How I Met Your Mother Season 9 (1 Viewer)

Ninth and final season begins Monday. A clip of the mother explaining the situation to the kids has been released.

Pretty cool! Although for now, I have to say I'm not a huge fan of the mother's voice.

Yee-Ming said:

Pretty cool! Although for now, I have to say I'm not a huge fan of the mother's voice.

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That's not the actual mother's voice. I think it's the voice of the Daily Beast reporter, "playing" the Mother. To hear her real voice, see the following promo:


As down as I was on them dragging it out another season, I'm actually really excited.

I'm pretty excited about the new season. A few weeks ago the son of a friend and I were discussing the show and he said that folks (on the web) were saying that the Mom looked like a cross between Lily and Robin. I can kind of see that between the eyes and features and the hair.

I've been watching the show since the season one premiere and (for me) the show has maintained a high enjoyment factor through the years, unlike some shows that simply feel like shadows of themselves. Certainly one of the most anticipated shows of the fall season for me.

- Walter.

Walter Kittel said:

I'm pretty excited about the new season. A few weeks ago the son of a friend and I were discussing the show and he said that folks (on the web) were saying that the Mom looked like a cross between Lily and Robin. I can kind of see that between the eyes and features and the hair.

I've been watching the show since the season one premiere and (for me) the show has maintained a high enjoyment factor through the years, unlike some shows that simply feel like shadows of themselves. Certainly one of the most anticipated shows of the fall season for me.

- Walter.

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I started getting into this show when season 8 premiered and I've been hooked ever since. This past summer I watched all of the previous seasons and I actually disagree with you in terms of the enjoyment factor. Seasons 1-3 were fantastic, 4 was pretty good, and 5 and 6 were noticeably weaker. Season 7 marked a partial recovery and season 8 showed that the show made a full recovery. I'm hoping this next season exceeds season 8 in quality.

Seasons 1-3 were fantastic, 4 was pretty good, and 5 and 6 were noticeably weaker.

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It's all subjective and folks are welcome to their opinions. I went over to IMDB and checked out the episode guides. For my money, any season with episodes like these is not weak -

Season 5 had:
Double Date - The reveal of the Lily stripper doppelganger
Robin 101 - Ted's analysis of Robin
Slapsgiving 2 Revenge of the Slap - Any "slap" episode is an instant winner
Home Wreckers - Ted buys the fixer-upper.
The Wedding Bride - Pretty funny parody of rom-coms at the expense of Ted

Season 6 had:
Unfinished - Barney wooing Ted using his moves.
Subway Wars - competition between the group to arrive first at a destination
Baby Talk - Barney uses baby talk on women. "Those are some tig ole bitties"
Glitter - More Robin Sparkles and Space Teens. This episode probably set the record for double entendres during the Space Teens material.
Bad News - Barney's doppelganger

But hey, its all just opinion and I'm glad we agree about Season 1-3 and 8.

- Walter.

Walter Kittel said:

It's all subjective and folks are welcome to their opinions. I went over to IMDB and checked out the episode guides. For my money, any season with episodes like these is not weak -

Season 5 had:
Double Date - The reveal of the Lily stripper doppelganger
Robin 101 - Ted's analysis of Robin
Slapsgiving 2 Revenge of the Slap - Any "slap" episode is an instant winner
Home Wreckers - Ted buys the fixer-upper.
The Wedding Bride - Pretty funny parody of rom-coms at the expense of Ted

Season 6 had:
Unfinished - Barney wooing Ted using his moves.
Subway Wars - competition between the group to arrive first at a destination
Baby Talk - Barney uses baby talk on women. "Those are some tig ole bitties"
Glitter - More Robin Sparkles and Space Teens. This episode probably set the record for double entendres during the Space Teens material.
Bad News - Barney's doppelganger

But hey, its all just opinion and I'm glad we agree about Season 1-3 and 8.

- Walter.

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Those episodes except for Baby Talk were enjoyable, but think about the rest from those seasons. The two seasons overall just didn't 'click' for me like the earlier ones did.

This always seemed like it should have been a 5-6 season show. By its very nature, it has a finite story to tell, and the desire to keep it going indefinitely led to unnecessary padding.

The first two seasons are among the best seasons of half-hour comedy I've ever seen. Both have wonderful forward momentum and begin and end at milestones in multiple characters' lives. Season Three and the first part of Season Four are also very, very good, right through Stella leaving Ted at the altar.
But in the aftermath of that, the show seemed content to tread water. Ted makes virtually no forward momentum for whole seasons. You could condense the remainder of season four, all of seasons five through seven into one 22-24 episode season without losing anything of Ted's journey.

More detrimental than the loss of momentum, though, was the trend toward the ever broadening of both the show and the characters. For long stretches of time, the characters acted like caricatures of their early season incarnations. Barney, who was the most broadly drawn from the beginning, weathered this trend the best. Marshall, whose quirks overwhelmed the rest of his character, probably fared the worst.

Season eight was still too broad for my tastes, but at least the show was moving again. I will say that "The Time Travelers" is one of my favorite episodes of the series.But the final season has the advantage of knowing its the final season. Bays and Thomas don't have to leave anything in the tank. I'm glad we'll actually get to know the Mother. Hopefully we'll see a return to the three-dimensionality of the early seasons.

Ted makes virtually no forward momentum for whole seasons.

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Ted did have his relationship with Zoey during season six which I thought did continue to develop the character. And while I enjoy seeing characters change and develop, for comedy my only requirement is "Was it funny?" - but I can understand folk's frustrations with the shows inability to move the narrative forward. A lot of the episodes I listed above from seasons five and six are shows that I believe contributed to development of the show's mythology if you will - doppelgangers, Robin Sparkles and a 'slap' episode; which may be why I enjoyed them the most(?).

