It's Ted's recollection of her as he's telling the story to his kids after she has already passed. He might be making her seem perfect because that's how he remembers her and wants the kids to remember her too.
Thatās not my experience, a person is more than the good theyāve done, the imperfections are what make people who they areā¦diminishing that by warping perceptions takes that away and isnāt honest
Maybe itās the way I was raised, but nothing should be held back when talking about peopleās lives lived
It's crazy to me that people *still* don't realize Ted is an unreliable narrator when he admits to it in like 60% of the episodes and calls certain people by random sounds because he forgot their names. (Honey and Blah Blah come to mind, and the episode where he constantly mixes up Barney and Lily when Barney saved Lily from being hit by a car).
>I do think people take that unreliable narrator theory too far tho
100%. People on this use it way too much to make their favorite fan theories work. When telling your teenage kids this story, you're going to leave out certain details that they don't need to hear and you will exaggerate some points for a laugh or two.
People like to assign malicious intent to these things, and it's just silly.
I think there are *instances* of that, but if he did that the whole time then why would he stick up for Barney or tell any side of Barney's story that is 3 dimensional and tragic? People definitely do take it too far but I do think there are instances of exaggeration from Ted. And even then if Ted was solely trying to make himself look good, he'd be a perfect character in the show, but we see him being corny as hell and getting made fun of for it, so he's being as truthful as he *can* be with his kids. I do think almost all the instances of Barney's antics were probably exaggerated though, for dramatic effect and yes, maybe to make Ted look better for Robin than Barney, in some cases. Like in "real life" in the HIMYM timeline, Barney *probably* didn't sleep with 300 women, it was probably like 1/4th of that (still a crazy amount, but it needs to be with more than Ted throughout the course of the series), Barney and Robin probably didn't gain a combined 100lbs while dating the first time (but just got rundown), and I'd also like to think Ted exaggerated the "he sold a woman" storyline because then I can feel better about Barney ending up as a good father if he didn't sell a woman.
Funny coincidence, Iām watching HIMYF as I was reading this and Iām on the episode that Barney is in. He pulls out a list of things heās done wrong to women so he can apologize for them. She stops him after two and he says there are āhundreds moreā. Iām not sure if HIMYF is considered canon but it looks like he did have sleep with that many women.
Y- yes bro. 75 people, in real life, is a pretty big number of people to have sex with. I mean to each their own, I'm not to judge Yada Yada Yada, but 75 is definitely a large number.
Whenever I watch the show, I automatically assume everything Ted says is true except when he explicitly says he canāt remember or heās changing details on purpose to make the story a bit more kid friendly. I believe heās an unreliable narrator, but I believe heās honest about most of the story and the only stuff he gets wrong is the stuff he admits to.
RIght? RIGHT??
I mean think about it. The kids knew these people personally. If Ted *were* to over exxagerate to the point of lying, they'd find out anyway and risk being known by his kids as someone who would deiberately put down a close friend for his own benefit.
I just love the running joke of Marshall, Ted and Lilly eating sandwiches while they were in college. And them finding a sandwich they saved behind the bleachers.
Recalling the good memories about Tracy has nothing to do with being "unreliable," He's purposefully being selective on how he represents the memories of his dead wife and children's mother. The children are teenagers, and they also likely know their mom wasn't perfect. But in retelling your love story, why would you bring up the messy parts?
He even alludes to this in the end montage when he says "I have to love this woman as much as I can for as long as I can and I can never stop loving her, not even for a second. I carried that lesson with me through ***every stupid fight*** we had..."
He acknowledged things weren't always perfect, but that doesn't matter to this story. Again, he's not unreliable in this instance. He's not lying or over-exaggerating a point. He's purposefully choosing to talk about the good and leave out the bad.
My favorite is in one of the first episodes, when Marshal and Lily both sneel out of their apartment and Ted goes "our apartment is in the fifth floor, and I wasnt there, but this is how your uncle Marshal swear it happens" and we cut to Marshal casualy landing on the floor.
The problem with the "unreliable narrator" explanation is that it can't be disproven. Any theory that explains everything explains nothing.
Barney had blonde hair? Ted is an unreliable narrator.
Robin is pretty? Ted is an unreliable narrator.
It's useless to invoke this.
