Did ‘How I Met Your Mother’ tease its ending in the first season?

Saleha Irfan, Senior Sub-Editor/Reporter

I still remember March 31, 2014 as if it was yesterday. I had laid out different snacks including popcorn, chocolates, marshmallows, pretzels, you get the drift.

Sitting up in the cosiest spot on my couch, I switched the TV on to watch the much awaited finale of “How I Met Your Mother.”

Boy, was I in for the disappointment of the century!

Yes, I am aware it has been over five years but I’m still very angry about it!

Starting in 2005, the popular TV series followed Ted Mosby (Josh Radnor) who, in the year 2030, recounts to his son and daughter the events that led him to meet their mother. 

After nine years of patiently waiting to see who the lucky lady was, it is revealed in the finale that the mother of Ted’s children, played by Cristin Milioti, died in 2024.

The big twist is that Ted ends up with his friend and former love, Robin Scherbatsky (Cobie Smulders), an ending that was teased in the sitcom’s debut season, according to ScreenRant.

Let’s recount, shall we?

In the pilot episode, we see Ted and Robin out on their first date. Ted ends up telling her he loves her and she breaks things off. Throughout the series, the two have an on-off relationship.

Disappointed fans (myself included) resigned to the fact that the pair would only remain friends even though it was quite clear that they belonged together. It was only through Tracy’s death that Ted and Robin rekindled their relationship, this time seemingly for good.

The big twist is that eventually Ted ends up with his friend and former love, Robin Scherbatsky (Cobie Smulders). TNS

According to ScreenRant, a book featured in the finale episode of the first season mirrored the events of the show. The episode titled ‘Milk’ sees Ted celebrating his 28th birthday with the group.

Upon receiving a call from Love Solutions, a matchmaker service that he had previously signed up for, Ted visits their office to get to the bottom of the matter since he thought that the company no longer existed.

He finds out that only the management had changed and that they have found him a perfect woman who meets all of the requirements on his checklist. The woman plays bass guitar and her favourite novel is Gabriel García Márquez’s 1985 novel “Love in the Time of Cholera.”

He asks them to set up a date but eventually turns it down since he is still pining for Robin.

And before you ask, no, the blind date was not with the mother. It was another woman Ted briefly dated later in the show.

Now, time to pay attention.

Interestingly enough, the plot of the book “Love in the Time of Cholera” teased exactly how things would end for these characters. In the book, a young couple called Florentino and Fermina break up after Fermina falls for another man. They marry and live happily right up until his tragic death.

Decades later Fermina is reunited with Florentino and rekindle their romance — much like Ted and Robin do at the end of “How I Met Your Mother.”

The clues were there the whole time.