A fitting and utterly satisfying end to the best season of How I Met Your Mother. This is the moment to tie up loose ends and to bring certain story lines to a conclusion that have shaped the season thus far. And all of this is done supremely well here. Naturally, the lingering feelings between Barney and Robin had to be confronted. But not without adding some unexpected twists and turns to it. As for Ted, the reason why it turned out to be so important for him to meet Stella again is revealed in the closing moments, after a heart-warming, inspirational speech by Lily (she's perfect for that role, it's good to have her back). And with that information, this aptly named episode probably features the biggest leap towards meeting the Mother in the entire series so far. Now we know why Ted had to meet Stella, fall in love with her, get left at the altar by her, and meet her again at the crossroad by all sorts of lucky coincidences.
Furthermore, there are so many callbacks and references to earlier episodes woven into the story. This, while providing good laughs, adds to the impression that the entire season so far, despite being very good on its own, has been just the build-up, culminating in these perfect 21 minutes of television.
The callbacks I noticed: Marshall's ill-advised five words he'd soon regret ("I can jump that far"), as foreshadowed in 'Three Days of Snow' (S04E13). Bill, the hospital nurse, who wouldn't let Ted go to Happy Fun Land in 'Miracles' (S03E20). "The Mosby", the concept of scaring off a person of the opposite sex by telling her/him you're in love with her/him, as famously introduced in the pilot and purposefully applied by Barney to get rid of a clingy girl in 'Purple Giraffe' (S01E02). Sven, the Swedish architecture collective that was almost awarded the job to design the GNB tower in 'Woooo!'(S04E08). Meta-jokes about the actress' pregnancy - after Robin two episodes ago, it's now Lily who jokingly claims to be pregnant. And of course, as promised by narrator Ted several times, we finally get the full story of the goat from the homonymous episode (S03E17). As foreshadowed in S04E10, a fight between Ted and the goat ensues, which is set to a familiar soundtrack: Murder Train by the Foreskins, Robin's ex-boyfriend's band from 'Sandcastles in the Sand' (S03E16).
Furthermore, there are so many callbacks and references to earlier episodes woven into the story. This, while providing good laughs, adds to the impression that the entire season so far, despite being very good on its own, has been just the build-up, culminating in these perfect 21 minutes of television.
The callbacks I noticed: Marshall's ill-advised five words he'd soon regret ("I can jump that far"), as foreshadowed in 'Three Days of Snow' (S04E13). Bill, the hospital nurse, who wouldn't let Ted go to Happy Fun Land in 'Miracles' (S03E20). "The Mosby", the concept of scaring off a person of the opposite sex by telling her/him you're in love with her/him, as famously introduced in the pilot and purposefully applied by Barney to get rid of a clingy girl in 'Purple Giraffe' (S01E02). Sven, the Swedish architecture collective that was almost awarded the job to design the GNB tower in 'Woooo!'(S04E08). Meta-jokes about the actress' pregnancy - after Robin two episodes ago, it's now Lily who jokingly claims to be pregnant. And of course, as promised by narrator Ted several times, we finally get the full story of the goat from the homonymous episode (S03E17). As foreshadowed in S04E10, a fight between Ted and the goat ensues, which is set to a familiar soundtrack: Murder Train by the Foreskins, Robin's ex-boyfriend's band from 'Sandcastles in the Sand' (S03E16).
