My HIMYM Finale

I need to write something about it.

I waited for hours for the finale of all finales to start yesterday. As I don't live in the US, it wasn't that easy to watch it with the rest of the world. I had an eye on Jeopardy! in the meantime and thanks to a countless number of ads I know exactly who's the democratic candidate you should vote for in Pennsylvania, go Tom!

It's 2 am finally and HIMYM starts, for the very last time.

The video quality is shitty and it lags every 2 minutes, which causes me something very close to a nervous breakdown. I am well aware I'm in the middle of the night, so I keep calm and try to focus on what Carter & Craig had prepared for all the fans.

I even miss a bit of the first part, but then it is quite okay. And it is just beautiful.

I've read a lot of negative comments today on the Internet and I have to say I don't know exactly how I feel about the finale. The only thing I know is that it didn't disappoint me. And here the spoiler part comes, so if you haven't seen the finale yet, you may not want to read this. Really, you don't want to. Go make (or smoke?) a sandwich someplace else.

I've hoped for Robin and Ted to be together since the show started. I had temperature, I was in high school and I didn't know anything about life (more or less like today), yet I did want them to be a couple. Truth is I felt immediately really close to Robin in the way she is and in the way she commits to achieving her job dream. Casually, her final goal is mine too, as I've always wanted to become a journalist and travel the world. Ted is way more concerned about settling down and starting a family. All the blue French horns in the world are of little use for two people who want such different things in life and they eventually break up.

And that's when I started hoping.

You may think I'm a bit of a dreamer (read idiot) to think that the girl who's introduced to us like "Aunt Robin" would become the other half of the Mosby universe in the end, but I wanted to believe, like Marshall did with Nessie.

So, yes, I liked the finale. I even cried a bit while watching. I was glad, despite the fact it was a bit unfair and melancholic. So is life, but that doesn't mean sadness should prevent you to enjoy the ride. I don't agree with some of the disappointed fans who think that the show should have ended at season 2, if the writers wanted Robin and Ted to be together. The timing between them wasn't just right. Robin is the one who said "Timing's a bitch" and it really was that way for her and Ted.

I love the way they stay friends anyway, yet we all know it is way more than that. Especially for Ted. He doesn't hide he is around the corner waiting for her to be ready, yet I think their friendship is real. He's always been there for her, like no one else has. And then, when she has doubts on her wedding day with Barney and confesses Ted maybe she should be with him, Ted pushes her away. She deserves that a bit, honestly. I'd say it is kind of Aldrin justice.

And she does deserve to see Ted's happiness with The Mother. At this point, he is ready for someone else, for a new perspective in life. Ted isn't the same person anymore, but neither is Robin. While he's enjoying his happy years with Tracy (now we finally know her name!), Robin and Barney split up and she gets away from the gang, leaving a brokenhearted Lily and becoming a very famous reporter. She and Ted both have experiences meanwhile, they both find new places, new people, they both just live, like the rest of the group. And I wouldn't call that "pointless".

I'm a HIMYM lover, but I'm not blind. The show quality got worse in the last two seasons. I guess Carter Bays and Craig Thomas had some troubles in carrying on a TV show they wrote taking inspiration from their own lives while they were just playing for The Solids and not knowing it would get that successful. The show is undeniably long, but it is funny all the time. Focusing on Barney and Robin's wedding for a whole season was maybe a tricky choice for such a brief relationship. I guess it was just another way of throwing us off about the finale and it did work out.

I didn't like the fact we've seen so little of The Mother during season 9. We should probably have seen more of her with Ted. The Mother is the most perfect girl on this Earth to become Mrs Mosby. Tracy and Ted have so many things in common and I believe the love they share is damn real. I don't think Ted doesn't love her because of Robin. I think he loves The Girl With The Yellow Umbrella just for that.

After all the heartbreaks in his life he needs someone to be the other half of a perfect pair. That's why I think her death is the only possible way for such a big love to end. And that's why I think getting divorced is the right way for Barney and Robin to break up, instead. They were in love yet not so compatible like Ted and The Mother and they realize that before you can say "Legendary".

There are different kinds of love in life, let's face that. None of them is unique, none of them lasts forever. Robin and Ted's isn't perfect and easy. It's just a kind of love which takes time to get right. It's mature and I guess it'll be long-lasting because of all the years it took to become real. In 2030, when Ted begins to tell the whole story to his kids, he and Robin are 50 something (and still no wrinkles, wow!). It's high time for these two old guys to enjoy their right timing for once. They have my blessing.

My HIMYM Playlist

HIMYM is going to end in less than 24 hours. For those of you who know me, you already are aware I'm going to mourn forever. Better with some ice cream and alcohol.

