Photos
Video
'How I Met Your Mother': Ted's wedding day arrives
I wouldn't refer to myself as a "shipper," but I've always believed that Ted and Robin made a great couple. If Robin proved to be the titular mother on How I Met Your Mother I would be quite happy. Of course, with tonight's episode having Stella and Ted's wedding day arrive, things weren't looking good for my Robin-Ted dreams (yes, I do know that there are already several other reasons that my Robin-Ted ideal can't happen, but I still have my dreams). And, while there are always spoilers in recaps, tonight things happened that you may not want spoiled, just be aware before you read on.
It all started tonight when Stella's sister stole all of Stella's ideas for a perfect wedding ceremony. I don't know that Stella's sister did it on purpose, but it happened. So, when Stella's sister's fiancé ran off with the vitamin consultant from Whole Foods a few days before the wedding, Stella leapt at the chance to have her and Ted get married instead. Stella figured that Ted was in agreement with the idea, but he was actually just suggesting that he and Stella pay for dinner that night as a quantum of solace for her sister.
Ted didn't really want to get married so quickly, but Stella convinced him with some story about how Lucy's father was never ready for marriage and never spontaneous, so Ted agreed. Ted also made the crucial error of inviting Robin to the wedding, but he didn't know that it was a mistake and it was certainly something Barney was for too. That last bit may seem odd, but Barney had figured out that in order to have sex with Robin again she had to be vulnerable, nostalgic, and insecure and that booze had to play a role, all of which led him to realize that Ted's wedding was the perfect time to get her drunk and hook up with her.
The wedding was to take place on Shelter Island at the Namaste Yoga and Meditation Collective. There was going to be no alcohol, no meat, and Ted didn't inform Stella that Robin was coming back from Japan for the event until it was almost too late to stop it. Stella was not amused. She did a whole big long thing about not wanted exes at the wedding and, after a discussion with Barney, Marshall, and Lily, Ted buckled to Stella's desires. Too bad (or possibly good) for him that it was Barney who volunteered to place the call to Japan to stop Robin from getting on the plane as Barney still wanted to get into the sack with Robin and consequently didn't tell her to not come. Barney instead told everyone that he couldn't reach her, that she was already on her way.
What was our Ted to do? Well, Lily suggested that all he had to do was solve the next wedding crisis and then inform Stella that Robin was coming. As he'd already be a wedding hero, it would be all good. Yeah, not the greatest plan, but Ted went with it and the crisis soon presented itself – Lucy's dad, Tony, refused to drive Lucy to the wedding, so Ted had to go back to the city to pick her up.
The pick up went smoothly enough until Ted decided to invite Tony to the wedding too. Not smart. Ted went from the hero to the zero very quickly. He then ended up at less than zero went Stella found out about Tony and Robin both being there at almost the exact same time.
Stella told Ted that it seemed like he wasn't done with Robin. Ted was however, clearly done with Stella (not that he wanted to be). Stella wanted to explain to Robin about not wanting her at the wedding, and old Ted told us that if he'd let Stella do it the story might have ended differently. We then got a fit of brilliance, a flash to two different children (both with blonde hair) sitting on the sofa in 2030, and Stella appearing and declaring the story finished. Of course, as Ted took it upon himself to talk to Robin about her not being at the wedding and Stella did the same with Tony, the kids had brown hair and Stella was revealed to not be the mom. I knew it!!
During their talk, Robin informed Ted that she didn't want to be at the wedding, that it was weird. She then said that there was still something between the two, but it was more in the "there always would be" than the "let's go out again" vein (though she did admit that there was a part of her that always figured he would be there if she changed her mind). She also dropped the not-so-big bombshell that she had quit her job in Japan (we all knew that was coming) and told Ted that he shouldn't be getting married, that it wasn't the right way for his story to end. In Robin's mind it just wasn't romantic enough for a guy like Ted.
Robin was clearly hurt and unable to find solace with Barney (who had a woman tied to his headboard as he couldn't manage to hold out for her), so she jumped on the ferry back to the mainland. She sat there on a bench, quiet and contemplative, and then she saw Stella in a wedding dress looking out to sea. A few seconds later, Tony appeared, put his coat around Stella, and held her close. Ted's wedding was not to be, the search for the mother is back on.
Odds and ends:
- In the bar Lily asked Barney why he didn't try and stop Ted from going ahead with this wedding and getting married, Barney's answer – "I just know a hopeless cause when I see it… it's the same reason I don't recycle."
- Okay, so it's not Stella and it's not Robin (the kids know Robin as "Aunt Robin"), who is it? Do we know the mom yet?
- How do you feel about the end of the Stella-Ted relationship? Good for the show? Good for Ted?
The TV and Film Guy's Reviews - where shippers unite.
I'm with you, I'm all about Ted and Robin ending up together. So what if she's not the mother?
I really dug this episode. I'm hoping this is the end of the whole Robin/Barney debacle, and a rekindling of Robin & Ted.
MC | Oct 20, 2008 11:37:14 PM | #I was disappointed with the end of Stella and Ted, but then again, I sorta expected it. They had a good vibe together, but Sarah Chalke has to go figure stuff out with Zach Braff (I do like Scrubs, but that coupling has run its course in my mind).
