How I Met Your Mother: Final Season Speculations
September 23rd is the date. The beginning of the end. The ninth and final season of, CBS’s comedy/ drama hit, How I Met Your Mother premieres on this day. Carter Bays and Craig Thomas have revealed the format will be over one weekend- Barney and Robin’s wedding. This will include flash-forwards and flashbacks to fill in gaps of the story and crucial elements in the story of Ted and the Mother. But what is to be expected from this season? What plot twists are the creators going to give the characters? These are my speculations.
We know many plot lines from season eight link straight into the ninth season of How I Met Your Mother. The Lily- Marshall job crisis is one of these. We know Marshall has accepted his position as a judge and Lily has decided to move to Rome to work with the captain for a year, and that these two career prospects clash. This is one plot line that will have to be resolved in season nine. One of the first photos from the set shows Marshall on a plane with guest star, Sherri Shepherd, but we don’t know if this is on the way to Rome or on the way back, there is also no sign of Lily with him. What this means we don’t know yet? But possibly Marshall delays telling Lily until he is in Rome, or maybe she goes on ahead of him and he is visiting?
Another plot point that has to be resolved is the Ted and Robin love story. We know Ted has still had feelings for Robin in season eight, and that they may not be entirely gone. These feelings need to be resolved between Robin and him for the wedding to go smoothly, which as we know it doesn’t. There is also the gift of the locket to be resolved. How will this impact on Robin, what will her reaction be about this? Hopefully this will all be resolved early in the season so it gives way for more fresh content for the viewers.
In an interview with TV Fanatic, Bays and Thomas revealed two big clues about the next season. The first was that in the premiere episode someone will meet the mother, but it wouldn’t be Ted. From the most recent promo it is revealed that it is Lily who meets her and, let’s just say, it doesn’t sound like they hit it off very well. The other big reveal was decided on the spot by Bays and Thomas. They revealed that during the wedding someone will die. No hints as to who, but it could be family of one of the main cast or even one of the guest stars reappearing, there is no way for us to know, I guess we will have to tune in to find out.
In an Entertainment & Stars article it is revealed about three new characters that are entering into this new season. They will all arrive at the wedding and lead to conflicts and comedic situations with some of the characters. One of them, Barney’s assistant Grace, seems set to tempt Barney back into his bachelor ways and away from Robin leading to a possible conflict at the wedding. The others don’t have much known about them except that one’s name is Knight Templar and the other’s is Sophia, who could lead to the possibility of more Robin Sparkles as she is Robin’s college roommate.
The jokes in How I Met Your Mother that have continued throughout the seasons will most likely be reappearing in this final season. We still don’t know what Barney’s job is a joke that has been going on since season 1. Maybe this season we will finally find out, though the odds are Barney will just say “please”. The creators have revealed that there is one episode that is intercut over the course of one slap bringing in another Slap Bet episode. But who will do the slapping, will the slap be passed on or will Marshall keep it for himself? I guess we will have to see. Other jokes that can come into the final season are the best friend debate between Marshall and Barney, most likely with Barney starting the debate.
Neil Patrick Harris revealed at this year’s San Diego Comic Con that Barney’s brother, James, will be returning in the ninth season but divorced. This is the first in what will be a lineup of guest stars showing in this final season. The creators have hinted that they are trying to get back as many characters that have been seen before, this means that no doubt we will see reoccurring characters such as Ranjit, Carl and Wendy again. Not only this but there is a fair chance we will see all the main characters families again. Bob Odenkirk (Breaking Bad) could also return as Arthur Hobbs, Barney’s boss, and lead into more scenes about Arthur’s love of his beloved Tugboat. Other possibilities could include, but aren’t limited too, any of Barney’s ex-lovers as this could lead to awkward situations with Robin running into them at the wedding or in the flashbacks.
The plot aspect that the audience wants to see most in this new season of How I Met Your Mother is the relationship between the Mother (Cristin Milioti) and Ted, especially after last season’s big reveal. As the season is going to have flash-forwards, we assume that we will see more of this relationship. We have already seen a flash-forward of Ted with one of his future kids, and we hope that this season brings more of those bits into the show. Presumably we will see flashes of Ted’s wedding intercut throughout this next season, maybe even intercut with Barney and Robin’s which I presume will be the final episodes of How I Met Your Mother. Also the audience would want to see part of the time they were dating, maybe their first date and these could be possible flashes throughout the season.
