The Worst Season of ‘How I Met Your Mother,’ Is ‘Aggravating’ and ‘Dreadfully Anticlimactic,’ Based on Rotten Tomatoes
For many pop culture fans, the show How I Met Your Mother defines the early 2000s television scene. The show, which featured a star-studded cast of favorites, including Neil Patrick Harris, ran on TV for close to 10 years, earning new fans all the while. These days, it remains a favorite, as a spinoff series starring Hilary Duff and Kim Cattrall is making waves. However, any show that ran for as long as How I Met Your Mother was bound to go through ups and downs, and some seasons rank significantly higher than others in terms of critical praise.
What is ‘How I Met Your Mother’ about?
How I Met Your Mother is a sitcom that tells the story of Ted Mosby, played by Josh Radnor. At the beginning of the series, Ted tells the story of the events that led him to meet the mother of his two children, Luke and Penny. The throwback events feature Ted and his friends, Marshall, Lily, Barney, and Robin, as they work and play in New York City.
The ensemble cast and the clever writing made How I Met Your Mother a buzz-worthy show from the start – but it took a little while for the series to hit its stride with the critics. In fact, it wasn’t until the show’s third season that How I Met Your Mother received a 100% critical rating on the review site Rotten Tomatoes. The show carried that momentum throughout Seasons 4, 5, and 6, with all of those seasons scoring 100% critical ratings on Rotten Tomatoes. It wasn’t until Season 7 that the show took a nosedive in quality – bottoming out in Season 8.
What do critics say about the worst-rated season of ‘HIMYM’?
Season 8 of How I Met Your Mother is the lowest-rating season, with a 54% critical rating and a 64% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. That season featured the big reveal of the mother of Ted’s two children, which was designed to be a watershed moment for the hit series. However, it ended up falling flat with critics, with one Rotten Tomatoes review noting of the season finale, “The episode was pretty lacking in both laughs and dramatic content.”
Another critic wrote, “I find it hard not to stifle a yawn. Move on, show, and please give serious thought to wrapping things up this season while we might still care.” Surprisingly, Season 8 contains one of the highest-rated episodes of How I Met Your Mother ever, according to fans on IMDb – the episode where Barney proposes to Robin.
The series finale of ‘How I Met Your Mother’ received slightly improved ratings
By Season 9, How I Met Your Mother had boosted ratings a bit, with a solid 75% critical score and 72% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. While it was clear that the season still suffered a bit from the anticlimatic carryover from Season 8, many fans and critics alike loved the finale episode. In fact, some reports claim that the series finale, which aired in March 2014, is the most-watched episode of the show ever.
The finale definitely divided the fan base, with one critic on Rotten Tomatoes writing, “In spite of a couple of lovely moments, the “HIMYM” finale was a terrible miscalculation,” and another claiming “‘Last Forever’ was actually a really great finale episode overall.” To this day, critics and fans are unsure whether the final season truly did the series justice – but almost everyone seems to agree that Season 8 of How I Met Your Mother leaves something to be desired.