By the way, I would be remiss in not listing season five's Zoo or False which has my favorite sight gag perhaps in the entire series. The King Kong bit with the monkey, the doll, and Ted's model of a skyscraper. The only other contender for the visual gag crown, for me, might be Lily in her parrot costume perched (visually) on Marshall's shoulder in season one's Slutty Pumpkin.

I do agree that the writer's do not have to leave anything in the tank given the series' conclusion this year.

- Walter.

Two episodes tonight.

"The Locket" and "Coming Back" in an hour block.

Loved the season premiere. My favorite episode(s) since "Symphony of Illumination" back in Season 7, when Robin found out she couldn't have kids. The characters were pitch-perfect, the jokes were sharper, the pacing barreled forward.

More importantly, though it had that intangible something that drama thrives on -- Walton Goggins once described it as the difference between not knowing what the next event is going to be and asking yourself "What's going to happen next?" How I Met Your Mother inspired that feeling with me right from the get-go, if not with the opening of Ted telling his children a story from the year 2030, then certainly at the end of the pilot when it was revealed that Robin was not the Mother. At some point it lost that for me, and it just became a sequence of events. There were flashes that brought that feeling back, certainly the ending of "The Time Travelers" near the end of last season did that, and the reveal of the Mother in the season eight finale, but I had that feeling the entire way through the premiere. You feel like everybody's moving toward something.Splitting up Marshall and Lily geographically was a brilliant move to break those characters out of their ruts and allow them space to breathe independently of each other. And a wedding without at least one road trip from hell story wouldn't be much of a wedding.

James cheating on his husband was obviously melancholy, but it rang really true and honest to me given the kind of men the Stinsons are presented as being. It's also your greatest fear when you decide to marry someone like Barney, and it was nice to see that personified in James as the sort of cautionary tale. On the other hand, the bit with the shared six-fingered lumberjack cousin had me absolutely rolling.Loved Roger Bart as Curtis the desk clerk. Until last week's "Always Sunny" I'd seen him playing machavellian weasely characters, so it was nice to see him in a completely different light. Given that the whole season is based around the weekend, I'm guessing will slee plenty more of him scattered throughout the season.

Most important of all, they really nailed it was the Mother. The impulse to stunt cast must have been huge, and I'm SO glad they resisted it. The chemistry between Cristin Milioti and Josh Radnor in that final superimposed flash forward was just spot on. It wasn't so much burning passion as two people who adore each other's company. You just get the perfect little glimpse of Ted's happy ending.If they can keep up this level for the remainder of the season, I'll be a very happy camper.

They've established an interesting story structure for the season. It appears that the entire gang will meet the Mother in individual settings with Ted being the last to meet her. Lots of good jokes and setups in both episodes.

Barney: "Ring bear"
Robin: "Ring bear-er"

- with the mental images of how Barney might interpret that phrase at the wedding.

We are going to be treated to a road trip with Marshall and Sherri Shepherd's character. I'm not sure how this will play out, but I do like separating Lily and Marshall, at least for awhile.

Loved Ted's idiosyncratic behavior in the car with Lily regarding the gloves and the land marks. The kind of joke that HIMYM always seems to get right.

Great start to the season.

- Walter.

What a splendid start to the season! The very beginning was slow, and I was getting worried. But then we got Marshall off the plane and it tore off. And the new mother: wow. It's like she's been sitting comfortably off stage for 8 years, patiently waiting for her queue. Her lines are up and she walked on camera perfectly integrated into the cast. I was really skeptical before the season started, but I'm in love with her now.I'm hopeful now for an unusual and strong season.

Now I know why "thine who carries a yellow umbrella" looks familiar.Was on a Juno Temple kick and she was in Brass Teapot(decent enough schlock for Netflix) and Sleepwalk With Me(worth watching several times).Sent from my LG-P769 using HTF mobile app

Good start to the season. Really liked the mother's (um. does she have a name yet?) and Lilly's scene together on the train, as Dave says it's like she's been part of the cast for years. Showing Ted and the mother a year from then is a good way to get them some screen time together and prsent an epilogue of sorts, when they haven't met yet.

Marshall is supposed to become a judge? He must be the most gullible person on earth. I knew the lady would actually come back with the car (Monstrosity!), but still...

Greg Kettell said:

Good start to the season. Really liked the mother's (um. does she have a name yet?) and Lilly's scene together on the train, as Dave says it's like she's been part of the cast for years. Showing Ted and the mother a year from then is a good way to get them some screen time together and prsent an epilogue of sorts, when they haven't met yet.

Marshall is supposed to become a judge? He must be the most gullible person on earth. I knew the lady would actually come back with the car (Monstrosity!), but still...

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Marshall's storyline was the weakest and I hope it gets stronger.

You're right, he would make a poor judge He's too sappy and sentimental.

DaveF said:

Marshall's storyline was the weakest and I hope it gets stronger. You're right, he would make a poor judge He's too sappy and sentimental.

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Marshall's character has suffered the most decline since the early seasons.

This looks pretty cool as far as packaging concepts:

I'm not sure what to make of the latest episode. It was funny, and yet the whole time I feel the show was making me like the characters less.

Marshall not really being part of the show is getting old, and his bro-code judgements were getting pretentious, not funny. Likewise, the bro-code itself. It's a joke outliving its usefulness. Robin's inability to get along with other women is a long-standing gag, but it was taken to new levels of misanthropy making her look mean and petty.

And Ross is getting tedious mooning over Rachel. I mean Ted, over Robin. They make it hard to believe this is a man who is going to be able to finally meet his soul-mate in two days. Or be a man said soul-mate would want to meet.

I was thinking the whole Robin hating women thing was going to be a lead up to her meeting the mother and hitting it off with her.