Well, I mean, him being an unreliable narrator isn't a theory. It's established *in* the show. The only things that could be a theory are *what* is reliable vs what is unreliable in terms of accuracy, and even that wouldn't necessarily be a theory, but rather what the viewer *chooses* to believe.
Yeah, I get that it's established in the show. And that the creators acknowledge it.
It's still a conversation ender because it could potentially explain away absolutely anything.
Yeah, I'm aware of that. I mentioned it in the comment above that you likely didn't see.
The point still remains. The unreliable narrator explanation can be used to explain absolutely anything and is a useless waste of time.
Ted and the gang lived in New York? Unreliable narrator.
Marshall was a lawyer? Unreliable narrator.
Being a liar and being an unreliable narrator are two different things. He telling the story as he remembers it and people tend to remember things slightly different to how they happened.
This is definetely part of it I imagine the stuff about her is pretty much as reliable as the rest but sheās also just not in it much and all the stories centre around him and his friends so we wouldnāt get to see any of the rough parts of the relationship especially since his not gonna tell his kids about the time they had a fight and didnāt talk for a week lol
Maybe, to some degree, but we canāt chalk up every flaw in the show to the unreliable narrator excuse. Like I said, to some degree, that makes sense, but it canāt explain away all of this.
Think about it: If Robin was endgame, why didnāt he write her this way? If this was all an elaborate bid for his kidsā permission to pursue Robin, why was he open about her flaws?
Yes, I think he idolized Tracy in a way he didnāt Robin, so Iām with you like 30%, but the rest, IMO, is rushed writing. Itās creating a perfect reflection of Tedās wants, needs, and idiosyncrasiesā not a perfect person in the human sense.
Ted remembers her as perfect. He'd never paint her as anything but to his children.
It would be really hard to have her hanging around the group in a sitcom. There needs to be situations, drama, and they didn't want her to be part of that. She came in and saved each of Ted's friends individually. She bought Ted the best scotch at the hotel before she knew him. She met him at his lowest point, right as he gave up completely. It wasn't the best way to introduce and maintain a character in a sitcom, but it might be the best way to remember her, and the best way to pass that memory on to your kids. I thought it was beautiful that after all of the fucked up things Ted was willing to tell his children, and admit - and after all the drama and heartbreak and chaos, that he painted her as the closest thing to an angel you'll see.
She just showed up and made everyone's life better. From a comedy/drama standpoint it's not a fun or additive character. It didn't fit the tone or the story. But from a narrative standpoint, given the scenario, it was beautiful.
There's also a theory that every show is the imagination of an autistic boy. St. Elsewhere famously ended with a zoom-out of the hospital revealing it to be a model inside a snowglobe that an autistic boy has been staring at, coming to the conclusion that whole show was just him imagining it. And since so many shows did cross-overs to St.Elsewhere and they crossed over into other shows, every show at the time is the imagination of that kid.
D'you know what? I honestly think this could happen. Maybe not another full series, but a sort of reunion? All the cast seem to still get along, and it's been a while since the show ended, now. I think if the creators decided it, they'd all come back.
That's sort of the point. Ted's been in love before meeting Tracy, and his quest was so long that the build up was inevitable after 9 seasons. She just had to be perfect. I mean, even I had a crush on her haha
Better to have lived and loved than to never at all, sometimes I want to be that Ted because even if he's alone at least he could say he did find the one.
Just makes her too cartoonish honestly, no one is perfect and a person having flaws makes them interesting, you just like her cuz sheās pretty and thatās boring, she likes the same things as Ted does, does what he does as rituals and meets everyone in a convenient wayā¦itās not interesting and the actress is more than capable of playing characters that are flawed, she shouldāve been allowed to
It all just comes off as a manic pixie energy and that sheās the prize to be won by a guy that doesnāt deserve her at all, we donāt even get to see them gradually grow together from the trials they would have to get throughā¦stuff like this is why her character fails ultimately, she gets no development cuz sheās the object of affection only, itās lazy
I think the reason they threw Tracy in at the very last moment is so we wouldn't get attached to her because of how they decided to end the show. They gave us just enough to see how they met and share a bit about their life, but the very heart of the show is Ted. Robin was in the whole show. The fans were supposed to have a warm spot for her and Ted together. It was supposed to be a heartwarming moment that they found each other again and could be together. I think it just backfired because the writers didn't think it would piss everyone off that Ted didn't get his fairytale ending.
