How I Met Your Mother

How I Met Your Mother has been dragging too long, gunning in its last season (season 9) before finally revealing to us who the mother is. Although some seasons and episodes have been dwindling in terms of content, I think it's too late to give it up now. It's only going to be on air for one more season. While this show has given laughs, this sitcom also has a grasp on reality. They show the low parts, moments that bring pain. Life's not all fun and games. I was thinking of doing a list similar to my Friends list, but it's the low moments (experiences of the characters) of this show that struck me. Hit the jump for the 8 saddest/lowest moments in How I Met Your Mother.

Edit: I wrote this before the season finale, the episode they revealed the identity of the mother.

LILY AND MARSHALL BREAK UP

Season/Episode: 1 || Come On

While Ted was having the night of his life, Marshall and Lily were experiencing the exact opposite, eventually resulting to their break up. It's painful when relationships end, but Marshall got the bitter end, as Lily was his first love. You know the saying that your first love will always have a place in your heart? I think that's pain that people do carry especially when the relationship was meaningful and life changing. 

ROBIN ADMITS SHE DOES NOT LOVE TED

Season/Episode: 7 || No Pressure 

After Robin breaks up with Kevin, she and Ted talk it out, leading Ted to profess his love. Unfortunately for him, she does not reciprocate his feelings, and breaks it to him in the most gentle way possible. While it doesn't hit Ted just yet, Marshall becomes the voice of reason, asking Robin to move out in order to let Ted heal. While it might not be much on the scale of pain (this almost happens all the time in reality), it's a big hit for Ted since he's already had his share of break ups, and the only relationship that seemed work (and the time he was the happiest) was with Robin. 

TED BECOMING A JILTED GROOM

Season/Episode: 4 || Shelter Island

This is why you shouldn't invite exes to the wedding. Especially exes that you had deep feelings for, and never seem to got over. Everyone knew it was bound to end bad, considering that the relationship was moving at such a fast pace. But I think this is a general situation that no one should encounter ever. It's sad. It hurts. It's embarrassing. And you make the person feel that he/she will never find love again. You belittle the person you leave, especially when you can't explain it to his/her face.

TED'S NIGHT WAS ALL IN HIS IMAGINATION

Season/Episode: 8 || The Time Travelers

This episode didn't start off at a sad note, but at the end when it was revealed that he was all alone, it showed him at his lowest. Ted's luck has been down for many seasons, and he is a broken man. I think him being broken is required, for meeting the mother seemed to be his life-changing moment. This just proves that he is at the lowest of the low. 

DEATH OF MARVIN ERIKSEN

Season/Episode: 6 || Bad News

The beauty of this episode is that Jason (Marshall) didn't know what was going to happen, so the new was this bomb that exploded in his face. There are no words to express the loss of a parent. While I haven't experienced it myself, it is something that is devastating, especially when a holiday was just around the corner. There's this mixture of emotion that you can't explain, and there's unspeakable questions. It's a lot to take, really. This has got to be the one of the lowest moments in Marshall's life.

ROBIN CAN'T HAVE A BABY

Season/Episode: 7 || Symphony of Illumination

I think this is one of women's generic fear is the inability to have a child. I'm sure that some opt not to have children of their own, but to be barren is another story. That was the story arc of Robin when she had a pregnancy scare, leading to the revelation that she couldn't get pregnant. Robin was someone who didn't like children, but this news hit her the hardest, with the episode concluding that she was talking to her imaginary children, the family that she wasn't going to have. 

LILY AND TED'S ROOFTOP CONFESSIONS

Season/Episode: 8 || Band or DJ?

This was a pure moment between Ted and Lily, especially when Lily gave him an 'out' to express his inner emotions. This signifies that there are certain things we feel that we hide, that we choose not to express because they are hurtful or they hinder others' happiness. It shows that there is a dark side inside everyone of us, and it helps us move on when we say it out loud. It showed them at their most vulnerable time, something that we feel in reality.

ROBIN BREAKS BARNEY'S HEART

Season/Episode: 7 || Tick, Tick, Tick...

This literally broke my heart. I think somewhere inside us there is this thinking that we can change men, that men will change for us. It's a romantic thought, really (since this happens in real life like once in a blue moon) but HIMYM feeds off with this idea by linking two commitment-phobic people to engage in a relationship. When Barney poured his heart and soul out to be with Robin and she flat out rejected him and broke his heart with a simple shake of the head, that prolonged second felt long. It was the first time we see Barney broken and vulnerable, a side of Barney that no one is allowed to see.