Truth be told, I am not exactly sure what I feel about “How Your Mother Met Me.” At times, the episode felt incredibly blissful. Particularly the ending, but I’ll get to that in a minute. As you can probably guess from the title, this episode centers on the mother’s story before she met Ted. Told from the mother’s perspective, we get a first-hand look at what brought the mother to the Farhampton Inn. For a lot of people, this episode is going to be a pleasant change of pace from the ongoing Farhampton/Wedding story. Now that Marshall is back and we are within the 24 hour mark, the end is finally, hour by hour, getting to us.
How I Met Your Mother S9/E15 Review “Unpause”
The single best thing about this episode for me personally, is finally getting to spend so much time with the Mother. Despite some more clumsy dialogue from her and her friend at the start of the episode, she develops further here than we have seen her do in any previous episode. It truly is a treat in that respect. All the odd coincidences where she and Ted nearly met, was like finally fitting the missing pieces to a puzzle. I never thought about it a lot until this episode, but the writers absolutely need to be recognized for just how intricate and heartfelt this show can be, even 9 years down the road.
On the other hand, I also feel as though this episode played it slightly safe at times. As I said, the coincidences were fun, and seeing the mother’s emotions towards certain events that Ted experienced as well was exhilarating. Kudos to Cristin Milioti, who brought a deep resonance to the part of the mother in such a short and limited amount of time. She doesn’t always get a ton of screen time, aside from this episode, but she always manages to make the most and capture the eye. The problem mostly lied in the fact that we’d seen all of these events before from Ted’s perspective. It gave it a sort of been there done that feeling at times, even though the structure and choices made sense. I don’t really know what I would have wanted different. Maybe the episode should have been a two parter?
I’ve heard rumors circulating about a possible spin off series that would be basically the same set up but from the Mother’s side with a new cast of characters. Personally I think this is an awful idea and I couldn’t help but associate this episode with the prospect of a likely terrible spin off show. Not that I wouldn’t give the show a try, but the concept of it just seems unnecessary. “How I Met Your Mother” is looking to end on a strong note and it shouldn’t be spoiled with some rushed side show.
“How Your Mother Met Me” was a satisfying episode, but it left me hungry for more. I hope we get to spend more time with the mother next week, and every week for the rest of the season!
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