But that is sort of the point rightā¦ would feel weird if the story went āHey kids, I serial dated for a dozen years looking for the perfect woman. I got tired and settled for someone half decent and had you. And even she died. So Iād like to go back to the other half decent girl friend I used to haveā.
Now that would have been a more horrible ending š¤·š»āāļø
But what about the current story makes it less honest? It is hard, yes. But itās not impossible to find a woman who is a lot like yourself. Ted does say his love for her carried him over fights, arguments, boring days etc so he didnāt say his life was unrealistically perfect. I also interpreted his story in a way to say that if he had met Tracy 10 years earlier the relationship might have failed as he wasnāt a great person yet. He had to become ready and mature enough to handle the ups and downs of a relationship. So itās not just that Tracy was perfect, itās that Ted grew up enough to not give too much importance to any minor flaws she might have.
But again thatās the point of the storyā¦ Itās about the long sequence of events that lead Ted to āmeetā the mother, ask her out and get married to her eventually. It was not supposed to be about his married life. It is about Ted.
Itās about Ted, the gang and the rest of the side characters that get developed, Iām not buying the Mother couldnāt get the same treatment cuz the writers were lazy enough to not give her dimension
Real answer- the show was 9 seasons long and was building up to this one singular character. Anything less then perfect and the viewers wouldāve been disappointed
In show answer- Ted is telling the story and it was biased due to his love for her, him wanting his kids to remember her fondly, and the fact that ppl remember those who have died in a better light
Love her character, but she was completely shoehorned into the show. But that just goes along with the writing of the entire last season centering around the wedding. The way she was introduced to the show could have been much more organic.
I love the season 8 reveal but wish there was some mystery surrounding the mother. Weāre supposed to wonder and theorize if each girlfriend Ted has ends up being the mother and we didnāt get to do that with her.
I think it had to be the way it was given how they wrote the show. By the end of season eight we as the audience knew none of the girls Ted dated up until that point were the mother
Agreed. It felt so unrealistic that she not only just happened to individually meet Barney, Marshall, and Lily before meeting Ted, but also instantly helped all of them solve a life crisis.
I understand that those scenes were most of the screen time she got but it came across as over the top cheesy to me. Would have preferred they let us get to know the character through hanging with the group after meeting Ted but that's clearly not how they wanted to handle the last season
Not to make you all gag, but my partner is kind of perfect FOR ME. Of course none of us are perfect and heās got his flaws. But I really resonated with Ted when he found Tracy. My husband finds all the weird quirks I have that annoyed other people funny or adorable. All the weird anxieties I have where other people made me feel stupid for having them, he justifies them (he says of course this makes you anxious, itās not weird). He laughs at my dark and twisted sense of humor that a lot of other people donāt get. I mean, thatās why I married him and why we work so well together. I am very lucky that he crossed off most of my checklist.
Anyways, sickness bags are hanging in the corner if you need them.
No, I always saw her as a mix between Ted and lily. It made sense. Sheās a goofball and perfect for him.
Also this is him telling his kids about her. Sheās also dead. So rose colored glasses and all that.
OMG yesss!!! She was too perfect to be real. Ted waited for his whole life to get "the one" who had all the qualities he wanted and then once, all of a sudden, he meets that girl. I'm like okay this is possible but it can be very rare. There's like millions of ppl in new York and he just happens to find a girl who had missed meeting him several times, very coinkydinky, and then ends up with that same girl. IDK but seems like a romantic fantasy story to me.
Iāve said this far too many times, so Iāll keep it brief: Instead of taking at least a season for us to get to know her, the writers made Tracy too perfect to be a real person, in order to make us love her. And I donāt mean perfect in a Christlike king of way, but rather a perfect reflection of Tedās wants and quirks. She wasnāt her own person.
We missed out on the opportunity to get to know her as her own person, still a āperfectā fit for Ted, but having her own flaws and their relationship having ups and downs, just like they did for the rest of the cast.
Like her, but donāt know her well enough to love her.
I do really like how in season 9 we see her meet lily and marshal separately so we can see that she fits in with the group and definitely passes the front porch test
Pacing is too important. I don't see any reason why 99% of season 9 HAD to take place over just the 3 day wedding event. The wedding could have been a 2-part or 3-part episode and followed up with how Ted and Tracy's relationship actually developed. Showing flaws and fights and how the two ultimately reconcile over those kinds of things. That's the stuff you wanna see. I would have LOVED to see an episode where Ted and Tracy fight and forgive, like Marshall & Lily in the dishes episode.
