“That’s insane…that is so crazy,” said “How I Met Your Mother” actress Cristin Milioti regarding speculation that her character, the show’s titular mother, died before Ted began telling the story to his children.
Crazy, apparently, is not an antonym for correct.
The closing moments of Monday’s “How I Met Your Mother” finale revealed that Milioti’s character, identified by name as Tracy McConnell, succumbed to the illness at which the show hinted in the “Vesuvius” episode. She died in 2024, a full six years before Ted Mosby (Josh Radnor/Bob Saget) began telling the story to his children.
But the twist was not over. Proving themselves to be far better detectives than their father, Penny and Luke confronted Ted over the fact that his story, despite being the tale of how he met their mother, barely featured her.
By instead devoting so much attention to Robin (Cobie Smulders), it became clear that he was, even if just subconsciously, seeking their blessing to court the woman he first began pursuing in the show’s pilot. She might not have been their biological mother, but based on a reunion and courtship gesture reminiscent of Ted’s effort in the show’s first episode (blue french horn and all), she will be a big part of their lives.
Making that reunion possible was the fact that Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) and Robin, unable to manage the impact of her work schedule as a reporter, divorced more than a decade prior to the show’s “present.”
The divorce cast the two in different directions — Robin became more invested in her work (and thus more distant from the gang), while Barney returned to his own player ways.
New love eventually changed/will change that. Barney’s player days ended when hEllie, the daughter he accidentally conceived during an attempted “perfect month,” gave his life meaning. Robin’s impending reunion with Ted will represent her happy ending.
