After nine hilarious and tear-wrenching years following the crazy antics and misadventures of Ted Mosby (protagonist  of the hit TV show “How I Met Your Mother”), and his quirky gang of friends, on his quest to find the love of his life, the time has finally come for the journey, and Ted’s story, to come to a satisfyingly beautiful end.

At least, that’s what we’ve come to believe. Isn’t it? After nine years of superb writing and storytelling, Carter Bays and Craig Thomas (the show’s writers) wouldn’t let us down after such a huge hype, right? RIGHT?!

This month the show’s long awaited finale was  aired, and every fan who sat down that Monday evening, prepared to see Ted and the unnamed mother finally meet at that empty Farhamptom train station. …But, where is the mother? Tracy, the mother of Ted’s future children, Penny and Luke, barely has any screen time whatsoever – the  majority of the episode focuses on the completely unnecessary and strangely depressing events years after Robin and Barney’s wedding, such as Robin and Barney’s divorce (didn’t see that coming, did you?), and Robin’s separation from the “gang.”

Aside from those plot points, Tracy (Cristin Milioti) and Ted (Josh Radnor) do have some great chemistry. The scene where they actually meet is so simple, yet so sweet, you can’t help but smile while watching it. But not everything can be as magical and perfect as that, can it?

First things first, the writers forced way too much  into a 45-minute finale. After spending an entire season based on a 48-hour wedding weekend, it’s not exactly the smartest idea to force 25 years of time into the final episode – and break up the same couple from before three minutes in. But they said it was three years later, so apparently that makes it okay.

Secondly, do you remember shallow “ladies man” Barney? Cold, disconnected Robin? All the primitiveness of Season one? Do you want it all back? Well, Bays and Thomas sure did, because Barney and Robin, after the sudden divorce, regressed right back to their former selves, no change or character progression left to be seen. Barney, complete with a Playbook two, has a child with a one-night-stand by the beautiful name of “Number 31.” Barney, the most evolved character on the show, is unfairly punished by Bays and Thomas, by destroying everything that made the viewers care for the character.

However, the scene that Barney shares with his daughter, Ellie, is the one out of two scenes that really struck a chord with me, and kept to the show’s original heart and genuineness. Extra props go to Neil Patrick Harris, who portrayed Barney, for making me want to break out sobbing. The second he holds his newborn daughter in his arms, he reverted  to the deep Barney viewers love, instantly falling in love with the child and tearing up at the sight of the life he helped create. However touching this scene may be, it’s much too sudden and awkward, considering how he never wanted a child in the first place.

The worst part, though, was how the writers degraded the very thing that drew viewers in in the first place. Not only did they minimize her number of scenes, they also killed her off. Ted described this as an afterthought- without any reasonable explanation, grief from Ted and his kids, or a funeral scene. After the supposed “love of his life” died, he immediately wants to return back to Robin, the woman who said she didn’t love him. You’d think his kids would slap some sense into him, but nope. They see it right off the bat, saying in their own words, “You just have the hots for Aunt Robin.” Since when was the mother supposed to just be another obstacle in Ted’s way to get to Robin? Oh well, I guess we’ll just wait and see if they realize what they did wrong during “How I Met Your Dad,” a spinoff which things aren’t looking too bright for after this.

Although this legendary show’s finale, I’m not sure how the fan base is going to recover. As for me, I’m not going to let one finale destroy the entire show for me. Despite how crummy most of the characters’ lives ended up – four for Marshall, you go, Marshall! – I’ll  just believe in my heart that they never really left that bar, where nobody had to leave, nobody had to divorce, nobody had to die. Because, in reality, “How I Met Your Mother” was never really about the sadness of life, although that might’ve been a more realistic option. It was about allowing yourself to move on, and believe that the universe has a plan for you, that friendship is the most important thing, not chasing something that doesn’t work or leave everyone happy.

So, thank you, “How I Met Your Mother” for the nine  magical years you shared with me, but for now, I’m going to pretend the show ended with The End of the Aisle, and that Ted and Tracy finally found their happy endings with each other.