Most of You Really Hated the How I Met Your Mother Finale

SPOILER ALERTS BELOW: PROCEED WITH CAUTION.

Based on critical and Twitter reactions, Monday evening’s How I Met Your Mother series finale seems like some cruel joke on fans who’ve spent nine seasons hoping to discover the identity of the titular mother and see that true love in a big city is possible.

Let’s just get the spoiler out of the way: They killed the mother. After building an entire series to reveal that the titular mother was Tracy (Cristin Milioti), the writers conveniently gave her a fatal “sickness,” leading to the final moments where lead character Ted Mosby (Josh Radnor) asks their future kids, in the year 2030, for permission to ask out “Aunt” Robin Scherbatsky (Cobie Smulders), his original love all along.

Sloppy, right?

Here’s how the critics saw it. Uproxx’s TV reviewer said “I didn’t like it at all.” Maclean’s said it simply “didn’t work.” The Washington Post‘s Alyssa Rosenberg wrote that the finale “betrayed” the series’ ideals. Time‘s James Poniewozik made his disappointment clear. Another reviewer mocked that “Titanic had a happier ending.”

The A.V. Club gave it a positive score, however, saying the show has always worn its messy heart on its sleeve. The New York Times reviewer found it “wholly satisfying.”

But the Twitter reaction was overwhelmingly negative:

@HeyVeronica I’m so furious.

— Traci Lee (@traciglee) April 1, 2014

#SPOILER Brilliant. Someone has taken to the #HIMYM Wikipedia page and changed the title to "How I Asked My Kids Permission To Bang Robin".

— Christoph Hewett (@ChristophHewett) April 1, 2014

and what the hell? #HiMYM was never going to be great art. Why did it at the last minute switch from fluff fairy tale to dystopia?

— Katrina Trinko (@KatrinaTrinko) April 1, 2014

I just went from ugly crying to furious in the span of three minutes. #HIMYM

— Stephanie Haberman (@StephLauren) April 1, 2014

"That's it?" -The kids and EVERYONE ELSE WATCHING #himym

— Iris Blasi (@IrisBlasi) April 1, 2014

okay so if Ted and Robin end up together do I throw a chair through my TV or just set my whole apartment on fire? #HIMYM

— amy brown (@arb) April 1, 2014

if this ends with ted and robin getting together i will never watch tv again #himym

— Ryan Broderick (@ryanpbroderick) April 1, 2014

It goes on and on. But, to be fair, there are also some positive reactions sprinkled throughout. Have a look here.

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