WildJackMonroe

And I think it has to do with the fact that the finale betrayed fans badly.

Take Friends for instance. It still is a lasting cultural thing. I think we can all agree now in hindsight, that Ross is an absolute douchecanoe, but at the time, the majority of fans wanted Ross and Rachel to get together because it had been this thing that the show had told us through cues was MEANT to be.

In HIMYM, the entire show was predicated on MEETING the Mother, and we had ruled out that Robin wasn’t the Mother. More than that, they had shown us that Barney and Robin were actually perfect for each other. They had spent episodes and seasons redeeming Barney, and softening Robin and showing us why they were meant to be. And to see BOTH of those relationships forced apart for a series finale that they had written all the way back in season 1 that didn’t make any sense for the story they eventually told, was damning for the show’s legacy in culture.

The last point at which that ending was still viable was at the end of season 5, when Robin and Barney had tried the dating thing and it didn’t work out the first time, when we still didn’t know much about the mother or the circumstances under which Ted met her…Beginning with season six, they started the build up to the titular moment and began reexamining Robin and Barney’s relationship. And it was at this point that the creators should have scrapped their original ending and began planning a new one. Instead, they tried to have their cake and eat it too, allowing the viewers to fall in love with Barney and Robin as a couple and Ted’s relationship with the mother (leaning particularly hard on the latter in the final season after they gave her a face in the season 8 finale), and then try to have their original ending, which no longer worked in any capacity. 

And I think it has to do with the fact that the finale betrayed fans badly.

Take Friends for instance. It still is a lasting cultural thing. I think we can all agree now in hindsight, that Ross is an absolute douchecanoe, but at the time, the majority of fans wanted Ross and Rachel to get together because it had been this thing that the show had told us through cues was MEANT to be.

In HIMYM, the entire show was predicated on MEETING the Mother, and we had ruled out that Robin wasn’t the Mother. More than that, they had shown us that Barney and Robin were actually perfect for each other. They had spent episodes and seasons redeeming Barney, and softening Robin and showing us why they were meant to be. And to see BOTH of those relationships forced apart for a series finale that they had written all the way back in season 1 that didn’t make any sense for the story they eventually told, was damning for the show’s legacy in culture.

You can see the Dalek pouting internally at having to choose between obeying the Doctor and blowing its cover.