How Your Mother Met Me

Taking us back through all the seasons that were How I Met Your Mother and stitching them together again in under thirty minutes—I have to say CBS, did a pretty good job.

The Mother probably wins out as among my favorite characters in the whole series, surely. Besides her questionable faith in the wrong MacLaren’s, one can easily discern where she matches and deviates from Ted in her own HIMYM subgroup. Did anyone peg the redhead as her “Marshall” or her “Barney?” She left me undecided.

As for the story, I did not expect it to read as sad from start to finish. Funny parts make not a comedy, and this episode was wholly tragic. All thanks to the Mother’s wonderful acting (and singing). How else can one spin the phrase, “Yes, this is she,” in that context?

I did, finally, like seeing how all the pieces of Ted’s misadventures come together with hers. Made for a pretty picture.

And, yes, I even enjoyed the sad of it. HIMYM made its name for its engaging plots and turntable emotions—not for being consistently funny, all the time. While my east coast confidantes might have FAILED TO MENTION how sad it would be, I must say I’m glad the episode surprised me.

And to think this all began from one failed “Have you met Ted?”

But who. Was in the car. With Lily?!

I hope. Sincerely, sincerely hope. The series does not end with Marshall and Lily’s divorce, or a failed Farhampton marriage, or something that wouldn’t resolve by the end of the season. It’s the LAST season. Put us through plot twists. Make our emotions dance like Pinocchio across a puppet stage, but don’t end nine years of work like that.

Of course, I’m speaking too many months too late on that front. All I can do now is hope for the best, tentatively prepare for the worst, and wait to see who picked Lily up and went. Here I was, hoping that would be the Mother, too.