You know what I find interesting? How I Met Your Mother just like… disappeared from culture after the finale aired. Like sure you might still hear the odd, “Challenge accepted” or use that gif of Marshall hugging the pillow as a reaction image, but no one really uses the phrases in vernacular, no one talks about the episodes.
And I think it has to do with the fact that the finale betrayed fans badly.
Take Friends for instance. It still is a lasting cultural thing. I think we can all agree now in hindsight, that Ross is an absolute douchecanoe, but at the time, the majority of fans wanted Ross and Rachel to get together because it had been this thing that the show had told us through cues was MEANT to be.
In HIMYM, the entire show was predicated on MEETING the Mother, and we had ruled out that Robin wasn’t the Mother. More than that, they had shown us that Barney and Robin were actually perfect for each other. They had spent episodes and seasons redeeming Barney, and softening Robin and showing us why they were meant to be. And to see BOTH of those relationships forced apart for a series finale that they had written all the way back in season 1 that didn’t make any sense for the story they eventually told, was damning for the show’s legacy in culture.
I firmly believe that writers should be able to write the story they want, and if you want to listen to constructive criticism or do a little fan service along the way then great, but when you get to the finale? That right there is 100% for the fans. The finale is when you let go of the story completely. The finale is a love letter to the people who made your show continue for as long as it did. Good finales are why shows survive.
When you’re writing a work-in-progress, sometimes you have to abandon your original plan. Let that be a lesson.
