I often keep watching TV shows simply out of habit or because I feel a sense of loyalty after putting hours and hours into finding out where the characters will go. In the case of “How I Met Your Mother,” I am beginning to question my commitment to the latter concept.
We know how the show will end at the end of this, its seventh, season. Well, we think we do. The creators have designed the whole process to introduce the mother in the final episode of the series. Since the ratings continue to do well, the show may move onto an eighth season after revealing the mother in the spring. What they will do if that happens has not been decided, but I don’t know if I care after last night’s episode.
We’re supposed to care about the mother because we care about the characters and how she impacts their entangled relationships, but Carter Bays and Craig Thomas (the creators and showrunners) have made meeting the mother such a convoluted process that caring about the mother seems to be not even among the top four aims at this point.
First of all, there’s the tired Robin-Barney-Ted love triangle. We’re supposed to think that’s still a thing. Then there’s Marshall and Lily being the perfectly imperfect couple. Then there’s the people who are supposed to be obstacles to the Barney-Robin and Ted-Mother pairings. Add in catch phrases and long-term gags and then we’re supposed to still have some concern left for how Ted meets the woman who already know how he meets and what previous encounters they have had.
Last night’s show clearly let us know how unimportant the mother is by blatantly ripping off a storyline from “Friends” to get rid of Victoria, Ted’s latest flame. Why they spent so much time trying to show us that Victoria may be the one when we know she’s the one only to get rid of her in such a lazy manner is beyond me. Then again, Thomas and Bays have a lot of money and I don’t so I guess they get the last laugh.
But I do get to choose whether I need to suffer through this drivel anymore. With the plethora of TV bloggers out there, I can find out whether an episode is worth my time if I don’t feel like watching or have a conflict. This way, I can find out when the actors – who are much better than the creators and writers – do something worth watching and don’t have to waste a bunch of time before sitting down to experience what will certainly be a disheartening finale in May.
I can’t totally quit. I’m only human.