How I Met Your Mother has been teasing its audience with (not) finding out who “the mother” is for 7 seasons. The season 8 premiere was no exception. The episode begins with Ted sitting at a train station in Farhampton in his tuxedo (presumably from Robyn and Barney’s wedding) reading a book. We get no explanation for why he is at this train station or where he is going. A lady sits next to him and says, “You look like you just came from a wedding.” This prompts Ted to tell the story of how he got there. The episode flashes back to Robyn talking to Ted on her wedding day. She says, “I can’t go through with this wedding.” This then begins another flashback. This flashback picks up exactly where the flashback from the season 7 finale ended.
The first major story of the flashback is the Barney/Quinn relationship. Since we all know that Barney and Quinn do not actually end up getting married, it is hard to watch them together. I personally love Quinn, so it is hard to watch. The major plot point for this storyline on the premiere episode was Quinn finding out that Barney and Robyn have a history. She finds out after Marshall and Lilly, who are delirious since they have not slept very much because they have to take care of their newborn daughter, tell her. This interaction between delirious Marshall and Lilly and Barney and Quinn were the strongest comedic points of the episode. Jason Segel will never not be the greatest part of How I Met Your Mother.
The second major story of the flashback is Ted and Victoria’s relationship. In the flashback Ted is still with Victoria in his car as they begin to “ride on through the distance” and live happily ever after. Victoria was supposed to get married but instead gets cold feet and gets back together with Ted. Victoria informs Ted that she hadn’t left a note for her ex-fiancé, Klaus, to which Ted responds, “You have to leave a note. It is common courtesy.” Ted and Victoria then go back to the place where the wedding was supposed to be and write a note to Klaus. As Ted is attempting to get into the building, he sees Klaus who has also gotten cold feet. They both then go their separate ways. Later on Ted decides to go find him at the train station to ask him how he knew Victoria was not the one. Klaus responds that he just knows and that if you have to think about if she is the one, she isn’t. While Klaus is talking, we can see that Ted is figuring out who that person is to him. We can infer that he is thinking of Robyn. This will prove to be a major plot point for the rest of the season, undoubtedly.
Klaus says that everyone finds that person someday but you just don’t know when or where. Ted, in a voiceover, then says “and he was right even though the ways of it were a little down the road, the where of it…” Ted implies that he meets his future wife and his kids’ mother at this train station. The last scene of the episode sees “the mother” getting out of a cab, picking up her guitar from the trunk, and walking up to the train station. The camera pans up to her face but it is shielded by the famous yellow umbrella. As a huge How I Met Your Mother fan, this is just frustrating. I feel as though Carter Bays (the creator/executive producer) and the rest of the writing and production staff are teasing us just for the fun of it. The only reason I am slightly okay with it is because I know that the payoff at the end with probably be worth it. This is really all that matters in the long run.
This episode clearly shows that the producers are getting ready to close the series out soon (maybe not this season but certainly next season). They are laying the foundation and groundwork for the end. While I am sad that it is almost over, I am ready to find out who the mother is, how Ted meets her and how the end of the series plays out. It is a very exciting time for this show and I am looking forward to what is in store for the rest of the season!