I watched the show from the beginning and love the last episode. It just made sense to me that it would end the way it did. Not everyone agrees but to me it was perfect

The writers may have planned this ending, but the execution felt rushed.
Hardly, by the time of their 3rd break up. It was clear no matter how bad things went between them, they will always be endgames. So I wasn't zoning out, I was just watching the series, without my blinders on. Unlike you. Big difference.

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They never showed they didn't belong together. All they did, was making them the cat and mouse love story of the show. With them endgame, as a logical final result.
The way the series finale was handled, was rushed. But it's their fault. Instead of stalling around season 7 (where they clearly didn't know where to go, to keep the story interesting), they should've went straight to what they wanted in season 9. That's what you get with cash cow shows. Nothing is planned, and when it's time to put an end to the story, the writers rush things. Because they've already lost the common thread, during that time of scenaristic wandering.

Sure it was standard sitcom formula, but the initial premise and the following attempts to show Ted and Robin as not belonging together gave a number of us hope that the show would try something different.
It's disappointing that it didn't. And it's even more disappointing that they rammed the reversal that involved a devastating loss into the last minute and a half of the show.
It was badly executed. We were somehow expected to mourn the mother in 5 seconds and become suddenly enthused about Ted and Robin again. I think they could have pulled it off if they'd handled it differently.

I've seen a lot of people on these boards use the argument that "they showed us Ted and Robin don't belong together" I can see that slant given that they wanted different things and ultimately broke up. However, they also showed in many episodes Ted and Robin coming back together anyway, they hooked up, promised to be each others backup and even moved in together. Everytime i see that argument on the boards, it brings up Ted's quote that "love doesn't have to make sense to make sense"

I don't know, I think all the reasons they "didn't belong together" didn't apply anymore. Ted got his wife and kids, Robin got her awesome career. I still think Tracy was Ted's "the one" if you will. I don't think of her as someone they just brushed aside to get out of the way, and I don't think of Robin as Ted's soul mate.
And I kind of thought the opposite of you; them coming back to the Ted/Robin romance time and time again for 9 seasons is why I suspected all along they'd somehow end up together in the end. If they weren't gonna end up together, they would have put an end to their love story years before the show ended.

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I know how you guys hate that, but just like they did with Ross & Rachel. Before she was leaving for Paris, it was like they were fine as being "friends". But we know how it ended. I think that's the thing with soulmates. It's messy, hopeless, but they always find their ways to each other.
As fan of both shows, Friends being my favorite, because it's the show I grew up with:
Ted & Robin = Ross & Rachel
Marshall & Lily = Chandler & Monica
Barney = Joey
The mother = Phoebe.
Of course, the way their alternate versions developed, isn't the same. But the core of each characters, remain.
Ted & Robin = the intellectual & the "popular girl".
Marshall & Lily = the dweeb and the Mother
Barney = the single guy
The mother = the gypsy.
Even the way they interreacted with each other, is similar:
Ted & Robin were the on and off newly weds. Just like Rachel & Ross were.
Marchall & Lily, were the parents. With, in both versions, the Mother wearing the pants. Eventhough the Father had a job of responsabilities, he remained "the wife". Just like Chandler. Also, Monica had a taste for Order, with her way of arranging everything, in her life. Which Lily did in HIMYM, through her painting, and the way she "handled" matters.
Barney was the creepy uncle, that will never settle down. And they also had him have a thing with the "popular girl". Only, in this version, it took them a WHOLE marriage to figure out, they were not meant for each other
The mother was the dreamer, as if she was living in an alternate universe. Which she did, before she met Ted. And so was Phoebe, only she was, in her own head. Plus, both she & the mother, had a thing with the intellectual, of the show. On Friends, it was a kiss, out of fear of paternity. And on HIMYM, two kids, lol. As for her being dead. You usually reflect on someone's life, like that, when they're GONE. Which adds to the out of this world character, both she and Phoebe had.
You can also find similarities with the Parental figures. But they mix it all up a bit, in HIMYM. Phoebe's father, becomes Lily's, for example.
Bottom line, as much as I like HIMYM, it still remains a blatant Friends rip off. Or a Friends 2.0, if you prefer.

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You only need to have a brain. That's all.

I like how you provided no support for your argument other than capitalization.

Consider the daffodil. And while you're doing that I'll be over here looking through your stuff.