar. 17th 2008 when she was at the St Patrick’s Day party that Ted was also at. In 2009 when Ted began teaching she would be nearly 23 years old, perfect college age to be taking an upper level economics class.

Justin thinks that the character could be Michelle Tanner, but he doesn’t think she would actually be played with Mary-Kate or Ashley Olsen. He suggests that perhaps Elizabeth Olsen could play the role, and notes that Elizabeth Olsen has mentioned Rachel Bilson as one of her inspirations.

Here’s an image that Facebooker and HIMYM fan Dave McKain put together – click the image to go see the post and comments:

What I think – the age doesn’t match up quite right, for one  thing. I would guess Stephanie Tanner before Michelle, but she lacks many of the connections that Justin found between the Olsens and the HIMYM cast. Also all the Tanner girls and Olsen girls are more blonde than not, and I still don’t think The Mother will have light hair. Beyond that, Full House aired on ABC and HIMYM is on CBS. If The Mother was going to come from another show, I would guess it would be from a “sibling” show that shares the same parent network.

Although…here’s an interesting quote from Carter Bays…it’s just a joke, but it certainly adds some validity to this theory:

Which show would you like to do a crossover event with and why?
Full House. I want it to slowly become clear that our show is the prequel to that show, Prometheus-style.

-http://www.vulture.com/2012/06/showrunner-survey-himyms-carter-bays.html

UPDATE: I consider this theory disproved, because the actress is Cristin Milioti and not an Olsen. Beyond that, she looks nothing like how Michelle Tanner would have looked as an adult. Finally, the timing was always off, so I was never really on board with this one.

The Jennifer Birmingham Theory: DISPROVED

Actress Jennifer Birmingham was originally credited as “Woman” for S8E1 “Farhampton”, but later her name was removed:

(Update: The IMDB listing for the “Farhampton” episode of “How I Met Your Mother” appears to list several other actors who were neither listed in the post-show credits nor obviously involved in the on-screen action. It is therefore possible Birmingham was listed in error.)

http://www.headlineplanet.com/home/2012/09/24/mystery-how-i-met-your-mother-actress-revealed-but-is-she-teds-wife/

Now she is credited as “Woman” for S8E13 “Band or DJ”. But, this doesn’t necessarily mean she THE mother. We’ve only seen bits and pieces of The Mother – her ankle, her legs and torso, her hands – so it could still be virtually any woman playing her. 

We also know that Thomas and Bays have used a stand-in as The Mother at least once before:

As for that mother, Thomas and Bays wouldn’t say whether it was a body double or the actual actress viewers will eventually meet. (Previous stunt mothers include series director Pamela Fryman.)

“It was definitely closed doors,” Bays said of the shoot. “That moment was something we’ve been building to for a long time, and we’ll see more of that moment as the series goes on — or ends, whenever happens.”

-http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/how-i-met-your-mother-season-8-premiere-373735

Is she the real deal? No idea, but she could be! The only objection that I have is that she is blonde, and I think The Mother should have dark hair. I know it can be dyed, but some people just look right as blondes and can’t pull off darker hair colors (ahem Barney talking to you).

UPDATE: Nope, not played by Jennifer Birmingham. The Mother is played by Cristin Milioti.

The Cast Connection Theory: DISPROVED

How I Met Your Mother loves to cast people with connections to the stars of the show! Here’s a list to reference, but I will update later with a link to the full article that I’m working on. That post will have pictures so you can get a better mental image of all the cast connections…but here’s what I have so far:

• Sandy Rivers (Robin’s former co-anchor/nemesis) = Alexis Denisof, real life husband of Alyson Hannigan (Lily)
• Scooter (Lily’s high school boyfriend) = David Burtka, real life fiance of Neil Patrick Harris (Barney)
• Blauman (Barney & Marshall’s coworker) = Taran Killam, real life husband of Colbie Smulders
• Jeanette (Ted’s crazy girlfriend from “PS I Love You” and “Bad Crazy”) = Abby Elliott, real life daughter to Chris Elliott, who plays Lily’s dad Mickey
• Katie Scherbatsky (Robin’s little sister) = Lucy Hale, who co-stars on Pretty Little Liars with Ashley Benson, who plays Carly Whittaker (Barney’s half-sister)
• Ted’s daughter = Lyndsy Fonseca, who in real life is said to have dated David Henrie, who plays Ted’s son
• David Henrie is also the real life ex-boyfriend of Lucy Hale (Katie Sherbatsky)
• Cathy (chatty girl from “Spoiler Alert”) = Lindsay Price, real life former girlfriend of Josh Radnor (Ted)(but I believe they met on set, so that doesn’t really count)
• Robin’s dad = Ray Wise, who was in Twin Peaks with Kyle MacLachlan (The Captain)

Given all of that, it stands to reason that The Mother could be played by someone with a real life connection to the cast. Here are some people that I would not be surprised to see on HIMYM:

• Michelle Williams, real life (ex)fiance of Jason Segel (Marshall)
• Sarah Michelle Gellar, real life former co-star of Alyson Hannigan (and Alexis Denisof) (see below)
• Mila Kunis, real life former co-star of Jason Segel (Forgetting Sarah Marshall)

There’s also a fair chance of seeing other stars from Pretty Little Liars, or anyone that has done anything with Joss Whedon. Read on for the details!

UPDATE: As far as I know, actress Cristin Milioti (who plays The Mother) has no connection to any of the cast members. If anyone knows otherwise please tell me!

The Joss Whedon Theory/The Sarah Michelle Gellar Theory: DISPROVED

This ties into the aforementioned Cast Connection Theory, because there are many connections between Joss Whedon and HIMYM. Let’s break them down point by point, beginning with main cast members and then proceeding down to cameos and one time roles:

• Alyson Hannigan – Lily – played Willow on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel
• Colbie Smulders – Robin – played Agent Maria Hill in The Avengers
• Neil Patrick Harris – Barney – starred as Billy in Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog
• Alexis Denisof – Sandy Rivers – played Wesley on Buffy and Angel, and Senator Daniel Perrin on Dollhouse
• Harry Groener – Clint (Ted’s stepfather) – played Mayor Richard Wilkins on Buffy
• Morena Baccarin – Chloe (barista girl that Marshall dated – “Swarley” S2E7) played Inara Serra on Firefly and Serenity
• Amy Acker – Penelope (a girl Barney slept with – “Come On” S1E22) – played Winifred “Fred” on Angel and Dr. Claire Saunders/Whiskey on Dollhouse
• Danny Strong – Trey (he held the funeral service for Marshall’s dad; he was the son of the preacher and also a short guy that used to bully Marshall in high school – “Last Words” S6E14) played Johnathan Levinson on Buffy
• Tom Lenk – Scott (no idea who he is, I need to rewatch ”Swarley” S2E7) played Andrew Wells/Cyrus on Buffy and Angel

Also:

• Craig Thomas, Carter Bays, and Joss Whedon all graduated from Wesleyan University
• Ted, Marshall, and Lily also graduated from Wesleyan
• Willow (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) was early accepted into Wesleyan, among other schools
• Willow wrote Doogie Howser, M.D. fan fiction when she was younger
• Doogie Howser was played by Neil Patrick Harris
• Doppelgangers factor prominently into both HIMYM and Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Based on all of this, and the interconnected nature of the Joss Whedonverse, there is an excellent chance that The Mother will also have worked with Whedon in the past. The obvious selection is Sarah Michelle Gellar, who starred as the titular character on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She’s the right age, but I’m pretty sure I’ve read that her and Alyson Hannigan do not get along at all. If that is the case, the writers might not want to bring on an actress that will clash with one of the leads on the show. What do you guys think?

Here’s a pic of her with dark hair; it is usually blonde but I think she can pull off the brunette thing:

Other potential actresses from the Whedonverse that could play The Mother:

• Felicia Day (played Vi on Buffy, Penny on Dr. Horrible, and Mag on Dollhouse)
• Eliza Dushku (played Faith on Buffy and Angel and starred as Echo on Dollhouse)
• Summer Glau (played Prima Ballerina on Angel, River Tam on Firefly and Serenity, and Bennett Halverson on Dollhouse)

UPDATE: The Mother is played by actress Cristin Milioti, and she does not have a solid connection to Joss Whedon. The closest we can come is this:

Critin Milioti was in Mike Birbiglia’s 2012 movie Sleepwalk With Me. This came out around the same time as Joss Whedon’s The Avengers. Whedon made and posted a video where he jokingly told people to boycott Birbiglia’s film because it was taking money away from Whedon’s own movie. 

The Lyndsy Fonseca Theory: DISPROVED

The show has been going on for so long now that some people think Ted’s daughter could end up playing his wife! Here’s a pic of actress Lyndsy Fonseca looking especially grown up (from January 2013):

I would be a little weirded out by this, and I’ve heard other fans say the same. Then again, what better way is there to ensure that The Mother looks like she could be related to the kids? Still, she was born in 1987, and that’s a little young for Ted. But there’s still a bit of an ick factor.

UPDATE: Nope, The Mother isn’t played by Fonseca. The Mother is played by actress Cristin Milioti.

The Hannah/Captain’s Daughter Theory:

This is an interesting one that I was slow to pick up on. You can read in the comments for more details, but here’s the gist: Ted’s ex-girlfriend Zoey Pierson (Jennifer Morrison) was the current, and then former, wife of The Captain. The Captain is actually George Van Smoot, so named The Captain because “a real man chooses his own name!” (This leads to Ted calling himself – and The Captain referring to Ted as  - “Galactic President Superstar McAwesomeville”!) The Captain is also, as of season 8, Lily’s new employer.

Anyway, George Van Smoot has a daughter, Hannah Van Smoot. We have never met her. We only know that her relationship with Zoey was always strained, and at one point Zoey purchased a stuffed animal to give her as a gift. 

The Van Smoots have been connected in the HIMYM storyline since season one. Their first reference is when Lily and Marshall race to beat another engaged couple for an unexpected opening to have their wedding at the infamous Van Smoot House. Later, Ted ends up falling for Zoey, and basically helps break up her marriage to The Captain. When Ted is featured on the front of New York magazine, there is a cover blurb about Van Smoot. Finally, The Captain eventually becomes Lily’s new boss, and asks her to move to Italy with him for a year. 

The Van Smoot name having prior importance throughout the show indicates that it could be important to The Mother’s identity. So, maybe Hannah is older than we would think, and she’s The Mother!?

UPDATE: We have seen that The Mother is played by actress Cristin Milioti, but we don’t know her character’s name yet. It could be Hannah Von Smoot.

The Dead People Theories:

The internet can be a morbid place, and HIMYM fan theories are no exception. Rumors abound about various characters being dead when Future Ted tells his story in 2030. Let’s review the evidence for and against each, shall we?

Many fans have legitimately wondered why Ted is so painstakingly relaying every detail – and then some – about how he met the mother. Why would someone subject their kids to this if not for a purpose? And could that purpose be to tell the children every little thing he remembers about their dead mother?

We have to keep in mind that Ted has already been proven to be a dorky, somewhat boring dad. He bores Barney and Robin as their surrogate dad figure, he tells lame dad jokes to waitresses, and he often talks at length about stuff that frankly no one else cares about. I love Ted, but he’s not the most exciting character in terms of storytelling. You’re more likely to hear a lengthy diatribe on proper prounciation than you are to hear a legendary “true story” a la Barney.

We also have to remember that Ted provides an explanation in S2E3 “Brunch”. Ted asks his mom and dad how they met, and receives a brief “we met at a bar” in return. He then vows that when he has kids, he’s going to tell them everything about how he met their mother. So, we have a solid reason for Ted’s long-winded story, and it fits with his general character.

Flash foward scenes have indicated that the Mother is alive in the future, but her absence in the 2030 scenes still worries some fans. It is also worth noting that the kids are kinda being jerks about the story if their mom really is dead. You could at least feign interest in the story of how your dad met your now dead mom, you know? Hopefully their impatience with the story means that all is well in the Mosby household.

I have never given this theory much credence, but the end of ”The Time Travelers” (S8E20) did worry me a bit. Future Ted talks about what he would do if he could actually time travel. If he went to that day, he tells the kids, “you know the thing I’d do first”. We then see what Future Ted is imagining – himself visiting the mother’s apartment 45 days before they were set to meet. He delivers an impassioned speech about how they will meet, fall in love, get married, and have kids. He explains that this is all just 45 days away, but he wants those 45 days. And if he can’t have them, he will take the 45 seconds before her boyfriend (Louis) shows up and punches him in the face. He tells the mother (who remains unseen, of course) “I love you, I’m always going to love you, until the end of my days and beyond.”

Could this be the desperate plea of a man wanting just a sliver more time with his one true love? And why does he need that 45 seconds so badly? This episode was pretty masterfully done, because it really could go several ways.

2013 Ted is so horribly alone and depressed and without hope that Future Ted would end his suffering in a second if he could. Future Ted wishes that 2013 Ted didn’t have to go through those last – presumably painful – 45 days where his friends are happily settling in to the life that he always wanted. 2013 Ted has no girlfriend, no wife, no children, and his very best friends have all that and more.

As someone who is currently single and amidst close friends that have found their destiny, I can relate. It’s pretty much a soul-crushing feeling to look around and see everyone in love, while you’re not even close to the happily ever after you’ve wanted your whole life. If there was a Future Corina that could save me from 45 more lonely days, I would appreciate her making an appearance.

That being said…Ted was really emotional. And crying. Perhaps more than is appropriate for just seeing the 2013 version of your soulmate. It is entirely possible that he is so emotional because he can’t have even 45 more seconds with The Mother in 2030. Perhaps because she is dead? I really hope not.

I actually think that Ted’s speech made it seem more like HE was the dying one. Imagine a scenario where there is a couple, and one of them is dying. Does it seem like the dying person or the healthy person would say ”I love you, I’m always going to love you, until the end of my days and beyond”? To me it seems like something a dying person would say to the one that would survive them. If it were me, and my spouse were dead in the future, I would say something like, “I will always love you, until the end of time and beyond” or “until the end of our days and beyond”. 

So could Future Ted actually be dying/dead? He’s clearly interacting with the kids and at times having small conversations with them, so I think he is still alive as of 2030. I don’t think the kids are just watching a video he made or anything like that. But he might be sick/dying, and sharing his greatest story before his time is up. That could also explain why the kids have attitude. When someone is dying, you don’t usually want to spend all of your time crying and being sad. People often try to act normal for the benefit of the sick person, and for their own sake. So the kids might be giving Ted a hard time because they’re trying to act like nothing is wrong…

I don’t really believe that either of them are dead or dying as of 2030. I think the writers created a poignant episode with the end of the series in mind. Future Ted also imagines going back to his old apartment, holding baby Marv, and visiting with his close friends. These scenes made me cry because they spoke to the series ending. It felt like the beginning of an arc that takes us to the very end. 

There have also been theories about Barney being dead in the future. We haven’t seen him in any flash forward scenes, except for the odd Exploding Meatball Sub scenario. That seems like it could be a false memory, from unreliable narrator Ted. The thing is, Barney actually does have the time, energy, resources, and twisted motivation to pull off an elaborate prank like that. So I take that as proof of Barney being alive in the future. 

WHAT I BELIEVE

As of today, 1/3/13, I think that The Mother is the missed date from the “Milk” episode. I don’t think she is named Tracy or Amber, and the arrival of Ashley Benson makes me suspect that Barney’s sister Carly is not The Mother either. I would enjoy a multitude of connecting threads, so I would personally like it if The Mother was the missed date, and the bass player in the wedding band, and the girl from the St. Patrick’s Day party. I would LOVE feedback on all of this, so please feel free to lawyer me with your questions and comments.

Update as of 1/15/13: I was correct about the Carly Theory (Carly is NOT The Mother), but I didn’t for sure let it go until the episode descriptions and official name of Ashley Benson’s character was confirmed. So I can’t say that I always knew it was wrong :) I was correct about the wedding band theory (The Mother IS the bass player in the wedding band), and I still believe The Mother is also the missed date from “Milk” and/or the bump girl from “No Tomorrows”.

Update as of 5/16/13: I’m still really hoping that The Mother connects to Ted in one of aforementioned ways. I feel like it would add more excitement and importance to the story if she is not just the bass player, and his ex’s old roommate, and the owner of the yellow umbrella, but ALSO is the missed date, or the bump girl, or Hannah or even Tracy. We have months to go before season 9, but it’s pretty fun that these theories can still be in the running for now. 

Update as of 1/27/14: Welp, we have some more theories disproved. She isn’t the milk girl or the bump girl! But the show delivered exactly what I hoped for: meaningful near misses and encounters between Ted and The Mother. Now we’re left wondering what her name is, when they get married, and what the entire timeline of the relationship results in as of the “present” (2030). Things are looking up for the rest of season 9!

Showing us that Ted has seen The Mother before meeting her really breathes new life into some of these theories. I think it almost has to be at least one of these women, because otherwise I don’t know if I believe it’s truly the greatest love story ever. All of the umbrella moments and the connection via Cindy aren’t quite enough for me to feel satisfied that this entire saga is the most romantic story ever. But, we have to stay tuned to find out.

Finally, here are some articles that aren’t specifically about The Mother, but they do offer observations about HIMYM that you may not be able to find elsewhere. If anything they may spark your interest to do some sleuthing of your own! I’ve had so much fun writing them, and I hope you enjoy reading them.

• Ted always seems to encounter old ladies during pivotal moments in his relationships
• Color Theory in How I Met Your Mother, with an emphasis on yellow and purple
• All of the How I Met Your Mother Halloween costumes throughout the years
• Mrs. Erikson’s secret 7-layer salad recipe – make it today!
• 5 HIMYM theories that need to be put to rest
• Do bad weddings equal good marriages in the HIMYM world?
• 7 HIMYM mysteries solved in season 7
• 10 signs you’re a HIMYM super-fan
• A compilation of HIMYM music, including the infamous Get Psyched! Mix
• Fat jokes in HIMYM – how they add to and how they degrade the show
• Adding insult to injury with Patrice as Barney’s fake girlfriend

I came up with all of this from my own set of notes, compiled by my obsessive watching and rewatching of episodes, but I have to give credit to the HIMYM wiki page for “The Mother” and the Reddit Semi-Definitive “Mother” Checklist. I confirmed quite a bit of information by double checking these sites, and they continue to inspire me to seek out and analyze new theories. There is a ton of information at both sites and they are great refreshers for those that need it!

Did you enjoy the “How Your Mother Met Me”? The 200th episode of HIMYM delivered everything we had been hoping for and more! We got to see all the little near misses and chance encounters between Ted, The Mother, his friends, and her friends.

I’ve put together a timeline of their relationship below; it has so much more detail now than it did after episode 199! Some of the information here is based on my best guesses, but most is confirmed as show canon. I have noted potential errors and inconsistencies as applicable. 

• • 9/2005: Ted meets Robin at the MacLaren’s on the West Side, and The Mother celebrates her 21st birthday at the MacLaren’s on the East Side. The Mother’s boyfriend and first love of her life, Max, passes away. He leaves her a ukelele as a birthday gift.

• 9/2007:  On approximately September 24th, 2007, (air date) The Mother (umbrella in hand) walks by MacLaren’s.

• 3/2008: Ted and The Mother are both at the same St. Patrick’s Day* party (at a club called Low Point). They do not directly encounter each other, but Barney does hit on The Mother’s best friend. The Mother leaves with Mitch, aka The Naked Man, and forgets her umbrella at the club. She asks him over so she can donate her cello to his school. He tries TNM move on her but she is the 1 out 3 that it didn’t work on. Meanwhile, Ted makes out with a married lady, commits credit card fraud, and gets punched in the face. He returns the next day, seeking his lost cell phone, and finds the yellow umbrella instead.

• 9/2009: The Mother meets Cindy when they sit next to one another Economics 305 at Columbia University. When The Mother hears that Cindy doesn’t have a place to stay, she invites her to move in. Then, she sees Ted for the first time! It’s his first day as a teacher, and he thinks he is addressing the Architecture 101 class. Ted tells his shellfish joke and The Mother laughs. T-Dog embarrasses himself in front of the whole class before realizing he is in the wrong classroom. 

• 1/2010: Ted dates Cindy, who happens to be The Mother’s roommate. They break up when Cindy realizes Ted is mainly attracted to items in their apartment that belong to The Mother. Cindy is insecure because guys are always falling for The Mother. Ted forgets the yellow umbrella at their apartment, thus accidentally returning it to The Mother. Cindy kisses The Mother and realizes she is lesbian.

• 4/2012: The Mother meets Louis when he helps her carry band equipment to Darren’s van. He asks if he can buy her a drink, and they head to the West Side MacLaren’s. Louis mentions that the last time he was there, he thought the place was called Puzzles. The Mother gets the brilliance of a bar named Puzzles! Meanwhile, Barney and Lily fight and make up, and Ted picks up a chick whilst wearing a green dress. Later we discover that The Mother’s best friend fell for Barney’s “my penis grants wishes” play from the infamous Playbook. Louis and The Mother start dating.

• 5/18/13: Ted runs into Cindy and her wife on the train. He mentions that Barney and Robin need a wedding band, and Cindy suggests The Mother’s band! This is how The Mother ends up at the wedding and therefore meets Ted.

• 5/24/13: The Mother buys a ticket to Farhampton. She will be staying at Louis’ beach house for the wedding weekend. She meets Lily on the train, and they instantly bond!

• 5/25/13: The Mother receives an email showing that her band mate Darren (who has been overtaking the band for years now) placed an ad titled “Bass Player Wanted”. Furious, she heads to the bar for a drink and runs into Lily again. Lily suggests that The Mother steal Darren’s van, and then run over Marshall. Lily tells The Mother about her problems with Marshall. Later that evening The Mother steals the van, and then turns around to return it. She sees Marshall and Marvin and stops to pick them up. Marshall encourages The Mother to be aggressive and confront Darren. She returns to the bar, but does not get a chance to speak with him. Darren has also encountered – and angered – Ted and the gang,  which leads to Ted punching Darren in the face. The Mother and Ted still have not met, but she buys him a drink in thanks. The Mother returns to the beach house and finds Louis waiting with an engagement ring. She has a heartfelt moment where she speaks to her dead boyfriend, and feels that he has given her his blessing to move on. She says no to Louis, though, because the love wasn’t there. They break up and The Mother checks into the Farhampton Inn. She takes room 6, which was originally intended for Robin’s mother. Ted is in the room right next door. The Mother plays La Vie En Rose on the ukulele and Ted listens, intrigued, from the other side of the balcony.

• 5/26/13: Barney and Robin get married. The Mother plays bass at the reception. Ted sees her playing but does not talk to her there.

• 5/26/13: Ted meets The Mother at the Farhampton Train Station.

• 6/2013: Ted quits smoking, two weeks into dating The Mother. 

• 5/2014: Ted and The Mother return to Farhampton Inn, very much in love with each other. This is the one year anniversary of when they first met.

• 5/2014: Ted and The Mother conceive their first child while at the Farhampton Inn. (Speculation on my part but it makes sense, especially since Curtis at the front desk noted that countless babies have been conceived within the Inn’s walls)

• 2015: Baby girl Penny Mosby is born! (Likely late February 2015 based on potential late May 2014 conception date) (Her birth is confirmed but the exact date is unknown)

• 5/2015: Ted and The Mother return to Farhampton. Ted proposes atop the lighthouse! This is the second anniversary of when they first met.

• Spring/Summer 2015: Ted introduces his baby girl to Trilogy Time with Barney and Marshall. (We don’t know exactly when in 2015 Trilogy Time occurs, but in past years it has happened in the April-July time frame)

• Winter/2015: Lily and Marshall take Ted’s daughter to meet Santa Claus for the first time.

• May/2016: Baby boy Luke is conceived on their anniversary, at the Farhampton Inn. This timing makes sense because Luke arrives earlier than expected in 2017. The only way to make this timeline even slightly make sense with both the kids is for Luke to have been born in January of 2017. The writers may fudge it a little, though, so the conception date (and birthdate) are not yet confirmed.

• 2017: Ted, The Mother, and little Penny return to the Farhampton Inn for one last getaway before the second baby is born. He arrives a little earlier than expected… 

• 2017: Baby boy Luke Mosby is born!

• 2020: Ted and his wife, along with Marshall and Lily, attend the Wesleyan University 20 year reunion. 

• 4/2021: Ted runs into Wendy the Waitress at the airport, tells her about his wife & two kids. 

• 2030: Ted tells his kids the story of how he met their mother.

*Season 9 episode “How Your Mother Met Me” incorrectly titled the St. Patrick’s Day club scene as April of 2008. St. Patrick’s Day occurred on March 17th in 2008. The writers have confirmed that this was a mistake.

*Ted says that after The Mother and Louis got together, “for a couple years it was fine”. But if they met in April of 2012 and the wedding is in May of 2013 that is just one year. The writers have confirmed that this was a mistake.

Much of this information was originally compiled for this life of Ted Mosby post over at Ted-Mosby.com. I know my post title says this is the only Ted and The Mother timeline you need, but you should really check out the Ted timeline over there. It starts before Ted was born and gives you all the background info you could ever want! Also that blog is well-written and encourages plenty of fun HIMYM discussions and debates.

If this timeline doesn’t make sense to you, it is probably because of one or more of the following reasons:

1. You don’t think they would have a baby before Ted proposes

2. You don’t think they would have a baby before marriage

3. The baby does not look the right age in almost any of the scenes

If the timeline makes sense to you than you can stop reading here. But if it doesn’t, here’s a long explanation…

Regarding Penny…things get a bit confusing when we look at her scenes as a baby. The first image we see of her is the Trilogy Time moment. I’m not a doctor but I know babies, and this baby looks to be an infant, age approximately between 0-3 months old. This baby could be representing a newborn Penny, though, because newborn babies are rarely used in TV/movies. 