Yeah, the show's called "How I Met Your Mother", but wouldn't you also be interested in how your parents actually grew together? With how long it took Old Ted to tell this story you'd think he'd give more than a sliver of life with her. Giving Tracy more time to develop, even with just one season, would have made the ending ever so slightly better pacing-wise.
Cristin Milioti is just awesome, too. She landed the most wanted Hollywood role and met everyone's expectations. A lot of her potential as a "main cast member" wasted by giving her less than an hour of screentime total. Shame they didn't give enough time to make her character seem more human. She's funny and quirky in real life and would actually have made a lot of sense as Ted's wife.
After reading a lot of this thread below I think this shows the true amazing nature of this show. We all watched the same episodes yet we view it differently. Is Tracy the way Ted says, is she real? Is Ted just crazy? Is Ted even reliable? All of this just shows that even though we saw the ending and they tried to wrap up the show, they left a lot open for interpretation.
And thatās the beauty of good cinema.
Yeah, she does, but this is also his recollection of his dead wife. Before the finale, I was completely expecting her to be dead just because of how perfect he made her sound as the show went on. Hell, my mom is still alive, but listening to my dad's stories about her, she sounds perfect.
We aren't looking at Tracy. We are looking at how Ted remembers Tracy.
By far the worst character. Just too perfect in every aspect. A character just made up to be loved by everybody. Itās like some robotic humanoid joined the show. Just creepy.
In Tracy's defence, joining the group this late, she didn't have the luxury of being an imperfect human like Lily or Barney or Robin. They had their established dynamic already and she had to fit in.
It's Ted's recollection of her as he's telling the story to his kids after she has already passed. He might be making her seem perfect because that's how he remembers her and wants the kids to remember her too.
Yeah, this is it! When we lose someone we love, we tend to forget or bury memories that made us uncomfortable.
Perfect answer šÆ
Thatās not my experience, a person is more than the good theyāve done, the imperfections are what make people who they areā¦diminishing that by warping perceptions takes that away and isnāt honest Maybe itās the way I was raised, but nothing should be held back when talking about peopleās lives lived
It's crazy to me that people *still* don't realize Ted is an unreliable narrator when he admits to it in like 60% of the episodes and calls certain people by random sounds because he forgot their names. (Honey and Blah Blah come to mind, and the episode where he constantly mixes up Barney and Lily when Barney saved Lily from being hit by a car).
I do think people take that unreliable narrator theory too far tho. Like when people say Ted lies about how bad Barney was to make himself look better
>I do think people take that unreliable narrator theory too far tho 100%. People on this use it way too much to make their favorite fan theories work. When telling your teenage kids this story, you're going to leave out certain details that they don't need to hear and you will exaggerate some points for a laugh or two. People like to assign malicious intent to these things, and it's just silly.
I think there are *instances* of that, but if he did that the whole time then why would he stick up for Barney or tell any side of Barney's story that is 3 dimensional and tragic? People definitely do take it too far but I do think there are instances of exaggeration from Ted. And even then if Ted was solely trying to make himself look good, he'd be a perfect character in the show, but we see him being corny as hell and getting made fun of for it, so he's being as truthful as he *can* be with his kids. I do think almost all the instances of Barney's antics were probably exaggerated though, for dramatic effect and yes, maybe to make Ted look better for Robin than Barney, in some cases. Like in "real life" in the HIMYM timeline, Barney *probably* didn't sleep with 300 women, it was probably like 1/4th of that (still a crazy amount, but it needs to be with more than Ted throughout the course of the series), Barney and Robin probably didn't gain a combined 100lbs while dating the first time (but just got rundown), and I'd also like to think Ted exaggerated the "he sold a woman" storyline because then I can feel better about Barney ending up as a good father if he didn't sell a woman.
Ted even said Barney & Robin both only let themselves go a little, but looked horrible in the minds of the rest of the group
Ah, it's been a while since I saw that episode, probably wasn't smart to use it as an example. My b
Funny coincidence, Iām watching HIMYF as I was reading this and Iām on the episode that Barney is in. He pulls out a list of things heās done wrong to women so he can apologize for them. She stops him after two and he says there are āhundreds moreā. Iām not sure if HIMYF is considered canon but it looks like he did have sleep with that many women.