If I remember last year correctly, the mother was at the party that night. I highly doubt we have met her yet, although it would be somewhat funny if the mother was the lady from St. Patty's day.
Tony | Oct 20, 2008 11:41:09 PM | #Definitely the best episode in a long time, and I like the fact that they got Stella out of the picture since anyone with a brain cell should have figured out that she wasn't the one. I'm a bit disappointed that Barney couldn't hold out for Robin, but Robin is clearly not over Ted, and Barney got a threesome out of it, so maybe it was for the best.
AC | Oct 20, 2008 11:48:06 PM | #First episode that I laughed out loud in along while. Glad the whole Stella thing is over. I still say we need a few more breadcrumbs about who the mother is. I don't even think I would be opposed to next season starting with the story from her perspective.
Barney's Shirt | Oct 21, 2008 3:53:40 AM | #Here's my guess... Robin is the mother, and Ted has been lying to his kids. In the end I think that Ted will reveal that he made up the name Aunt Robin and her real name is Mary or something and she will be the mother.
Matt | Oct 21, 2008 5:14:16 AM | #Matt- I was thinking the same thing.
Baby B | Oct 21, 2008 6:13:16 AM | #I will be disappointed if Robin is the mother. It seems like a cop out.
Also, a possible nitpick -- I didn't think Stella was all hippie or anything, so why was that her dream wedding??
Also felt like Stella magically falling back with her ex (whom, I believe, we have never seen or really heard about before) felt kinda random. I thought Stella was raising her kid alone and that her ex was out of the picture and then boom -- all of sudden she's talking about him and he has weekends with Lucy? Did I miss an eppy or something?
Allie | Oct 21, 2008 6:28:24 AM | #My favourite moment is Barney doing the Numb3rs 3D pictogram, that is just awesome.
Gary | Oct 21, 2008 6:37:55 AM | #I loved this episode! Great use of the flashbacks, loved the fake reveal as her as the mother. However, clearly if the ex's had not been invited to the wedding, Stella's unresolved feelings for Tony would have emerged at some point and they probably would have been divorced.
I agreed with everything Robin pointed out to Ted. The bit about her changing her mind, though, was probably just that she was realizing in that moment what she gave up (Ted) for her lackluster career abroad. I don't think she will end up with Ted.
I think it took that moment of heartbreak for Barney to realize he has to give up bimbos for Robin. The problem solving Good Will Hunting/A Beautiful Mind sequence was hilarious.
Stella, we hardly knew ya. Sad to see you go, but glad to move on to the real mother. Please? Some more hints would be nice, if you're reading this - CB & CT. Pretty please!
They did say the mother was at that party. If you watch it again, there's a 5 second scene where Ted randomly bumps into a woman. They both apologize and move on. I wonder if that actress is going to turn out to be the mother. Why else would have exchange have happened?
Gregg | Oct 21, 2008 7:15:21 AM | #Though spot-on in her assessment, I do agree that Robin was in a moment of panic over losing Ted and seeming to lose her career as well. Once her career is back on track, that will be her focus once again.
Though more or less obvious and a logical way to go, Ted and Robin winding up together will be a major cop-out.
I like Sarah Chalke and she has done a great job on this show, but she was good for a diversion from the real mother. It is season four. I think we should know who she is by the end of the season and then over next season find out how she and Ted meet.
The last episode should obviously be the wedding.
Five seasons is long enough to play out this great storyline. Any longer and we start stretching like "Friends".
Terrence | Oct 21, 2008 7:16:41 AM | #I missed last night show and wish I had seen it. Are we even sure they are Teds's kids? Has it ever been said point blank that he was their father? I have only heard the voice say that it was the story of how he had meet their mother and storys about Aunt Lilly, Uncle Marshal, Uncle Barney, and Aunt Robin. They could be children of some girl Ted gets involved with at some point and they are at some anniversity party or (god forbid) her wake.
linda | Oct 21, 2008 7:24:28 AM | #I thougth last nights episode was great. I really liked Stella, but I guess its a good thing that they broke up becuas it gets the story moving again. Did anyone laugh as loud during the dream sequence when Stella told Robin "Suck it B*tch, I won". I thought that was hilarious, and so out of character for Stella.
Robert | Oct 21, 2008 7:34:27 AM | #To Linda: Good theory but I think the kids have called Ted "dad" in several episodes.
Kevin | Oct 21, 2008 8:04:39 AM | #Definately thought this was a well done ending to the Stella storyline. Although Allie is correct about her nit-pick, the Vegan wedding does not seem like it would be Stella's thing at all, that seemed a little forced.
And this did seem to be the first time they showed the father of her daughter. That's not really as inconsistant as just odd, like they just thought of the idea for the break-up and had to try to tie things together.
As far as it goes, I have always maintained and will do so until proven otherwise, that the mother will end up being The Slutty Pumpkin who Ted never actually saw out of costume in his past (so if he bumped in to her again he would not know it) but felt like was his true love.
