Can a bad ending ruin a whole series?

The correct answer is no. One ending that seems to leave the viewers with a bitter taste in the back of their throats is not enough to taint the image of a television show. The pleasure-particularly in a sitcom- all is derived from the journey. And that is true in the case of How I Met Your Mother– a show based on the concept of treading through the muddy waters of life and ultimately becoming a better person in the process. How I Met Your Mother perfectly captures the essence of life as the roller coaster that it is- the viewers are able to watch the characters bounce between the highs and lows of life while simultaneously growing as people.

In 2006,How I Met Your Mother laid out the thesis for next 9 seasons of the sitcom: Ted portrays the sappy hopeless romantic who believes it his quest in life to find his soulmate and Robin is the dream girl who is deadly afraid of the word “commitment.” Oh, and you can’t forget Ted’s relationship with the Mom Tracy McConnell, who seems to be tailor-made for Ted Mosby. She seems to be the only one to perfectly understand all of his corny jokes and the only one to put up with his know-it-all attitude. She is a crucial part to the show as she keeps him from leaving New York and moving to Chicago. She also makes him the father that he was meant to be. But…then she gets sick.

Meanwhile, over the nine seasons, Robin is able to metamorphosize into so much more than just someone’s dream-woman. She becomes imperative to the entirety of the show- as she offers so much more to the sitcom than a pretty face. In How I Met Your Mother , Robin illustrates the zesty cigar-loving tom-girl from Canada who who first introduced to the gang in a bar and seems to be inseparable from them ever since.

Just as there is so much more to Robin than being someone’s dream-girl, there is so much more to How I Met Your Mother than just a silly sitcom. It is a show that teaches the importance of friends- that ultimately no matter how many fights you have and how many times you seem to drift apart, true friends always find their way back together one way or another. It is a show that teaches the importance of growing up- it depicts that we aren’t going to stay young forever and sometimes it is imperative to make those hard decisions in attempt to move forward in life. It is also a show that teaches the importance of laughter- we have to learn to maintain our innocence in the harsh reality of life and must learn to laugh despite the troubles we may go through.

Even though the series finale may have seemed a bit disappointing in the eye’s of many viewers, it was simply not enough to override and taint so much of what was one of the best comedies of its era. Sure- the seemingly rushed and unsatisfying ending was nowhere near perfect. But, it was not enough to erase all of the erase Barney’s infamous playbook or Ted’s hideous red cowboy boots, nor is it enough to eliminate stories that truly touched the hearts of many, such as Marshal losing his dad while Barney is finds his. All in all, How I Met Your Mother still deserves all of the praise it has accumulated throughout the years despite the distasteful ending. The sitcom’s beauty came from the journey and progression of the characters that the show perfectly depicted and also from the many life-lessons it was able to teach his viewers. All in all, I believe it is fair to say that the faithful watchers of How I met Your Mother all owe the show one last thing: A thank you.