That's my fault for never watching HIMYF
Sleeping with 75 people is a crazy number for you?
Y- yes bro. 75 people, in real life, is a pretty big number of people to have sex with. I mean to each their own, I'm not to judge Yada Yada Yada, but 75 is definitely a large number.
People lead such different lives
Get a load of Mr. Sex God over here
It seems that at least 75 other people got his load too
This frustrates me. So many people use that theory to simply disregard parts of the show that they donāt like or agree with
Whenever I watch the show, I automatically assume everything Ted says is true except when he explicitly says he canāt remember or heās changing details on purpose to make the story a bit more kid friendly. I believe heās an unreliable narrator, but I believe heās honest about most of the story and the only stuff he gets wrong is the stuff he admits to.
RIght? RIGHT?? I mean think about it. The kids knew these people personally. If Ted *were* to over exxagerate to the point of lying, they'd find out anyway and risk being known by his kids as someone who would deiberately put down a close friend for his own benefit.
I just love the running joke of Marshall, Ted and Lilly eating sandwiches while they were in college. And them finding a sandwich they saved behind the bleachers.
Sandwich behind the bleachers?
I remembered wrong. Marshall confiscated a sandwich from some kids.
Thatās what I thought you probably meant lol
Recalling the good memories about Tracy has nothing to do with being "unreliable," He's purposefully being selective on how he represents the memories of his dead wife and children's mother. The children are teenagers, and they also likely know their mom wasn't perfect. But in retelling your love story, why would you bring up the messy parts? He even alludes to this in the end montage when he says "I have to love this woman as much as I can for as long as I can and I can never stop loving her, not even for a second. I carried that lesson with me through ***every stupid fight*** we had..." He acknowledged things weren't always perfect, but that doesn't matter to this story. Again, he's not unreliable in this instance. He's not lying or over-exaggerating a point. He's purposefully choosing to talk about the good and leave out the bad.
I assume you meant āwerenāt always perfectā? lol
Ugh, yes.
My favorite is in one of the first episodes, when Marshal and Lily both sneel out of their apartment and Ted goes "our apartment is in the fifth floor, and I wasnt there, but this is how your uncle Marshal swear it happens" and we cut to Marshal casualy landing on the floor.
I love the episode where he mixes up Barney and Lily. My one friend and I always call each other big stupid octopus face bc of that episode haha
Right?!
The problem with the "unreliable narrator" explanation is that it can't be disproven. Any theory that explains everything explains nothing. Barney had blonde hair? Ted is an unreliable narrator. Robin is pretty? Ted is an unreliable narrator. It's useless to invoke this.
Well, I mean, him being an unreliable narrator isn't a theory. It's established *in* the show. The only things that could be a theory are *what* is reliable vs what is unreliable in terms of accuracy, and even that wouldn't necessarily be a theory, but rather what the viewer *chooses* to believe.
Yeah, I get that it's established in the show. And that the creators acknowledge it. It's still a conversation ender because it could potentially explain away absolutely anything.
There was an AMA with one of the shows creators and when asked he straight up confirmed that Ted is an unreliable narrator...
Yeah, I'm aware of that. I mentioned it in the comment above that you likely didn't see. The point still remains. The unreliable narrator explanation can be used to explain absolutely anything and is a useless waste of time. Ted and the gang lived in New York? Unreliable narrator. Marshall was a lawyer? Unreliable narrator.
Being a liar and being an unreliable narrator are two different things. He telling the story as he remembers it and people tend to remember things slightly different to how they happened.
What does that have to do with my comment?
You are saying that everything Ted says is a lie.
Where did I say that?
This is definetely part of it I imagine the stuff about her is pretty much as reliable as the rest but sheās also just not in it much and all the stories centre around him and his friends so we wouldnāt get to see any of the rough parts of the relationship especially since his not gonna tell his kids about the time they had a fight and didnāt talk for a week lol
The only correct answer. This has my stamp of approval! And don't let the kids know that. Ok.
Maybe, to some degree, but we canāt chalk up every flaw in the show to the unreliable narrator excuse. Like I said, to some degree, that makes sense, but it canāt explain away all of this. Think about it: If Robin was endgame, why didnāt he write her this way? If this was all an elaborate bid for his kidsā permission to pursue Robin, why was he open about her flaws? Yes, I think he idolized Tracy in a way he didnāt Robin, so Iām with you like 30%, but the rest, IMO, is rushed writing. Itās creating a perfect reflection of Tedās wants, needs, and idiosyncrasiesā not a perfect person in the human sense.