I only mention that because this episode could have foreshadowed that event in Robin's plea to Ted about how marrying Stella was not the end of the story for a romantic like Ted since her references were to the guy she first met who so insistantly waited on that Halloween night for his true destiny.
If so I wonder what suprise this Halloween (likely next weeks episode) will bring?
sac | Oct 21, 2008 8:42:36 AM | #Ted is SO boring. At least Ross was interesting for a few seasons before becoming a giant weenie.
And since Ted will never get together with Robin, why do they try to invest us in the romance of their relationship?
Some funnny lines at least.
Michelle T | Oct 21, 2008 9:08:47 AM | #I am kinda with Matt- I think Robin is the mother but I think that there is another Robin. One the mother, one the Aunt. And I don't think it will be a cop out. I think it would be a fairy tale ending. He started with glazing into the eyes of Robin from across the bar and it should end with "Happily Ever After".
Doane | Oct 21, 2008 9:45:02 AM | #I loved Barney's line about the recycling - finally someone has said it! It's not PC but it's true!
This show hits it right on the head sometimes.
Who is to say Tony won't revert to his old ways and lose Stella again?
DaisyRose | Oct 21, 2008 9:49:43 AM | #That was a great ending. I like that Ted is getting his heart broke along the way to finding the one.
I think the mother is someone we haven't met yet. They have elluded to her being at the Halloween party, so I could definately see her being the girl from Halloween that Ted has always looked for at the roof party.
I think the saddest part of the whole episode was Robin showing up and wanting the stay with Barney, and him having a girl tied to the headboard, but it wouldn't have been Barney if it didn't happen that way!
I loved last night's episode as well. I think the show is at its strongest when future-Ted reminds us that (1) "the story" is much more complicated than he was able to perceive in the present day - that hindsight is 20/20, and (2) "the story" is not really how Ted met his wife; it's how he grew into the person he needed to be in order to be with her; how Ted became Dad.
Favorite parts:
Robin's conversation with Ted at the wedding. I think she was absolutely right that the marriage to Stella was like Ted "skipping to the end of the story." She said it perfectly: Ted is a romantic guy intent on finding the woman of his dreams, and finding and keeping her is going to be an epic - not a rushed wedding to girl he proposed to in a "thank god I'm alive" rush. Not that I necessarily think Robin's it for Ted, but The Mother is going to to be as "big" - for Ted and the show - as she's been.
Future-Ted's voiceover during the scene when Ted discovers the note, Robin sees Stella and Tony on the ferry, etc. The show has used it a couple times, but as I mentioned earlier, I love the "if only I had known the real story" theme. I know a lot of Ted/Stella shippers and Sarah Chalke fans will be pissed, but I advise you to watch that sequence again. I think it could have been clearer, but that what they were getting at was that Stella and Tony's story was the real story here. The flashbacks served not only as clues for Ted, but for us to realize that they have a real history, and a family, and that with all likelihood Ted will simply become "that guy Stella almost married" to their family.
And in the end, it's best for everyone: Stella and Tony are happy, and Ted's hope lives on for his fairy-tale ending.
Katie | Oct 21, 2008 10:33:09 AM | #I'm glad Stella isn't the mother.
Robin and Barney belong together. BroTP for the win!
I like that Barney unintentionally set off the chain of events that led to Stella leaving Ted. (By lying about where Robin was.)
Robin isn't the mother. She's been called Aunt Robin several times. The Robin/Ted train has left the station.
Lynn | Oct 21, 2008 10:46:01 AM | #I will be bummed if Robin is the mother. That would total piss poor writing.
That first episode ever ended with "that is how i met your aunt robin" that was PERFECT. To make her the mother would ruin it.
What is this show?? Friends..BOO!!
I was extremely disappointed in last nights episode. Robin is so selfish, I wish she would have stayed in Japan.
I knew Stella was not the mother, I just figured it.
But her ending just left a bad taste in my mouth.
I have never hated one episode of this show and I hate this episode.
Danielle | Oct 21, 2008 11:32:43 AM | #Yeah, I agree with those of you that called a possible Robin-is-really-the-mom slight of hand a TOTAL COP OUT! She and Ted had their chance (and they ultimately wanted different things), but I really like her and Barney together.
I never linked the terms "Aunt" Robin and "Uncle" Barney as possibly belonging to each other until after that longing look Barney threw her way from his hospital bed. From that moment, I was totally on the Robin Barney (Robney? Barbin?) train.
Allie & sac - I think the dream wedding was that it was on the beach at Shelter Island not far from where they used to summer as kids. The groom that Stella's sister gave up meat, makeup and shaving for that ran away with the Whole Foods vitamin consultant was the one who brought all the granola to the table.
Welcome back, Victoria! You're now my front-runner for the mother
Corey | Oct 21, 2008 12:45:32 PM | #Ted is my least favorite character on the show and I really don't want to see Robin saddled with him again.
I know they had to break up Ted and Stella but I wish they had not trashed her character in order to do it.
Barney is the best. Now put him and Robin together...
Amy Lynne | Oct 21, 2008 12:55:20 PM | #
Zap2it Twitter Talk