That makes sense for a conception date of late May 2014 (the anniversary of when Ted and The Mother met; we know they return to Farhampton that same week in May), a birthdate of late February 2015, and Trilogy Time sometime between April and June of 2015. The proposal fits neatly either right before or right after Trilogy Time.

Some fans feel that the proposal scene was not definitely two years later, because the scene was titled “Not 2 Years Later”. They think it makes more sense to view the scene as less than two years later. I think if they meant one year later they would have said one year later. Also, a moment later, Ted says to The Mother “why couldn’t it have been you here with me two years ago”. The two years ago in this sentence refers to May of 2014, when he was at the lighthouse with Cassie. 

Here’s a confusing twist – the same starred point from above:

Ted says that after The Mother and Louis got together, “for a couple years it was fine”. But if they met in April of 2012 and the wedding is in May of 2013, that is just one year. This is either a mistake or a purposeful demonstration of Ted as an unreliable narrator. By this logic the proposal scene that should be in 2015 could be another time but it is unlikely. For now I’m assuming the timeline established here is correct.

Some people are uncomfortable with the proposal occurring after the baby is born; we can delve into that a little further. The Mother does not appear pregnant in the scene, so it would either have to be set before she was pregnant, when she was in the early stages (first trimester perhaps), or after the baby is born.

To figure it out, let’s first assign a specific date to Trilogy Time. In prior episodes it has occurred between April and July of each third year. Let’s split the difference and say Trilogy Time occurs June 1st. If the baby were a newborn (just weeks old) as of this date, The Mother would have been clearly very pregnant as of the May 2015 proposal.

If the baby was born in 2014 she would look much bigger as of Trilogy Time, regardless of what exact month it is. And she would look like a one year old for the 2015 Santa trip. But she’s still clearly a baby in these scenes.

Before she was pregnant – not possible, because the baby is alive for Trilogy Time 2015

Early stages of pregnancy – still not possible if the baby is alive for Trilogy Time. If The Mother is so newly pregnant that she’s not showing as of May 2015, the baby can’t be born in time for spring/summer Trilogy Time 2015 and then be obviously older for the Santa visit in the winter of 2015.

Since the baby is alive for Trilogy Time in spring/summer of 2015, it seems that she was already born as of the proposal scene. Trilogy Time 2015 must have occurred around the same time, either shortly before or after this scene. Ted is wearing a wedding ring in the Trilogy Time 2015 scene, so that furthers confuses the matter. But, the show’s writers have tweeted to confirm the timeline IS correct and is not an error.

We next see baby Penny when Lily and Marshall babysit, and plan to take her to meet Santa. The whole idea is them getting revenge of Ted for taking over the moment when their baby Marvin first met Santa. So, this scene must be set at her first Christmas, in December of 2015.

It got a little tricky in the scenes from “Unpause”, which showed the moments before Luke was born in 2017. As of the night of Luke’s birth, Penny looks to be the wrong age. The timeline strongly indicates she is born in late 2014/early 2015, which would make her around two years old as of 2017.

The actual baby that played Penny is the second child of writer Carter Bays and wife Denise Cox Bays. Little Georgina was born in (approximately) August of 2012. This scene was shot in November, making the tiny actress just about 1 year and 3 months (15 months) old as of filming. Even if the night of Luke’s birth was January 1st, 2017, that still gives us a baby that was born in late 2015.

We know that Penny was born up to a full year prior to that, so it is confusing. At first the age discrepancy seemed like a mistake or a change in the timeline. But upon realizing it is the writer’s own child, it makes sense that would sacrifice a bit of age accuracy for such a special guest star cameo. (S7E20 “Trilogy Time”) (S9E15 “Unpause”)

We still don’t have a wedding date, though. For all we know, it could be a hasty shotgun wedding pre-Penny, and the later proposal is the romantic gesture that they didn’t have a chance for the first time around. My best guess is that the wedding occurred after the proposal, and that’s a large part of why Ted is telling this whole story.

His daughter could easily think, okay, mom and dad got pregnant with me and then they had to get married. Not much of a romantic story, and not much to tell. But then the reality is that they are star-crossed lovers who would have wed regardless! That’s a romantic twist to the story that I would love.

Greetings, mother lovers! The 200th episode of our beloved show has just passed, and I couldn’t be happier with it. FINALLY the writers delivered the heartfelt, thoughtful, and charming story that we have been missing so much throughout this season.

The episode opened with a special Mother themed intro, complete with pics of her and her friends. Apparently they hang out at the MacLaren’s on the East Side, whereas Ted et al hang out at the West Side MacLaren’s. Who knew there were two? We begin the show on the same night as the pilot episode, back in September of 2005. It’s The Mother’s 21st birthday, and she’s excited to see what amazing gift her boyfriend will deliver this year.

But then, the phone call. She thinks it’s him, and she chatters as she leaves the bar. Her face drops, and she responds to the caller “Yes, this is she”. We all know what that type of call means. Her beloved Max has died and she is heartbroken. He was her “The One” and now he’s gone. Needless to say, the episode had me in tears real quick.

Before we move on, it’s important to note that The Mother’s age means that the Milk theory is officially disproved. The theory posits that The Mother is the same missed date that the matchmaker found for Ted in the season one episode “Milk”. This date is said to be the same age as Ted, but The Mother is nearly six years younger than Ted. So the Milk theory is out the window!

Next up is St. Patrick’s Day 2008, when Ted and The Mother were at the same club at the same time. Before we move forward we need to talk about when that holiday actually happened. St. Patrick’s Day is traditionally on March 17th of each year, but in 2008 it was a little different. The date conflicted with the Catholic Holy Week, so things were shifted around. Some aspects were celebrated on March 15th, some on March 17th, and some on April 2nd. I believe the March celebrations were the religious ceremonies, and the April date was the fun St. Patrick’s Day when people partied. Apparently this happened once before, in 1940. This all explains why the scene is titled as “April 2008″ even though the holiday should have occurred in March.

Back to the club…The Mother’s best friend urges her to get out and dance, but The Mother resists. Her friend says “The love of your life could be on that dance floor, waiting for you to bump into him. If you’re not there he’s going to bump into someone else”. The Mother doubts that, but then we see the infamous (among fans) “bump girl” scene, where Ted does indeed bump into someone else. Note that this scene disproves the bump girl theory from the season three episode “No Tomorrow”.

The Mother bumps into someone else as well: Mitch, the Naked Man! She knows him as Mitch, her instructor from orchestra camp. (“This one time, at band camp…”) When he mentions his non-profit orchestra school, The Mother immediately insists that he take her cello as a donation. They go to her apartment to complete this innocent transaction…

Too bad Mitch doesn’t realize it’s supposed to be innocent. He goes for the total opposite and does his signature move, The Naked Man. It’s reputed to work 2 out of 3 times. The Mother is horrified, though, and she proves to be the one woman out of three that does not respond to his panache. So far the count for TNM is as follows:

• Mitch successfully uses the move on two different women: 2 out of 2
• Mitch tries the move on The Mother and it does not work: 2 out of 3
• Mitch remains in naked man mode when The Mother’s roommate/best friend comes in. Score: 3 out of 4!
• Mitch tries the move on Robin and it works: 4 out of 5

Four out of five is an even better average than two out of three! Meanwhile, back at the club, Barney hits on The Mother’s best friend by saying “Girl, I will shamrock your world”. It’s pretty much the best, but the scene was a little bittersweet because you can see how Neil Patrick Harris has aged since the original “No Tomorrow” episode. Nonetheless it was the perfect touch of a connection between the two groups of friends. Later the touch gets even more personal when we discover that the friend fell for Barney’s “my penis grants wishes” Playbook play.

Anyway, Mitch inspires The Mother to realize her dream, which is to end poverty. She decides to attend business school in pursuit of this goal. Before that, though, she returns to the club in pursuit of her lost umbrella. She couldn’t find it, because “by the next day some super inconsiderate person had taken my umbrella”.

The scene cuts to The Mother and Cindy, and we see that she has told this entire story to Cindy in response to the question “how did you get here”? Cindy was just asking for directions, but by this point they have already bonded. The Mother discovers that Cindy needs a place to stay, and invites her to move in. Cindy agrees, so long as there are no naked men in the living room. The Mother explains that she’s on a permanent hiatus from dating.

“I believe that each of us only gets one, and I got mine already”.

This quote is a lovely contrast to Ted’s perspective on finding The One. He thinks that he may have been to too many “lighthouses”, and missed his chance at The One, so he has little hope for love in his future. The Mother thinks she has already found and lost The One, so there’s no hope for love in her future. Little do they realize that their perfect match is oh so close. Of course Ted told his dorky dad shellfish joke to the class, and (wonder upon wonders!) The Mother laughed at it. She was basically the only one. I love how they included this moment to show us how they’re such a great match in so many little ways. This was one of those random deal breaker things that was important to Ted, so she has to laugh in order for us to feel that she is the right one for him. And she did :)

Next we see the breakup scene between Ted and Cindy again. After he leaves her place (and leaves the umbrella), The Mother and Cindy have a heart to heart. Cindy explains that Ted liked all of The Mother’s stuff, and The Mother scoffs at the idea. She says that he should have seen her calligraphy set, coin collection, and chainmail corset from the Renaissance faire. Yep, you guessed it, she pronounces “Renaissance” just like Ted does! Of course we can’t forget that Ted also loves calligraphy and coins. Looks like he has a date to next year’s Coin Con after all!

Now we jump ahead to after Cindy has met her future wife and moved out. The Mother places an ad seeking a roommate, but is contacted by the evil Darren. He seems normal at this point, so she invites him to sing with the band some time. Little does she know that this opens the door for Darren to overtake her band. By April of 2012 he has assumed ownership and is treating The Mother like crap. We see her hauling her bass and amp to the van after a show.

This scene immediately made me think of Robin. She is a pretty skilled roadie herself, after her time dating Simon of The Foreskins. I liked seeing how both Robin and The Mother were doing the same task for basically the same reason: a self involved jerk took advantage. This is the moment when The Mother meets her last boyfriend before Ted – a finance guy named Louis. I was so focused on the parallel to Robin’s life that I half expected Louis to tell The Mother that he just bought a jacuzz with Louise Marsh!

Louis asks The Mother out for a drink, and they end up at the West Side MacLaren’s. Louis mentions that the last time he was here he thought the place was named Puzzles. We didn’t know that Louis was at Puzzles, but there’s another connection for you. The Mother questions why a bar would be named Puzzles, and then realizes that’s the puzzle. She totally gets how awesome it is! Hooray! Next Louis asks her to dinner, but The Mother is hesitant.

She explains that “I was in love with somebody a long time ago, and he died”. Then she elaborates with a lottery ticket analogy. She explains that she won the lotto the first time she bought a ticket, and she can’t imagine ever winning again. Louis understands but gives her his card. She ends up going to dinner with him, and they become a couple.

This is titled as set in April of 2012, but then Narrator Ted says they dated and “for a couple years it was fine”. This doesn’t make sense, because The Mother meets Ted just one year later. I think that was just a small error but with these writers who knows. They could have more confusing tricks up their sleeve but I don’t think this is one of them. We see The Mother making her English muffin sing a show tune, and Louis responds with a brief laugh. He is clearly not that impressed, and we can see on The Mother’s face that she knows he isn’t the one. As Narrator Ted says, “It just wasn’t love”.

Now we’re caught up to present day in the world of HIMYM, which at this point is May 2013. The Mother is staying at Louis’ beach house for the wedding weekend. and she is taking cookies out of the oven when she gets an email. It’s the “Bass Player Wanted” ad, and she is pissed. We see a recap of her talking to Lily, picking up Marshall and Marvin, seeing Darren get punched out, and buying Ted a drink. It’s a happy scene, because we see how they are just thisclose to meeting but not quite there yet.

When The Mother returns to the beach house, Louis is waiting. With an engagement ring. Don’t get your hopes up about learning her name, though, because it still isn’t happening. How many engagements is this chick gonna have before someone says her damn name?! She kind of panics, and says she needs to talk to someone first.

Here comes yet another emotional scene in this episode. The Mother holds on to the porch post and talks to Max, who she believes is in heaven, playing baseball with his dad. Cristin perfectly delivers this tender and touching monologue. She tells Max “I think that I have been holding myself back from falling in love again, and I think it’s because I can’t let you go. But you’re not here anymore so I have to ask this – would it be okay if I moved on”?

A sudden gust of wind blows across The Mother, and she takes that as a yes from Max. She is no longer broken, but she’s not totally healed. I saw her as a beautiful doll that has been shattered into pieces and then carefully glued back together again. She’s whole, but fragile and damaged. When she returns to Louis, she declines his proposal. We can all feel in our hearts that this is the right choice. The love simply isn’t there.

It’s also very obvious that The Mother was protecting herself from love by dating Louis. He was a way for her to remain unavailable, and a way for her to avoid dealing with any emotional issues. He could never and would never capture her heart, and so she knew that she was safe (albeit sheltered) by being with him. That type of relationship – the safe kind that isn’t really right, but isn’t quite wrong – is SO hard to leave. Seeing The Mother crying as she walked out the door really tugged at my heart. Again, she played the scene beautifully, and with a very subtle hand.

The Mother needs a place to stay, so she heads to the Farhampton Inn. Curtis at the front desk notes that they have one open room – the one that was reserved for Robin’s mother, who didn’t show up. The Mother spills about the breakup, and Curtis hands her the key, saying “I think room six is the room for you”. It just so happens to be the room right next door to Ted’s, and you know Curtis couldn’t be happier. I seriously think this is the best thing that has happened to Curtis in years. He was SO STRESSED about single Ted and now he gets to save the day.

Here’s where I basically just lost it emotionally…The Mother takes out her ukulele and sits out on the balcony. She plucks at the banjo and performs a wistful, pained, but ultimately hopeful version of La Vie En Rose. Ted sits on the other side of the balcony, enjoying the song and wondering about the singer. Narrator Ted tells us that he has heard her sing this song so many times – particularly when she was tucking the kids into bed – but this time was his favorite.

With that, we wrap up this amazingly brief yet detailed episode of Ted and The Mother close encounters. The last moments show us each of the characters in these late night moments before the wedding. Marshall is crying because Lily has left. Lily is a wreck, riding away in the back of a car. Robin seems pensive, and Barney is cuddling his bottle of scotch. Ted returns to the room, telling Barney about the beautiful singing he just heard. But Barney has disappeared from his bed…

This obviously paves the way for more plot in episodes to come, and I think it makes sense given the story trajectory. It will be interesting to see if Barney left for a good reason (joining Robin in bed, just like how Lily and Marshall can’t sleep apart?), a bad reason (panic and cold feet?), or a stupid reason (some pointless sleepwalking schtick or dream sequence crap).

Now that we’ve seen so much of the past, I’m ready to see those big moments from Ted and The Mother’s future together. I can’t wait to see them get married, have Penny and Luke, and settle into everyday life with each other. Ross from Ted-Mosby.com texted me after the show and it said it could pretty much end right here and people would be satisfied. I completely agree, with the exception of this Barney out of bed business. But in terms of Ted and The Mother, this episode came through with classic HIMYM quality.

The nuances of Ted’s happily ever after are so much more complicated than we first thought, and that’s a good thing. There are so many slapstick moments in this show, but at heart it has situations and emotions that are real. Giving Ted and The Mother a complicated story, instead of simple and traditional one, is the perfect way to close out this near decade long adventure.

Devoted fans of any show are sure to catch little moments where things just don’t quite line up right. HIMYM fans are no different, and there are a fair amount of conflicting plot points throughout the past nine seasons. Here’s a complete list of everything I’ve observed, plus everything I’ve been able to find online. If you know of something that’s missing from the list, post it in the comments so I can update accordingly!

The big ones:

• Barney & Robin’s wedding date
• Penny’s age
• Proposal date
• St. Patrick’s Day 2008

The ones you always hear about:

• Marshall & fighting
• Lily & Marshall sharing a toothbrush
• Robin & team sports
• The Hot/Crazy scale
• The actor who plays Tom
• Robin & nicknames
• Barney’s ability to drive
• Barney & bad pictures

The other ones:

• Ted & Natalie
• Marshall & painkillers
• Robin & strip clubs
• Barney & cooking naked
• Ted & Trudy
• Ted & vomiting
• Robin & guns
• Lily & Marshall’s song
• Lily’s dog allergy
• “Grinch”
• Barney’s first time
• Barney & funeral attire
• Robin’s aunt’s lover’s name
• Lily’s dad and the wedding
• Barney & the belt
• Marshall’s family at the wedding
• Canada’s tallest mountain
• Everyone’s spoiler alerts
• Simon’s band name
• Marshall & winking
• Robin & girl friends
• Barney & challenges
• The Mother & Louis

THE BIG ONES

Barney & Robin’s wedding date:

In S8E13 “Band or DJ?”, Ted specifically says that the wedding date is May 25th, 2013. That puts the wedding on a Saturday. But the first episode of season nine (S9E1 “The Locket”) opens with a title of Friday, 11 am, 55 hours before the wedding. That means that the wedding must be on Sunday, May 26th. This Sunday date has held true thoughout the entire season, so it is clear that the season 8 date is a mistake.

Proposal Date:

At the end of S9E8 “The Lighthouse”, we see Ted at the Farhampton lighthouse with a girl named Cassie. This scene is in May 2013, as he meets her right before Barney and Robin’s wedding. Next comes a scene that is titled “Not 2 Years Later”, putting us at May 2015. Ted is at the lighthouse with The Mother, and he says “why couldn’t it have been you here with me two years ago?” This confirms that the proposal date is two years after Barney and Robin’s wedding, and therefore in May 2015.

A proposal date of May 2015, however, means that baby Penny was certainly conceived and almost certainly born before Ted proposed. This has been hard for some fans, because it seems like such a deviation from the traditional love story that Ted is seeking. But this isn’t a traditional love story, and the timeline has been confirmed as correct:

THE ONES YOU ALWAYS HEAR ABOUT

Marshall’s history with fights:

In S1E3 “Sweet Taste of Liberty”, Marshall challenges a guy that he thinks is hitting on Lily. The guy is gay, and Marshall expresses his relief by saying “Oh thank God, I’ve never been in a fight before”. The gay guy’s boyfriend then punches Marshall out.

In S4E10 “The Fight”, however, Marshall repeatedly states that he has been in plenty of fights with his brothers. The gang laughs this off, because they image the Eriksen boys play fighting gently with multiple breaks for hot cocoa. At the end of the episode, Marshall punches the bartender that’s about to punch Ted. Doug the bartender goes down, because Marshall can actually hold his own. We see a flashback to the real fights between the Eriksen brothers, and they’re pretty brutal. How brutal? Well, the background music for these scenes is the infamous “Murder Train” by the Foreskins, and it’s totally appropriate for the WWE style, furniture breaking, balls to the wall, Fight Club worthy scene.

Marshall and Lily sharing a toothbrush:

In S5E14 “Perfect Week”, Lily and Marshall confess to both sharing a single toothbrush. Ted realizes that he has also been using this toothbrush, and thus Robin realizes that she used it as well when her and Ted were dating. Everyone is revolted. Lily and Marshall seem to have thought this was normal, but they realize it’s totally weird.

BUT in S1E14 “Zip Zip Zip”, we see Lily and Marshall brushing their teeth at the same time, using different toothbrushes.

Robin and team sports:

In S1E6 “Slutty Pumpkin”, Robin says she never played team sports.

BUT in S1E20 “Best Prom Ever”, Robin says she missed her high school prom because she had a field hockey game. Field hockey is a team sport. Also, in S4E6 “Happily Ever After”, we see a flashback to Robin kissing one of her male (ice?) hockey teammates. I believe Robin was the only girl on that team, but her father didn’t truly accept that he had a daughter until this moment. He had been treating her as a son ever since she was born and he named her Robin Charles Scherbatsky Senior.

The Hot/Crazy scale:

In S3E5 “How I Met Everyone Else” Barney explains the Hot/Crazy scale, aka the Vickie Mendoza diagonal. “When Barney is explaining the Vicky Mendoza Diagonal, he gets his axes wrong. He implies that her stabbing him with a fork made her less hot, rather than more crazy, and that the boob job made her less crazy, rather than more hot. In fact, it would actually go right, up and then right again.” (It was too complicated for me to explain – thanks to the HIMYM wiki for this summary)

The actor who plays Tom:

In S2E10 “Single Stamina”, Barney sees a picture on his brother James’ phone. The picture is of James and Tom, the man he is engaged to. Tom is a white guy.

BUT in S7E11 “The Rebound Girl”, we see Tom in person. In this episode he is played by a totally different guy that doesn’t look anything like original white guy Tom. Here, Tom is played by Jai Rodriguez. Now Tom is not a white guy.

Robin and nicknames:

In S5E6 “Bagpipes”, Ted knows that something is amiss with Barney and Robin because they are using cutesy nicknames. Ted recalls that Robin hated such nicknames when they were dating, and she didn’t let him get away with calling her “Robsie Wobsie” and “Schebs”. She also does not let Ted call himself “T-Moz”.

BUT in S2E1 “Where Were We”, Robin calls Ted “Teddy Bear”. Further down the road, in S9E3 “Last Time in New York”, Robin and Barney refer to each other as “R-Train” and “B-Nasty”, respectively. I suspect this is just something about Ted that bugged Robin, but doesn’t necessarily bother her with her other people. Or, her and Barney just love one another so much that they have in some ways become that couple that uses cheesy nicknames.

Barney’s ability to drive:

In S2E17 “Arrivederci, Fiero”, Barney reveals that he hates Marshall’s Fiero. We see a flashback to Ted realizing that Barney doesn’t know how to drive, and attempting to teach him using Marshall’s car. The lesson does not go well, and at the end Barney still seems to lack the ability to drive more than 1 MPH.

BUT there are several earlier episodes that seem to indicate Barney’s ability to drive. In S1E22 “Come On”, Barney mentions having sex with Penelope two times in his car. This does not necessarily mean that he could drive then, though, and even owning the car may have been another Barney lie in an effort to get laid. In S4E11 “Little Minnesota”, we see a flashback to Barney driving Ted’s mom to the airport. This flashback is supposed to have occured right after S2E3 “Brunch”, which obviously aired before the Fiero episode. We also see him driving in S2E18 “Moving Day”, S4E23 “As Fast As She Can”, and S5E24 “Doppelgangers”.

Barney and bad pictures:

In S5E18 “Say Cheese”, we discover that Barney (supposedly) never takes a bad picture. Robin is repeatedly shown attempting to trick him into a bad pose or expression, but the picture always comes out flawless. Barney is also always in the same pose in every picture.

BUT starting in S1E2 “Purple Giraffe” we see the opening montage featuring photos of the gang. Barney is show in different positions and even looking really akward and unattractive in one. This is further disproved in S3E14 “The Bracket”, where Lily takes photos of Barney for her scrapbook of his misadventures. She is able to get pictures of him being beat up and of him running away; neither of those fit with his usual pose/expression.

Ted and Natalie’s dating history:

In S1E4 “Return of the Shirt”, Ted talks about a girl from his past – Natalie. He explains that they dated three years ago and he broke up with her on her birthday. Ted and Natalie are both very clear in this episode that they haven’t seen eachother in three years. This episode shows us Ted dating her for three weeks and then breaking up with her on her birthday AGAIN. This episode aired in October of 2005, so he should have originally broken up with her in October of 2002, and not seen her since.

BUT in S5E18 “Say Cheese”, we see a flashback to Marshall comforting Natalie after Ted has broken up with her.  This memory is labeled February of 2005. This conflicts with Ted not seeing her for 3 years. Also, in S6E23 “Landmarks”, we see a series of undated flashbacks showing Ted getting back with his exes for stupid reasons. In one scene he runs out of whipped cream and then calls Natalie and asks if she wants to get back together. It is noted that they date for another three months. My best guess is that this moment is supposed to have occured in December of 2004, leading to the breakup in February of 2005. It could have happened after “Return of the Shirt” (10/2005) but they do mention in that episode that Natalie is married within a year. So it would have had to have happened between November of 2005 and November of 2006. The earlier time frame makes more sense given the dated flashback of them breaking up.

Marshall taking painkillers:

In S1E5 “Okay Awesome”, Marshall asks Barney for aspirin to ease his dental pain. Barney advises asking people in the bathroom, and Marshall emerges later under the influence of some unnamed drug. He then dances in a truly spectacular fashion:

BUT in S2E15 “Lucky Penny”, Marshall says he doesn’t believe in painkillers. This one isn’t as confusing as some others – it’s easy to imagine Marshall making an exception if he’s suffering from intense tooth pain.

Lily peeing in front of Marshall:

In S1E14 “Zip Zip Zip”, Lily and Marshall talk about how they have never peed in front of one another.

BUT in S1E16 “Slutty Pumpkin”, Marshall has to take Lily to the bathroom because her costume is so complicated. Technically he could have helped her get out of it without seeing her pee, but it seemed to imply that he was there for the actual peeing. This is another one of those small technicalities that could be easily explained.

Robin and strip clubs:

In S1E9 “Belly Full of Turkey”, Robin ends up spending American Thanksgiving at the Lusty Leopard with Ted and Barney. At the time she seems fine with being in a strip club and appears to be enjoying herself.

BUT in S5E2 “Double Date”, Robin is angry at Barney for going to a strip club. This may be just because they are dating, and it’s entirely different to go to a strip club with your guy friends versus your boyfriend going to a strip club without you.

Barney and cooking naked:

Also in S1E9 “Belly Full of Turkey”, Marshall warns Ted that Barney cooks naked and is thus not a good prospect for a replacement roommate.