All fans of this great TV show want to see is what happens to these characters in this final season. We want to see Ted happy and win the girl of his dreams. We want to see Barney and Robin’s happy marriage and Marshall and Lily’s life with their kids. We are invested in their stories. For the past eight years we have watched them face triumphs and tragic times. All we want is to find out what happens to them in the final chapter of how Ted meets the mother of his children. We can’t wait for this final season. It’s going to be legen…wait for it….dary! Legendary!
What do you think? Leave a comment.
I’ve always been more of an old school HIMYM fan and favored earlier seasons which makes me glad that they are wrapping it up. It’s been a great run!
It added more drama and connected the plot lines as the show got older, I still love the show though, so I cant fault it. Still it has had a great run!
If nothing so far has convinced the moronic minority that Robin is not the mother, nothing ever will, not even after the show has ended.
Hahah the first episode said put it out their that she wasn’t the mother and they have done well to stick with continuity so people will just have to accept she isnt haha
Nice article!! I feel tptb wanted Barney and Robin together since their almost time in s1. Its like they tested the waters with reaction by the audience and checked the chemistry. S3 they made them get closer to see if their relationship would work better than the Ted/Robin pair-up. S4 Barney was STILL in love with her and finally at the end of the season they made them ‘try’ a relationship. S5 they dated for real. Second half of s5 and s6 residual feelings on both ends. S7 tptb tested the chemistry again, they liked it so they had them cheat with each other. S8 they finally made them ‘end game’. I think the mistake they made was the too much back and forth, break up, make up and testing. Too many ‘proposals’, too many tests. It just got boring after a while so I am glad for s9 we’ll FINALLY see the ending result.
Yeah, I have been going back and watching the seasons from the start and with the knowledge I have now it does seem like they were meant to be together from the start, though whether or not that was planned or just a coincidence.
I think Bays and Thomas have mentioned in an interview that it hadn’t been their intention from the start. But it’s interesting that it all worked out – Ted had to meet Robin so that eventually Barney and Robin could get married so Ted could meet the Mother at the wedding. I really hope the last scene of the series is Ted meeting her and Barney going ‘Haaaaave you met Ted?’.
Well it worked out for them because it looks like they were meant to be together from the start. haha interesting idea
Thrilled for the last season. I wonder if they will show Ted as Bob Saget?
That would be interesting to see. I still always puts Ted face to the older Ted though, it just happens. Also in the past they have put Ted just in makeup to look older they might just do that again.
I think having each of the gang meet the Mother first would be a cool idea. I would even like finding out that they met her over the past few years and didn’t know it (which they could show in flashbacks). Maybe Barney hit on her in a bar, or Marshall ran into her at Columbia, etc. Given how many near misses Ted had with her over the years (the St Patrick’s Day party, the Economics class, Cindy’s apartment) it wouldn’t be too farfetched to think the others might have had a few, too.
That’s true I hadn’t actually thought of that, that could be a good angle for them to explore. If she is at the wedding then the odds are she has met Barney or Robin before so that is one of the cast who has met her.
I can’t wait for this season! I just hope and pray that they do manage to wrap EVERYTHING up. No loose ends. I am glad it is finally ending and I hope this season isn’t an overkill, tarnishing the memory of many great seasons. I hope it goes back to the early season jokes and heartfelt stories.
Yeah as long as they wrap up all the main story lines it should all go well and not end with an unsatisfactory season.
I’m so sad for the last season. Sadly sometimes it has felt a bit drawn out with a couple of filler episodes, but the best one by far has to be Lily and Marhsall’s wedding.
Yeah it has had a good run it will be sad to see it go
Robin is not the mother nor the end game for ted. Ted “do you love me?” Robin “no,” im not sure how that statement two seasons ago could be any clearer.
Go Tyler
I want to see more of Robin Dagger, the grunge Robin Sparkles.
Of course it’s impossible to guess who will die at the wedding, but I want to speculate. Since Ted goes to Farhampton with Lily in a car, and since he waits at the train station to return, it makes me think Lily will go somewhere with the car. Is it Lily’s dad who’s going to die? Could be.
Could be but I would say they have already done that with Marshall’s dad and its not likely they will do that story line again. Was a good theory though.
Good job! Always happy to see a ‘How I Met Your Mother’ article. It felt like the show got really popular for a while there and then people stopped talking about it as it went on, leaving all the original fans to keep waiting to meet the Mother.
As I rewatch the older seasons Barney and Robin really do seem endgame. It’s interesting because in a way the show had to begin with Ted meeting Robin in the pilot because Robin and Barney would have to get married for Ted to meet the Mother.
Thanks and yeah I went back an started watching them again. You can see the Barney and Robin dynamic from the early on seasons as well, like you said.