MacsDuster — 9 years ago(January 15, 2017 08:54 PM)

Over the course of the series we see three of the core group date/sleep around. There were breakups that occurred that felt ham-fisted in order to keep the characters single, or to fit with the planned ending. Feelings about the finale aside, who would you have wanted everyone to end up with and why?
Marshall and Lily-obviously.
Robin and Don-I was never a fan of the Robin/Barney pairing. People balk at the decision to have them divorce, but it made sense for their characters imo. Robin defined herself as independent and goal-oriented; Barney is someone who is deeply insecure and needy. Being with him was going to be more work than Robin could have sacrificed. Don, on the other hand, became mature and stable enough to balance Robin's independence. Once Don pulled himself together, I thought they made an excellent pairing. He was caring, supportive, and understanding of her goals. Before the breakup I thought they made a great team and had solid chemistry.
Barney and Quinn-This one's a bit iffy, but of Barney's few relationships on the show, this one held the most promise narratively speaking. Nora was too good for him; that's not speaking ill of Barney, but admitting that a relationship with Nora would have required a different kind of emotional stamina than Barney was prepared for at that time. Barney may be insecure, needy, and easily bored, but he is also clever and cunning. Quinn proved to be just as cunning and a constant challenge for someone like Barney. There could have been a lot to work with in watching their relationship (and Barney's character) grow. Instead, it was disappointing to see them rush a conclusion and fizzle out due to lack of trust.
Ted and Tracey-the mother. I wasn't completely blindsided by Ted and Robin ending up together. They made a good pairing, and as independent as Robin is, she still had moments of vulnerability that Ted could support. However, if their plan was for Ted and Robin to end up together, the writers messed up by making Tracey such a perfect match. Tracey was adorable, charming, sweet, smart, and had enough sass to call Ted on his penchant for being pretentious. Hell, I was half in love with her. I've seen complaints about season 9, but one thing it did very well was show us the growth of Ted and Tracey's relationship throughout the years. It managed to do something that is difficult for some shows to do; it made me want to watch more of their characters together. I don't hate the ending as much as others might, but clearly the other route would have been far more satisfying.
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