How I Met Your Mother was a romantic comedy series of a father recounting to his children, through a series of flashbacks, the journey he took, alongside his four best friends, before he met his wife, their mother. Starring Josh Radnor, Jason Segel, Cobie Smulders, Neil Patrick Harris, Alyson Hannigan, and Christin Milioti, the 9-season series aired on CBS from September 19, 2005, to March 31, 2014.
The show amassed such a massive cult following, and an IMDB rating of 8.3, that it was nominated for 30 Emmy Awards, winning 10 of them. These were just a few of them among many. While the story had several plots and twists such as Barney falling in love with Robin and marrying her and Ted being secretly jealous about it, we also had a few mysteries and plot holes that left the show hanging. If these were solved, then it would have been more interesting, and maybe received less mixed reviews in the later seasons.
The most conspicuous plot hole was Tracy McConnell-Mosby, the mother. While we spent 7 seasons trying to figure out who she was and concluding that Robin could have been the mother all along, we finally got introduced to Tracy in season 8. Unfortunately, seems the time was too short for the writers as she was written off later on, without us ever knowing how she interacted with the gang and the shenanigans of her relationship with Ted.
Here are 20 Mysteries And Plot Holes That The Show Left Hanging.
not Explaining tracy's Relationship With Ted And The Gang
Throughout the series, we were showed how Ted’s different girlfriends interacted with the gang. Karen and Ted had their screen time with the gang, and the story was elaborate enough, showing us how Lily finally broke them off. Stella and Ted, Victoria and Ted, Trudy and Ted among other girlfriends had their relationship with the gang explained.
It is, however, not an over expectation for us to want to see how Tracy, the long-awaited mother, interacted with the gang. Did they love her? Was she disgusted by Barney? Did the gang ever do an intervention for her? Instead, she was written off before all this was revealed.
St. Patrick’s Day 2008
St. Patrick’s Day 2008 was aired on season 3, episode 12, dubbed ‘No Tomorrow’. The gang did not attend the party together, opting to do different things. Lily, Marshall, and Ted opted for a board game night at Marshall and Lily’s new apartment, and Robin ed them. Barney decided to go all out, drinking green beer and wearing a green suit.
He later convinced Ted to him after securing a date for him, and Ted couldn’t resist. As it was revealed later on, Tracy, the mother, was also at the party although Ted only met her umbrella. What was confusing, however, about this episode, was in season 9 when the mother gave her of the day, it was April 2008, yet in season 3, it was on March 17, 2008. So, what was the real story?
Barney and Robin’s Wedding Date
Barney and Robin’s wedding filled the whole of season 9, and was probably the most explored storyline of the whole season. What left the story hanging and confused the fans was the actual wedding date. In season 8 episode 13, Ted said that the wedding was held on May 25th, 2013, putting the wedding on a Saturday.
Episode 1 of season 9 gave a different date, as it opened with a title of Friday, 11:00 a.m., 55 hours before the wedding. That calculation put’s the wedding on May 26th. So, did something happen that pushed the wedding by a day or it was a simple oversight and miscalculation by the writers?
Marshall and Lily Sharing A Toothbrush
The issue of toothbrush sharing between couples is often frowned about as it is not. Some couples proudly claim that they share their toothbrushes, while others don’t but carry one to share when traveling, to reduce their luggage. This was, therefore, an important issue that the series could have addressed.
In season 5 episode 14, our lovebirds confessed to sharing a single toothbrush, Ted also confessed to using the same toothbrush, and it turned out Robin used it too when dating Ted. This means that the writers seemed to have shared their thoughts on the toothbrush issue. In season 1 however, we saw Lily and Marshall brush at the same time, using the same toothbrush. So, what really happened? We need to know because the show somewhat tackled bathroom issues between couples.
