Curtain falls down on ‘How I Met Your Mother

04 May, 2014 - 00:05 0 Views

The Sunday Mail

Tinashe Kusema Film review
“Like a comet pulled from orbit, as it passes the sun.
Like a stream that meets a boulder, halfway through the wood.
Who can say if I’ve been changed for the better?
But because I knew you, I have been changed for good.”
The above statements are extracts from American Theatre lyricist and composer Stephen Schwartz’s 2003 musical production Wicked: The Untold Story of The Witches of Oz.

Now I know what you are thinking — what has this got to do with movies?
Well . . . nothing, but please bear with me for a while.

I am not going to pretend to know the guy (Schwartz) or his works, but I found these words very powerful and relevant to my present situation.

Whether you choose to call it a classic case of “separation anxiety”, an eulogy, an obituary or whatever takes your fancy, the fact that the beloved sitcom “How I Met Your Mother” compelled me to say something.

“How I Met Your Mother” is an American sitcom loosely based on the life of writers Craig Thomas and Carter Bays.
The series revolved around lead character Ted Mosby, played by Josh Radnor as he narrated to his two teenage children how he met their mother.

While dealing with his job as a budding architect, Ted also tells the story of the adventures, joys, trials and tribulations with best friends — Marshall Erickson (Jason Segel), Lily Adrin (Alyson Hannigan), Robin Scherbatsky (Colbie Smulders) and Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris) — all of whom are connected to the main story.

After 72 award nominations, 18 of them wins and a run spanning nine years, “How I Met Your Mother” ceased production on March 31 with a two-part 40-minute finale that will be the subject of this review.

Before I delve into the nitty-gritties of the finale, I wish to share a little back story of my connections to this beloved sitcom, one I rank a close second to “Friends”.

I do not remember the first time I saw the series, but I think it was during the last days of the local television golden era, more specifically on Joy TV.

“How I Met Your Mother” did two specific things for me: it managed to fill the void left by the other beloved sitcom – “Friends”. The other, and more important one, is that the show managed to teach me a couple of life’s lessons, most of which I hold dear up to this day.

For instance, Mosby taught me the true meaning of perseverance and that nice guys do not really finish last in real life while Barney taught me how to pick up women. Marshall taught me the true meaning of one of life’s true clichés — that one man can really change the world, but it is a lesson I am yet to put into practice.

As far as season finales go, I have to say that the sitcom is up there with the best.
It has been nine long years since the show debuted on CBS and through it all there have been a number of mysteries that have kept us glued to the screens.

The biggest question surrounded the identity of the “mother” and Robin Scherbatsky (Smulders) romantic ties to both Barney and Ted.
Season nine as a whole answered both as Cristin Milioti was revealed to be the mysterious “mother” in “How I Met Your Mother”.

Milioti settles quite well into the role giving a polished, charming and funny performance.
She has chemistry with the entire main cast whom she meets separately during the course of the final season and fits perfectly into the gang.

I would like to think writers Thomas and Bays listened to audience’s grievances as to how they treated the love triangle between Ted, Robin and Barney than it being a stroke of genius as they gave the story a satisfactory conclusion in the finale.

The mere fact that they gave Barney and Robin’s marriage a short life span and killed off Milioti’s character, tastefully at that, confirmed what every lover of the show has always suspected and that is Robin and Ted would end up together.

It also answered the question why despite the fact that the story is supposed to be on how Ted meets his wife, the character hardly plays a part in the entire series.

Using flash forwards, the viewers are given closure on some of the running gags, outstanding storylines and sub-plots like Marshall finally becoming a judge, Barney eventually growing up and Ted and Robin finally getting their act together. Anymore information would have spoilt the final season.

For views, comments and feedback you can send me an email on [email protected] or [email protected] You can also visit the StarFm Film Review Facebook page.

Share This:

Survey


We value your opinion! Take a moment to complete our survey

This will close in 20 seconds