Sort-of fans of CBS’s “How I Met Your Mother” were disappointed Monday night with the Season 8 finale in which The Mother was revealed, largely because it was not the series finale.
The show’s popularity has varied over its eight-year span, experiencing ratings that ebbed and flowed as fans lost interest, re-tuned in and then promptly lost interest again.
“I was really into it in the beginning—Tivo-ing back to see who the ‘Bump Girl’ was, commenting on forums about my Wendy the Waitress theory. I still have a few slap bets going with friends,” said Derek Johnson, 23, who, like many sort-of fans, stopped watching the show around Season 6. “But somewhere after my Tivo stopped working and before Barney and Robin slept together, I stopped watching.” Johnson says his mother, who is a stay-at-home mom with empty nest syndrome, would sometimes keep him updated on the Barney-and-Robin relationship and other plot points that somewhat interested him.
“She’d be like ‘oh, your sister has the same AP History teacher as you did, and there was another Robin Sparkles video’ and other stuff I didn’t care much about, and I’d be like, ‘Who’s Nora?’ to make conversation,” said Johnson. Yet, Johnson and other somewhat-fans tuned in to the Season 8 finale, as it was rumored The Mother would finally be revealed.
Due to misinformation from mothers, girlfriends and those-guys-you-keep-in-touch-with-from-high-school-but-you-don’t-know-why, and a general assumption that eight years was long enough to solve Ted’s failure to hold down a relationship, many half-ass fans were disappointed to find out that, although The Mother was revealed, the show is still not over.
Johnson’s response to the episode was mixed. “They showed her face, and she was cute, but Ted didn’t even meet her. I was really confused until I realized it wasn’t the series finale. I guess I’ll have to watch the last season. Or read about it on The AV Club. Why are Lily and Marshall moving to Rome?”