BUT in S2E5 “World’s Greatest Couple”, Barney shows Lily that he does not actually keep any food in his kitchen at all. Later, in S6E10 “Blitzgiving”, we see that Barney’s stove and oven are actually just cardboard displays. It is worth noting that Barney has clearly sustained himself in some manner throughout the years, so any/all of this could be more of Barney’s lies.

Ted and Trudy’s history:

We first meet Trudy in S1E10 “The Pineapple Incident”. Ted has a one night stand with her and she sneaks out via the fire escape the next morning. In this episode, Future Ted says the he left her a message, but she never called back.

BUT in S3E3 “Third Wheel”, Ted meets up with Trudy again. He says that he was going to call her, but he was too embarassed. So it is unclear whether Ted ever called her after the night of The Pineapple Incident.

Ted’s vomiting history:

In S1E10 “The Pineapple Incident”, Ted proclaims that he is “vomit free since ’93!”

BUT in S1E10 “Game Night”, we discover that Ted “re-returned” and vomited on Robin’s doormat as of the pilot episode (set in September of 2005). This does not really count as a continuity error since Ted is called on his lie and the group addresses the discrepancy.

Robin and guns:

In S1E11 “The Limo”, Robin is visibly afraid of Not Moby’s gun.

BUT in S2E1 “Where Were We”, we discover that Robin is quite the gun enthusiast. She takes Marshall to the gun range to help him get over his depression from missing Lily. She also wears a necklace with a gun shaped pendant. In S2E4 “Ted Mosby: Architect” we learn that Robin usually carries a gun in her purse. In S2E18 “Moving Day” we learn that Robin has a subscription to Guns & Ammo magazine. There are many references throughout the series to Robin’s mastery of guns and her enthusiasm for them.

This isn’t really an error, but a possible character conflict. Season 2 and beyond Robin is the type of person that, when a person pulls a gun on her, would likely pull her own gun out in return. She would then proceed to either discuss how awesome guns are, or stand her ground against someone actually trying to hurt her.

With all that being said, Not Moby was a frightening character and you really can’t blame Robin for being taken aback.

Lily and Marshall’s song:

In S1E17 “Life Among the Gorillas”, Lily and Marshall say that “their song” is “I Got You Babe” by Sonny and Cher.

BUT in S1E20 “Best Prom Ever”, Lily says that her and Marshall’s song is “Good Feeling” by the Violent Femmes. This is easily explained though – they have one song that they always do for karaoke, and one song that is their actual song from the day they met.

Lily’s dog allergy:

In S2E5 “World’s Greatest Couple”, Lily says can’t stay with Robin because she’s allergic to dogs, and Robin (at this point) has five dogs living with her.

BUT in S2E2 “The Scorpion and the Toad”, Lily spends time in Robin’s apartment, with the dogs present. She does not show any signs of having problems with allergies. Lily not having anywhere else to stay is the basis for the entire plot of “World’s Greatest Couple”, so the writers must have felt this was the easiest explanation. Lily is also shown petting Robin’s dogs in S2E6 “Aldrin Justice”.

In real life, actor Josh Radnor (who plays Ted) is actually allergic to dogs. Paramedics were called in during the filming of S2E16 “Stuff”, because Josh Radnor had a severe allergic reaction to the dogs in that episode.

“Grinch”:

In S2E11 “How Lily Stole Christmas”, we hear an old answering machine message where Ted refers to Lily as being a “grinch”. This was after she broke up with Marshall and went to San Francisco, so it makes sense that Ted would not be feeling positively towards her at all. Future Ted says that he didn’t actually say “grinch”, but instead said “a bad word. A very, very bad word”. Most people think that “grinch” is a substitute for the word “bitch”. The show creators, Craig Thomas and Carter Bays, have said that this was based on a real world incident and the word was actually “bitch”. The CBS website also used to have a glossary, which defined “grinch” as “bitch”.

BUT the word “bitch” is frequently used throughout the series, including many times by Lily herself. One of her catchphrases is even to say “youuuuu sonofabitch!” when she is angry at someone. This, combined with the random girl’s extreme reaction when she walked by and overheard the word, have led many to believe that “grinch” is actually a stand-in for the C-word. Lily also calls Ted’s mom to tell on him, and Ted’s mom then called him to lecture him about using “that word”. There is obviously a difference between calling someone a bitch jokingly and having one of your best friends specifically say that you are a bitch. But, when everything is considering, it really seems that “grinch” = C word in the world of HIMYM.

Barney’s first time:

In S2E12 “First Time in New York”, Barney reveals that his first time was with his mom’s friend Rhonda. He was 23, she was 45, and she called him “Barry” the whole time. He says “for two weeks my comforter smelled like menthol cigarettes”.

BUT in S3E10 “The Yips” we see a flashback to Barney losing his virginity, and the big moment occured at Rhonda’s house. Barney’s sheets on his own bed should not have smelled like Rhonda, since they didn’t have sex on them. The only possible explanation is that Rhonda’s menthol cigarette scent was so pervasive that it got all over Barney and then rubbed off onto his sheets. That is gross.

Barney’s funeral attire:

In S2E14 “Monday Night Football”, Barney says that he does not wear suits to funerals. He feels that suits are for joyous occasions.

BUT in S6E14 “Last Words”, Barney wears a suit to Marshall’s dad’s funeral.

Robin’s aunt’s lover’s name:

In S2E16 “Stuff”, Robin says that she has sent her dogs to live upstate with her aunt and her aunt’s live in “friend” named Betty. At this point Robin does not realize that her aunt and Betty are a lesbian couple.

BUT in S8E5 “The Autumn of Breakups”, Robin mentions her aunt again, but this time says her long term partner is named Maureen. This is the moment when Robin realizes that her aunt and Maureen (who may or may not be the same person as Betty) are lesbians. Both episodes seem to imply that this is a long term, commited relationship, but it is entirely possible that the aunt broke up with Betty and got together with Maureen at some point in between.

Lily’s dad and the wedding:

In S2E18 “Moving Day”, Lily responds to a joke and says that her dad isn’t going to pay for a second wedding.

BUT in S5E9 “Slapsgiving  2: Revenge of the Slap” we learn that Lily and her dad aren’t close at all. He wasn’t even invited to the wedding. Beyond that, he is constantly having financial problems due to his unsuccesful board game company, so it’s unlikely he could have paid for the wedding regardless.

Barney and the belt:

In S2E19 “Bachelor Party”, Barney says he has been in a “ten-way”.

BUT in S3E3 “Third Wheel” Barney confesses to having panicked right before a potential three-way. He has not earned the belt yet (the established prize for whoever “rides the tricycle” first), which would imply that he lied about the ten-way. This is completely plausable, because Barney lies all the time. However, it is worth noting that a three-way is probably much more intimidating than a ten-way. In the former, Barney would have been solely responsible for pleasuring two women. In the latter, there are enough people involved that the pressure wouldn’t have all been on him.

Marshall’s family at the wedding:

In S2E21 “Something Borrowed” and S2E22 “Something Blue” we see Marshall and Lily’s wedding day. We don’t actually see any of Marshall’s family, though, despite being introduced to his immediate family in S1E9 “Belly Full of Turkey”.

Canada’s tallest mountain:

In S3E7 “Dowisetrepla” Robin says that Lily has a pile of debt the size of Mount Waddington. She says this is the tallest mountain in Canada, but that honor actually goes to Mount Logan. Mount Waddington is the seond highest in British Columbia, and the 17th highest in the country.

Everyone’s spoiler alerts:

We learn about everyone’s particular “spoiler alert” habits that the other’s dislike in S3E8 “Spoiler Alert”. Some are well documented throughout the series – we have seen Ted correcting people, Marshall singing made up songs, Robin saying “literally” incorrectly, and Barney spacing out/using a weird high pitched voice/using corny catchphrases. Despite this, we have not heard Lily’s supposed loud chewing in any episode before or after. I personally don’t care because this is my favorite episode and I think it is possibly the funniest in the entire series.

Simon’s band’s name:

In S3E16 “Sandcastles in the Sand”, we learn that Robin’s ex-boyfriend had a band called The Foreskins. When she reunites with him, and the gang meets him, Ted jokingly asks why they named their band that. Simon seems to be serious when he replies that there were four of them, and they played without shirts. But, if that was the real reason, the band name would be The Four Skins.

We see band flyers in the flashbacks – and the Murder Train song credits when Robin is on air – that show the name is in fact The Foreskins. So basically this is just Simon being a dick to Ted.

Marshall and winking:

In S6E13 “Legendaddy”, Marshall encourages the gang to tell him about his shortcomings. He feels that they have been holding back since the death of his father, and he wants things to get back to normal. Among others on the list is that Marshall cannot wink.

BUT in S2E8 “Atlantic City” we see Marshall winking at Ted and Barney.

Robin and girl friends:

In S9E4 “The Broken Code” Lily says that Robin doesn’t have any girlfriends.

BUT in S1E1 “Pilot”, S1E14 “Zip Zip Zip”, S4E8 “Woooo!”, S6E9 “Glitter”, and S6E16 “Desperation Day” we see Robin with various female friends.

Barney & challenges:

In S9E9 “Platonish”, we see a flashback where Lily accuses Barney of only ever doing his own challenges. We have seen many instances, though, where Barney does in fact accept other’s challenges. The most notable one is in S4E19 “Murtaugh”. Ted has a list of things that they are all too old to do, and Barney takes that as a personal challenge.

We also see Barney as an old man picking up a woman in S4E4 “Intervention”.

It is true, though, that Barney’s challenges tend to be inspired by others, but not actually assigned by them. Barney often makes a challenge out of something that no one intended, expected, or even wants to see.

The Mother & Louis:

In S9E16 “How Your Mother Met Me”. we learn about The Mother’s relationship with Louis, her last boyfriend before Ted. We see them meet in a scene titled April of 2012, but then Narrator Ted says they dated and “for a couple years it was fine”. This doesn’t make sense, because The Mother meets Ted just one year later. I think that was just a small error but with these writers who knows. They could have more confusing tricks up their sleeve but I don’t think this is one of them.

HIMYM creators Craig Thomas and Carter Bays hosted a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) recently. The page ended up with over 10,000 comments, so we’ve compiled some of the most interesting information for you right here! There are many spoiler details ahead, so please consider yourself warned…

I think we should get to the good stuff right away. I’m going to start off with the content regarding this season so far and what is to come. After that we can jump back to general questions, details on casting and characters, symbolism, etc.

Here’s a cheat sheet if you’re not up for reading everything:

• THERE IS A PLOT TWIST AT THE END
• They fix continuity errors before airing re-runs on syndication.
• They try to avoid reading fan theories, and they aren’t familiar with the HIMYM subreddit.
• They won’t comment on “the mother is dead” theories.
• We will see Robin as a bullfighter.
• “The Robin” is their favorite play.
• We may discover the secret of the pineapple!
• We will discover The Mother’s name!
• Yes, Penny’s name came from the episode “Lucky Penny”, and Luke’s name came from Star Wars.
• There is more Robin Sparkles in our future!
• The end of this story has been planned since the very beginning.
• The writers want the show’s finale to convey a sense of hope.
• They decided that Barney and Robin would get married sometime between seasons 5 and 6. 
• There will be flash forwards aplenty, and we will see the whole gang (including The Mother) together in the future.

Okay gang, let’s get to it! To make things easier, I’ve put the Redditor name in green, Carter Bays in blue, and Craig Thomas in red.

From here on out all of my commentary is in italics.

Casualfred: What’s your reaction to the reception of season 9? The general consensus (General Consensus), both on Reddit and other social media sites, is that half has been really bad filler, and the other half has been amazing, notably the episodes with the mother in them.

Thomas: First of all, I love that you did “General Consensus.” I think that reference is a bit of a sleeper hit through HIMYM and that maybe we could’ve done it even more (considering that we basically all can’t stop doing it around the office…it’s based on a couple friends of ours who used to do that all the time in college).

Thomas: Season 9 asked our audience to come on a bit of a different journey this year…we’re thrilled they came…much like Barney’s “Get psyched” mix, we wanted S9 to be “all rise.”

What we can anticipate throughout the rest of season 9:

marucat: The lack of MacLaren’s Pub in this season is kinda sad as the pub is where everything happens in the past seasons. There’s only 8 episodes left, will we see more of it?

Thomas: Yes! I’m writing a scene in there right now, actually! (One of the last, I guess…wow, I just made myself really sad…hang on…aaaaaaaaaand I’m back!)

princesstepha: Are there any story lines for any of the characters that you haven’t pursued but wish you had?

Bays: I want to know more about Ranjit’s life. We might get a little glimpse in a further episode, but he’s still such a mystery…

gabbs131: Will Robin’s mom make it to the wedding?

Bays: I can’t say.

CaraCompass: Will there be more singing and dancing before HIMYM’s final bow?

Bays: Of course.

boone95: Will there be another Robin Sparkles before the end?

Thomas: Stay tuned…people do tend to sing at weddings…

thearoy: can we expect another robin sparkles song?

Bays: Maybe not a song, but a performance isn’t out of the question.

LT711: Will we get to hear Murder Train again before the show ends? One of my favorite running gags.

Thomas: I’m pretty sure “Murder Train” will be the final song on the series, yes.

Beparmurma: Please, what happen with Scooter? some day he’ll have wife? Or husband? I don’t want he’s alone because is so cute.

Thomas: You may not have seen the last of Scooter…

mkteagle: Hi guys, have you considering showing Bob Saget and the older version of the mother in the series finale?

Bays: Stay tuned…

gokussr4: Will you be filming any scenes with the actors that play the kids at their current ages that are canon?

Bays: Can’t say.

TristinSchmilioti: Are we going to see a year-2030 version (or beyond) of the six main casts in flashforwards?

Thomas: Good question — we will see more and more flash-forwards in the remaining 8 episodes. There’s an episode called “RALLY” coming up in a few weeks where we do a whole bunch — everyone gets a flash forward peek into the near and far future…

TristinSchmilioti: Will we see the Mother physically interact with year-2030 Luke and Penny?

Thomas: Stay tuned!

Idr2013: Any other Flashfowards or backs planned for the next few episodes

Bays: TONS!

KaBoom752: Do we see flash-forwards of the ENTIRE gang (With The Mother of course) at say a holiday get together or even at MacClarens?

Bays: Yes, we’ll definitely get to see the entire gang with the Mother. We’re very much looking forward to that moment.

Some quick and dirty details on the very last episode:

gokussr4: Is there ANY sort of twist that exists at the end?

Bays: Yes.

devilsnj30: Is the finale, Episodes 23 and 24 combined for one hour?

Thomas: Yes!

Sharpam: Am I going to cry during the series finale?

Bays: You might cry a few times in the next two months.

Thomas: If we do our job correctly, yes.

Questions about continuity popped up several times, and I thought the responses were really interesting. It is very easy to assume that they have it perfected, but it’s also easy to believe that they don’t try very hard. I mean, the show has amazing continuity but also glaring mistakes. Here’s what Craig and Carter had to say about it:

gokussr4: How do you guys abide by continuity? Many people are critical of it, which is why I ask.

Bays: We have copious notes, we search scripts for keywords, we have a few writers who have been here from the start and are very smart and have encyclopedic memories. And also sometimes we’ll go on twitter to make sure we’re not contradicting ourselves. Beyond that, we just do our best. As you can imagine, it’s not easy!

AngelWoosh: The continuity is amazing in himym. Is it a pain to get everything right? And how do you do it!

Thomas: We work on it really hard. And then occasionally just mess up colossally! But when we do, we often go back and fix it before it reruns again…look for that, America, in repeats!!!

peepay: Can you give any example of when you messed up and fixed it after airing?

Bays: There’s a few little mistakes in the 200th episode that we’re going to fix for future airings. The “couple of years” thing is being changed, and the St. Patrick’s Day in April thing… man… that one was all me. Total blind spot. The fact that St. Patricks day is in March and not April was, if I may borrow the HIMYM term, my chameleon.

Thomas: Another dumb thing we did was conflating mariachis (typically Mexican) with Ted’s college trip to Spain. A bunch of our Spanish and Mexican fans said, “Hey, don’t put those two together!” So we went back in and fixed that. Another moment of unintended offense, but all done out of ignorance, not malice! It’s nice when you can fix these things. In future repeats, Ted will be on a college backpack tour of Mexico, not Spain!

kaystina: One of the things I love best about HIMYM is the fact that you always seem to tie up loose ends and are always connecting events from one episode to a later one. How do you keep track of all these little continuity details during the show?

Thomas: We have a google doc called “Loose Ends” that we check and update; our writers’ assistants do something similar. These last few eps will wrap up A LOT of loose ends!

People were also curious as to whether the writers delve into the fan forums and theories:

gokussr4: What do you think of what people post on r/himym?

Bays: I have to confess, I don’t read it!

longlineof: And are there any plot ideas that are “borrowed” from fan theories?

Bays: Nope. Never. We try not to read fan theories.

ncljdm: Do you guys browse through /r/himym?

Bays: I didn’t know it existed until right now. Should I look? Will it totally bum me out? I try to avoid that stuff for the most part.

mariedl: Did you know about the very active How i met your mother subreddit (www.reddit.com/r/himym) and their theories? Because it sometimes seemed you knew what the hivemind’s theories were (e.g. the Barney’s sister is the mother theory) and actively showed the audience that you knew what was going on!

Bays: I have to confess I hadn’t heard of it until today!

arielmeme: How do you feel about all the “the mother is dead” theories?

Bays: We like all theories. It’s really cool knowing people are invested enough to have theories about the show. Obviously we’re not going to comment on it, but we very much appreciate and are grateful for the fact that our show is meriting so much discussion.

Thomas: Agreed — we invite, and are honored by, all possible theories!

Several loose ends were addressed in this AMA. Some involved mysteries that are still at large, and others questioned how prior loose ends were resolved:

thekotoz: I just hope you guys have not forgotten about Robin’s bullfighting career.

Bays: No, we have not forgotten.

Ricardo2409: In an episode you mentioned that Robin even became a Bull Fighter, what are you doing about it?

Thomas: Stay tuned — we will get to it! We haven’t forgotten! And by the way now that I think about it — Cobie Smulders as a bull fighter? Hello next TV project!!

carmelthunder31: I was wondering what your initial intentions were for “bump girl” and if her scene was simply just a red herring that fit in with the 200th episode all along?

Bays: Oh the intentions were 100% to get people talking. It was too exciting a situation — having Ted and the Mother in the same place — not to do something like that. I don’t know if we knew at the time if it was a red herring or not. It just was what it was. I’m glad we got to go back and acknowledge it years later.

TheHugeBastard: Why did you tell us Barney’s job? I’m so sad that I know…. :( That’s one of few things from the series I didn’t want to know….

Bays: I know how you feel. It’s always a risk revealing something like that. Ultimately, we just loved the idea. Chris Harris pitched it to us, and we thought it was too funny not to do. (You can always pretend that episode never happened.)

ResetNothing: One thing I’ve always wondered about is Robin’s Scherbatsky doormat. In season one she gets a new one after Ted admits to throwing up on her old one. Then Narrator Ted says (over her looking at her new mat) “but of course not every secret was told that night, but that’s getting ahead of the story”.

We still don’t know what the secret was! Are you planning to revisit that?

Bays: I think that secret might have been Robin Sparkles.

TristinSchmilioti: Did Penny and Luke’s names come from the episode Lucky Penny from Season 2?

Thomas: Yes, the names came from “Lucky Penny” and also Ted’s love of Star Wars!

CaraCompass: Are there any unanswered questions that will be forever unanswered?

Bays: Possibly.

There’s also a little matter called THE PINEAPPLE INCIDENT to consider…

SamSanti: DAMMIT GUYS WHAT ABOUT THE PINEAPPLE

Bays: You might find out what happened with the pineapple eventually. We had always said we’d never reveal it, but now I’d say it’s fifty fifty. It’s always been an appealing idea to us artistically to leave it as the one mystery that never gets solved. But on the other hand, we do have an explanation for it that we like so it may make its way into these last few episodes.

Next up is something that I wouldn’t consider a loose end, per se, but something that many of us are hoping to see:

Himymfangirl: Will there be a doppelganger of the mother? As Lucy Hale comes back as Robin’s sister, will we see Ashley Benson as barney’s sister as well?

Bays: Not sure on either of those. We’ll see!

KaBoom752: There are 2 big things right now that I was to see happen in the show. – Will The Mother get a doppleganger?

Bays: I won’t answer the first one.

Speaking of pressing questions…there is one HUGE piece of information that we’re still waiting on. Thomas and Bays were very clear in explaining that we will discover The Mother’s name soon!

gryffinpanda: Hey! I was just wondering, when will we find out the mother’s name?

Bays: I can’t tell you that. Sometime in the next two months!

Idr2013: Will we find out The Mother’s name by the end of the series?

Bays: Yes.

crystalbluecurrents: Are we ever going to find out The Mother’s name??

Thomas: Yes!

Thomas: And thank you for watching…we’ll get to it, promise!

Some stuff regarding the Josh Radnor to Bob Saget transformation:

TheViewerMarcus: Why is Bob Saget the voice over of Future Ted?

Bays: We always liked making the distinction that who Ted is in the present day is different from who he eventually becomes. This series is a journey of transformation. Using two different actors helped key the viewer in to that right off the bat.

themrmohr: How does josh Radnor become Bob saget?

Thomas: How do ANY of us become Bob Saget? I like to think that no matter how hard you try, it’s really something that just “happens.”

Bays: LOL

An interesting note – they refer to Bob Saget’s voice character as “the Narrator” instead of future Ted, old Ted, etc. Many Redditors jumped on this as a potential ending plot twist, but there wasn’t much revealed to support that.

ImAThrowaway_AMA: My question is whether you guys write with the fact that the story is being told by future Ted in mind. What I’m asking I guess is do you write the stories as they really happened in the past (present?) or do you write them as Ted’s recollection of his past?

Thomas: I’d say we vary between the two modes — we try to write the show in a grounded emotional way, but when we want to do something insane, we have the safety net of the Narrator embellishing within his storytelling or misremembering, or exaggerating for effect. Our best episodes combine both…

Bays: We write them as memories, because that’s where so many of our best stories have come from. Craig and I created this show after spending our early twenties in New York, having a lot of fun. When we got out here to LA, it wasn’t long before we were very nostalgic for those days. So we put that nostalgia into a sitcom.

Craig and Carter’s favorite episodes:

9percent: I know it hard to choose, but what episode of HIMYM do you think is the best? Not necessarily your favorite, but rather the most well made and the most effective in what you guys were trying to do that episode…

Bays: It’s impossible to pick. But one episode that really fired on all cylinders for me was the season finale of season 4, “The Leap.” That’s what it was called right? I’m forgetting episode titles in my old age, but that whole final sequence with the AC Newman song ad the cast jumping from rooftop to rooftop really felt satisfying.

Thomas: I loved the episode “Last Words,” where Marshall is mourning the death of his father. The way the group bonded together for Marshall, wanting to help him, and the way Jason Segel played the pain of that loss… beautiful. That was a special one for all of us.

Craig and Carter’s favorite scenes:

ktrin97: What’s your favorite scene of HIMYM?

Thomas: We haven’t shot it yet, but I’m really looking forward to the very last scene.

Bays: Two Minute Date.

Craig and Carter’s favorite guest stars:

hjs24gl2814: Who were your favorite guest stars?

Thomas: Chris Elliot is a personal idol of Carter and mine, so that one meant a ton. If 15 Year Old Us standing in line for “Cabin Boy” could’ve only known…

Bays: Agreed on Chris Elliott. Kyle MacLachlan also brightens up the stage like a beaming summer sun whenever he’s in an episode. And for Bryan Cranston to come back and do another episode after winning TV for all eternity in between appearances was the menschiest menschiness that’s ever been mensched.

Craig and Carter’s favorite jokes:

Jsouth12: Which of the recurring jokes over the past 9 seasons has been your favorite?

Thomas: Someone just did a “General Consensus” joke (salutes!) on here and I really do love that…one of the most-oft repeated in the writer’s room, actually!

Bays: There’s been an inside joke, I’m not sure how many times it’s been on the show, but it involves the word “guys.” Anytime you see one of our characters say “Guys guys guys,” three times like that, they’re tipping their hat to our amazing Assistant Director Michael Shea (who has directed a few episodes as well). The AD is the person who, among other things, has to get people’s attention on set and keep everyone informed of what’s being shot and how we’re shooting it, and often the way Michael does that is by yelling out, “Guys guys guys!” So if you hear someone say “Guys guys guys,” that’s what that’s about.

Thomas: Neil also has a joke where, when the gang’s eating take-out, Barney can never get the food to his mouth while eating with chopsticks…look for that, it happens a whole bunch. Maybe in the final episode, we’ll see him actually take a bite…payoff!

And the not-so-favorites:

paudream: Do you regret any plot decision through the series? If yes, which one?

Thomas: I regret that we had the Narrator say he “never” found out about the pineapple. That said, we may have found a clever way around that, and a way to bring back the pineapple. Stay tuned…

Bays: I regret the unfortunate moments of cultural appropriation in Slapsgiving 3. There are things about that episode I really loved — the storytelling structure, Boyz 2 Men, the opening slow motion shot, all the slapping — but I think we all regret Ted’s Fu Manchu mustache very, very much.

xXaoSs: What is the episode you regret the most? why?

Bays: I wish we’d had an extra week of writing, an extra week of shooting, and an extra week of editing for “the Burning Beekeeper.” It was a science project that we just ran out of time on. I want to turn it into a movie someday, just to get another crack at it.

Lots of people wanted to know more about Barney and Robin getting together:

gabbs131: How far were you into the series, and what made you decide that Robin and Barney would get married?

