When How I Met Your Mother bowed out of our lives this year, many were left reeling by the abrupt ending.
After nine seasons, it’s fair to say that most fans expected better.
Fans didn’t expect the mystical ‘mother’ of the series to have died from a mystery illness, only a few years into her marriage with Ted. They also didn’t expect him to drop everything and end up with ex-girlfriend Robin, after spending nine seasons convincing us he had found ‘happily ever after’ with the mother of his children.
Today, an alternative ending has leaked online. The video shows a completely different story that the show makers were considering using for the show’s finale.
And if it had been used, a lot of tears/agony/feelings of betrayal would have been saved.
It depicts a much happier ending for Ted and his wife. Basically, they stand under their yellow umbrella and confess their love for each other in the pouring rain. After a montage of Ted’s ex girlfriends flash across the screen, viewers are left with the parting words, ‘and that kids is how I met your mother’.
No death, or returning-to-ex relationships in sight. Just the promise of a beautiful future.
The video was to be included in the Season 9 DVD package, but leaked online early. Sadly, it has since been taken down from YouTube by FOX under grounds of copyright infringement.
When the controversial finale first aired, Carter Bays defended his decision to choose the rawer ending. He tweeted:
“So anyway, here’s a bit of news: 16 days ago today we were in the HIMYM edit room, trying to decide between two very different endings. We only shot one script, but through edit room magic we had two possible outcomes for the series. We chose the ending we chose and we stand by it. But we loved the other version too.”
While you wait for the video to be included in the DVD package, flick through our gallery of our favourite HIMYM moments…
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Top Comments
I never made it to the end. They drew this show out for too long, in my opinion. A shame too as it used to be one of my favourites. :(
I can understand the disappointment. However, if you view it from start to finish (which I did thanks to the dvds), it makes perfect sense. As the daughter herself says, the mother was hardly in the story - it was about how he loved Robin. He kept going back to her. My issue was with the fact that Robin and Lily seemed to lose their friendship - that didn't sit well with me.
Except those last 2 episodes turned Robin into a person that you don't want Ted to end up with. That was the real disappointment for me. The whole last season you totally fall in love with the Mother, and Ted ending up with Robin just feels like he is getting a rough deal, because she has turned into this awful, self-absobed, distant, unwilling-to-compromise person.