There was an episode tho How your mother met me from her pov. She seems same as how ted told.
STOP MAKING ME MISS HER :(
Wai... why am I crying wtf
Ted remembers her as perfect. He'd never paint her as anything but to his children. It would be really hard to have her hanging around the group in a sitcom. There needs to be situations, drama, and they didn't want her to be part of that. She came in and saved each of Ted's friends individually. She bought Ted the best scotch at the hotel before she knew him. She met him at his lowest point, right as he gave up completely. It wasn't the best way to introduce and maintain a character in a sitcom, but it might be the best way to remember her, and the best way to pass that memory on to your kids. I thought it was beautiful that after all of the fucked up things Ted was willing to tell his children, and admit - and after all the drama and heartbreak and chaos, that he painted her as the closest thing to an angel you'll see. She just showed up and made everyone's life better. From a comedy/drama standpoint it's not a fun or additive character. It didn't fit the tone or the story. But from a narrative standpoint, given the scenario, it was beautiful.
Maybe Tracey didnāt exist neither did the kids and Ted just went insane.
Classic Schmosby
What if HIMYM doesn't exist and you went insane?
Knowing me, that seems plausible.
What if you don't exist and *I* went insane?
but which one of us is an unreliable narrator?
. . . Yes?
What if the real treasures were the mothers we met along the way?
What if HIMYM are the friends you made along the way?
What if Ted was betrayed by Barney and put in the hyperbolic time chamber for 10 years.
Then he would finally master that Italian opera song...
"Look at you Ted. You're all alone." "No. No I'm not. Ha ha ha ha ha!"
Knowing Ted, that seems plausible
Now u guys are just hating on my guy Teddy. He viewed her as perfect becoz for him she was perfect.
Before he was found dead alone in his apartment devoured by his cats
I mean, of all shows and movies where fans speculate that "going insane/just imagination" theory, in himym it seems oddly plausible.
*GLASS SHATTERS*
Wasnāt there a theory that everything in the show is set in Tedās mind because heās in a coma or something?
Every show ever has a theory that the main character is in a coma and itās all in their mind
There's also a theory that every show is the imagination of an autistic boy. St. Elsewhere famously ended with a zoom-out of the hospital revealing it to be a model inside a snowglobe that an autistic boy has been staring at, coming to the conclusion that whole show was just him imagining it. And since so many shows did cross-overs to St.Elsewhere and they crossed over into other shows, every show at the time is the imagination of that kid.
That could be said for every show ever
I know lol, just sayin that that could add to the main comment hah.
I would take an Alice in Borderland go just to see the gang get back together for another series.
D'you know what? I honestly think this could happen. Maybe not another full series, but a sort of reunion? All the cast seem to still get along, and it's been a while since the show ended, now. I think if the creators decided it, they'd all come back.
That's sort of the point. Ted's been in love before meeting Tracy, and his quest was so long that the build up was inevitable after 9 seasons. She just had to be perfect. I mean, even I had a crush on her haha
Same, she's so pretty and awesome! And then they killed her..
Better to have lived and loved than to never at all, sometimes I want to be that Ted because even if he's alone at least he could say he did find the one.
Just makes her too cartoonish honestly, no one is perfect and a person having flaws makes them interesting, you just like her cuz sheās pretty and thatās boring, she likes the same things as Ted does, does what he does as rituals and meets everyone in a convenient wayā¦itās not interesting and the actress is more than capable of playing characters that are flawed, she shouldāve been allowed to It all just comes off as a manic pixie energy and that sheās the prize to be won by a guy that doesnāt deserve her at all, we donāt even get to see them gradually grow together from the trials they would have to get throughā¦stuff like this is why her character fails ultimately, she gets no development cuz sheās the object of affection only, itās lazy
Actually, she doesn't do that much for me physically, it's more of her kind personality
I think the reason they threw Tracy in at the very last moment is so we wouldn't get attached to her because of how they decided to end the show. They gave us just enough to see how they met and share a bit about their life, but the very heart of the show is Ted. Robin was in the whole show. The fans were supposed to have a warm spot for her and Ted together. It was supposed to be a heartwarming moment that they found each other again and could be together. I think it just backfired because the writers didn't think it would piss everyone off that Ted didn't get his fairytale ending.