Bays: Between seasons five and six. Season six was when we really locked in on what the endgame would be.

marieelaine03: How has the show been different than originally expected years ago when it started? Any storylines that were forgotten or left in which changed the show’s direction? Thanks :)

Bays: Barney and Robin becoming an item definitely changed the gameplan of the show, but in all good ways.

RevolutionInTheHead: When did you realise that Barney and Robin were a good match?

Bays: Zip Zip Zip.

greeny74: What was your favorite “play” or scheme that you wrote for Barney in the show?

Bays: It’s gotta be “the Robin,” right? Nothing else even comes close!

Thomas: For me, I am proudest of The Robin — everything that came before led up to that…it just felt like the only way Barney Stinson could possibly propose.

Craig and Carter confirmed that Robin was a strong contender, but she was never going to be The Mother:

BiggaKid: Was there ever a stage where robin or even lily were strong contenders for ted?

Bays: Robin’s always been a strong contender. Lily, never. That would be way too weird.

legendary1000awesome: did it occur to you to use cobie smulders as the mother? like not as robin but as a doppelgänger/twin/anything

Bays: Nope. It was always way more interesting to us to make it more complicated than that. The fact that Cobie turned out to be amazing only made it that much more interesting.

Casualfred: Did you ever plan on using Robin as a fall-back for the mother despite the first episode labeling her as “aunt?” Many people thought, throughout the series, that Robin was the mom regardless (I personally never bought into that). I’ve read that you guys have set up “backup moms,” Stella and Victoria being some of them, just in case the series didn’t get renewed for more seasons.

Thomas: Robin was never going to be The Mother. The pilot always ended the way it does.

Others wondered why Cristin Milioti was cast as The Mother:

cryogenicmilk: So, what was the deciding factor for Cristin Milioti to become The Mother?

Bays: There wasn’t any one deciding factor except that she’s an amazing actress. But her singing voice was a nice bonus, as evidenced last monday.

RevolutionInTheHead: Was it hard casting The Mother? Did you have someone in mind before you began the process?

Bays: It was very easy casting the mother because Marisa Ross, our casting agent, had the idea very early on, and all we had to do was say yes. Craig had seen her in Once and I’d seen her on 3/span0 Rock and then once we had her audition with Josh it was a very easy decision.

Bays and Thomas also addressed why it seems that Cristin has been under-utilized this season:

pizzadewillary: Do you feel like you have included The Mother as much as you would have liked in season 9? Is there more to come of her in the near future?

Thomas: There is more of her to come. We wanted her to gradually be seen more and more through Season 9 and for everyone to slowly discover how amazing she is. Thanks to Cristin Milioti, that has happened — we are grateful and relieved!

ninjames: What was the main reason you pulled back/kinda ignored the wonderful Cristin for most of the first half of this final season?

Bays: We didn’t want to overuse her. We wanted to keep her special. We wanted to leave you wanting more. Maybe we leaned to far in that direction, but between “show more of Cristin!” and “ugh, enough with this Cristin girl!” I’ll take the former any day of the week.

Some random casting and character info; we got some good HIMYM trivia and tidbits out of these questions!

Hippon: How hard was it to write the series, casting and starting the whole process?

Thomas: In terms of casting, my wife cast Lily by saying “If you’re going to base a character on me, it has to be Alyson Hannigan!”

doilookfatinthis: Hey guys, would my dog (the husky) be able to be an extra one day?

Bays: Tell your dog we’d love to but unfortunately we’re just not going to be able to make it work. But tell her she’s a very good girl, yes she is. Incidentally, Arthur’s dog Tugboat was played by my dog Ham. Shameless nepotism. Welcome to Hollywood

ncljdm: “After what Bays and Thomas described as “a pretty famous actress” turned down the role of Robin, they cast Cobie Smulders, also an unknown.” Will you ever tell us?

Thomas: Jennifer Love Hewitt did “The Ghost Whisperer” instead of HIMYM!

colejosephhammers: Hey guys! Huge fan of HIMYM, are any of the characters based on real people? I’ve caught some of the subtle references (like how MacLaren’s is a reference to a guy that works for you) anything of that sort?

Bays: Carl Maclaren was our assistant in the early days of the show, and then he was our new media coordinator for a few years. He’s a solid dude. The heart and soul of the series.

Marisa Heller is based on a swimsuit model named Melissa Keller who lived in my apartment on Alta Vista Blvd in West Hollywood before I got there. I used to get mail addressed to her, including invitations to Victoria’s Secret parties and stuff like that. But I never had the guts to sneak into any parties the way our characters did in “Robots Vs. Wrestlers.”

mbsob: Obviously a lot of the main characters spouses have been on the show. Was this something that you two suggested or the actors themselves?

Bays: Mostly it was our doing. The actors were way too cool to ever say anything. But we were always huge fans of Alexis Denisof from Angel and Buffy. And David Burtka quickly became part of the family and was so great as Scooter that we had to keep bringing him back. And Taran even back then was clearly gonna be huge eventually, so we obviously wanted to use him in some capacity. I’m excited that he’s coming back for one more ep — it’s been a while!

We were never meant to meet Max, and his cause of death is still undetermined:

devoldmx: Did you have someone in mind when you wrote Max character? What actor would you think be Max?

Bays: We always knew you’d never see Max. The name Max is taken from a character named Maxence in a movie called “The Young Girls Of Rochefort” that I got totally obsessed with this year. It’s a musical, all about characters searching for love and having a series of near misses, and Maxence sings a beautiful song called “Chanson de Maxence.” So that’s where we got the name. I never wanted to see his face. It’s better left imagined.

Salemcz: How Max died?

Bays: I’ll just say this, when you break a story like that in a room full of comedy writers, a lot of very unfortunate and tasteless but admittedly very funny ideas come up. At one point the pitch was: “He was eaten by a lion. But he died doing the two things he loved: running, and feeding animals.” We decided to leave it unspoken.

There’s more HIMYM music to come!

Misiman23: I am a huge fan of the show’s theme song and think that the full version would be a great addition to one of these final episodes both musically and lyrically. Seeing as it is your guys’ band who sings it, is this a possibility? Perhaps maybe even a guest cameo by the Solids themselves?

Thomas: I don’t know if Carter is reading my replies (we are not together – he is in 70 degrees and I am in NYC snow!), but CB, I think we could put the fuller version of the theme song in the finale in that one spot…you know what I’m talking about! So…yes to this, this could very well happen!

Bays: CA-CHING! Uh… I mean… yes, Craig, let’s use that song by The Solids. They seem like a good band.

boone95: Will there be another cd released of HIMYM original songs?

Thomas: Yes, our series album of original music, HOW I MET YOUR MUSIC is avail on iTunes, but it only covers stuff up to Season 8 (we thought at the time that S8 might be our last!). Now that we’ve done a whole other season, and many other original tunes, our hope is to release a Deluxe version of the album that updates and adds to the original, probably after we go off the air…

gokussr4: Can you give some insight on some artists you’ll be using for the soundtrack of future episodes?

Bays: Well, it’s getting down to the wire here, so we’re trying to squeeze in every band or musician that we love but haven’t yet used on the show. We might be using a Bob Dylan song at a pivotal moment in an upcoming episode. I’m very excited for that one.

Note – could be a song he references later in the AMA, when discussing “Mother of Pearl”:

Bays: I love that song so much. It’s one of those songs that I think says everything we’ve tried to say in 9 seasons in the length of a pop song. Well, a very long pop song, to be fair, but a pop song none the less. The other song that’s like that for me is “Bob Dylan’s Dream” off “The Freewheeling Bob Dylan.” That song gives me goosebumps every time I hear it. The fact that he was like 22 when he wrote it is something I just can’t handle one bit.

I was happy to see that the writers addressed character development throughout the series. Ted’s journey has been so up and down that I think it needed some clarification from the powers that be at HIMYM.

HeyDude378: My question is, how did Ted go from himself to being a caricature of himself? I really could relate to him at first but as time went on he was crazier and less believable. Is Ted going to come back to Earth?

Bays: I know Ted bounces back and forth between being grounded and ungrounded. It’s always been how we do our show — we go high and low, tragedy tomorrow, comedy tonight, et cetera. For better or for worse, that’s how we do it. But I will say this: Josh Radnor, starting with tonight’s episode, is TREMENDOUS in the final episodes of this series. There’s still two left to shoot, but in this last stretch there’s some stuff that he plays so gutwrenchingly beautifully… I’m in awe of him as an actor!

orangejuicemachine: How do you feel your characters have grown over the last 9 seasons, or how have they stayed stagnant?

Bays: I think they’ve changed as we’ve changed. When we wrote the pilot, I was working on the script in between going to bars and going on terrible first dates. Now I’m writing scripts in between dancing with my daughters to the Frozen soundtrack. Life has changed immeasurably for all of us since we started this thing, and the fun part is how the show has documented the whole ride.

I said this above, but it bears repeating: this ending has been planned since the very beginning. There were some backup plans in place, but ultimately this is a story that has had the same ending the whole time…

operabass93: Did you guys have a backup plan as to who the mother would be if the series hadn’t been very successful?

Bays: If the show had ended in season 1, it would have been Victoria.

gokussr4: How were you originally going to end it in Season 8 if there was no Season 9?

Bays: We would only have met the mother in the last scene of the series. Which, looking back on it now, seems unthinkable!

naus226: how nerve wracking was it to build up a character you knew we would not “meet” for several seasons and not know how the fans would react when she finally appeared? How much of a relief was it when you decided on Cristin?

Bays: Infinity nerve racking. The initial plan was to never meet her, or only meet her in one scene. Which looking back on it was probably a really bad idea. It’s been a huge relief seeing how good Cristin is in this role.

Casualfred: How much of the story was revealed to the actors who played the kids when you filmed the final scenes? How much of the ending did you guys set in stone by filming it (was it something major? maybe some vague reaction?)

Thomas: We had to tell both David Henrie and Lyndsy Fonseca the very end of the series when we shot part of the end in 2006. David remembers it exactly. Lyndsy instantly deleted it from her brain (she knew it was a secret) and literally does not remember to this day!

angryblackmail: I am wondering in the process of creating the series did you have a certain ending in mind at the start of the show under the premise it didn’t make 200 episodes?

Bays: Yes, we always knew what the last episode would be. We always hoped it would take a while to get there, but it was always there as a break-glass-in-case-of-emergency kind of thing. The joy in knowing this would be our final season has been the chance to arrange the telling of the story so that it leads gracefully into that final hour, setting everything up for the grand finale.

LtDarien: Carter and Craig. How far have you strayed from your original vision of how you wanted the show to end?

Thomas: We have not changed the very end of series at all. In fact, we shot part of it back in 2006, before Ted’s kids got much older! We just looked at that footage, which will factor into the end of the series — it totally worked and was kind of haunting to watch! Shot 8 years ago and it will now help end our series on March 31st, 2014!

CpeanuT: How many times have you rewritten the last scene throughout the series?

Bays: We’ve been slowly crafting the last ten minutes of the show probably since it started, but the actual writing of it hasn’t happened until just recently.

joshi38: So, you guys are great about fore-shadowing and planning things way in advance, but I also know you guys like to create little writing challenges for yourselves (such as where Marshal was when his son was being born).

My question is, after last weeks amazing episode, how long had you guys known the Mother’s story? Was it for years or was it something you began putting together when this season came about? If the former, how much of it had changed before you finally got to that script?

Thomas: We knew some of the story — some of the intersections with the HIMYM cast — but some of it was filled in as we did that episode…We needed that episode to have its own drive and through-line, and ultimately it was about The Mother moving on…becoming ready for love again…(Lucky for Ted!)

Johnhenry: Watching HIMYM every week gives me hope that I’ll find my yellow umbrella, no matter the challenges that seem to always get in the way of realizing that end result. I think other people feel that same connection, so I’m curious: Was this at all your intention in creating the show, or is it simply a byproduct of getting to know these characters over the last nine years.

Thomas: I believe you’ll find “your yellow umbrella” (as long as you mean that as a metaphor for love…because if you just mean it as an actual umbrella, there’s a good chance that shit is GONE.) No seriously, we wanted this show to be about one thing above all else: Hope. We hope that is the impression people will be left with after our finale airs. It’s easy to write comedy that is sarcastic and jaded…we wanted HIMYM to be different.

ScottH87: How scared are you that the show is finishing? It must be pretty terrifying to think that a story you’ve spent years telling, which has to have a ending worthy of the 9 seasons and the fans that have stuck with you is soon to be open for scrutiny?

Bays: Terrifying. It’s beyond feeling like, “oh that was the period of my life when I did HIMYM.” It just feels like it’s my life, and it’ll be over soon. Craig and I have poured ourselves into this show. It’s a lot of work. And yeah, there’s now kind of this trope of “the Series Finale” as some sort of final flip in a gymnastics routine, where if you stumble on this one, everything you did before that doesn’t matter. Which is silly, but it’s the price you pay when you make a show that people give so much of their love and attention to. And honestly, knowing how the show ends, it does scare me that some people will hate it. But here’s the thing: this is the story we’ve been telling all along, and this story ends the way it ends. That’s all there is to it.

 Misc Fun Facts!

gokussr4: Where did you guys come up with the motif of the Yellow Umbrella? Do you really utilize what most call “The Color Theory” in the show? Is there any deeper meaning to the objects in the background of the kids?

Bays: I don’t know where it came from. Ubmbrellas are romantic I guess? I don’t know what the color theory is. No, there wasn’t initially. The yellow bus came into play later, but nothing was planned from the start.

Note – Really Bays? No idea about color theory? I find that suspicious considering that everyone has been wearing mainly purple for the past 3 seasons, but whatever.

dhtwentythree: What’s the obsession with the number 83?

Bays: I have no idea, that one just happened and we ran with it.

MANCREEP: HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT DOING A HIMYM MOVIE????

Bays: I feel like this season has been the movie. Plus, I think our show belongs on TV.

R2LUKE2: Did you guys get a good laugh from Jason Segel’s comments on being in a sitcom in the movie This is the End?

Bays: I loved that movie, and that scene was great. And I don’t want to give anything away, but keep watching.

danistinson: I loved the “La Vie en Rose” scene, was it inspired in the “Moon River” scene of Breakfast at Tiffany’s?

Bays: Yes definitely. There’s a lot of Audrey Hepburn DNA in that episode — “La Vie En Rose” is right out of Sabrina.

Mutt1223: Whose idea was it to have the characters actually laugh at their own jokes instead of sitting uncomfortably until the audience stopped laughing, I thought that was a great touch.

Thomas: I truly think that was the chemistry and rapport of the actors. They found each other funny, so they laughed. Our set felt friendly and inviting, so they laughed…the crew laughed…It just became a part of our world, and it felt like real life…because it WAS real! (Good question!)

So what are your thoughts on this AMA and all of the information that was revealed? Are you happy with where the rest of the season seems to be heading?

Friends with Better Lives A New CBS show right after the HIMYM Final Episode

M I X O L O G Y Show Series Premiere Wednesday 2/26/14 about One bar, One night, Ten single people. Welcome to Mix.

Reposted with permission from Ted-Mosby.com.

Okay, let’s get to it. We begin on a snowy night in 2024. Ted and The Mother are at the Farhampton Inn (because apparently that’s the only place they ever go to) sharing a quiet dinner. They discuss the snow, and Ted starts to tell her about all the most epic storms from his past: the road trip with Marshall, the night they took over the bar/Marshall had the marching band in the airport for Lily, the time in the suburbs when the neighbor kid stranded Marshall on the roof. Marshall is involved with snow debacles pretty often.

The Mother has already heard all of these stories, though. Ted concedes that maybe he’s just an old man, and they’re an old married couple who has heard every one of eachother’s stories before. It seems like it could be a sad moment, but they high five and are proud to have reached this point. This was my first inkling that something could be wrong…

It seemed like a sweet, inside joke type of thing. But then you start to wonder, why is that an accomplishment? Were they just excited to grow old together, or was there a reason that perhaps they wouldn’t get a chance to know all of one another’s stories?

Curtis stops by, because he still works there and has barely aged at all. Sure, why not. He mentions a lamp that was broken over the wedding weekend, and The Mother says she doesn’t know this story. Ted is excited to share a new adventure with her!

We jump back to the day of Robin’s wedding, where she is acting pretty un-bride-like. I just made that word up but it works, don’t you think? She’s playing an aggressive game of hockey, and her opponent is revealed to be little sister Katie! It’s nice seeing someone’s sister again, dang. I had a moment of respect for Lucy Hale in this episode; she’s honestly an amazing actress and I totally believed her in this role.

Lily gets upset because Robin isn’t freaking out about the wedding. Robin doesn’t want to girl talk or paint her nails; she wants to watch The Wedding Bride Too on TV. Shout out to the sequel! We know that The Wedding Bride 3 is in theaters when Ted first tells The Mother that he loves her, but thus far we hadn’t heard anything about the second movie. It was a nice callback that I appreciated.

One funny point – back in The Exploding Meatball Sub (S6E20), when Ted thinks Barney doesn’t have any good dirt on him, Barney proves him wrong with “the thermos”. Ted immediately caves. In tonight’s episode Robin mentions that she can’t wait to see Jed (The Wedding Bride version of Ted) “get his wiener out of that thermos”. It’s always nice when they give a nod to prior jokes, and this was a tiny mystery that is finally solved. For Jed’s sake let’s hope it’s not too tiny…

Anyway, Lily tries to shock Robin into bride mode by changing into her own wedding dress. She’s older, but damn, Lily still looks just as gorgeous all these years later. Good for her (both the actress and character)! Robin is still pretty chill, though, and Lily just gets pissed.

Meanwhile, Ted sees Barney sneaking into another room in the hotel. He is suspicious, and bribes Curtis to find out the name of the guest in that room. I got distracted a bit at this point and thought they were going to tell us the name of The Mother – did anyone else do that too? I was bummed when Curtis said “Susan Tups” because that does not sound like the right name at all.

When Ted goes to confront Barney about his cheating, though, he discovers a room full of suits. This isn’t the room of a Miss Susan Tups, it’s the room for Sue Tup. Suetup. Suit Up! Barney has hundreds of suits but can’t decide which one to wear. Tim Gunn has made him a special wedding suit, but it feels all wrong on him. There’s a really great moment where Ted encourages Barney to wear the special suit. When Barney first puts it on, the suit is comically ill-fitting. It looks like Barney is dressing up in his dad’s suit. It’s kinda sad because Barney never had that chance as a child and whoops no not going there don’t want to cry 

Ted explains that Barney feels weird because all of this suit’s memories are ahead of it. He has Barney visualize Robin coming down the aisle, and you can see from Barney’s face that he is enchanted with his bride to be. It’s a very poignant moment that helps remind Barney that he has found The One. When we pan away from his face, the suit fits him perfectly, and he’s ready to pick from his rack of a thousand belts.

We jump back to 2024, and The Mother expresses concern. She doesn’t want Ted to be the man that always lives in the past – he needs to live for the future. This is another clue that things are not great at this point in the future, and it made me feel a little sick inside. I don’t want an unhappy ending and things seem to be shaping up in a bad way. When we flash back to the wedding morning, the whole group is in Robin’s room together, along with Katie.

Lily explains that she wants this moment to be special, because it might be the last time they’re all together. She spills about Ted moving to Chicago, but everyone already knows about that. She apparently pocket texted Marshall as Ted was telling her, so Marshall has known for a while. There wasn’t much made of Marshall’s life long best friend moving to another city with no warning, so I hope we get into that more in upcoming episodes. I would completely freak out if that happened with my best friend, and I’m sure Marshall has some real sadness buried inside.

There was another nice callback in there – it begins with Marshall’s character in The Wedding Bride. The movie version of him is named Narshall, and Ted takes to calling him that. Barney is thrilled until Ted tells him to settle down, Swarley. With that, Barney is back to being Swarles Barkley, Swarlos, and Swarlize Theron. I can’t even tell you how happy that made me!

Lily finally accepts that Robin just isn’t the type to have a wedding freak out moment. When Robin leaves to get ice, though, she sees a familiar face – her mom! I was not expecting Tracey Ullman to play this role, but I have complete faith that she will do a bang up job of it. When we go back to 2024, The Mother is not surprised by this “surprise ending” – and it’s not just because she has, in fact, already heard this story. She says of course she showed up, “what mother would miss her daughter’s wedding”?

This is when things really get rough, because Ted’s face gets really drawn and tight and you can see he is holding back tears. WHY IS HE CRYING?! This is what really drives home the point that something is not right. Theories start to criss cross at this point, and there are a couple ways that you can interpret this scene:

Ted is crying because they both know The Mother might miss Penny’s wedding someday

Ted is crying because they both know Ted might miss Penny’s wedding someday

Something more random like The Mother’s mom dying and not making it to her wedding with Ted, or Ted’s mom dying, etc.

The easy answer is that The Mother is dying. I haven’t put any weight into this theory, with the exception of a brief freak out after The Time Travelers episode. But damn, the evidence is not looking good. When Ted starts to cry, The Mother encourages him to focus on other things, and just be in the moment. She asks about another story (Barney and how he apparently stole that scuba suit) and we pan to the outside of the inn. Bob Dylan’s “If You See Her Say Hello” plays, and we see two deck chairs outside, covered in snow. Is this a bleak indicator of the “fronch porch test” gone horribly wrong?

Obviously this is a really sad and stressful scene. We have to ask if this is the big twist at the end, and if so, why is it being revealed now? Why give such obvious hints if the ending twist is, in fact, that The Mother is dead? Perhaps the twist is that Ted is dead, or dying.

Here’s my take – one of them is gravely ill as of 2024. They don’t know yet if they will survive. Later, when the danger has passed, Ted tells the kids the entire story. They wouldn’t need to know as kids what their parents struggled with, but as teenagers they are old enough to understand. They’re old enough to appreciate the story, more or less.

We have to remember that Thomas and Bays said the show would end with hope. Hope! I’m hoping that means they play up this element through the next couple episodes, and then we get a happy ending where everyone is a-ok.

Alright, let’s get to commenting. Thoughts, everyone?

So Mother lovers, how did you like that one? I thought it was a pretty solid episode. Let’s jump right in!

Spoilers Ahead…

We begin with Robin’s mom explaining how she got to the wedding. She took a flight even though she is afraid of planes (one of the few things we knew about her prior to this episode). I assumed Tracy Ullman would deliver on whatever they threw at her and I was right. I particularly enjoyed how she totally lost it on the plane, but was then oh-so Canadian and polite in her apologies and general conversations with other passengers. Oh Canada.

Then we jump to the boy’s table downstairs, where Ted, Marshall, Barney, Ranjit, and Billy Zabka are all gathered for breakfast. The first thing we see is a little girl with dark hair in pigtails. Marshall seems to notice her, which got me to thinking. My first guess was that this was Carter Bays’ older daughter making a cameo? But she may just be a random adorable little girl.

There’s no mention of her, though, so I didn’t focus on that long. Important things were happening at the guy’s table, like Marshall wondering what changed Lily’s mind and Barney wondering if he can conquer the Saltine challenge. This is the sort of thing that initially makes me think gosh guys are so weird, and then I realize this Saltine business is funny and silly and totally something my actual guy friends – and I – would do. So I didn’t mind that bit of frivolity.

Lily calls Barney so that he can come meet Robin’s mom (still don’t know her name yet either, correct?) and Ted translates that he will be right up once he finishes his very important cracker challenge. But then Marshall gets to wondering…why did Lily just change her mind?

To us, it might seem like Lily changed her mind because of a reasoned conversation that she had with Marshall that night. But that conversation was entirely in Marshall’s head, so the mystery was actually still at large. Billy Zabka helpfully notes that he saw Lily at the Stop and Go (I don’t remember the correct name of the convenience store, and I don’t have time to watch again before work!) around 3 am. Everyone is totally comfortable with Billy’s story about how he was on his dirt bike in the parking lot in the middle of the night.

Anyway, this adds another layer to the Lily mystery. But then – a clue! Just what the Mosby Boys need to crack the case. Lily was in a car with the license plate “Ahoy”. The Captain! Marshall is more worried than ever, but he tries to put it aside for the sake of Barney and Robin’s wedding day. Barney asks if Marshall wants them to all just go over to The Captain’s house, punch him in the face, and then come back to the wedding.

This reminded me of an episode from the past that I can’t quite place. I think Ted was recently fired, and Marshall asks if they want to go down to the building (GNB building I think) and just pee on it a little, as revenge. Ted was happy because Marshall totally got him and what he needed. This week’s episode showed that Barney gets Marshall, and understood what he needed. Also Barney was down for some entertainment on his wedding day – challenge accepted!

When the whole gang of guys arrive, Marshall greets The Captain with a punch in the face. Ever the gentleman, though, The Captain invites them all inside. He promises that he did nothing inappropriate with Lily, and points to his fiancé as proof. It’s Boats Boats Boats Becky! This made me happy. I like that the show is giving us end game couples to count on. Yeah, Becky and The Captain aren’t key players, but I want everyone to end up happy. This is a good start.

It seems that The Captain has had a good influence on Becky’s style, as she now has darker hair and is a bit more poised and mature. Zoey was never right for him, but this match seems like it could really work. Marshall is not convinced, and he challenges The Cap’ to a duel with a pair of swords conveniently hung on his wall. Marshall even warns him that he has totally pretend fought with swords twice before. Them’s fightin’ words!

Before Marshall can make his move (he had plenty of time, but was clearly not all that prepared to actually joust), Ted stops him. The Mosby Boys have cracked the case! Unfortunately he took his damn sweet time getting to the big reveal. That whole scene annoyed me, because I’m a little tired of waiting for this show to reveal stuff. I assume that was the point, but it felt like overkill at that point. When we got back from the commercial break, Ted was still trying to draw the whole thing out.

