If you hated the series finale of How I Met Your Mother, you definitely want to check out the alternate ending of the show. If you loved the series finale, you might be in the minority, but should still check out what could have been.
The polarizing How I Met Your Mother series finale last May sparked the internet ablaze with debate about how the show should have really ended. Despite the fact that creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas spoke out in favor of what aired, many fans felt the finale insufficiently ended the nine-season long show.
So when word got out that there had been an alternate ending filmed, and that it would be included on the special features of the HIMYM season 9 DVD set, hope sprang anew.
That video is now out, leaked and circulating the internet on a few streaming platforms. First, YouTube last week, but that version was taken down within minutes of its upload, and Vimeo had a version on Saturday for a few hours, but it too was taken down.
While you might have to wait a little bit longer to actually see first-hand how Ted and Tracy’s (the Mother) story wraps up, depending how fast these videos can go up and come down, the wait might be worth it.
It is important to note that this ending has not be confirmed by anyone associated with How I Met Your Mother, but all signs point to its validity, namely the new scenes and Bob Saget’s finished narration.
In the video, we see the gang of six sitting at MacLaren’s, Lily giving her toast about the “long and difficult” road it took for Ted and Tracy to end up together. Where the finales diverge, however, is in Ted’s final narration. He disagrees with Lily, saying the road actually wasn’t that difficult.
Over a montage of past scenes, he says all he had to do was “get out of the apartment a couple of hours” so Lily and Marshall could get engaged, then meet, fall in love and break up with Robin. Go on the rebound, get the butterfly tattoo, get it removed and meet Stella, fall in love with Stella, get left at the alter by Stella. “Get beat up by a goat… teach the wrong class…” Date, a lot. Let Robin and Barney fall in love and get married, leave the wedding early, and be in the right place at the right time.
And finally, to approach a “beautiful girl under a yellow umbrella.” From there, we cut to Ted and Tracy, putting together the pieces of their lives that have intertwined over so many years. Tracy says it’s “funny how sometimes, you just find things.” Ted then finally says, “and that kids, is how I met your mother.”
The How I Met Your Mother franchise was supposed to spin-off into How I Met Your Dad, but the show never came to fruition, and Bays and Thomas are said to have continued onto different projects.