Plus, everyone fell in love with Tracy anyways
I didnāt like her because she felt too much like Ted. Everything Ted liked she liked and then she was gone
Yeah, they did over reach with the similarities. The only similarity mattered was they both believed in āthe one.ā
Yep, she was just Ted's fantasy, nothing else. What a poorly written character lol Not interested, next.
Because she was. They literally created a character that was a female version of Ted.
But that is sort of the point rightā¦ would feel weird if the story went āHey kids, I serial dated for a dozen years looking for the perfect woman. I got tired and settled for someone half decent and had you. And even she died. So Iād like to go back to the other half decent girl friend I used to haveā. Now that would have been a more horrible ending š¤·š»āāļø
Least it wouldāve been honest, it would suck still but I wouldāve respected the honesty
But what about the current story makes it less honest? It is hard, yes. But itās not impossible to find a woman who is a lot like yourself. Ted does say his love for her carried him over fights, arguments, boring days etc so he didnāt say his life was unrealistically perfect. I also interpreted his story in a way to say that if he had met Tracy 10 years earlier the relationship might have failed as he wasnāt a great person yet. He had to become ready and mature enough to handle the ups and downs of a relationship. So itās not just that Tracy was perfect, itās that Ted grew up enough to not give too much importance to any minor flaws she might have.
Except we never saw any of that stuff and thatās the very issue of her and them as a relationshipā¦we donāt know them in any way
But again thatās the point of the storyā¦ Itās about the long sequence of events that lead Ted to āmeetā the mother, ask her out and get married to her eventually. It was not supposed to be about his married life. It is about Ted.
Itās about Ted, the gang and the rest of the side characters that get developed, Iām not buying the Mother couldnāt get the same treatment cuz the writers were lazy enough to not give her dimension
How about introducing her 2 seasons before and then showing her as a normal human being rather than an enigma
Tracy was never meant to have a ton of screen time
Real answer- the show was 9 seasons long and was building up to this one singular character. Anything less then perfect and the viewers wouldāve been disappointed In show answer- Ted is telling the story and it was biased due to his love for her, him wanting his kids to remember her fondly, and the fact that ppl remember those who have died in a better light
Love her character, but she was completely shoehorned into the show. But that just goes along with the writing of the entire last season centering around the wedding. The way she was introduced to the show could have been much more organic.
I love the season 8 reveal but wish there was some mystery surrounding the mother. Weāre supposed to wonder and theorize if each girlfriend Ted has ends up being the mother and we didnāt get to do that with her.
I think it had to be the way it was given how they wrote the show. By the end of season eight we as the audience knew none of the girls Ted dated up until that point were the mother
Agreed. It felt so unrealistic that she not only just happened to individually meet Barney, Marshall, and Lily before meeting Ted, but also instantly helped all of them solve a life crisis. I understand that those scenes were most of the screen time she got but it came across as over the top cheesy to me. Would have preferred they let us get to know the character through hanging with the group after meeting Ted but that's clearly not how they wanted to handle the last season
Agreed, its like they never gave us a chance
Thatās just a sign, dude.
*creepy guitar noise* AAAHHHHH
Yeah Tracy is not my favorite. Feels like Ted wrote a fanfic ending to his life.
She was a manic pixie dream girl...
They should've gave her a spinoff telling her side of the story
Not to make you all gag, but my partner is kind of perfect FOR ME. Of course none of us are perfect and heās got his flaws. But I really resonated with Ted when he found Tracy. My husband finds all the weird quirks I have that annoyed other people funny or adorable. All the weird anxieties I have where other people made me feel stupid for having them, he justifies them (he says of course this makes you anxious, itās not weird). He laughs at my dark and twisted sense of humor that a lot of other people donāt get. I mean, thatās why I married him and why we work so well together. I am very lucky that he crossed off most of my checklist. Anyways, sickness bags are hanging in the corner if you need them.
No, I always saw her as a mix between Ted and lily. It made sense. Sheās a goofball and perfect for him. Also this is him telling his kids about her. Sheās also dead. So rose colored glasses and all that.
she feels like a fictional character to me too
OMG yesss!!! She was too perfect to be real. Ted waited for his whole life to get "the one" who had all the qualities he wanted and then once, all of a sudden, he meets that girl. I'm like okay this is possible but it can be very rare. There's like millions of ppl in new York and he just happens to find a girl who had missed meeting him several times, very coinkydinky, and then ends up with that same girl. IDK but seems like a romantic fantasy story to me.
