How I Met Your Mother doesn’t know to let things go. But that’s what we love most about the show.
The long-running CBS sitcom is quickly approaching its series finale on March 31st. In its victory lap, HIMYM is pulling out every throwback in its nine-year history, with even jokes from the first season being fair game. The show doesn’t do so from a lack of fresh storylines; HIMYM is blatantly reminding us why we fell in love with these five people over the past decade. With each reference used, it’s like the writers are gently nudging the viewers in the side, reminding us how much we’ll miss them when they’re gone. So far, the show has been delivering on creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas’s promise to tie together every loose end. Well the show isn’t over yet. Here is what I hope to see in the remainder of this season.
[There are spoilers below, obviously. Don’t read if you’re not completely caught up with the show.]
The Olive Theory
In the HIMYM pilot, as Ted recounts his first date with Robin to Marshall and Lily, Ted says that Robin falls under the olive theory. Based on Lily and Marshall, the olive theory is Ted’s way of showing that the perfect couple has found each other. Lily loves olives and Marshall hates them. In Ted’s hopelessly romantic mind, this shows that two halves of a whole have come together. Okay, so turns out Marshall lied about hating olives just to get laid in college and Robin and Ted didn’t work out. But just give us one quick scene with Ted plucking the olives off of Mrs. Mosby’s plate – that would just reassure us that the universe approves of this union.
Mrs. Mosby
This one has been bugging me for nine years. I don’t know why it’s such a big deal to me, but it is. Each week that the show gets closer to ending, I worry more and more that we will never learn Mrs. Mosby’s first name. It’s one of the show’s most underplayed mysteries. Loyal fans have stuck with Ted for nearly a decade. Giving the viewers a name to call her reminds them that they’ve been a part of Ted’s journey since day one. We’ve already learned the names of Ted’s children so please, in the name of all things holy, please give Ted’s wife a name.
Barney’s Blog
Blogging is cool again – let’s see Barney revive his old blog. We all miss the days where every other sentence that Barney said was, “This is so going in my blog!†Readers all over New York have been deprived of Barney’s crazy theories and fake history lessons. Even better, the Barnacle can give his insight on these topics as a married man.
More Music
Creators Craig Thomas and Carter Bays have infused their love of music into HIMYM – the pair even moonlight as the band The Solids, who sing the show’s theme song, “Hey Beautiful.†Thomas and Bays know how to use music to pull emotion from viewers. The pair knows what will get a laugh, like the wonderfully cheesy “Nothing Suits Me Like A Suit†and Canada’s unofficial national anthem, “Let’s Go to the Mall.†The duo knows when music will warm your heart, like when Ted created a light show for Robin, set to “You Shook Me All Night Long.†And, they know when music will break your heart - cue Cristin Milioti’s stunning rendition of “La Vie En Rose.†HIMYM obviously has some big moments left – let’s hear them in song.
The Pineapple
In perhaps one of the series’ funniest episodes, “The Pineapple Incident,†Ted wakes up after a booze-filled night at McClaren’s to find a pineapple on his bedside table. Ted and his friends fill in all the other blank spots in his memory from the night before, but the origin of the pineapple remains a mystery. Earlier in season 9, HIMYM readdressed the pineapple incident, as Ted just decided that even the Mosby Boys couldn’t crack the case. Even if Ted never finds out how the pineapple showed up in his room, at least give us a few flashbacks of that night, so we can ease our minds. Also, that way, we can see a little more of drunk Ted. To quote Marshall, “I love drunk Ted! He’s so much more fun than regular Ted!â€
The Future of the Girl with the Yellow UmbrellaÂ
Over the years, theories have circulated about the Mother – who she is and why Ted is telling their children this story. One of the most common theories, which still circulates today, is that the mother has died by the time Ted is telling the story. Supporters of this theory have found clues to back up this theory over the nine seasons, including Ted’s “45 Days†monologue. Most recently, in the episode, “Vesuvius,†loyal HIMYM fans learn that our worst fears may be true. Future Ted and Future Mrs. Mosby discuss Robin’s mother’s absence from Robin’s wedding. Mrs. Mosby scoffs saying, “What sort of mother misses her own daughter’s wedding?†Ted breaks down. And through out “Vesuvius,†Mrs. Mosby gently tells Ted that he needs to stop living in the past and live in the now.
Uh oh.
Bays and Thomas don’t shy away from emotional, punch-in-the-gut storylines. Let’s hope that with the mother, they’re just trying to throw us off the trail of the real ending. Because killing off the mother would sort of make the last nine years of HIMYM fans’ time a waste. We all get that Ted and the mother’s love will last forever, even after death. But a decade ago, we didn’t sign up to see Ted get his heart broken. We came back week after week to see Ted find the one. We’ve seen Ted grow so cynical over the years, we just want our boy to be happy.
After a solid nine years, How I Met Your Mother has a lot to live up to for its series finale. Fans will expect nothing less than legen – wait for it…