Ted finally reveals that he noticed Billy Zabka was chewing gum. We flash back to earlier scenes from the weekend, where Ted notices Lily is (uncharacteristically) chewing gum. Ted puts together a pretty plausible explanation for Lily’s behavior this weekend – she’s back on the smokes. That’s why she had to get out of the car on the way there, that’s why she stopped at the convenience store, that’s why she was chewing gum, and that’s why she’s needed drinks nearly funneled into her mouth the past couple days. This aha! moment made sense, and it tied in as a callback to prior episodes. But it felt a little bit off…

When we see Ted’s version of Lily at the convenience store, it was very reminiscent of season one Lily back in Minnesota. In S1E9 “Belly Full of Turkey” she runs away from dinner to go buy a “knock up test”. Once my mind made that connection it couldn’t get away from it, and things started to add up. See, the smoking thing totally could have worked – had Ted not “solved” the mystery and come up with it himself. The Mosby Boys do not have a great track record, save for the one time they found someone’s retainer in the trash. So if Detective Ted determined that Lily is back on the cigarettes – well, she’s probably not.

Ted’s belabored explanation focuses around a potted plant – A DAISY – in The Captain’s bathroom. When Lily arrived at his house, she immediately asked to use the powder room. At this point in the story, Marshall is on board with the theory. It makes perfect sense to him that Lily would hide a cigarette butt in the soil, instead of throwing it away where someone could see it, or throwing it outside where it could destroy the environment. By the way, I don’t see Lily caring THAT much about the environment. If she had a cigarette I can absolutely see her littering with that thing to escape getting caught.

Anyway, Ted roots around in the dirt, determined to find the cigarette butt – but what does he pull out instead? A pregnancy test! We see the same flashback scenes, but now they make more sense. Lily needed the bathroom on the train so she could deal with morning sickness. Lily asked Linus to make all of her drinks nonalcoholic. Lily swore up and down that she could keep a secret, and it turns out she has been keeping a possibly big one this whole time. When Marshall confronted her about him, Marvin, and any future kids being consolation prizes in her life, she realized she had to find out for sure. I gots to know!

This is all obviously very exciting, but let’s get back to Robin for a few moments. Robin’s mom has been telling her all about how she knew that Robin’s dad was a bad bet for marriage. All of these red flags from her past just happen to line up exactly with Barney’s behavior, right down to being engaged to a stripper and having a gay black brother. Where is Robin’s gay black uncle at this wedding?! Robin is understandably freaking out by these revelations. No one really wants to acknowledge that they’re marrying a version of their mom or dad, and no one wants to be faced with a similar marriage ending in bitter divorce.

Sidenote – Robin’s mom has a British accent. Weird, right? I mean, the actress has an accent, but I never expected that the character would. If anything I was hoping for a super strong Canadian accent, but alas, no luck. I’m not focusing too much on all of the stories about Robin’s dad being just like Barney (or vice versa). It was an important plot point for explaining a lot about Robin’s pre-wedding freakout, but I didn’t enjoy the connections. It felt a little heavy handed to me.

Meanwhile, the guys are on their way back to the hotel after realizing that Lily is preggo. They burst into the room, and Marshall asks her right away. Lily tearfully explains that she told everyone she could keep a secret. Then I cried a little, because when Lily cries, I cry. Much like how when Ted pukes, The Mother pukes, I guess. I was just happy because both Lily and Marshall previously discussed wanting more kids, and it didn’t seem like things were headed in that direction. After last week I did think that perhaps Marv was an only child. The way the were drinking in the bar after sending him off to college felt like what you do when your only child is away at school, not just your first child. But I can work with that.

Robin and her mom go onto the balcony to give Lily and Marshall some privacy. We all know what is coming next – L and M get naked, and fast. We witness a good conversation where Robin’s mom explains that love and marriage is like flying. It seems so crazy, but if you have someone you can count on, it’s worth it. She asks if Robin has someone who she can depend on. Robin thinks, and responds that she does. I know some people believe she was thinking of Ted in that scene, but I believe she was only thinking of Barney.

Yes, he was unavailable to help her dig up the locket. But he has always been there for her, and the whole group, throughout all these years. Sometimes he pulls a superhero move and helps out without anyone realizing, but he does actually do good. When Robin told him that she couldn’t have kids, he was there to support her. When Lily went to San Francisco, Barney brought her back. When everyone was hungover and unable to make it through the day, Barney pumped them up with his pep talks and Stinson Hangover Fixer Elixir. Some of these are little things, but they add up to a lot.

Ted has always been there for Robin in the ways that he thought were right – but Barney has been there for her in the ways that she actually needed. He has proven his love for her, and I’m happy that she is able to see this and take some measure of comfort (if only temporarily) from it.

Okay, back to Lily and Marshall. The second baby is what convinced Lily that they should stay in New York, but now Marshall says they have to go to Italy. He points out that Lily has given him his biggest dream by making these babies. That is a really fair point – particularly because we know that the Eriksen newborns come out the size of Thanksgiving turkeys, with big ol’ melon heads. Pushing out a couple of those will likely ruin tiny Lily’s body forever. But it’s worth it.

So then we see a scene that is titled as a year later. Based on the scenery, Marshall and Lily are in Rome. I was still hoping this was an elaborate ruse – like when Marshall decorated the windows so Lily could take a “trip” for her birthday. But it seems like they really are in Italy. They’re speaking Italian and talking about importing Funyuns from America. Seems legit. Then Mickey and Judy show up, and again, I like this end game couple. Lily’s dad and Marshall’s mom (her in particular) deserve to be happy, and this is the perfect outcome for them. They will spend so much time with their grandkids and be so happy!

We end with Marshall saying good morning to Marvin, and then greeting baby Daisy. Of course her name is Daisy! It pretty much had to be after all of that, but it was nice to get confirmation of it. I was glad that they specifically named her because I didn’t want anyone to jump onto a weird theory where they gave their baby to Ted and The Mother and somehow that’s how they got Penny. People have a lot of out there theories about Penny right now, and that could have fueled even more.

I didn’t expect The Mother’s name to be Daisy – seemed too easy for them to reveal it in an episode title – but I am glad it was someone’s name. Here’s the only other wrinkle…we can now consider last week’s episode in the context of Lily having a daughter. Some fans have already decided that Ted’s tears were because Lily may miss her daughter’s wedding – perhaps the death doesn’t have anything to do with Ted or The Mother directly? I have a hard time buying that idea, but it would be a major shock. (Major Shock – salute).

I have to dash off to the day job, but I will be following along in the comments all day. I can’t wait to read about what everyone thought!

Reposted with permission from Ted-Mosby.com

So gang, how are you feeling about that episode? My overall impression was that it was awesome, but with some segments here and there that we could have done without. I’m going to jump into the review and hopefully have time to comment later in the day…

We began on the Wednesday three days after the wedding, at 8 pm. It’s Ted and The Mother’s first date! I thought there was a mistake when they talked about how it’s a rule that guys wait four days to call (but we know it’s three). In S4E21 “Three Days Rule”, Ted mentions that when he met The Mother, he didn’t wait three days. He called her right away.

So my first thought was ohhhh noooo more continuity errors, but then I realized he must have called prior to that day to set up the date. So we’re all good, nothing to see here folks. Keep moving.

They head to a Scottish-Mexican fusion restaurant, which sounds even grosser than Marshall’s mom’s mayo salad. The place is called Pedro McKinnon, and they had a bagpipe mariachi band. I assumed this was a gentle nod to the mistake that the writers made in the S8E23 “Something Old”. In that episode Ted mentions a trip to Spain and interacting with a mariachi band. Only problem is that mariachis are a Mexican thing, not a Spanish thing. So it was nice that they paid tribute to their little mistake by including this incredibly odd eatery.

I was pleased/annoyed to note that people are wearing purple again. I’m honestly very tired of the back and forth with HIMYM color theory, but there’s one idea that I keep being drawn to. One of the strongest contenders in the question of The Mother’s name is currently Violet. I can’t make any better sense of the clues than that. There’s no uniformity and no common bond between characters/episodes that feature purple clothing thus far. Check out my article to peruse options for what The Mother’s name may be.

So Ted starts to tell the story of Gary Blauman, because what else would Ted do for a first date? The guy has got stories, that’s his jam. We jump back to the day of the wedding – we’re finally at the point where everyone is in their fancy attire! Robin is visited by Mr. Gary Blauman, whom we haven’t seen in ages. There was some confusion with his character, as Barney said he died after he quit his job and tried to pee on the conference table. But this was clearly Barney exaggerating (S3E15 “The Chain of Screaming”).

We also know that, at least at one point, this character was gay. Marshall mentions how his marriage with his husband is pending as of New York passing legislature allowing gay civil unions – I think that was in a season 5 episode. It was the one where Robin says she wants to focus on her career and then she meets Don. I believe it was Blauman that I’m thinking of, but it could be the Blitz. The Proffessor should know for sure :)

Anyway, I enjoyed the parallel between Cobie’s real life and her TV life. In real life she’s married to Taran Killam, who plays her gay guy friend on the show. On the show she’s married to Neil Patrick Harris, who is her gay guy friend in real life. I always like seeing cameos from significant others, so seeing him (and Scooter!) was nice.

So Robin finally has her wedding freakout – a CODE RED regarding where to seat Blauman. Marshall takes on the challenge but needs Ted’s assistance. I’m not sure why he needed help, as Marshall is quite proud of his seating skills and even brags about the Table 27 annual reunion. This begins a whole chain where characters overhear his name and then say “Wait – did you say Gary Blauman? I ____ that guy!” In Ted’s case, it was “I hate that guy!” We flash back to a few years ago, when Ted was obsessed with a Teddy Roosevelt biography he just read.

This part made me laugh, because I get super annoying when I’m involved in a great book (or TV show…)! I liked it when Barney said “That’s it! No more books, Ted. I don’t like the person you become when you read books!” The gang allows Ted one last fun fact about his new fave former president, and we think it’s all done with. But then we jump to a party around the same time, when they were celebrating something or another.

Ted finds a lady friend that also loved that biography! But alas, Blauman shows up and initiates a war of attrition for the lady’s interest. Everyone is exchanging Theodore Roosevelt facts at a rapid fire pace. Ted and Blauman have an excellent psychic convo where they insult one another using antiquated insults like “You’re Taft”! Nobody wants to be Taft after that whole bathtub incident in from history. Anyway, Ted says days passed and we have this obligatory scene where the men have beards now because so much time has gone by. I could have done without this part. It felt unnecessary.

Shortly thereafter we are back at the wedding, and Lily overhears them talking about Gary Blauman. She LOVES that guy! Turns out she has a pretty good reason. Back in 2006, when her and Marshall were broken up, she aimed to get a breakup tattoo. She was heavily inspired by her breakup song, “Fly” by Sugar Ray. Ted comments that she really doesn’t know how to do breakups, and then we see something I had been waiting for – a Marshall and Lily high five. To me that high five means all is well in Marshall&Lilyland. That’s love, bitch!

Lily’s tattoo looked pretty normal to me – like a butterfly in profile view. But apparently it’s just half a butterfly, and she’s been “using cover-up and strategically placed straps for a long time” to keep it on the down low. There was a nice moment where we all reminisced about Ted’s tramp stamp and how it will basically never stop being hilarious. Something that confused me, though…Lily says that Blauman saved Marshall “from a lifetime of looking at Sugar Ray every year when we do it on your birthday”. Does this mean that Lily and Marshall are now at the point where they only have sex a couple times a year? I just can’t imagine that. 

I thought maybe it was in reference to a specific position, but from what I can gather it is just a reference to later on when they are actually old old and not as amorous as they are these days. But can you really imagine Lily in particular getting less frisky as she ages? I sorta see her as an inappropriate old lady that lets herself pinch cute guys on the bottom. But I digress – let’s jump back to the Ted and The Mother first date!

The couple is walking around the block when suddenly The Mother spots an ex – Louis – and hides behind a van. She pulls Ted to hide with her, and I was glad to see Ted as the normal one on a date for once. She did the weird thing, but Ted has done so many weird things that he isn’t scared away by it. She tells Ted that she’s not ready to date, and again, Ted gets it.

This is beautiful character progression for Ted. Old Ted would have given up right then, and lamented his bad luck through at least a full episode. Older Ted would have pushed too hard, too fast, and frightened her away (as he mentions at the end of this episode). But Current Ted has tempered himself and learned how to let things be. FINALLY. I spent the entirety of the date waiting for Ted to Ted it up and I was SO HAPPY that he didn’t. The Mother is ready to go home, but she lets Ted walk her home so she can hear the end of the story. Ted’s stories are so addictive!

Okay we have to jump around some more. This episode had a whole lot of back and forth but I didn’t mind it so much. Yes, some of the Blauman stuff was (in my opinion) unnecessary, but it also brought a lot to the table in terms of plot progression and explanations. So I will take it! Now it’s time for Barney to say “Did you say Gary Blauman?!” He follows that with a misdirection by saying “I…love…that we have the opportunity to destroy Gary Blauman’s weekend by kicking him out of the wedding!”

So what’s Barney’s beef with Blauman? Oh nothing, just a little matter of theft….fry theft, to be exact. Blauman committed some unpardonable sins in Barney’s mind. First, he took not one, not two, not three, but FOUR fries from Barney’s order. Didn’t even ask! Didn’t even bother to order his own, just blatantly stole them from under The Barnacle’s nose. The worst part, though, is that the last fry was no ordinary French fry. No no, the fourth and last fry that Blauman stole was an accidental curly!

How dare he…and what is that?! Ok, so it’s just a curly fry that has been mixed in with regular fries. But it somehow feels like you’ve stumbled upon a treasure when you find one in your order. I don’t even like fries that much and I understood the horror of having your accidental curly stolen by a brute like Blauman. 

Then we find out that Billy Zabka knows of Gary Blauman also, because Billy Zabka is in like every flippin’ episode now and has something to say about everything and everyone. I’m a little Zabka-ed out at this point, but it was nice to see someone acknowledge his poetry. It’s hard to hate on Blauman when he seemed legitimately unaware that Zabka even had a movie career. The next person to comment on Blauman is a big one, though. James hates that he once thought he loved Gary Blauman!

So we finally discover what was up with James and the giant divorce (worst kid’s book ever, am I right?) He slept with Blauman, Tom found out, Tom kicked James out of the house, and now their kids are from a broken home. So that’s totally all Blauman’s fault except actually no, that’s on James. No one is to blame for him cheating except himself. I was worried that they wouldn’t touch on that, but later Blauman calls him out and specifically says that James needs to stop blaming other people for his own problems.

I liked how Ted and Marshall had these totally confused looks on their faces like wait, what? Blauman is gay? Ted was so triumphant as he took another look at his Blauman experience from a different perspective. Now he (I assume) loves Blauman, because who doesn’t like when someone thinks you’re hot? That’s how Ted interpreted that scenario, but I guess there are alternate explanations. Maybe Ted and the hot girl were actually battling for Blauman. Maybe Blauman is bi, who knows!

So now everyone is conflicted about WTF to do regarding Blauman, so Judge Big Fudge steps in. He carefully considers the case, but realizes that one wedding law trumps all. If it’s for the bride, it’s a yes. Whatever she wants, she gets, and in this case, the bride wanted Blauman. We don’t know the nature of their friendship yet – I guess we probably never will – but I don’t mind. I don’t need every little detail of Blauman’s interpersonal relationships for the past 5+ years.

Before we proceed with the rest of the review, I will just note that this upcoming scene is where I started to fall apart. Ted and The Mother are standing outside her building, and everything was just TOO similar to S1E1 “Pilot” when Ted and Robin are outside her building. Back then Ted didn’t see the signs, he didn’t realize that he was getting the signal to kiss Robin, and he totally screwed everything up. This time Ted knows when to say goodbye, and he doesn’t bother with an elaborate explanation of why he would be a good boyfriend. 

Ted just says “Well, I guess this is where I leave you.” It’s such a poignant moment because this, this exact point right here is where it has gone wrong SO MANY TIMES. When you’re single for a long time, it can feel like relationships (or potential relationships) always sputter out at the same place. We’ve been right here with Ted when things turned sour a million times before, but we know that this time it’s different!

Or do we know that? I kept forgetting. I honestly was worried that Ted would mess this up and make me stress out even more for the remainder of the show. But Ted says goodnight, and walks away. That is probably the hardest lesson for him to learn, the hardest feat for him to conquer. Doing nothing. Letting go. Letting life happen on its own schedule, and not on some preconceived idea of the appropriate Ted time. It’s something that most of us struggle with, and it was truly a joyful moment to see Ted finally get it right.

Eight years earlier, I probably would have given some embarrassing speech, confessed my love, and scared her off. But I didn’t, because somehow I just knew this was all gonna work out.

And she calls to him! He walks away, but she calls to him. Now Ted isn’t chasing – he’s making the most of the moment. The Mother asks him to finish his story, and the saga continues…

Now we’re back to the wedding day again. James gets his wedding ring back from Barney, and goes to get Tom back. Marshall reminisces about how he cared so much about everyone at his wedding, but he’s barely in touch with many of them now. Then Ted gives the kids some words of wisdoms that had me openly crying:

And that’s how it goes kids. The friends, neighbors, drinking buddies and partners in crime you love so much when you’re young…as the years go by, you just lose touch. That being said, I did manage to keep track of a few people…

(Cue Corina openly weeping ugly tears of happy sadness at this point)

Ted tells us how some of our favorite characters ended up, and that’s when it fully hit me that this show is ending. For reals. Like it is leaving, and not coming back. They are showing us the end game scenarios for characters because it’s….almost….over. I’m going to avoid focusing on that for now, though, and instead take note of how happy everyone seems to be in the future:

Carl is still behind the bar at MacLaren’s, and it’s a family business now. His under-age son was right there with him, keeping customers in line.

Jeanette got arrested for mailing jars of urine to Val Kilmer (but not that Val Kilmer, apparently?) and she was forced into mandatory court appointed therapy. Surprise – her therapist was Kevin! They ended up together in what is I guess the healthiest relationship she ever had. 

Ranjit had some good stock picks and now he owns the limo company – hooray! I did not see his wife there with him but I am assuming she’s still alive because I don’t want to think about anyone at all being dead.

Patrice has a morning radio talk show that had a familiar voice calling in – Robin, saying that “sometimes I feel like he doesn’t listen”. So unless someone else has Robin’s exact voice and uses the same DAMMIT PATRICE catchphrase, Robin is still alive as of 2030 and presumably still with Barney. I’m not sure why she would swap him for some other guy that doesn’t listen. So unless they specifically demonstrate otherwise I will not be considering any dead Robin theories. 

Zabka became the youngest poet ever to win the American Humanities Medal for Literature, and now he’s working on a collection of travel essays. I honestly did not care how he turned out but now that I know, I’m glad. Good for you, Zabka. You’re the best!

Ted still sees Zoey on the news sometimes as she fights the good fight against the man. It doesn’t always work out well for her, but she keeps trying. Ted is right, it is nice to know that she’s out there.

Scooter…Scooter, Scooter, Scooter. We saw Cobie’s real life husband so of course we had to see Neil’s real life partner (fiancé) also. How did Scooter get over his love for Lily? He found someone that was the next best thing…Jasmine, AKA Stripper Lily, AKA Lily’s doppelganger! That’s a cheesy resolution but I adore it. It’s a sitcom, it can get silly like that without losing too much in the translation. This episode in particular felt like it was done by a deft hand, which I appreciated.

Blitz had a brief gambling addiction, but he broke it when he finally walked away from a slot machine…an old lady took his place and immediately won big. Aw, man!

Sandy Rivers is still being very Sandy Riversish and sexually harassing women he works with. He’s been relegated to Russian news but he hasn’t changed his ways. I guess he’s their problem now.

James got Tom back! They are together as of 2030 and we see their kids as young adults! I guess by that point Eli and Sadie are young adults, or maybe almost out of their teens? I’m too lazy to do the math right now. Addition is hard. :)

Good ol’ Gary Blauman drove away from the wedding, but he came back. Then came yet another deep speech from Ted that had me crying even more:

You will be shocked, kids, when you discover how easy it is in life to part ways with people forever. That’s why, when you find someone you want to keep around, you do something about it.

Now we’re back at the first date, and we’re staying there for the rest of the episode (like 2 more minutes, but hey, I was glad to get settled in one place/time) There’s another moment where Ted tells The Mother goodnight, and then things almost feel like they’re in slow motion. The Mother leans in, and it’s so obviously the moment when she wants him to kiss her. She’s giving him the signal, but it’s a totally different situation than the one he was in with Robin so many years ago. 

The Mother said she isn’t ready to date, so Ted doesn’t go for the kiss. When she leans in, though, and makes the first kiss contact, he embraces the moment. He doesn’t rush her and ruin it. He doesn’t stop to obsess over the timing and how she probably needs space and is this the right thing to do and blah blah blah. (Speaking of, I forgot to mention that Blah Blah’s name is actually Carol!)

In this moment, Ted trusts that destiny, the universe, whatever, will work out. He trusts that The Mother can make her own decision, and when she goes for the kiss, he is glad to participate. He doesn’t second guess her or think that she probably isn’t ready – he gives her appropriate credit and trusts in her decision. Luckily, her decision was to kiss Ted. Ted is finally at a good place, doing the right thing, and it all came together for him at just the right time, with the right person. Isn’t that what we’ve been hoping for him to experience this whole time?

The episode ends with The Mother wanting to walk around more with Ted. He agrees, but pauses as she starts to walk away. She asks what he is doing, and his response is simple: “Remembering this”. Because he knows that she’s the one, and he knows that this precise moment will define the rest of his life. He just needed a second to be in that moment, and not the past or future, to appreciate what was happening. 

By the time the previews for next week aired I was completely destroyed. I can’t even image what I looked like but it was the face of emotional devastation. It was the epitome of all things bittersweet. This week’s episode gave me hope for the remaining episodes to come…did you feel the same? 

Reposted with permission from Ted-Mosby.com (Written by me)

Well that was quite the jam-packed episode, eh? We begin a mere 32 minutes away from the wedding. Even though they’ve been advertising this week as the actual wedding I still didn’t think we would see it. But they made it down the aisle, and a whole plethora of lingering issues have been dealt with.

Let’s get this party started… Robin is freaking out, finally. Freaking out for real. This is important because we needed to see her address obvious concerns about Barney as a husband in order to accept their marriage as a real, well deserved ending that rings true.

Robin does what she always does when she panics – she returns (re-returns, really) to Ted. Ted is her unchallenging safety net, and this is the perfect time for her to desperately want exactly that. Ted won’t help her, explaining that he refuses to be a part of a third runaway bride scenario. Good call, Ted. But then Robin brings up the locket. That effing locket has been bothering me all season and I imagine it’s been burning a proverbial hole in Ted’s pocket also. Robin says, “I want to be with the guy that comes through for me”, and Ted had his perfect chance to sweep her off her feet. He could have tried to swoop in and save the day, turning the odds in his favor, but he didn’t.

Did we really expect him to? Not really, because at this point we know that he has to get over Robin in order to be in the right mental/emotional/life place to meet The Mother. But if this were a movie, with no The Mother, this is when leading man Ted would have rescued leading lady Robin from the charming villain she’s about to incorrectly marry. Obviously this show isn’t following that movie format, but they’ve dangled that remote possibility over our heads for a looong time now. Luckily, Ted dashes out to give Barney the locket, thus doing the right thing.

Really at this point there’s no way for Ted to do the actual right thing, because the right thing is NOT putting all that time and energy into finding a hugely symbolic piece of jewelry for his best friend’s fiancé. (I know Marshall is technically Ted’s best friend, but let’s let The Barnacle have this on his special day, okay? I mean, just be cool for once, okay?) Through his own machinations Ted has ended up at a weird place where he can only do the least wrong thing. Unlike past times, however, Ted actually did just that. He sees Barney give Robin the locket, and all should be well. The day is seemingly saved!

Next we see Lily and Marshall interrupting Barney as he writes his wedding vows. Apparently he’s been working on them for weeks, which is sweet and (once we hear some of the vows) a bit disturbing. Lily suggests that Barney get help from them, because her and Marshall are “two expert vow consultants”. Too bad that’s not accurate – we learned in “The Best Burger in New York” (S4E2) that Marshall got his wedding vows off the internet. I guess we have to let that little discrepancy slide though.

Generally I enjoy puns, but Marshall’s in-vow-luntary set of vow puns was a bit much. That being said, I will be saving “Vowza!” for my own wedding, whenever it may be. Sometimes we see really authentic chemistry between Aly and Jason in scenes where they bicker a little, and this was one of them. Lily saying “We’re just not enjoying them, honey” was one little sentence that felt especially real.

When we jump back to Robin, there’s a problem. Ted has come to check on her, but the locket plan has gone awry. Robin knows these guys too well, and she knows that Barney should have a legendary story that explains how he managed to find the locket. Ted tries to bluff with a pretty decently Barneyish explanation about wrestling the necklace from baby birds (who he still feeds every day) but Robin ain’t buying it. She’s always been a better detective than Ted and today is no exception. She reveals that Barney said he found it in Lily and Marshall’s basement, but the damage is done. Also I think the only basement that those two ever had was at the house in the suburbs and there may still be a fully active colony of bees in there, so that’s another point against Barney’s lie.

Robin demands something of Ted that she doesn’t often want from him – the truth. He plays the whole necklace hunt off as fun jaunt that had him home in time for Jeopardy – “ease to the pease, happy wedding”, but again, Robin isn’t buying it. Barney’s initials may be B.S. but Ted was laying it on pretty thick there. She shuts the door so it’s just her and Ted in the room, and the scene ends.

