What if How I Met Your Mother had ended with a less bittersweet, albeit more predictable ending? A fan did a bit of editing to remove parts of the actual ending to show us what it would look like with Ted and Tracy together at the very end, and it's as magical and wonderful as some of us might have hoped.
I'm sure there are plenty of fans out there who are just fine with how How I Met Your Mother ended. In fact, the poll we ran with our recap indicates a near 50-50 split between people who loved (or were ok with) the way the series ended, and those who didn't like it....
That's about 44% who voted for the first and second option, and 55% who voted for the third and fourth option. So even if we've heard a lot of negative reactions about the series' closer, there are people out there who support what the writers did in killing off the mother and having Ted end up with Robin.
Admittedly, I'm not one of them. While I do credit the writers for the risk they took, if it was their plan all along to have Ted end up with Robin, I would've preferred this final season to have focused on building up toward that and not establishing both characters firmly with two other people. So, factoring in the way the ninth season did play out, with Barney and Robin getting married and Ted finally meeting the mother -- named Tracy McConnell -- it's hard to deny the fan-made ending, which removes Tracy's unspecified illness, Ted's kids calling him out over the story not really being about their mother, and Ted's Say Anything french horn moment with Robin and her dogs. Alterna-ending is a bit sappy and lacks much in the way of a twist, but it's a happy ending.
Now, if only there were a way to edit together something that shows Robin reconnecting with her friends after drifting away from them over the years. Because the distance that formed between her, Ted, Lily, Marshall and Barney was about as much of a downer as learning that Ted and Tracy's happily-ever-after was cut short by tragedy. And I'm not sure her arrival at Ted and Tracy's wedding really patches that situation up.
The alternate ending is more or less the video equivalent of fan fiction. The show ended how it ended and once the dust settles on people's reaction to it, I like to think we'll all go back to remembering the series for its better moments. In the meantime, I love the visualization of a happier conclusion. But let's poll again! Which ending do you prefer?
This poll is no longer available.
Read How I Met Your Mother co-creator Craig Thomas' Twitter response to fan reactions here! And if you think you need to give the series finale another shot, you can watch the full two-part episode in its entirety over at CBS.com.
