Through all of its inconsistencies, through all of its peaks and valleys, “How I Met Your Mother” has never wavered from two constants. It always over-delivers in creating an emotional season finale, and it always under-delivers when it comes to addressing big “reveals” and storyline twists.
Unfortunately, the two concepts have never intertwined more than they did for the season six finale Monday, and the result was the comedy’s worst season conclusion to date. Never has a “Mother” finale so notably failed to elicit emotional attachment or excitement for the storylines to come. Even the panned season four finale, which featured the underwhelming reveal about the goat, still delivered with the cute “take the leap” angle and the news that Ted was pursuing a career as a professor (and would at least come in contact with the Mother, who was in his class).
Built up since the season premiere, the season six finale was supposed to provide a significant glimpse into a mysterious wedding, at which Ted is the best man and his future wife is present. No one could have expected to meet the mother at this point, with at least two full seasons remaining, but all indications were that what was revealed in Monday’s episode would be fairly game-changing and have a significant impact on the overall “How I Met Your Mother” narrative.
Instead, the writers delivered a reveal that literally amounted to nothing. Viewers did not know when the wedding was taking place. Viewers did not receive a context for the circumstances in which the mother character would be present at this wedding. Viewers did not even get a sense of who the bride was. All they learned is that the groom is Barney Stinson.
And that reveal is simply not even within the realm of a “big deal.”
The Barney character has evolved greatly from the guy who came up with concepts like the “Lemon Law” and “Have You Met Ted” in season one–he has shown true romantic feelings for Robin and Nora and has opened up regarding his estranged father. There was no longer a question that Barney would get married–the only questions concerned “to whom” and “when.” Neither of those was answered Monday, so in reality, all that viewers learned is that “Barney will get married at some point,” which is a fact they had been treating as a given anyway.
Peppered throughout the episode was also the revelation that Barney still has feelings for Nora and Robin (as if there were any doubt) and that they still have feelings for him (with Robin, in particular, worrying about missing her chance), but these, again, were givens that should not be treated as new developments or noteworthy storyline twists. The potential for another Barney-Robin fling had never been in any doubt, and there was always a sense, based on how their relationship ended, that Nora and Barney would cross paths again. The involvement of Nora and Robin in this episode’s narrative might have been used to hint that one of them will end up as Barney’s bride, but was anyone expecting something different? Just as every “How I Met Your Mother” viewer knew that Barney would eventually tie the knot, all assumed that the wedding would be with either Nora or Robin, the only two women who have ever truly captured his feelings.
But suppose one defending the season finale argues that the wedding reveal was never meant to be a big deal–it was just meant to be a cute surprise (which is, of course, a disappointment for a season FINALE as it is). Water still cannot be held on the basis that of the three most likely prospects for the “groom” reveal, Barney was the most obvious and predictable.
Throughout the season, “Mother” teased two other prospects–Ted’s old friend Adam “Punchy” Punciarello, for whom Ted agreed to be best man, and Robin, who also joked about wanting Ted to be her best man. The “Punchy” situation was obviously a red herring, as “Mother” would never have committed it season-long arc and “major reveal” to a character who is known as a punchline (no pun intended), and Robin’s wedding, similarly, would not have been as game-changing since she and Don had previously come far closer to a true marriage than Barney ever has (plus, if she is Barney’s bride, two birds are killed with the Barney stone anyway).
With a reveal that was neither significant nor surprising, the finale’s major “hook” simply failed to deliver.
And it easily COULD have.
While most sensible critics agree that the “mother” reveal should be saved until the show’s culmination, one of the benefits to having an ensemble of characters, all of whom have clicked with viewers, is that other “reveals” can be executed to keep excitement and engagement high. Confirming, for instance, that Barney and Robin get married in 2013 would have made for a compelling narrative (how do they end up together, especially with Barney now pursuing Nora?) without spoiling the overall Mother twist. “Lost” saved itself creatively with the season three finale revelation that several of the survivors made it off the island, and yet only BUILT mystery and suspense in the process. “How I Met” is not a suspense thriller and should not play by the same script, but it can certainly use that sort of prototype to feel confident actually DELIVERING on a “reveal.”
People care about the “Mother” characters and care almost as much about HOW they get to a destination as they do the destination themselves. For a show that has no trouble delivering shocking, game-changing surprises out of nowhere (the death of Marshall’s father), why does it never do the same when a big “reveal” has actually been promised?
— The show’s other big development, that Lily is finally pregnant with Marshall’s baby, also felt flat and very “been there, done that.” “Mother” already had its emotional moment regarding the pregnancy in last season’s finale, at which point Lily “saw” the fifth Doppelganger and agreed it was time to start trying for a baby with her husband, so it was hard to get too caught up on the emotional reaction this time around.