Next up is Barney challenging Lily and Marshall’s wedding vows. He targets standard wedding vows like “in sickness and in health” with funny stories from their past. Can anyone confirm for me if those L & M wedding vow scenes were actually filmed way back in season 2? They both looked young, and Alyson’s teeth weren’t as straight. She had those invisible braces for a while and her teeth have looked different ever since, but in these scenes they seemed to be the old way. She (Alyson Hannigan) turned 40 the day that this episode aired, so really good for her either way. She looks good!

When we cut back to Ted and Robin, they’re gearing up for the most important conversation of their entire relationship. Robin tells Ted “You always go big for me”, and in many ways that’s true. Ted reminds her of Barney’s epic proposal, and his surprise Canadian ice rink rehearsal dinner. The rest of the conversation is so big that I couldn’t do it justice by just including a couple quotes. I’ve transcribed the whole thing and copied it below, along with my thoughts:

Robin: Those are the most loving things that Barney has ever done for me, and they’re all based on lies. Right down to taking credit for this locket. Everything’s legendary, but you know what legendary means? Not. Real.

Well, yes, Robin, they are based on lies. This is not new information about Barney, but it’s understandable that she’s focusing on it right now. I disagree with her assertion that legendary means “not real”. Barney has used legendary as a phrase for everything he’s trying to make real – all of his best memories and greatest adventures carry that title. But we have seen how Robin has changed him from someone who is always legend….waiting for it, to someone that is legendary, period. Robin has opened him up to experiencing what is legendary about real life, and that’s a huge component of their relationship. Barney’s life is legendary, but only with Robin in it.

Robin: You’re the one who always comes through for me, Ted. The one who’s there for me. Maybe I’m making a mistake.

Ted: Wait – what are you saying?

The agony on Ted’s face here is subtle but well played. This is all he has wanted to hear for so long, but suddenly it’s the last thing he wants to hear. This pivotal moment was a necessary challenge for him to overcome, so that he – and we – can believe that he is ready to meet The Mother. Not just ready to meet her, but ready to deserve her.

Robin: Maybe I should be marrying you.

-cut to commercial, we all die inside temporarily-

Robin: Ted, I should be with you.

Narrator: There it was. The words that some deep dark part of me always wanted to hear. But it’s funny. Once you actually hear the words out loud…

Ted: I don’t want to hear that.

Robin panics here, and wants to run away, but Ted knows that she is just scared. He also knows that this has nothing to do with him, and everything to do with Robin and Barney. So good job keeping things on track here Ted!

Ted: I am not your future – Barney is.

Robin: Shouldn’t I be with the guy who finds me my locket? The guy who steals me the blue French horn? I mean, look me in eye and tell me why I shouldn’t be with that guy?

We know the answer to this question just as well as Robin does. Ted was utterly sincere in each of his grand gestures, but they are just that – gestures. His big romantic moves for the women in his life are essentially gimmicks. I know that he doesn’t feel that way, and his intentions were always just to express his love. But I think these were really just ways for Ted to feel like he was the perfect guy, doing everything right. The gestures were great, but romance forges a false sense of intimacy when it isn’t grounded in true love, commitment, chemistry, and hard work. Ted is good at the big moves, but Barney is the one that is good for Robin’s real life.

Ted: Because I’m not that guy anymore.

Since when, Ted? Since yesterday? Let’s be real here!

Robin: Then why did you work so hard to find me my locket?

Ted: It was a wedding gift – Robin: Ted, stop it – I know you better than that. This is more than a wedding gift!

Ted: Maybe it started out that way. Maybe some part of me thought…

Robin: That you still loved me.

Ted: Maybe. But the truth is, I don’t love you like that anymore. And you don’t love me. You love Barney. And if you think that I would ever be a part of screwing that up then maybe you don’t know me at all.

Okay Ted, slow your roll. That’s high and mighty and all but again, let’s be real here. Recently – real recently, as in less than a week ago, in your universe – you went out of your way to acquire this locket for a woman that is not your fiancé. I’m sorry but that is really clearly Ted being “a part of screwing that up”. So yeah, Ted’s in denial still. We probably are too. It’s hard to believe Ted this time, when we have had So. Many. Other. Times when he was over Robin. Since we’ve pretty much run out of time, though, I guess we can trust that this one is legit.

Robin: I can’t shake it. I can’t shake this feeling that nothing about me and Barney makes any sense.

Ted: But love doesn’t make sense. You can’t logic your way into or out of it. Love is totally nonsensical. But we have to keep doing it, or else we’re lost and love is dead and humanity should just pack it in. Because love is the best thing we do. I know that sounds cheesy, but it’s just true. You love Barney and he loves you and that doesn’t have to make sense to make sense.

FYI I heard those last few lines to the tune of REO Speedwagon “Keep On Loving You” :)

Heavy stuff, huh? It felt odd jumping back over to Lily and Marshall after such an intense moment. Those two are lamenting the loss of their halcyon days past, when there was mystery and romance in their relationship and not just an open bathroom door and Sunday breakfast being flung across the house. Back then it was somewhat like Robin suggested in “3 Days of Snow” (S4E13) – Lily and Marshall were basically playing house. They were still in their honeymoon phase, but now they’ve emerged on the other side of conflict as a stronger couple.

Okay, so Ted thinks he has gotten through to Robin. Crisis averted! Major relief. (Major relief – salute) But Robin is still tripping out. She shows off her Agent of SHIELD skills in this scene. She fakes like she’s going to sit down, then dodges right past Ted and grabs the key to the room. She whirls out of the room, whips her veil out of the way and locks Ted in behind her, all in one smooth motion. She sprints away and it seems like she’s gonna make it – she even has her heels in her hand. That’s pro status runaway bride stuff there. But then fate intervenes, and she (literally) runs into The Mother. Finally, they’ve met!

We take a break from that action to check in on Lily and Marshall. Marshall has brought Lily to the church early, so they can exchange new vows before the actual wedding begins. The new set of vows is an excellent idea and I was definitely crying when Marshall said:

I vow to keep updating them as we go. Because one set of vows, it can’t cover a lifetime of growing, and changing with you, and raising children with you…and falling more and more in love with you every day, Lily Aldrin, which is what I vow to do for the rest of my life.

We fans needed this just as much as they did. This was the writer’s way of confirming that they will be okay. They will end up together, of course, but they will also end up happy. There was a big risk of them ending up in a strained marriage, full of resentment, but they just missed it. “Daisy” (S9E22) set all of this up, but this episode was necessary to really secure it together.

We finally get to the much advertised scene where Robin and The Mother actually converse with one another. The Mother asks if something is wrong, because she can see that a bride running away is usually not good, and also “as a kid I was a bit of a detective”. Groan. I get that we need to see how Ted and The Mother are a perfect match but it’s getting a bit silly when they perfectly quote each other prior to ever meeting. I guess maybe they are just that couple that is so annoyingly in synch you can’t really be annoyed with them for too long. This next conversation was lovely and so I forgive them for the whole kid detective thing…

Robin: To be honest, I’m wondering if this whole getting married thing is something I can go through with.

The Mother: Oh. Wow.

Robin: That’s it? Aren’t you supposed to talk me out of it? Tell me it’s just cold feet, and I’m being crazy?

The Mother: Okay, during that fall we did kinda get to second base together, and we’ll always share that. But I don’t really know you. So, here’s all I’ll say. When I’m overwhelmed, I force myself to do one simple thing before I have to make a decision: Close my eyes and take three deep breaths.

Robin: Three deep breaths?

The Mother: Sometimes even three deep breaths can change everything.

What I liked about this conversation is that The Mother didn’t have all the answers. It is one thing for her to dispense wisdom to the douchey guy that hits on her in the mini-mart, but it’s quite another to act all-knowing when the stakes are this high. This scene demonstrates that The Mother has tact and empathy and isn’t that much all up in the business of strangers.

Anyway, Robin takes her deep breaths, and when she opens her eyes – there’s Barney! He says the perfect thing to reassure her and us…

I know it’s bad luck to see the bride right before the ceremony, but I realized something. Marshall and Lily have broken most of their wedding vows, but they’re still the best couple I know. I think their biggest problem was that Marshall didn’t tell Lily the truth. So I’ve decided to make only one vow to you, because it’s the only one that really counts. Robin Scherbatsky, from this day forward, I am always going to be honest with you. Because I love you. I’ll see you up there. Oh – Ted got that locket for you – he’s the one you should thank.

And there we truly see Barney’s redemption.

Barney steps away, but Robin calls him back, and they kiss. This scene was beautifully done, and it echoed Lily and Marshall’s wedding in the best way. Their first ceremony (technically it was the 2nd ceremony for those two, since they had that brief boat marriage in Atlantic City, but whatever) outside was the one that really counted. It was the one that had heart, and their very closest friends made it happen. Here, Robin and Barney have a similar moment, complete with vows and a kiss, made possible by their closest friends.

I was annoyed that we didn’t get to see the entire wedding, but that pre-ceremony moment was the important part that we didn’t even know we actually needed. What little we did see of the wedding was great – adorable ring bear (You mean ring bearer? Yeah, ring bear), flower gorilla off in the wings, and best of all, the bride walking down the aisle to an instrumental version of Sandcastles in the Sand. The song they first kissed to! I might be crying again just thinking about it. I would have loved to hear every word, but alas, it wasn’t in the cards.

I can’t close this out without addressing the ridiculousness that has been season 9. There have been some A. Ma. Zing. episodes this season, don’t get me wrong. But we have dealt with some real doozies, too, and the ratio hasn’t been favorable. They spread a bunch of unimportant, marginally funny stuff throughout the season and then saved all of this important, relevant, actually interesting stuff – stuff with real heart – to jam pack into the very last few episodes.

(Speaking of jam, what’s the difference between peanut butter and jam? If anyone doesn’t know the answer to that by now I’m sure some of the fellas in the peanut gallery would be happy to explain. We sure did have some fun with that whole tattoo/birthday sex position discussion, didn’t we?)

So it’s annoying that this episode had a million important things in it that perhaps could be have been better utilized elsewhere. I understand that many of these things apparently needed to happen right before the wedding – for example, the whole business with the locket – but this whole season is right before the wedding! It’s not like partially resolving the locket a month ago would have actually impacted the timeline that much. So Robin freaks out about her necklace 3 hours before the wedding versus 30 minutes before, does it really matter?

Point being that I would have liked to have seen much more time devoted to these big picture issues, and less time devoted to Barney crawling through air ducts, or Robin in a purple unitard, or Ted dragging around that horrible Cassie girl, or Ranjit kidnapping Barney’s stepmom. Know what I mean? If eliminating stuff like that meant that we could see (and hear!) the whole wedding I would have gladly made that trade.

Narrator Ted’s closing statement to the kids is everything you hoped and expected:

It was a twisting, turning road that led to the end of the aisle, and not everything along the was perfect. To be honest, not everything to follow would be perfect either. But what is? Here’s the secret, kids: None of us can vow to be perfect. In the end, all we can do is promise to love each other with everything we’ve got. Because love is the best thing we do. And on that lovely spring evening, that’s exactly what Barney and Robin vowed to each other. And it was legendary.

This further proves that Robin was incorrect about “legendary”. The wedding ended up being authentic, and that’s what made it legendary. Robin and Barney each went into this Friday Night Lights style – clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose. What could be more legendary than that? (Hopefully Ted and The Mother’s wedding, which we hopefully see next week or else I will cut a bitch out of pure fury) (Sorry for that rant I promise I won’t actually cut anyone)

Reposted with permission from Ted-Mosby.com

It’s time to say goodbye to How I Met Your Mother. TV finales have always hit me pretty hard. I was raised in the 80s and 90s, when America went a little crazy with the power of neon colors and computer graphics and processed snack foods. We may not have done fashion or food all that well, but we did television like you wouldn’t believe. My life had a great deal of upheaval, so I found a constant that I could rely on – fiction. Books, movies, and television have been my babysitters, companions, advisors, and great loves. I learned very early that you could immerse yourself and get lost in a world that doesn’t really exist. It’s a kind of magic that adults can still practice – and appreciate – today. It is extraordinary in how completely ordinary it is.

If I had to break it down, I would say that books are my best friends. But television holds a special place in my heart, because it offered a consistency I didn’t have access to in “real life”. My favorite shows would come on regularly, every day or every week at the same time. Their problems were presented and resolved in half hour to hour long segments. You knew that something major was happening because it was shown as a Very Special Episode, complete with a helpful phone number to call at the end. The music told me when I could anticipate something good, and when I needed to prepare for something bad. In short, I had the same television experience that millions of us have had, and will continue to have.

Despite how normal this is, it still feels a little embarrassing to explain just how much television has factored into my personal timeline. I was born the same year that Cheers was. I don’t remember life before MTV. I grew up on Golden Girls and Saved by the Bell, Full House and Family Matters. I watched Friends with my friends, and My So-Called Life pretty much defined what I considered my own so-called life. That 70’s Show came on when I was in middle school, and Dawson’s Creek started during my freshman year of high school. The first year that I lived on my own, as an adult, was 2005. That’s when How I Met Your Mother appeared.

Of course I resonated with the actors before I even saw the show. Buffy started around the same time as Dawson’s Creek, and American Pie came out in my senior year of high school. My obsession with being a redhead began long before Alyson Hannigan, but she solidified the choice for me many times. I could relate to Willow and Michelle, so Lily seemed like a friend already. I grew up watching Doogie Howser, MD, and many of my high school friends were super into Rent. I knew people that knew Neil Patrick Harris, which made him feel even more real to me. (I am not name dropping – I was never even close to actually knowing him). When I consider transformative shows, I can’t exclude Freaks and Geeks. I already had a huge crush on Jason Segel as Nick, so naturally I needed to see him in this new show.

I didn’t know of Josh Radnor or Cobie Smulders, but I was receptive to them. Josh as Ted was particularly intriguing, because he was right where I was. I bet that so many of you reading this right now felt the same way! I was surprised when I read The Proffessor’s farewell, and Solo’s goodbye to the show, because they touched on the exact same feelings I was having about the show ending. If you started watching the show as a single person, there was the idea – the hope – that you would find true love by the time Ted did. Now we’re at the end, and many of us are still searching for The One.

So there’s the normal pain that comes from saying goodbye to a group of friends that you have counted on each week, and then there’s this other thing. This uncomfortable reminder that your life was supposed to be sorted out by now. You planned on finding your soulmate before Ted met The Mother, but suddenly it’s nine years later and you’re still alone. I will admit that this is, in some ways, completely devastating. How can I have walked alongside Ted for nearly a decade, with his life echoing my own so many times, but not end up at the happy ending? What the hell, universe?!

But to dwell on that is to miss the entire point of the show. It is to focus on the lesson that Ted did not learn until almost the very last episode – there is no timeline to follow. It doesn’t matter how much you try to force things to work out according to your schedule; the universe has its own plan in mind and you simply can’t rush it. This place that you’re at right now is a great place! It has all the makings of a legendary episode, and it ultimately is leading you to your own yellow umbrella. We just can’t see our own life with the happy ending series finale in mind. Ultimately all of this little stuff is both hugely important and completely irrelevant.

It’s hugely important because it shapes us into the best versions of ourselves. Would Ted be ready to meet The Mother, and have a relationship with her, had he never met Victoria? What if he had never owned those red cowboy boots, or never tried to get Robin back that one time (no, not that time, the other time…no, not that time either…oh hell, pick any time, they all prove the same point!)? All of those events, big and little, transformed Ted into the man that we have been waiting to meet for nine years – and that’s huge.

At the same time, though, the show demonstrates that all the little crap doesn’t really matter. You will find the right person when it’s the right time, and not a moment sooner. Whoever you are at that point will be the right person for whoever they are at that point. Whether it be God, destiny, or just the science of how random events can start a domino effect, a grand plan is occurring all around us. So it’s okay if you act like an idiot at the bar on St. Patrick’s Day, because it’s not the only time your soulmate will be in the same place as you, at the same time. It just has to be the right place, and the right time, for everything to come together as it should.

We can focus on how to orchestrate our love lives into what we imagine they should be, or we can enjoy the ride. We can’t, as Ted notes, logic our way into or out of love. It brings a strange sense of relief, because it takes so much of the work out of it. When you meet the one, whenever and wherever and whomever it may be, they won’t care about those things you’re insecure about. They will like your stupid leather driving gloves and long-winded stories and overbearing friends. So there’s just no point in attempting to hide all that weird, wonderful crap that makes you, you.

And there’s no point in trying to force anything, because there’s so much more at play than just your one little life. That one little life might be what brings two people together in marriage, or helps a new baby come into this world. All of these little things that each of us do are all connected in some way that is beyond what we can even fathom. I find that comforting. It’s like looking at a picture of Earth from the moon, and recognizing how tiny you are in the grand scheme of things. If so much more is at play, then I can’t manage to fuck it up. My destiny will unfold as it is supposed to, regardless of whatever I do or don’t do.

This show has been a love story for so many different types of people, which has a lot to do with why it’s so successful. It is a love story for the high school or college sweethearts that found The One early and stuck with it. It is a love story for the guy that never wanted commitment, and the girl that always thought she wasn’t cut out for all that marriage stuff. It is a love story for the woman that found her soulmate and lost him too soon. It’s a love story for the eternal optimist that is ever-hopeful, always waiting, for the day when their soulmate walks into their life. It is a love story about friends that are family and family that are friends. It is about mistakes and fate and surviving the pain because something better is sure to come about. That’s real life stuff there.

I’ve avoiding saying too much thus far about actually losing this show.  That’s because it’s hard for me to write about. It’s hard for me to think about. I have lost real people in my life. I have sat with family members as they died, and I have witnessed great love and great pain. So I see the show ending with a sense of perspective. The normal thing to say right now is that a show ending doesn’t compare to a loved one dying…but I think it kinda does. It’s not exactly the same, of course, but it impacts you the same way. Your stomach drops and your heart aches and your brain hurts from trying to comprehend a future that suddenly doesn’t include someone or something that felt so very important for so long.

Like I said, TV finales have always hit me hard. For reference, consider that this one time, in band camp in high school I saw a rerun of the Charles in Charge finale. That show was on when I was a kid, and I was never particularly attached to it. I liked it, but it wasn’t an essential part of my life. It was just something funny to watch in reruns when I couldn’t find an episode of California Dreams or Perfect Strangers. But seeing that series finale episode, where the whole family sang the show’s theme song to the main character (Charles) had me in tears. I. Was. Devastated. When it’s a show that I’m actually really into, the finale is a million times worse.

I can’t ever forget the door closing on Cheers for the last time, or hearing Kevin’s last voiceover on The Wonder Years. My heart will always hurt (in a good way) when I think of Zack and Kelly getting married in the post-finale special, or when I remember how Joey and Pacey ended up together. Ross and Rachel on Friends. Brian and Justin on Queer as Folk. Eric and Donna on That 70’s Show. Ted and The Mother. Maybe you saw these shows, maybe you didn’t. It doesn’t matter. You have your own memories burned into your brain, and they likely affect you the same way. When you hear the song that played in the background, or remember that last twist – even when you think back on a poorly made spinoff – you go back there. You go back to being five or ten or twenty one or thirty. You go back to the 80s, the 60s, or the early 2000s. And it hurts so very good.

So yes, I will be a mess on Monday night. I will cry until my head is pounding and my eyes are red, and then I will type out a farewell episode review even though my hands are shaking and I can barely see. Some might think that’s an overreaction to a show ending, but I suspect you feel the same way. If you’ve read this whole thing, it’s because at least one show has resonated with you in the same way. If that one show is How I Met Your Mother, you really understand. You also understand that after the hour has passed, life will resume. We wipe away the tears and we smile fondly at ourselves for being such sensitive humans, and then we move forward. But we take it with us as we go, because it has been with us for so long that it’s now a part of who we are.

This show has been the soundtrack to my life. It has existed both as a big part of my work, leisure time, and love life, and also as the ever-present background music. It reminds me of lazy days spent with my best friends, where we talk about everything and barely notice Ted’s antics on the screen in front of us. It reminds me of heartbroken nights, curled up with a blanket and a glass of wine and the cold comfort of Ted being lonely, too. It reminds me of time with my family, old roommates, and all of you. A million people online that know exactly how I feel…it’s just the support group we all need as How I Met Your Mother comes to an end. It still blows my mind that people actually want to read my random thoughts about this show. I am not the only weird one that obsessed over who The Mother could be, or whether Barney could drive, or how to make Stinson’s Hangover Fixer Elixir. You guys are weird like that too! And for some reason you connect with what I’m writing, and that just means the world to me.

I started my own blog in 2011, largely because I needed a place to put all of my How I Met Your Mother thoughts. I don’t quite know what to do with myself now that all the questions will be answered. The nice part, though, is that we can say goodbye in a way that’s pretty unique. With most shows, the ending occurs in real time. We know what happens up to, say, 2014, and that’s it. But HIMYM’s universe continues through 2030 and beyond. In ten years, you don’t have to wonder if Marshall and Lily would still be together. We know that they are. We’ve seen their futures, and it makes us feel like we’ve seen our own futures. Maybe that’s the magic of it.

Right now it’s Sunday night, and I don’t know how the show ends. I don’t know if it will be the perfect ending we all look back on happily, or a great disappointment. It doesn’t really matter. I will have plenty to say on it either way, but one episode can’t change what the show has been to me for nine years. Besides, it’s not goodbye – just see you later. The joy of syndication brings the gang back into my home every night, if I invite them, and it takes out the sting. Netflix and DVDs mean that I can visit them all whenever I want to. But their stories are ending, and it’s time for me to focus on my own story a little more. HIMYM has helped to shape me into the woman that I am now. That woman is pretty fricken’ awesome, and when the time is right, I will find the right one. When it happens, I will say a little thank you to Craig Thomas and Carter Bays. They taught me something that I couldn’t always find in real life – hope.

9/05 Right after the end of S1E2 “Purple Giraffe”

The ending begins with a trip back to the beginning, or at least the second episode of the beginning. When S9E2 “Purple Giraffe” left off, Robin was trying to wingman for Ted with Barney’s classic “haaaave you met Ted?” method. She scores him a conversation, but not much else. She also earns indignance from Barney, who can’t believe she is using his own move in his own bar when he’s not there.

When Robin confesses to having no friends, the gang is quick to correct her. Marshall looks downright incredulous as he tells her, no, she has them now. Lily declares that Robin is officially in the gang. “Once you’re in, you’re in for life”

When Robin goes to buy a round, Lily tells Ted and Barney that they can’t bang her unless they marry her. Barney declares her “too rich for my blood”, but the next scene brings us to their wedding reception. Awww.

5/13 Right after S9E22 “The End of the Aisle”

Now we’re back in chronological order, at least for a moment. Ted sees TM and she takes his breath away, but he’s still planning on leaving for Chicago. Barney recognizes TM also, and reminds her of the huge, random role she played in him finally getting the girl. Barney is seriously overwhelmed with excitement when he hears that TM is single. He finally connects that she haaaaaasn’t met Ted yet! But Ted says he has to leave right then, and Barney makes them go outside for last goodbyes.

Ted tells Robin is has been a major pleasure (salute) knowing her, and they share a hug. Marshall jokingly tells Ted that he’s jealous, because Ted can visit Gazola’s Pizza whenever he wants now. The fact that Marshall is going to Rome does not comfort him, pizza-wise. Lily can’t handle the goodbye at first, but then her and Ted have their moment. A hug just isn’t enough, so they share an ET goodbye instead. It ends up being a little creepy, but still sweet.

Ted tries to reconnect with Barney over the infamous licking the Liberty Bell incident, but Barney has plumb forgotten the whole thing. He does a lot of awesome stuff, it has to be hard to keep track. But then Barney panics – who will he high five? This is a pressing issue that Ted and Barney (geniuses they are not) decide to solve with an “Infinity Five”. One high five to capture all of the high fives that ever were and ever could be…it’s a great idea until not one, but both of them hurt their hands. I guess that whole running start wasn’t the smartest plan.

This brings us chronologically up to the Farhampton train station (train platform?), where Ted is relaying the whole wedding story to the random old lady waiting on the bench. She is but one of many random old ladies that have preceded Ted connecting with a potential love match. Old lady wants Ted to go back and get that bass player, but Ted is still set on going to Chicago. So the lady asks, if he got a sign that she was his destiny, would have change his mind? Just like that, TM is right there, yellow umbrella in hand.

24 Hours Later – The evening of Monday, 5/27/14

Lily and Marshall head to MacLaren’s, and reflect on how there’s a whole different vibe without Ted there. But then – surprise! – Ted is still there, just sitting in the booth like nothing ever happened. He casually explains that he met a girl, and that whole Chicago thing is off. Marshall is pissed that Ted has jerked their emotions around, and worried that this is going to be the same old Ted situation again. He and Lily both disapprove of this girl, until they find out it’s the bass player for the wedding. Suddenly they’re back on board, because everyone knows just how awesome that particular girl is.

So Ted doesn’t wait three days, he just calls her right then, 24 hours after meeting her. He asks her out for dinner “tomorrow night”, which should mean their first date is Tuesday but in S9E21 “Gary Blauman” their first date is said to be on the Wednesday 3 days after the wedding. This was the first of many incidents throughout the episode that demonstrated how they don’t really care that much about sticking to their established timelines. That was frustrating, but I’ll put a pin in that topic for a moment.

Marshall assumes the worst when Ted calls too soon, telling Lily:

Why does he keep doing this? He meets ‘em, he likes ‘em way too much, he goes way too big too soon, and he ends up blowing it. I can’t take this anymore. He’s fallen in love so many times now.

Marshall is speaking for all of us now, saying what fans have been saying for years and years. It’s a nice confirmation that yes, this journey has been ridiculous in so many ways.

But Lily sees Ted’s face (and the fact that his phone conversation seems to be going pretty well) and she knows the truth.

