The characters are beloved, with some even iconic in the television space, and the premise of the show is pretty great, getting eaten up in a post-Friends world. But despite being a smash-hit and wildly popular, How I Met Your Mother had a lot of issues that have left a bittersweet taste in fans for years.
Every so often, stuff happened in the show that were, and still are hated amongst fans. Then the finale happened, and the bittersweet taste was born. Some of the show's storylines are awful, and so have become wildly hated amongst fans, and we look at ten of them here.
So, Did Marshall Get Mugged By A Monkey?
One of the least popular episodes of How I Met Your Mother is the "Zoo Or False" episode in which the gang tries to figure out if Marshall does get mugged by a Monkey.
It has some funny moments, and it is good to see Marshall in the lead for a change, but for a lot of fans, the episode is too silly and unfunny filler. Some fans enjoy the episode, but the majority do see it as definitely one of the weakest storylines and hate the silliness and resolution.
"The Burning Beekeeper"
Following different stories at the same time in different rooms of Marshall and Lily's home, "The Burning Beekeeper" had a whole lot of potential, a potential that ultimately got wasted.
A lot of fans hate it because of the wasted potential, alongside the fact a lot of the jokes throughout the episode fell flat and was dull overall. Season seven had its ups and downs, and for most fans, this was the lowest of the downs.
Marshall's Travels
Not all of season nine is bad, there are some fantastic episodes and stories relating to the wedding of Barney and Robin's wedding, but all-in-all Marshall's journey to said wedding was not one of them.
Taking thirteen episodes, Marshall was on a long journey to get from his mother's home to the wedding. Fans hate a lot of it, specifically, parts like the episode "Bedtime Stories." It was a lot of nonsense and filler, and felt far too long, dragging out necessarily.
Why Are These People Competing To Be Godparent?
A lot of fans have an issue with the season eight episode "Who Wants To Be A Godparent?" and rightfully so, the episode makes very little sense, and considering what the show gave fans previously, this was very low quality.
Ted, Robin, and Barney competing in a game show set-up by Marshall and Lily to decide who gets to be the Godparent of their child makes no sense; surely, Ted is the clear option? Robin continuously makes her feelings of having children clear, so why is she even competing? Barney does secretly love children, but why would you give him a chance over your responsible, sensible, best friend of far longer?
The Final Slapsgiving
The slap bet was one of the shows longest-running and most popular gags. It provided a plethora of great moments and hilarious episodes, but "Slapsgiving 3: Slappointment In Slapmarra" is not one of them.
This episode, like all Slapsgivings, was highly anticipated, and majorly disappointing. Poorly written, cringeworthy, and overall just low quality, it made very little sense, and some people have even deemed it racially insensitive, and it is hard to argue against it. Ultimately one of the worst episodes and stories in all of How I Met Your Mother.
Ted, Robin, And The Gifts Of Exes
There are various things people point to throughout the series that make them hate Ted, and this entire storyline is one of them.
In their relationship, Ted and Robin discover that each of them has stuff given to them by exes. Ted makes Robin get rid of her five beloved dogs, but then gets back everything his exes had given him. This storyline made fans hate Ted, and just left a bitter taste in your mouth. The story itself is not as hated as what the story does to the characters in the fan's eyes.
A Couple Of Ted's Romances
Ted is unlucky in love throughout the series as he desperately searches for the woman that he believes to be the one for him. Repeatedly though, there are storylines of romance in Ted's life that fans hate.
There is Ted and Karen's relationship, which was both annoying and pointless. There was also the time Ted cheated on Victoria with Robin that fans despised, as well as Ted and Robin hooking up. Overall there are a bunch of bad romances of Ted's fans hate, and so earn a collective place on this list.
The Barney & Robin Divorce & Aftermath
Other than Marshall and Lily, Barney and Robin are probably the best relationship in the entire series as well as a big surprise for fans. Their wedding was wildly anticipated, and fans rejoiced when it came, and the two were finally happy.
Then, the series finale happened. The story of Barney and Robin ends in divorce after two years, and Barney going back to being a womanizer without a care in the world. While fans liked the Barney becoming a Dad part, the entire breakup of Barney and Robin is despised and undid so much of the fantastic stuff done previously in the show, as well as undo all of Barney's character development.
Tracey's End
The reveal of who the mother was appeared to be worth the wait as Tracey was a fantastic character, beloved by fans who could not wait for her to meet Ted finally and for them to fall in love.
In the canon series finale, though, it ends in heartbreak as out of nowhere, Tracey dies. It was such a gut punch to fans who felt their time and investment had gotten wasted, and who felt Ted and Tracey were both getting the shaft from writers.
The Hidden Agenda Of Ted's Story
The entire series finale is hated, with fans still angry about it to this day. The Barney Robin divorce sucked, Tracey's death was a robbery, but the final knockout blow to fans was the final reveal.
The story ultimately was pointless. Everything fans had been waiting for, all those seasons of work put in to finish the story, ended with Ted having a hidden agenda, his kid's acceptance to once again go after Robin. The entire storyline at the very end of the series finale was awful, and the fact is this story runs through the entirety of How I Met Your Mother and ruined a lot of it for a lot of fans.