It was one of the most controversial series finales ever for a sitcom. How I Met Your Mother went on for nine seasons as Ted Mosby in the future (2030, to be exact) told the story of how he met their mother to his now teenage kids. As viewers saw Ted date woman after woman, they waited anxiously to find out who the mother was.
It turns out it was a woman named Tracy that Ted met by chance while at Robin and Barney's wedding. And sadly, while they had a sweet and fitting love story, she apparently died just over a decade after they met.
Nonetheless, while we only learned details of their courtship at the end of the final season, there are a few things that clearly wouldn't fly about it today.
Ted Not Being Able To Find Her For So Long
In today's day and age, it would probably be pretty easy for Ted to find this mysterious woman who owned the yellow umbrella. He would have been able to track down a class list from that economics class he accidentally walked into, for example, searched social media profiles, and found her. Or posted a photo on Twitter on him with the umbrella, searching for its rightful owner that might have gone viral.
He could even have crept Cindy's Facebook profile to look through photos that would almost definitely include ones of her roommate (Tracy) and probably even one or two of Tracy with the umbrella so he could put two-and-two together, put a face to a name, and reach out to her.
Tracy Being OK With Robin
Tracy was, based on the short time viewers got to know her, quite a perceptive person. She could see what people were hiding and their true feelings. For example, she helped Barney realize that his playboy ways were a cry for help. And he helped Lily with her frustrations about Marshall.
So how could she have not seen all along that Ted still wasn't truly over Robin? Perhaps she was fine living with that knowledge knowing that he did truly love her as well and that maybe his love for Robin was different. Nonetheless, for someone so hung up on true love, why would she settle for a man whose heart was at least partially with someone else?
Returns To Farhampton Inn
Sure, it was the place they first met and fell in love at first sight. But it was also the venue of Barney and Robin's wedding where Ted dealt with weird feelings of still being in love with his friend and the woman his friend was marrying.
Why would he and Tracy return to that Inn several times over, potentially conjuring up all of those unresolved feelings? In today's world, they'd probably opt to make new memories instead of revisiting old ones.
The Love Story That Wasn't
It was said on the series that Tracy stopped dating for some time after she found out that her long-time boyfriend Max was killed. She got this terrible news on the night of her 21st birthday, made more heartbreakig by the fact that he gifted her a ukulele that she kept to this day.
The fact that she lost the love of her life and that the love of Ted's life had seemingly always been Robin sours the whole concept of their love story. Viewers would never go for a story like that today with a happy yet tainted ending.
The Yellow Umbrella
The idea of the yellow umbrella that suggested the owner was Ted's one true love was sweet, but it would never fly today. People own unusual and boldly colored umbrellas by the dozen. There wouldn't really be anything that distinct about one.
And while there arguably wouldn't have been anything distinct about it back in the '90s either, it would be less so today. Someone could easily look up yellow umbrellas on Amazon and find hundreds of options that aren't all that special.
Tracy Helping Barney
Tracy being painted as some type of angel was totally unrealistic. It's revealed that Barney had actually met Tracy before during a pick-up challenge when he had to pick up someone at a drug store and she so happened to end up his target. She got into his head and sat with him to talk about how his actions were a cry for help.
So, it turns out that it was Tracy who helped Barney realize what he really wanted and convinced him to pursue a real relationship with Robin. One random woman in a drug store could never break a lifetime of habit unless she was literally some type of angel.
Tracy's Similarities To Lily
When Tracy and Lily accidentally met on a train, it was clear they shared an instant bond. In fact, Tracy almost seemed like another version of Lily, which would just be weird. Imagine falling for the woman of your dreams who happens to be the brunette version of your best friend's wife and one of your own best friends!
It would suggest that Marshall and Ted had the same taste in women all along.
She Knew He Had A Thing For Robin
During Tracy's conversation with Lily on the train, she provided advice about Lily's friend Ted, who Lily was trying to stop from bringing a locket to a woman named Robin who was about to get married.
Tracy perceptively suggested that Ted purposely annoyed Lily so he could get to the Inn first and profess his true feelings to Robin before she got married. Surely Tracy put two-and-two together after meeting Ted. And given her seemingly amazing intuition, must have known that Ted had been pining for Robin all along.
The Timeline
The timeline simply wouldn't fly because it was, frankly, totally unfair. Ted finally met the love of his life at Robin and Barney's wedding in 2013. She had their first child in 2015, the second child in 2017, and they finally got married in 2020.
But then, as the story goes, she was sick by 2024, just four years later. This means their eldest child was only nine years old, their youngest just seven. If she was to have been dead for about six years when Ted was telling the story to his two now teenage children in 2030, it means they only had a little over a decade together. Queue the tears.
The Seemingly Perfect Relationship
It's implied that Ted and Tracy had a seemingly perfect relationship for the 10+ years they were together, which seems idealistic. While he did wait a long time to find the woman of his dreams and went through a lot of heartbreak to get there, Ted could be annoying and desperate at times.
Tracy did seem like a very patient, loving, and giving person. True, he did mention the fights and rough moments during his recollections. So perhaps Ted focused only on recalling the best moments of their life together versus the bad given that she had since passed. Nonetheless, they must have had bigger issues through the decade of partnership. No relationship is perfect.