Not like this. This is different.

Back to the Farhampton Train Station

Old lady is still pushing Ted to talk to the bass player, and she’s got dreams of singing at his wedding. Ted says he thinks big weddings are a young man’s game, and thinks if he does end up getting married, it will be low-key.

2015, MacLaren’s

Then we cut straight to Ted planning the most extravagant wedding ever. Barney and Robin arrive at the booth, and there’s obvious tension between them. When Robin steps away, Barney says that things are “great…great, just great”. He uses great a few too many times, which is HIMYM shorthand for not great at all. Robin travels all over the world for her job, and Barney explains “it makes things super difficult for us but it’s great…”

Then TM shows up, and tells Ted sorry, she hasn’t wired the deposit for the castle yet. She further explains that they can’t get married in September, because when she gets married, she wants to fit into her dress. Again, the timeline is totally screwy, but by this point in the episode I’ve given up hope of things making actual sense. I guess we can assume that this scene is set in early 2015, because they haven’t even secured their venue for a wedding happening at the latest nine months away.

So the lighthouse proposal scene did occur before they knew they were pregnant. I guess when the writers said “two years later” from May of 2015 – and later in the scene when Ted says “not two years ago”, again referencing May of 2015, it doesn’t actually mean two years at all. So that’s annoying, but I’m officially giving a point to everyone that I thought was thinking all wrong about the timeline. And minus one point to me for interpreting that literally when it was apparently just something that happened sometime between 1-2 years laterish from May of 2015.

May of 2016

We jump ahead to the whole gang, gathered at the Mosby residence in May of 2016. The whole gang is there, with baby Penny asleep in the other room. We learn that Marshall has gone back to corporate law and he’s beyond miserable, but trying to stay positive. He’s only saying good things about his work, but this is nearly impossible based on how horrible his day to day life sounds. Lily is convinced that he will be offered the judgeship again as a sort of karmic certainty since he turned it down once for her. Marshall doesn’t look like he believes her, but he doesn’t object. He’s really making the effort to be a good sport and appreciate what he has, but the poor guy deserves better than this.

When Barney and Robin are questioned about their recent trip to Argentina, there are again too many “greats” for us to believe it went well. We see the couple fighting in their hotel room, and Robin asks if he would be interested in taking the 3 year exist ramp. This callback to S2E12 “First Time in New York” was a nice touch. Before he responds to that, Barney suggests they go on a sex and drinking bender. That’s how they end up in the wrong hotel room, holding a stranger’s baby. At one point fans thought Barney and Robin had an ease with the baby that implied they had their own child. Now we know they were just comfortable with Penny and Daisy, but they never made a baby together.

When they’re finally (somewhat) sober again, Robin poses the same question. Barney responds “I love you, Robin. And when we got married, I made a vow that I would always tell you the truth.

Back to the Mosby living room, May of 2016

We got divorced.

Oh, hell. I didn’t want to hear that. Not one bit. It’s realistic, sure, but this show has put a whole lot of time and energy into Barney and Robin being a thing. They got me hooked on these two as a couple and now they’re over. It makes the season being set at their wedding weekend even more frustrating, because now that wedding doesn’t even feel like it mattered that much. I mean, yes, it was important in the grand scheme of things. But it wasn’t important the way they made it seem like it would be, and that really bothered me.

Everyone (myself included) is worried that the Barney and Robin divorce will ruin the group, and they won’t hang out anymore. Barney points out that they barely hang as is, what with the Mosby’s in the suburbs and Lily and Marshall working on their third baby. Surprise! Lily is pregnant again. That’s a good thing, because her and Marshall both wanted lots of kids throughout the entire show. Everyone is excited for them, but Lily brings them back to reality:

See, this, this right here. This is why we can’t fall out of each other’s lives. We have to be here for the big moments. Just promise me, no matter what, we will always be there for the big moments.

Robin promises, along with everyone else, and it’s time to do the time warp again…

October 2016, the apartment

Lily is super pregnant, and Marshall returns home from work totally exhausted. They question whether the living situation is working, with Marvin and Daisy sharing a bedroom. Marshall proposes that “when the next one arrives we’ll just put her crib in the shower”. So it’s another girl for Marshmallow and Lilypad! I’m happy for them but also for Judy Eriksen, who had like 47 grandsons before Daisy arrived. And now she gets another granddaughter! I bet Lily is officially her favorite daughter-in-law now. Anyway, Lily and Marshall decide they need to move to a bigger place, and a surprise appearance by the cockamouse validates their decision.

Halloween 2016, rooftop farewell to the apartment party

Robin arrives without costume, but that’s to be expected. She only wore costumes when she was with Barney. L That makes me sad again. She finds Marshall first, and he reveals that his and Lily’s costumes were not his idea. That’s because he is Captain Ahab, and extremely pregnant Lily is in a white whale costume. Barney pops up after scoring a number while in a David Lee Roth costume, and then Robin sees Ted. He’s wearing that horrible, wonderful hanging chad costume again! Marshall speaks for all of us yet again when he says:

It’s gone from played out, to charmingly retro, and back again six or seven times now.
This time, though, the hanging chad has an elderly (I think that’s what she was going for with her costume?) Gore/Lieberman supporter with him. TM is a part of the gang and she doesn’t even mind Ted’s odd Halloween tradition. Then things get weird, because Robin gets A Look. Not just a normal look, see, but A Look. A Look that says longing and regret and sadness. A Look we only see for a second, because then she’s upset and has to leave.

Lily runs into Robin as she makes her getaway, and says Robin has to stay. The whole gang is there! Robin’s response was raw and painful and a long time coming:

Robin: The gang? Do you know who the gang is to me, Lily? Here’s what the gang is: the gang is a married couple who I never see anymore, about to have their third kid. It’s my ex-husband hitting on slutty cops right in front of me. And it’s the guy I probably should have ended up with, with the beautiful mother of his child. Who in their right mind would call that group of people the gang?

Lily: Oh. Oh. So what…this is all just over then? Our whole friendship is just…over?

Robin: No, of course not. We’ll always be friends. It’s just never gonna be how it was. It can’t be, and that doesn’t have to be a sad thing. There’s so much wonderful stuff happening in all of our lives right now. More than enough to be grateful for. But the five of us, hanging out at MacLaren’s, being you and stupid, it’s just not one of those things. That part’s over.

Then Robin leaves, and Lily is all alone, a beached whale in this deserted island of an empty apartment. At this point I’m just hating the show and everything it stands for, because this hurts. This isn’t how I wanted to see them go. It’s too real, and I want a little fake right now. I want them to be the group that stays friends, because that group is so hard to find in real life. A group of friends that drifts apart, doesn’t talk anymore…there’s nothing special about that.

2018, MacLaren’s

It’s a big night, but just because the crew is getting back together and hanging out like old times. Only half of them are there, though. Lily and Ted are bemoaning how tired they are as parents, and Barney is trying to get them to rally and go big til the early hours of the morning. I guess TM was at home, maybe babysitting all of the Mosby and Eriksen kids? And Robin was MIA, because she’s never around anymore. Marshall shows up and explains that this night is actually more special than they realized. He’s been offered another judgeship! Karma works in his favor and I am temporarily distracted from my frustration, because Marshall deserves this, damnit.

Barney says that the night is all about celebrating their friendship – their family, really – but then he gets distracted by a hot girl. Sounds about right. Lily tries to reel him back in (literally, using his tie as the reel) and asks if he has changed even a little. Barney basically says, no, I haven’t.

If it wasn’t gonna happen with Robin, then it’s just not gonna happen with anyone. I’m never gonna be the guy who meets a girl, and the first time I see her, I’m like (grabs random girl) ‘You are the love of my life. Everything I have and everything I am is yours, forever.’ That’s not me. I’m the guy who straightens his tie, says something dirty, high fives himself and then goes and talks to that girl over there. That’s me. Can I please just be me?

Judge Fudge makes his first official ruling, and says that he’ll allow Barney to proceed.

2019, Robots versus Wrestlers

Ted, TM, Marshall, and Lily are all attending the annual Robots vs. Wrestlers events, just like they said they would. Ted and TM are still not married. Marshall asks if they’re ever going to do it, or if they’re happy just living in sin. Ted explains that life, kids, jobs got in the way, but they’ll get around to it. He jokes that “this one” (TM) insists on getting married in a French castle. TM retorts that she would get married in a White Castle, tomorrow, but Ted says there has to be a wow factor. Sounds about right for these two. Then Barney arrives, looking downright distraught.

Barney reflects on the glory that was his (S5E14) “Perfect Week”, when he scored seven chicks in seven nights. He has decided to up the ante by creating The Playbook II, and going for the Perfect Month. Gross. And sad, as Lily immediately points out. But Barney says he hasn’t gotten to the sad part yet. It turns out that girl #31 is pregnant! Really it was only a matter of time before Barney knocked someone up. The sheer odds were ever in his favor, you know?

2020, New York, by the Goliath National Bank building

Ted is pointing out GNB building fun facts to little Penny, who takes his architectural thoughts very seriously. Out of nowhere, there’s Robin! Penny recognizes her from the bus ad that passes by, but not as an actual friend of the family. Then we jump to a hospital waiting room, where Ted has just finished telling Lily and Marshall about his Robin spotting. Lily is sad that Robin isn’t here for this big event, but Marshall explains that it might be weird if she arrived for the birth of her ex-husband’s love child.

Barney emerges, and you think he’s witnessed the joy of childbirth, but really he was just throwing up in the bathroom. Then the nurse comes out and congratulates him. He is still pushing for the baby to not be his, but she says no, congratulations, it’s a girl. Barney Stinson has a daughter, how crazy is that? It’s crazy and somehow perfect. He’s not all too interested in meeting her, but the nurse puts the baby in Barney’s arms and says, “This is Ellie”. He looks down into her little face and just totally melts. He starts to cry as he tells his baby girl:

You are the love of my life. Everything I have and everything I am is yours, forever.

Then he kisses her forehead, and in that moment we have witnessed the true transformation of Barney. No other woman could do what his own daughter did for him. She pretty much saved his soul, and I love that he had was able to experience that. Barney as a dad is pretty much amazing, and it made me so, so happy.

The Mosby home

Ted comes into the living room and demands that TM give him back her engagement ring. The five year statute of limitations on proposals has passed, and as such he must re-propose. Seven years and two kids later, Ted gets down on one knee and asks her again. She cuts him off, again, so of course we STILL don’t know her name. This time Ted doesn’t just say “will you marry me?” He says “will you marry me on Thursday?”, assigning a wedding date to their grand love story.

Thursday, MacLaren’s

It’s Ted’s wedding day! He’s in the booth with Marshall, Lily, and Barney, but now the tables have turned. Barney is the sleepy dad, all worn out from his little one, and the rest of the gang wants to party. Lily thinks Barney really has changed, until he spots some hotties and takes off after them. Same old Barney, right? Wrong. They ask him to do shots, and he responds:

Shots? Before lunch on a Thursday? It’s like you’re trying to make bad decisions! You young ladies need to go home, put on some decent clothes, and take a good, hard look at your lives. Get! And call you parents, they’re probably worried sick.

Lily thinks she’s seen it all, but Marshall points out that there’s one more thing to see – Robin, coming through the door. She’s made it for the wedding! Now in the episode we have ten minutes left and it cut to commercial. I was getting really frustrated, because there was still SO MUCH to delve into, and time was basically gone. Again, I’m just so glad we spent so much time on this unnecessary wedding weekend and no time on all of this. (End sarcasm)

Robin says “I know I’ve missed a couple lately, but we said we’d always be there for the big moments.” Lily gives her a hug, and for a second all is right with the world. When Robin sees Barney, she says “hey daddy”, in reference to his new status as a proud papa. Barney breaks my heart again by saying “whoa, look, Robin, I’m really happy to see you, but I don’t think of you that way anymore”. Robin explains she meant because of the kid, and Barney says yeah, “she’s awesome. Daddy’s home.”

I really really really wanted Barney and Robin to get back together right here. I knew it was a long shot, but it felt so perfect for a minute. Robin could have been a stepmom to Ellie, and they could have settled down and been so happy together. I guess that’s not how it was supposed to work out, but this was a disappointment for me. It also left me feeling uncomfortable, because single Robin plus Mother issues we haven’t dealt with made it clear how things were going to unfold.

Then we have a distraction, because Marshall announces he will be running for New York Supreme Court Judge. So in a couple of months, if all goes well, they can officially address him as Fudge Supreme. Ted talks to Robin, and mentions that she RSVPed “No” to the wedding. These two and the RSVPs and the weddings, am I right? Robin admits that she wasn’t planning on coming, but TM convinced her. Then TM shows up, camera in hand, and says she can’t resist getting a picture of the group. This isn’t a private outdoors ceremony with a guitar playing, and it isn’t a heartfelt exchange of vows before the wedding, but this is still their equivalent to the pre-wedding ceremony that both Marshall and Lily and Barney and Robin had together.

The picture that TM takes is almost exactly the same as the picture from the opening credits, and from the very beginning of their friendship with Robin. Marshall’s face has exactly the same expression! Then, when the picture has been taken, Marshall pays up to Lily for the bet. They’ve kept it going all these years, but Ted marrying TM means that Marshall officially lost, and Ted and Robin did not end up together…right?

Lily proposes a toast, and it’s just how we all feel:

To Ted Evelyn Mosby. A man with more emotional endurance than anyone I know. It was a long, difficult road. Thank God we finally got here.

I’m going to let narrator Ted take over from her for a minute:

Lily wasn’t wrong. It was at times a long, difficult road. But I’m glad it was long and difficult, because if I hadn’t gone through hell to get there, the lesson might not have been as clear.

See kids, right from the moment I met your mom, I knew. I have to love this woman as much as I can, for as long as I can, and never stop loving her, not even for a second. I carried that lesson with me through every stupid fight we ever had, every 5 am Christmas morning, every sleepy Sunday afternoon. Through every speed bump, every pang of jealousy or boredom or uncertainty that came our way, I carried that lesson with me. And I carried it with me when she got sick.

Even then, in what can only be called the worst of times, all I could do was thank God. Thank every god there is, or was, or ever will be, and the whole universe and anyone else I could possibly thank, that I saw that beautiful girl on that train platform. And that I had the guts to stand up, walk over to her, tap her on the shoulder, open my mouth, and speak.

NOOOOOO. I did not want this sick mother business. I did not want TM to die! The signs were all there but I was in denial and I’m still in denial and maybe always will be. We barely got to know this incredible character, this amazing actress, but they expected us to buy her as the love of Ted’s life. And then, against all odds, it worked. She was perfect. We fell for her, hard, and were so excited to see their life together. But instead of giving us that, they gave us a few flashes of scrapbook photos and a horribly sad ending for such a happy couple. Maybe it’s all supposed to reflect how Ted’s time with her just flew by, I don’t know. But I don’t like it. My heart hurts.

May 26, 2013, Farhampton Train Station

Ted finally says hello. He finally meets The Mother. This is the moment we’ve been waiting for, but it feels hollow now to me. This feels like it was all a game but it was our emotions that were played with. I love these two together and this mere glimpse of their short future together is simply not enough. Somewhere in the back of my head I realized we must be about to find out her name, but at this point, what does it matter?

Ted and TM already recognize one another – she’s the bass player and Cindy’s ex-roommate, while he’s the best man and the professor from Econ 305. Ted is embarrassed until he notices that she has his umbrella and therefore must have stolen it from him. It doesn’t really count as stealing if you just leave your crap in someone’s house, but we get the idea. The Mother counters that no, this is and always has been her umbrella. Ted points out that his initials, TM, are right their on the handle, so the umbrella belongs to him, Ted Mosby. The Mother counters that those are her initials, too.

The Mother’s name is Tracy McConnell. TM has been TM for real this whole time, and the legendary Tracy Theory was correct! That’s another one that I thought for sure was total crap but ended up being actual show canon. Good job, Tracy theorists. Then both TM’s realize the further connections between them and the umbrella, and we see fate falling into place.

2030, Ted and the kids, finally

Ted: And that, kids, is how I met your mother.

Penny: That’s it?

Ted: Yes, that’s it.

Penny: I don’t buy it. That is not the reason you made us listen to this.

Ted: Oh really? Then what’s the reason?

Penny: Let’s look at the facts here. You made us sit down and listen to this story about how you met mom, yet mom’s hardly in the story. No. This is a story about how you’re totally in love with Aunt Robin. And you’re thinking about asking her out, and you want to know if we’re okay with it.

Sigh. The writing was on the wall, like I said, but I didn’t want this ending. Once we knew The Mother (I know we know her name now but it feels so weird to call her Tracy!) was dead, and Barney and Robin were divorced, it was inevitable. Had they given me some more time to feel fulfilled by Ted and The Mother’s relationship, I would be more supportive of this development. But all of this feels…forced, in a way. So Ted’s kids approve, and he heads over to Robin’s apartment, just like in the pilot episode. She has five dogs, just like before, and she sticks her head out the window to see who is there, just like before. Ted is holding the blue French horn, just like before. It’s his Say Anything Dobler moment, except he’s holding an instrument instead of a boom box. It feels right, but a little off.

Maybe it’s just because I’m not a Ted and Robin shipper. I loved them as a couple SO MUCH in the beginning, but forced myself to get over them because I was the naive viewer still waiting to meet the titular mother. As it turns out, The Mother didn’t matter all that much. This was always a Robin and Ted story, and there is a beauty in that which I can’t deny. It just doesn’t feel right in my heart. I feel a little duped, I guess. I put aside my own ideas about what seemed right in the very start and embraced these new relationships wholeheartedly. Barney and Robin? Yes please. Ted and The Mother? But of course! And yet none of that matters now.

It’s a show, so obviously, none of it ever really mattered. Never will. But for those of us that have been living inside this show for so many half hour increments, it feels confusing. I have more of an issue with Ted dating Aunt Robin than his own kids do! Ultimately they will all be happy, and on the front porch, and Robin will get her chance to do mom stuff for Ted’s kids. And I think The Mother would have wanted that. She never wanted Penny to get married without a mother figure present, and she certainly never wanted Ted to mourn her forever. The Mother learned to live after loss, and that’s the greatest lesson Ted would have ever learned from her. But we didn’t get those years with Ted and The Mother. We got a couple episodes of that magic and then we went right back to that Ted and Robin place. I guess it proves the show’s whole point, that it’s all about being in the right place at the right time. Now Ted and Robin are finally in that right place at the right time together, and he can steal her an entire orchestra.

HIMYM fans, are you feeling a little lost this Tuesday? Last night was the first Monday night since the finale, and many of us are missing the gang a whole lot. It doesn’t really matter if you loved or hated the finale – you just can’t help but wish for a few more minutes with your favorite TV companions. 

If you haven’t already watched the Inside the Actor’s Studio with the cast of How I Met Your Mother, now is the perfect time! It’s set right before the finale, so we can avoid all of that messy divorce/death business and just focus on the happy days when Barney and Robin were in love and Ted was yet to meet Tracy.

Here’s the link to watch it: http://www.bravotv.com/inside-the-actors-studio/season-20/videos/how-i-met-your-mother-barney-stinson-interview

(There are related videos on that page that cover most of the show)

Have you watched it yet? I can wait while you do, no problem…

Okay, if you’re back I assume you watched, or you just want the highlights without taking the time to see the whole thing. I’m happy to oblige!

Best Moments:

Hearing the gang cuss! The actors all had moments in character, and it was so oddly wonderful to hear them use language that CBS doesn’t allow. Of course Lily would say fuck and Barney would say dick and Robin would call Ted a pussy. It makes perfect sense for their characters but we never got to see much of that type of conversation before (excluding the grinch incident, of course). Cobie got so deep into character that she seemed honestly surprised when Josh mentioned her calling him a pussy afterwards.

Marshall reacting to James Lipton’s questions about the paranormal…he knows it’s all real because he’s seen it with his “pair-a-normal eyes”.

Neil Patrick Harris taking a minute to FaceTime with his little ones and say goodnight. SO SWEET.

Jason Segel and Neil Patrick Harris do a rousing rendition of “Confrontation” from Les Mis.

When asked if they ever indulged in sandwiches, Lily replied “Yeah! We get hungry!”

Overall it was just awesome seeing the transformations from actors to characters. Jason Segel gets an entirely different, super enthusiastic look on his face, while Josh Radnor perfectly slips into Ted’s tone of voice and mannerisms in a heartbeat. It was really fun witnessing how they embody their on-screen doppelgänger so quickly and effectively.

The gifs below will give you a good sense of all the fun, but they still don’t do the video justice. It felt like the resolution that the finale didn’t really offer us. Emotionally speaking I mean. There’s no new plot information or anything like that, just an honest sense of closure for these people who have meant so much to us. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! The only downside is that there’s no Cristin Milioti/The Mother/Tracy….so in that sense it’s just like the entire series, ya know?

Filed under: HIMYM, HIMYM gifs, HIMYM quotes, How I Met Your Mother, Musings Tagged: Barney, HIMYM, himym blog, HIMYM cast, How I Met Your Mother, Inside the Actor's Studio, James Lipton, Jason Segel, Lily, Marshall, Neil Patrick Harris, Robin, Ted, the mother, who is the mother

It’s been a couple of years since the end of How I Met Your Mother, but I still get questions about how HIMYM & Love in the Time of Cholera are connected. We know that it’s Ted’s favorite book, and something that connects him to The Mother. One of my commenters broke down all of the connections between the plots, characters, and themes of both the book and TV show. Credit for the research and writing goes to Mark Zajac, a reader who was kind enough to enlighten us all! I tried to do a summary, but I couldn’t do it justice, so I’ve left all of his comments as is for you to peruse…I just added some bolding to help you along the way.

HIMYM & Love in the Time of Cholera

Part 1

Parallels Between Characters, Plot Points, & Symbolism

Dear Ms. Writes,

You seem to enjoy various “How I Met Your Mother” theories. With the finale upon us, it gives little away to observe that “Love In The Time of Cholera” and “How I Met Your Mother” are in detailed correspondence, or at least they were, for many years. To save typing, I will refer to “Love In The Time of Cholera” and “How I Met Your Mother” as “the novel” and “the show” respectively.

The novel is Ted’s Favorite (Season 1, Episode ). The show has a running joke about doppelgänger (Season 5, Episode 24). Perhaps this is no coincidence. The novel tells the story of a love-triangle among, Fermina Daza, Florentino Ariza and Juvenal Urbino. These are the true doppelgängers for Robin, Ted and Barney, on the show. In fact, the novel provides doppelgängers for many of the show’s major characters — (salute) Major Characters!

Robin Scherbatsky and Fermina Daza are doppelgängers. Fermina is raised by a harsh father. He has a shadowy background. He is outraged by Fermina’s first adolescent romance. Fermina is sent to a convent, where her burgeoning femininity is suppressed. Robin is raised by a harsh father. He has a shadowy background (Season 8, Episode 13). He is outraged when pubescent Robin kisses a hockey teammate (Season 4, Episode 6) . Robin is sent to military academy, where her burgeoning femininity is suppressed (Season 8, Episode 4). In exile, at the convent, Fermina loses faith in organized religion. Robin does not believe in miracles (Season 3, Episode 20). In the novel, Fermina sets herself a deadline for getting married. On the show, Robin suggests that she and Ted should mary at age 40 by default (Season 4, Episode 17). Ted agrees. In the novel, smoking is one of Fermina Daza’s salient character traits. On the show (Season 2, Episode 18), smoking is revealed as one of Robin Scherbatsky’s salient character traits; she is arguably the most committed smoker among the major characters — (salute) Major Characters! For a while, Fermina’s house was FULL of animals, which became a point of contention, in the novel. Early on (Season 1, Episode 1), Robin’s apartment was FULL of dogs, which became a point of contention on the show (Season 2, Episode 16). At one point in the novel, Fermina’s entire menagerie of pets is killed, except for a tortoise. This is like the substitution of a tortoise for Sir Scratchewan, on the show (Season 3, Episode 20). Infertility is a major plot point for both Fermina and Robin (Season 12, Episode 7).

Ted Mosby and Florentino Ariza are doppelgängers. In the novel, Florentino is a hopeless romantic who falls in love with Fermina at first sight. On the show, Ted is a hopeless romantic, who falls in love with Robin at first sight (Season 1, Episode 1). Florentino initially lacks the courage to approach Fermina; he watches her from afar and schemes of ways to meet her. This is classic Ted. In the pilot, he is devising a complicated scheme for meeting Robin, when Barney initiates “Have you met Ted?” preemptively. Ted then stages three parties in hopes of casually meeting Robin (Season 1, Episode 2). Early in the novel, Florentino declares his eternal love and devotion to Fermina at an inappropriate moment. Fermina is shocked and sends Florentino away. On the show, Ted says “I love you” to Robin on their very first date. She is shocked and sends him away (Season 1, Episode 1).

Music figures prominently in the courtship of Fermina by Florentino and the courtship of Robin by Ted. In the novel, Florentino serenades Fermina with a violin concerto, which he composes in her honer. On the show, Ted (repeatedly) steals a blue French horn for Robin (Season 1, Episode 1). Ted later surprises Robin with a string quartet, in her apartment (Season 1, Episode 22). Ted ultimately offers to steal an entire orchestra for Robin (Season 2, Episode 22).