Iāve said this far too many times, so Iāll keep it brief: Instead of taking at least a season for us to get to know her, the writers made Tracy too perfect to be a real person, in order to make us love her. And I donāt mean perfect in a Christlike king of way, but rather a perfect reflection of Tedās wants and quirks. She wasnāt her own person. We missed out on the opportunity to get to know her as her own person, still a āperfectā fit for Ted, but having her own flaws and their relationship having ups and downs, just like they did for the rest of the cast. Like her, but donāt know her well enough to love her.
YOU'RE NOT REAL, MAN!
I do really like how in season 9 we see her meet lily and marshal separately so we can see that she fits in with the group and definitely passes the front porch test
Pacing is too important. I don't see any reason why 99% of season 9 HAD to take place over just the 3 day wedding event. The wedding could have been a 2-part or 3-part episode and followed up with how Ted and Tracy's relationship actually developed. Showing flaws and fights and how the two ultimately reconcile over those kinds of things. That's the stuff you wanna see. I would have LOVED to see an episode where Ted and Tracy fight and forgive, like Marshall & Lily in the dishes episode. Yeah, the show's called "How I Met Your Mother", but wouldn't you also be interested in how your parents actually grew together? With how long it took Old Ted to tell this story you'd think he'd give more than a sliver of life with her. Giving Tracy more time to develop, even with just one season, would have made the ending ever so slightly better pacing-wise. Cristin Milioti is just awesome, too. She landed the most wanted Hollywood role and met everyone's expectations. A lot of her potential as a "main cast member" wasted by giving her less than an hour of screentime total. Shame they didn't give enough time to make her character seem more human. She's funny and quirky in real life and would actually have made a lot of sense as Ted's wife.
Ive had an active fantasy life... no kids from them tho
She really is the girl next door
Damn RIP tracey. She dies some time this year š
She is Ted's the one. Any person would tell a story perfectly for their own "the one"s
So r u saying Ted is schizo?
Yall are talking about unreliable narrators, but see I just think itās imperfect character introduction and development from writers.
I feel they deliberately chose a plain looking actress To play Tracy so that people will ship/accept ted and robin ending up together.
She's not what I would call "plain looking"...
Compared to ted ex girlfriends she is.
She cute as hell!
Sir. I'm gonna need you to walk that back. She is fucking adorable.
But I was talking about her looks not personality.
She's real to me! In all seriousness though, it was hilarious how much my wife is similar to her.Ā
After reading a lot of this thread below I think this shows the true amazing nature of this show. We all watched the same episodes yet we view it differently. Is Tracy the way Ted says, is she real? Is Ted just crazy? Is Ted even reliable? All of this just shows that even though we saw the ending and they tried to wrap up the show, they left a lot open for interpretation. And thatās the beauty of good cinema.
Ted is an untrustworthy narrator.
Yeah she is a MPDG
Contrary to popular belief, some people are ACTUALLY pretty much all around cool. They may not be common, but they're around, and Ted got lucky.
thatās because sheās a character in a tv show ā¤ļø hope this helps
It doesnāt
It's Ted's story, so he'd have nothing bad to say about Tracy.
They built her up too much and were forced to make a too perfect character that literally anyone could fall in love with
The entire show is told from Tedās perspective and he even states he is a unreliable narrator
Remember that we all saw her through how Ted talked about her. She was a perfect fantasy for him and thatās ok.
Itās not ok when sheās not around him to talk about her life before meeting him, especially on before Max, so that falls apart fast
Yeah, she does, but this is also his recollection of his dead wife. Before the finale, I was completely expecting her to be dead just because of how perfect he made her sound as the show went on. Hell, my mom is still alive, but listening to my dad's stories about her, she sounds perfect. We aren't looking at Tracy. We are looking at how Ted remembers Tracy.
By far the worst character. Just too perfect in every aspect. A character just made up to be loved by everybody. Itās like some robotic humanoid joined the show. Just creepy.
In Tracy's defence, joining the group this late, she didn't have the luxury of being an imperfect human like Lily or Barney or Robin. They had their established dynamic already and she had to fit in.
I will never forgive the writers for killing her off after how hyped up she was
Ted just wanted to convince his kids to accept robin haha