Robin and Nicknames
Robin was a complicated lady to some extent and had some strict relationship faux pax. One of these was her stand on the nicknames couples love to give each other. When Ted and Robin dated, she loathed nicknames, both addressed to her or her beau, despite Ted’s liking to call her ‘Schebs’ or ‘Robsie Wobsie’. She also hated it when Ted referred to himself as ‘T-Moz’.
The plot however changed when Robin began dating Barney, and Ted noticed that they were using mawkish nicknames. What changed? Robin had such a strong personality that any huge change should have been explained.
When Did Barney Learn How To Drive?
Barney Stinson seemed to know everything, that when he saw Lily for the first time and thought that she was too hot for Marshall to seduce, was perplexed when he saw the two kissing immediately they laid eyes on each other. Barney then followed Marshall for a while wanting to know what the trick was, oblivious of the fact that the two were lovers!
If the writers took time to explain this, then they should have explained how the all-knowing Barney who didn’t know how to drive in season 2, getting scared of Marshall’s Fierro, and driving it only a short distance. Ted then recalled that Barney couldn’t drive, but again we see him in season 5 working a Taxi driver to pick up chicks. Barney’s driving lesson is definitely a huge plot hole. We would also love to see him vulnerable and clueless, and maybe failing his first test!
The Pineapple Incident
In season 1 episode 10, Ted had a one night stand with Trudy. Ted had taken 5 shots of a drink called ‘ The Red Dragon’, and he blacked out. He woke up the next morning with a pineapple on his nightstand, a brunette girl in his bed, whom he didn’t ; and a sprained ankle. This storyline besides being juicy had two major plot holes.
Trudy snuck out through the fire escape, and Ted says that he left her a message. In season 3, the two met again, and Ted said he was going to call her but was too embarrassed. So, did he call or not? Also, we thought that Trudy brought the pineapple but she said she didn’t! The series ended without us ever solving the pineapple mystery, well, until we discovered a deleted scene that revealed that Ted stole the pineapple from The Captain’s house that night.
Robin Getting Scared Of Not Moby’s Gun
Robin was the most confident of the ladies, in of handling difficult situations. So we were a bit shocked, but understood, when she got scared of Not Moby’s gun in episode 11 of season 1. That was not a big problem though. Just a few episodes later, in the first episode of season 2, we discovered that Robin was quite a gun enthusiast, even taking Marshall to a gun range to get over Lily’s breakup.
Her necklace also has a gun-shaped pendant, a clear sign that she was comfortable around guns. She had even subscribed to a guns and ammunition magazine! So, what changed between the limo’s scene and the gun range?
Lily’s Dog Allergy
In season 2 episode 2, we saw Lily spending time with Robin in her apartment, and she didn’t seem to have any allergic reactions with the dogs around. Just 3 episodes later, in episode 5, Lily had a new apartment, but it was completely inhabitable, having a raccoon who was kind enough to eat her housewarming gift from Ted and Robin, for a roommate!
She couldn’t live with Ted and Marshall as they had not rekindled their relationship, and couldn’t live with Robin either, as she was allergic to dogs, Robin’s housemates. This is mysterious, as three episodes earlier, she was okay with the dogs! Was this the writers’ way of forcing Lily and Barney to live together so that we would see his house?
Where Did Robin’s Girlfriends Go
The writers did a pretty good job portraying Robin as a macho woman, who hated hanging out with women. In fact, she was the girl that loved bar hopping with boys and was friends with Lily by default because she was part of the gang. Also in season 9, while planning the wedding, Lily revealed to the gang that Robin didn’t have female friends. Despite this, HIMYM writers decided that there would be a bachelorette party for the girl who hated girls, and people were confused.
That aside, we did not understand what happened to the friendships Robin had with the women we saw with throughout the series. When Robin was introduced to us in season 1, episode 1, she was at the bar with a group of ladies, not men! And then we saw her with more ladies in season 4 episode 8, and season 6 episodes 9 and 16, with more ladies! Maybe we should have seen her drama with them in one instance, just to know where they went to and why?