“How I Met Your Mother” Season 9 Premiere Recap

• Tweet
• Pin It

The premiere of the very last season of “How I Met your Mother” revealed little new information, but it was enough to keep fans on edge.

The Mother finally meets a member of The Gang, and we see, for the first time, an interaction between Ted and The Mother. The entire final season will take place in the 55 hours leading up to Barney and Robin’s wedding, but in true HIMYM fashion, with lots of flashbacks and looks into the future.

At the end of season 8, we saw Ted heading to Chicago after the wedding, Lily and Marshall’s plans to move to Rome afterwards, Marshall getting a judgeship but not telling Lily, and Barney and Robin planning for the rest of their lives together. Now, the gang is on its way to Farhampton to see Robin and Barney walk to aisle.

After Ted pesters Lily during their road trip with his grandma style driving in driving gloves, ideal pit stops, and random trivia, Lily decides to take the train to Farhampton. As fate would have it, the Mother is also on the train. After Lily mutters the words “lonely” and “unicorn” when thinking about missing Marvin, the Mother turns to Lily and asks if she’s okay, but also that hearing those words gave her a great idea for a children’s book. The two bond over Sumbitch cookies (can someone please start making these?), and Lily begins to confide in the Mother.

The chemistry between the two is exactly what any HIMYM fan would want. The Mother, played perfectly by Cristin Milioti, is equal parts cool and dorky. Her sense of humor is a tad bit awkward, but her friendly nature allows her to instantly click with Lily. During their talk, Lily realizes that Ted may have annoyed her intentionally to get to Robin first so he could give her the locket she thought she had lost. Ted and Lily arrive at the same time, and she tackles him to the ground in hopes of preventing him from giving Robin the locket. Robin opens the gift, but it’s not the locket. It’s a picture of the Gang from eight years ago. Ted promises Lily he won’t do anything crazy, but he did in fact go to L.A. four days earlier to retrieve the locket from Stella….

Meanwhile, in the weakest link of the episode, Marshall is on the plane from Minnesota to New York while he tries contacting his mom to delete a picture that would reveal his new job to Lily. Overly aggressive Daphne, a fellow plane passenger, played by Sheri Sheppard, pushes Marshall’s buttons, and ultimately, the two get kicked off the plane. Because it’s a holiday weekend, and a storm is coming, the two have to fight for a rental car. Marshall ends up getting the car, but realizes he has no car seat. Marshall being the nice, trusting guy we all know and love, believes Daphne will go buy a car seat, and come back for the two of them. Although we were all probably screaming “REALLY MARSHALL,” Daphne comes back, and the three begin their road trip with the promise that Daphne gets to pick the music.

Barney and Robin are driven to the hotel by Ranjit. On their quest to find out who will be the wild card that ruins the wedding, the two realize they share a crazy cousin Mitch. The couple begins to call all of their relatives with fear they might be related. But alas, they are not. Family drama doesn’t end there though. Barney’s brother James tells the Gang he and Tom are getting a divorce due to his promiscuity. Robin makes him wait to tell Barney. She’s afraid that seeing the only couple that made Barney believe in marriage fail, could change Barney’s mind about their own wedding. Drunk Lily (who made the bartender make sure she never has an empty glass in her hand, which leads to a funny moment with Ted) spills the news, and for a minute, it seems that Barney might bail. But he assures Robin, “I don’t need them to make me believe in true love anymore. “I’ve got you for that.” (AWWWWWW.)

The highlight of the episode? Although we still don’t know how exactly Ted meets the Mother, we get the very first interaction between the two of them. Being the only single male at a romantic getaway, Ted gets plenty of pity from the front desk attendant (played by super funny Roger Bart). As he sits alone doing his crossword puzzle, waiting for his single room key, the Mother appears next to him. And next to her, is future Ted. After some cute banter, Ted recounts how exactly a year ago, he made a promise to himself that he would go back to the hotel with her. He hadn’t met her yet, but he knew he would. And there she is a year later, with “Love in your eyes, baked goods in our undergarments.” “You picked a real winner, Mosby,” she tells him. “I did,” he responds.

With one quick exchange, the eight year buildup of who the Mother is completely justified. Cristin Milioti and Josh Radnor have the kind of chemistry we all wanted and hoped for Ted and the Mother.

The emphasis on Barney saying “ring bear” instead of “bearer” while Robin and Barney talk about the wedding leaves us hoping for a really big wedding mishap. What happened when Ted went to L.A. to get the locket from Stella? When does Ted finally, actually meet the Mother? WHAT IS HER NAME? There are so many questions, I almost don’t want to wait another season to find out.

• Tweet
• Pin It