For those of you who don't, well, let's say I spent my afternoon creating a playlist on Spotify with my favourite songs, picking out from all the 9 seasons and feeling blue. If you're anything like me, and you're going to be desperate too, there you go. Nothing is better than a good playlist of songs recalling beautiful and sad memories at once.

https://play.spotify.com/user/11126830844/playlist/0QggwUVSExxTjgbHuMH3W0

How am I supposed to live after HIMYM finale?

How I Met Your Mother is going to end. I remember what my first thought was when I read creator Carter Bays’ announcement on his Twitter about the last episode EVER, airing on March, 31st: AND NOW?
CBS has announced that they’ll shoot a pilot of How I Met Your Dad starring Greta Gerwig, but I’m not quite sure how fans will react to this.

I’ve always suffered because of TV shows finales. I was too young when Friends said goodbye, yet I was reasonably sad anyway. HIMYM has stayed with me in the good and the bad and now I feel I’m losing a friend (doesn’t sound weird, does it? I think it’s perfectly normal to develop a deep, awkward relationship with TV shows as if they were real, so don’t blame me for that). Just like a close friend, HIMYM taught me a few things I want to share with you.

1. Never go to a first date with unshaved legs

This one is easy. Even if you’re not sure about the guy or you don’t have enough time (find it!), you never ever know if your night out could take a good turn. So shave your legs preemptively and you’ll avoid ending up in the restaurant toilet begging the horrible waitress for something foamy. No, cream cheese is not an option.

2. Nothing good happens after 2 am

There are very rare exceptions: giving birth to a baby could be one of these, but not in my case as I’m not future Mrs. Mosby. When an idea comes to my mind after that time (I’d say even after 1 am, if I had spent the previous hour with a considerable number of drinks, “thank you, Linus!”) seems incredibly smart and puts me in a “IT COULD WORK!” mood. Inevitably, that same idea turns into catastrophe the morning after. So sleep your troubles away. There’s nothing like a good 8 hours sleep (okay, I won’t fool anyone, I usually sleep something like 5 or 6 hours per night, if I’m lucky, but it works quite well anyway) and focus on the point the next day. Your face skin will thank you.

3. Being friends with an ex is not impossible, it’s just freaking hard

Whoever said being friends with an ex is impossible? Well, most of the time it’s as hard as a brick in your back, but there’s a way. Ted and Robin stayed friends after their relationship. It wasn’t simple, mostly because Ted was so clearly still in love with her. However, I truly believe in their friendship apart from his feelings. I like the way they support each other. Someone may call it love, and could be, in a sort of way. When you do care for somebody you don’t want him or her to go away. After a break-up recovery time, of course, in which passive-aggressive voice messages (what if Robin had downloaded Girls’ Forbid app on her phone?) aren’t included. If it’s mutual, there’s a chance to make the friendship work.

4. Pause the fight

Fights could be tricky. You could say (read yell) things you don’t mean and that could be gross. I’m not always able to think rationally when I’m fighting over something I care about with somebody I care about, so I should try to use more Marshall and Lily’s approach. Pausing the fight doesn’t mean you’re faking peace. A little break lest you blow off some steam and think about the argument quietly so you won’t ruin everything. It could work for any kind of relationship: teen and parents, impulsive lovers, sharp-tongued friends.

5. Accepting 10 slaps in a row is wiser, but 5 to be issued from now to eternity is way funnier

Okay, slaps have increased in number during the years, becoming 8 (remember the Ducky Tie? Barney didn’t want to wear it, three more slaps for him). We’re still waiting for the last one to be issued after the hilarious Tarantino style Slappointment in Slapmarra episode in which Marshall learns the fine art of slapping in order to give his well-dressed friend a perfect 7th slap. Should Barney have chosen 10 slaps in a row? No. Anyway, I wouldn’t ever slapbet against someone with Marshall’s hands size.

6. Bass players are cool, cooler if they’re girls

I’ve always tried to find my place in the wide musical instruments world. As a child I tried with piano, but that was not just my style. And then it was guitar time. But, again, no. I decided at a very recent point in my life that bass could be the solution and, even if I can only play a couple of songs (for now!), I know it will work out. Plus, according to a very accurate research (test included two friends, one lover and, of course, Ted Mosby and his cliché sexual fantasies), guys find female bass players quite attractive, which is sort of a bonus.

7. To everything there is a season

This is probably my favorite line ever in HIMYM. For those of you who really are into the show, you’ll certainly remember it’s written right outside the church of the wedding-to-be between Barney and Robin. Waiting for our season could be disappointing and exhausting, face it. The perfect chance will come sooner or later to those who can be patient, they say. But if you’re not, just like me, well, you can help fate a little bit. It’s not over until it’s over, isn’t it? So try harder and harder, just like Ted did with Robin. I still ship them and I do hope they’ll find a way (even if I think The Mother is great), but I know you also have to be strong and let someone you love go, when the time comes.

That’s what I’m going to do with HIMYM. Let it go, mourn for a reasonable amount of time and after that, well, a look at How I Met Your Dad won’t kill me, right?