Barney Stinson and Dr. Juvenal Urbino are doppelgängers. In the novel, Dr. Urbino provides a stark contrast to the romantic idealism of Florentino Ariza. This is precisely the contrast between Barney and Ted, on the show. Dr. Urbino is cosmopolitan, popular with women and is know for being a snappy dresser. Barney is a man about town, a ladies man and a tireless advocate for suits (Season 4, Episode 12). In the novel, Dr. Urbino is always pushing for progress and modernization just as Barney says “newer is always better” on the show (Season 6, Episode 5). Dr. Urbino is known for living his life by strict principles. Barney lives by the “Bro Code” (Season 3, Episode 17). On the surface, Fermina and Dr. Urbino appear to be a very happy couple, but in reality, they are quite dissatisfied. This mirrors the public affection and private fights between Robin and Barney (Season 5, Episode 6). In the novel, Fermina parts from Florentino, after two years, and ultimately agrees to mary Dr. Urbino. On the show, Robin parts from Ted, after two seasons, (Season 2, Episode 22) and ultimately agrees to marry Barney (Season 8, Episode 12). On the show, Barney Stinson’s doppelganger is a doctor (Season 6, Episode 13), specializing in fertility.

Dr. Urbino is naive and childlike, in some respects — his first name is Juvenal from the Spanish “juvenil ” or “juvenile” in English. Barney shares his name with the dinosaur host of a children’s television program. Barney plays laser-tag with children. Barney is prone to petulance and tantrums, like when Ted refuses to wear a “brobe” (Season 7, Episode 19) or when Ted refuses to play along with the Jor-El hologram in Barney’s apartment (Season 8, Episode 19).

Rosalba and Amy, the tattooed nanny, are doppelgangers. For a brief period, it seems that Florentino and Fermina will be united. Fermina is then taken on a long journey, with the intention that time and distance will cause her to forget Florentino. This is like Robin going to Argentina, in hopes of forgetting Ted (Season 3, Episode 1). Upon her return, Fermina has (literally) grown into an almost unrecognizable person, just as Robin has (figuratively) grown by the time she gets back.

When things go awry, Florentino initially refuses to consider that any woman could replace Fermina. This is like the period when Ted paints his apartment and grows a beard (Season 3, Episode 1). In the novel, Florentino grows a mustache when Fermina leaves. Florentino is then assaulted by a woman named Rosalba. This sets Florentino on a course of pursuing other women in hopes of filling the void that Fermina leaves in his heart. The corrupting influence of Rosalba, in the novel, makes her like Amy, the tattooed nanny, from the show (Season 3, Episode 1). The next morning, Florentino has no clear memory of his encounter with Rosalba. The next morning, Ted has no clear memory of his encounter with Amy — he is shocked to discover that he has gained a butterfly tattoo (perhaps representing a loss of purity).

Stella Zinman and Olimpia Zuleta doppelgängers. In the novel, Florentino begins his courtship of Olimpia Zuleta by chasing her parasol, when it blows away in a storm. On the show, the third season starts with the yellow umbrella blowing down the street. This is the year that Ted meets Stella Zinman. In the novel, Olimpia Zuleta is resistant to courtship and reluctant to have sex because she is married. On the show, Stella is resistant to courtship (Season 3, Episode 13) and reluctant to have sex (Season 3, Episode 18) because she has a daughter with Tony Grafanello (Season 4, Episode 5). Stella is effectively married to Tony, at first, and literally married in the end. Both Olimpia, in the novel, and Stella, on the show, have husbands who are capable of violence — Tony Grafanello is a karate instructor.

Zoey Pierson and Leona Cassiani are doppelgangers. In the novel, Florentino initially mistakes Leona Cassiani for a prostitute. This mirrors the first meeting of Ted and Zoey, on the show (Season 6, Episode 5). Leona comes from a poor family, just like Zoey (Season 6, Episode 22). In the novel, Leona is nick-named “the lion” by Florentino (and, of course, “Leona” is the feminine of “Leo” which is the lion from the zodiac). On the show, an ornate stonework lion-head is pivotal to the interaction of Ted and Zoey (Season 6, Episode 23). In the novel, Leona Cassiani attains high rank in the shipping company of rich and powerful Don Leo XII Loayza. This is like the marriage of Zoey Pierson and George “The Captain” van Smoot, on the show (Season 6, Episode 8). Don Leo XII Loayza and George “The Captain” von Smoot are doppelgängers.

I suspect that Karen, Ted’s girlfriend from college (Season 4, Episode 16), and The Widow Nazaret might be doppelgängers, simply because flagrant promiscuity is the salient character trait of each.

Carly Whittaker and America Vicuna are doppelgangers. Near the end of the novel, Florentino romances a much younger woman named America Vicuna. This is like Ted and Carly Whittaker, on the show (Season 8, Episode 14). In the novel, America is only 14 and is directly related to Florentino — ew, gross! In a minor switch, that makes the romance (slightly) less creepy Carly is a bit older and related to Barney, not Ted, on the show. Still, the relationship retains a slightly “forbidden” quality.

Nora and Miss Barbara Lynch are doppelgängers. In the novel, Miss Barbara Lynch and Fermina Daza are principal rivals for the affection of Dr. Urbino. On the show, Nora and Robin are principal rivals for the affection of Barney Stinson. Both the novel and the show feature main characters of predominantly European descent, with Miss Barbara Lynch and Nora are conspicuous exceptions.

The correspondence or Nora and Miss Barbara Lynch is not perfect. Dr. Urbino cheats on Fermina with Miss Barbara Lynch but, in a reversal of roles, Barney cheats on Nora with Robin. Also, on the show, Quinn Garvey is a third significant rival for Barney’s affection, with no counterpart from the novel that I could discern. Discrepancies, like these, suggest that the novel and the show might end differently. This brings us to Jeanette Peterson…

Brace yourself, the novel provides NO DOPPELGANGER for Jeanette Peterson! In the novel, pursuit of America Vicuna was Florentino’s last attempt to distract himself from Fermina. That should have meant no new girlfriends for Ted after Carly Whittaker. Note, however, that Ted and Jeanette were both reading “One Hundred Years of Solitude” when they first met (Season 8, Episode 15). It occurred to me that “One Hundred Years of Solitude” and “Love In The Time of Cholera” were both written by Gabriel García Márquez. There is a character in “One Hundred Years of Solitude” named Fernanda del Carpio. She is mentally and emotionally unstable. She fails to gain acceptance among the other characters. I think that Fernanda del Carpio and Jeanette Peterson might be doppelgänger but that is (literally AND figuratively) a whole different story!

Series creators Craig Thomas and Carter Bays spoke of changing gears when plans for a ninth season were announced. I think that Jeanette Peterson signals a departure from “Love in the Time of Cholera” as a source of doppelgängers when she trashes Ted’s apartment (Season 8, Episode 18). After all, it is Jeanette Peterson who LITERALLY (and perhaps figuratively) throws “The Play Book” out the window!

On that note, it is amusing to consider that perhaps “Love In The Time of Cholera” and “The Play Book” are doppelgangers. This would mean that the source of all doppelgängers is a doppelgänger itself. I can easily imagine Craig Thomas and Carter Bays referring to “Love in the TIme of Cholera” as “The Play Book” and then deciding to work that into the show, as sort-of an inside joke.

The novel is not just a source of doppelgängers. The show borrows many symbols, metaphors and plot points from the novel. For example, the female leads on the show are named for a bird and a flower. Time and time again, the novel returns to birds and flowers as major recurring motifs — (salute) Major Recurring Motifs!

In the novel, manatees represent the danger of infatuation with a person who is not seen for who they truly are. This is based on the idea that sailors would mistake manatees for mermaids. This is a recurring theme, on the show, including an episode that refers to manatees explicitly (Season 6, Episode 11). Consistent with this theme, Robin chose a mermaid-style wedding dress.

Gabriel García Márquez employes a literary device called “prolepsis” throughout the novel. This involves giving the reader a tantalizing glimpse of an unexpected future event, raising questions that go unanswered for a long time. This technique contributes to the distinctive style of the show. There are countless examples. In one scene (Season 3, Episode 17), Ted lets slip that he and Robin will eventually live together. In another flash-forward, Ted inexplicably arrives at MacLaren’s in a green dress, (Season 6, Episode 11). On both occasions, the audience is then held in suspense for a LONG time.

Pivotal events in the novel coincide with stormy weather. On the show, pivotal events invariably coincide with precipitation. Ted first connects with Robin when he triggers rain-storm (Season 1, Episode 22). By the way, that was NOT a coincidence, Ted really made it rain! An unexpected shower (Season 3, Episode 12) prompts Ted to first appropriate a yellow umbrella, which becomes a recurring prop, in key scenes, throughout the show. Marvin W. Eriksen is conceived as Hurricane Irene rages. During that same storm, Barney and Robin rekindle their romance after an exchange in the rain (Season 7, Episode 9). It is raining when Ted first speaks with Stella, after her desertion (Season 4, Episode 22). It starts to snow at the moment that Robin agrees to marry Barney (Season 8, Episode 12). Marshal and Ted sip beers while waiting for the (apparent) marriage of Barney and Robin. Ted mentions, ironically, that it is not raining. It then begins to rain (Season 6, Episode 1). The rain continues throughout the reception (Season 8, Episode 13) and it is still pouring when Ted finds himself at the train station (Season 8, Episode 1).

In the novel, cholera represents the debilitating nature of love. On the show, characters often make pivotal love-related decisions while in hospital. Ted decides to marry Stella Zinmann while in hospital (Season 2, Episode 20). In the same episode, Barney is also in hospital when he has an epiphany about his feelings for Robin. Years later, after rounds of denial, Robin and Barney admit complicated mutual feeling for each other in a hospital, where Ted is being treated for goat-related injuries (Season 4, Episode 24).

Now, here’s a bit that I have covered before, in an earlier post here. Under maritime law, ships fly a yellow flag as the warning for cholera on board. The link between love and cholera, in the novel, makes yellow the “love-sick” color, on the show. For example, Robin wears a yellow raincoat in her pivotal exchange with Barney, during Hurricane Irene (season 7, episode 9). My feeling is that the art department then gave purple a role as the color-wheel opposite of yellow. Of course, the all-important umbrella is yellow. At the end of the novel, raising a yellow flag grants privacy and enables abiding love to prevail.

How will the show end? I’m so unsure that there seems little danger of spoilers. It is fun to speculate. In the novel, Fermina has kids who are outraged at the final turn of events. On the show, Ted has kids… Will Ted’s kids be outraged? There are rumors that Carter Bays and Craig Thomas filmed the final reaction shot of Ted’s kids while the actors were still young. I would love to know what ending had been planned before deciding to give the show a ninth season. I really feel that Jeanette Peterson signaled a departure of the show from the novel, with a possible change of the ending. To me, this would be a shame, after such faithful correspondence, over the years. I console myself that perhaps Carter Bays and Craig Thomas have been planning to change the ending, all along, right from the start. The novel begins with a suicide, setting a macabre and somber tone. The show begins with a suicide ATTEMPT instead, disrupting the first date of Ted and Robin (Season 1, Episode 1). Reporting for Metro News 1, Robin says “The man came down off the ledge, giving this bizarre story a happy ending.”

Sincerely,

[:-)] Mark

Mark Zajac

HIMYM & Love in the Time of Cholera

Part 2

Milk, Star Wars, & the Predicted Ending

Dear Ms. Writes,

At long last, I have seen the conclusion of “How I Met Your Mother” and I can start to comment on episodes from the final season.

Way back in the first season, we were told that “The Mother” was doomed. We learned from “Milk” that Ted wanted to name his kids Luke and Leia, after the “Star Wars” characters. We know that Carter Bays and Craig Thomas are huge “Star Wars” fans. In the “Star Wars” mythos, “The Mother” always dies early. Anakin’s mother died early, setting him on the path to becoming Darth Vader. Luke’s mother died early, setting him on the path to becoming a Jedi (cool fact: my spell-checker complained when I left “Jedi” uncapitalized).

In some ways, “Milk” might be the most pivotal episode of the entire series. This was also the episode in which we learned that “Love in the Time of Cholera” is Ted’s favorite novel. I have already mentioned that “How I Met Your Mother” and “Love in the Time of Cholera” are in detailed correspondence. Robin was fated to marry Barney but end with Ted, just as Fermina married Urbino but went back to Florentino.

In addition, “Milk” presents Ted with his “perfect match” — a bass player who shares his quirks and will bear his children — and yet, in the end, Ted is still in love with Robin. There you have it! Carter Bays and Craig Thomas telegraphed the whole thing, right from the get-go.

I can’t believe that people were shocked and outraged. I can’t believe that people complained so bitterly about the finalé. It was preordained. It was, in a word, legen… dary!

Sincerely,

[:-)] Mark

Mark Zajac

HIMYM & Love in the Time of Cholera

Part 3

Sunrise, Ghosts, & Balloons

Dear Ms. Writes,

You did not review “Sunrise” so I will post my thoughts here.

I have already mentioned that Jeanette Peterson and Fernanda del Carpio from “One Hundred Years of Solitude” might be doppelgängers. Throughout the novel, many of the principle characters are visited by ghosts. So, it seems fitting that “Sunrise” features ghosts and Jeanette Peterson in the same episode.

The novel also features a character name Remedios the Beauty, who is so impossibly perfect that she simply ascends into heaven one day. It seems that Robin recreates this when she floats away at the end. The overt message is that Ted is letting Robin go but the parallel with Remedios perhaps reminds us that, even then, Ted still saw Robin as worthy of apotheosis.

The writers were careful to lay the foundation by having Marshall collect that picture of Ted’s balloon friend when Marshall passed through Cleveland.

Sincerely,

[:-)] Mark

Mark Zajac

HIMYM & Love in the Time of Cholera

Part 4

From Death, New Life

Dear Ms. Writes,

I have already mentioned that Don Leo XII Loayza and George “The Captain” von Smoot are doppelgängers. It strikes me now that both have multi-part names.

Don Leo has an odd proclivity for singing at funerals. So, when “The Captain” is singing, we are led to expect a funeral but, like The Mosby Boys, we have jumped to the wrong conclusion. The writers pull a switch-a-roo. Instead of death (cigarettes), we get new life — a baby!

Note that daisies have appropriately dichotomous symbolism: they can represent new beginnings and innocence — Lily is innocent! — but daisies can also can symbolize death — “pushing up daisies” for example. In Celtic lore, daisies represent the spirits of unborn children. The daisy might also correlate with Marshall’s decision about supporting Lily in her dream of going to Italy: will his marriage to Lily live or die? By tradition, the game of “he loves me / he loves me not” is played by plucking the petals from a daisy. It seems that daisy had an odd number of petals!

The theme of “from death, new life” may have a parallel with Marshall receiving confirmation of fertility on the same day that he learns of his father’s death (season 6, episode 13, unluckily).

It seems that Becky — boats! boats! boats! — should have a doppelgänger but I am stumped. Where are those Mosby Boys when you need them?

Sincerely,

[:-)] Mark

Mark Zajac

HIMYM & Love in the Time of Cholera

Part 5

Marsh-Lilies

We know that “Love in the Time of Cholera” is Ted’s Favorite novel. In that story, a yellow flag enables abiding love to prevail. Rain also signals key events in the novel, just as it does on the show.

Somebody mentioned lilacs in the boutonnières. The white flowers in the boutonnières appear to be Calla Lilies. These flowers are also known as marsh-lilies, which is cool, for obvious reasons. But wait, it gets better! Calla lilies are the flower associated with a sixth wedding anniversary and, by my reckoning, Marshall and Lilly have been married six years at the time of the “Farhampton” wedding.

So what do you think? If I had read the novel, I would have had much more accurate predictions when I blogged about the show! Still, it’s fascinating to see how much of the show was influenced by the book. It also makes me slightly less annoyed by the ending, which I personally thought was crap. I feel like they did a disservice to the fans by breaking up two relationships that they led us to fall in love with. But at least they were doing it for the sake of staying connected to a literary inspiration, versus just being stuck on an idea that they thought was shocking and clever. Anyway, if you have additional info on the book/connections, please comment below. And of course, thank you so much to Mark for his legendary comments, detailed analysis, and dedication. :)

A wonderful author named J.R. Ward has created a book series that I am absolutely obsessed with – the Black Dagger Brotherhood. I’ve been reading them for about ten years now, and I’m still just as hooked as I was on day one. These books are a hard sell, though, because they’re part of the paranormal romance novel genre. We’ve pretty much reached peak vampire romance saturation in pop culture, but I’m recommending giving the series a go. I’ve put together some basic info to help persuade you in that direction – my only goal is to introduce other voracious readers to quality offerings they may enjoy!

Readers of my blog are probably familiar with my book obsession. I enjoy reading a wide variety of genres, but only certain authors/books really resonate with me emotionally. These characters make me laugh my ass off, cry my heart out, and everything in between. They’re vulnerable smart asses with hearts of gold and real struggles that you can’t help but care about. If you’re looking to get sucked in, these books are it. You know the story of the Velveteen Rabbit? Well, if loving a book could make it real, all of these would have sprang to life from my bookshelf. Seriously, the cover image is the books on my actual shelf and you can see they’ve been read and re-read to the point of nearly falling apart. That’s book love for you!

Black Dagger Brotherhood Overview

In Caldwell, New York, there’s a whole society of vampires living among humans. There are also vampire sub-species, which are explained thoroughly as the series develops. The Black Dagger Brotherhood is a collection of special vampires with extraordinary strength and passion; they protect the race from the forces of the evil undead lessers. They also fall in love, get it on, joke, talk shit, and fight a whole lot. It’s action, adventure, comedy, and romance, all in one!

Vampire Caveat

I know the titles seem a little silly (Dark Lover, Lover Eternal, Lover Awakened, etc). Don’t let that prevent you from giving them a chance! These vampires don’t sparkle. They aren’t traditional vampires, though, because they don’t drink human blood. They eat regular food but also require blood from other vampires of the opposite sex. They aren’t undead; they’re just a separate species. The author delves into their origins, anatomy, genetic differences, culture, and pop culture. It’s a complex, well developed fictional world that is sure to suck you in. Also there are some sexy sexy sex scenes, along with graphic violence. The fan base is mainly female, but the characters and plots have a solid male following as well.

Diverse Representation & Super Feminist!

The series as a whole is incredibly feminist and equal opportunity. The first couple books baaaarely pass the Bechdel test, but they become more balanced and feminist as the series progresses. I’m not going to get into why feminism is considered by some to be a dirty word, but please understand that I mean it in an entirely positive way. Here are some cool elements to consider:

• Males & females are both fighters, doctors, leaders, lovers, protagonists, and antagonists.
• Sexual abuse and the on-going recovery is presented accurately and with respect. There are both male and female sexual abusers, and male and female sexual abuse victims.
• Gay characters are fully accepted with no qualms. One book, late in the series, has a gay couple as the main characters. They struggle with their sexuality and ultimately come to terms with it and celebrate it in a very real way. Some parents are unconditionally supportive; some parents hate their gay children.
• There are main characters with disabilities and injuries/on-going mental and physical health issues. One has a prosthetic leg, several have extensive visible scarring, the king is blind, etc. The characters also deal with PTSD, depression, anxiety, and drug abuse. None of these characters are presented as weak or lesser than in any way.
• The main race of vampires doesn’t have a specified skin tone, beyond looking vaguely Russian or Hungarian. One sub-species (Sympaths) is comprised of extremely pale skinned characters, while another (Shadows) is comprised of dark skinned characters. The human characters are a range of races including black, white, and latino.
• Characters experience discrimination based on skin color, disability, sexual orientation, gender, economic class, and religion.
• The upper class vampires tend towards being extremely sexist, elitist, and conservative. They greatly resemble the more conservative political side of current American right wing Republicans and Tea Party members. The series dismantles their power and achieves greater equality for all as the books progress.

If this isn’t enough to convince you, then you should consider checking out my Black Dagger Brotherhood character guide, and Black Dagger Brotherhood family tree.

Fictional character family trees are kinda my jam these days, so I’ve been creating them for my favorite books, TV shows, and movies. I’ve wanted to do a family tree/character lineage for J.R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood series for a long time, so I finally put it all together. A new book – this one an origins story – is set to be released tomorrow (12/1/15), so this will of course need updating soon. But here’s where we stand thus far…

Black Dagger Brotherhood Character Lineage Tree

Click to enlarge so you can see/read it!

Artist Maritza Lugo worked with sex education speaker/author Danielle Sepulveresto bring attention to January as Cervical Cancer Awareness month. The resulting illustrations are beautiful, thought-provoking, and impactful. The headlines below show how the art and message have gone viral on a global level, reaching women across the world.

There is backlash, of course…many object to the use of Disney’s cartoon heroines as role models for sexual health care. But that  fear is missing the  point – this isn’t about just sex. Sexual health care is a part of female health care, and vice versa. Mainstream media presents our bodies for sexual consumption, but scorns the presentation of women as actual human beings with physical needs. Now, more than ever, we need to work towards ensuring all women’s access to affordable, stigma-free health care. This must include respect – respect for the female’s choices, respect for her needs, and respect for her body. Planned Parenthood is the number one resource in America for women to receive this exact type of care, regardless of their economic station or personal beliefs. 

Some people will not visit Planned Parenthood, because they feel the organization goes against their values. That is a personal decision, and I would never try to take that choice away from anyone. There are other people, though, that don’t realize what kind of help they could get. They might not realize the type of help that they need. They might desperately want help with painful periods, HIV tests, or ensuring a healthy pregnancy. But even if the need and desire are there, societal attitudes can be a barrier. No one should feel ashamed about making their own personal health decisions, or seeking the (legal, safe, and legitimate) care that they need. So if illustrations like this help to normalize the idea of reproductive health, I’m all for it. 

Relatable characters – fictional women that real life women have been admiring, disdaining, or debating for centuries – make an everyday issue memorable. If the princesses were real women, they would have real healthcare and family planning needs. The intended audience isn’t the young children that Disney movies are geared towards, but would it be so awful if it were? There are worst things in the world than children seeing representations of normal, accurate healthcare needs being addressed in a medical setting.

These slice of life images show us a side that Disney doesn’t address, sure, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. We’ve already culturally accepted Disney princesses as modern entities. The scores of alternative versions of them – from pinup girl tattoos to zombies – prove this. So if we can imagine a modern Mulan, is it really a stretch to imagine her receiving an annual pap smear? If we’re already envisioning Belle as a hipster in a hoodie, why can’t she need Plan B? Maybe Aladdin gave Jasmine HPV, maybe Merida needs the pill to help regulate her periods, maybe Ariel is struggling with postpartum depression. 

These characters are more often than not married, and many of them have gone on to become mothers in various sequels, spin-offs, and alternate universes. We can accept that they have sex, so we should be able to accept that they would have the same health needs as anyone else. So yeah, it’s pretty reasonable to assume that they might need the services that Planned Parenthood offers. I hope to see more of these illustrations, encompassing even more characters. It would be great to see Prince Charming stocking up on condoms, or Eric showing up for his prostate exam. That’s the other cool thing about Planned Parenthood – they help men just as much as women!

There’s been a disturbance in the Disney Princess force! Well, it’s really more of an interesting observation made by Buzzfeed in their article “One Small Detail About Cinderella, Belle, and Tiana That Will Blow Your Mind“. What’s the small detail that the big deal is all about? Which princesses wear opera gloves!

I’ve already spent a whole lot of time breaking down Which Disney Princesses Are True Royalty, and how, and in how many ways. But I never noticed this connection before, so props to BuzzFeed for the discovery.  

There are currently – as of 2/16 – eleven princesses included in the official Disney Princess lineup:

• Snow White
• Cinderella
• Aurora
• Ariel
• Belle
• Jasmine
• Pocahontas
• Mulan
• Tiana
• Rapunzel
• Merida

Of these ladies, there are only three who are born non-royal but marry into royal families – Cinderella, Belle, and Tiana. Interestingly, these are the same (and only) three who wear full length opera gloves. 

Regarding the other official princesses on the list – Snow White, Aurora, and Ariel are all born royals who also marry into royalty. Jasmine, Pocahontas, and Rapunzel are born royals who marry commoners. Mulan is neither born nor married into royalty, and Merida is born royal but doesn’t marry/fall in love with anyone. So far the opera gloves analysis is right on point!

Since I’m intrigued by all things Disney Princess, I went ahead and checked out all of the other unofficial, excluded, and non-princess Disney heroines. The same concept holds true for all of them – none wear opera gloves, and none are commoners that marry into royalty. The only exceptions that could be made are for Faline (Bambi) and Jane (Tarzan). Both of them end up with someone who is considered a prince of the animal kingdom. I’m sure Faline could pull off opera gloves but it would be a little odd considering none of the other animals in the movie wear clothing. Jane wears shorter gloves, but again, her circumstances are markedly different from that of the opera glove girls.

Disney is all about attention to detail, so it could easily be a planned symbolism that they carry through their films. Others have considered that gloves are often a sign of a character with something to hide, which could be said true of these three princesses. I think that’s a stretch, though, because other heroines with secrets don’t wear the same opera gloves (Aurora has to pretend to be a commoner, but no opera gloves. Elsa has to hide her powers – gloves but not opera gloves, etc.)

My favorite explanation comes courtesy of Jessica Maniaci, who commented on the original BuzzFeed article. Here’s her rundown:

It has nothing to do with royalty or not royalty it has to do with time period and culture…
Mulan=China, Jasmine=Arabian peninsula, and Pocahontas=North America pre westernization= wrong cultures and time periods.
Aurora=medieval and Snow White=reformation. =again wrong time periods
Above the elbow gloves didn’t make the fashion scene until the 1690’s
Belle-1700’s France=glove game strong
Cinderella, Ariel, Anna and Elsa 1800’s=glove game strong
Tiana-1920’s New Orleans=gloves were a popular accessory during that time
Also, as someone else noted, Belle, Cinderella, and Tiana had out and out “ball” scenes in their movies. Aurora, Snow White, Mulan, Jasmine, and Ariel did not (even if there was dancing). Opera gloves were most commonly worn at formal occasions such as balls.

I think “glove game strong” really sums it all up, don’t you?

Thoughts? Chime in with your comments!