9 Plot Holes Left Unanswered By 'HIMYM'

As much as I was a huge How I Met Your Mother fan from the first day it premiered, that feeling of love and loyalty was tarnished after the show's series finale. Not only was the ending unsatisfying, it felt so rushed with so many unanswered questions about the gang, Ted and the mother's life and a few plot lines from earlier in the series. I never thought that of all the shows out there, one that had been as clever as How I Met Your Mother would air a finale that felt thrown together. The How I Met Your Mother plot holes throughout the series are thankfully few and far between, but it's still upsetting to think of how many questions the show left open when they had nine seasons to prepare.

But no matter how polarizing the series finale might have been, it's hard not to still appreciate all the great moments of How I Met Your Mother. The series really did a wonderful job getting viewers to love these five characters (six including the mother, even if she wasn't in it for long) and had a lot of laughs and a lot of love. Even though these particular plot holes will bug me forever, I have to admit that (aside from the finale) How I Met Your Mother is still one of the better TV comedies in recent years.

1. The Mother's Disease

Why don't we get to find out what the mother had that killed her? Sure, Ted is telling the story of how he met his mother to his kids so they would know what illness she had, but they probably know a million of the other things he told them already just through hearing stories from parents and their friends over the years. Would it have been so difficult to fill the audience in as well?

2. Barney's Baby Mama

If Barney is taking care of his baby, wouldn't that mean that the baby's mother would be in the picture in some way? Unless Barney fought for full custody of the baby, we should have met "No. 31" as Barney so lovingly put her or at the very least learned her name. And if Barney did fight to get full custody, you would think we'd hear about that.

3. Gary Blauman

In the episode, "The Chain of Screaming," Barney tells a story about Gary Blauman who apparently yelled at his boss and quit his job. Unfortunately after his incredible exit, he fell into ruin and then killed himself. But we see Blauman again many times as he still works at GNB with Barney and later closely with Marshall. Blauman even had an affair with James that ruined his marriage with Tom for a while. Obviously we can just say that Barney made the whole thing up, but it still seems strange that if he did make the whole thing up, why wouldn't they call back to that lie at some point, like when Marshall meets Gary Blauman? It's maybe not so much a plot hole as an annoyance if Barney was lying rather than the writers just making a mistake.

4. Marshall's Time In Rome + Other Finale Story Lines

Because the finale was so rushed, we learn basically nothing about the things that happen after Ted meets the mother. Now obviously the series is called How I Met Your Mother, not How Your Mother And I Fell In Love, but you would think that the kids would enjoy hearing more stories about their mother over the years instead of filler episodes like "Subway Wars" and "The Burning Beekeeper" just to name a couple. I'm most interested in whether or not Marshall spent the entire Italy trip just eating Funyuns. Sounds awesome.

5. The Mother As Ted's Soulmate

This is really more of a complaint than a plot hole but considering how much time we spend on Ted getting ready to meet the mother by getting over Robin, it's really hard to truly understand the mother, Tracy, as Ted's soulmate. We can see glimpses of it in the episode "How Your Mother With Me" and the scenes of their first date are brilliant because Cristin Millioti and Josh Radnor have dynamite chemistry, much better (in my opinion) than Ted and Robin.

But considering how long it takes us to meet her and how long it takes Ted to get over Robin, it's difficult to see the mother as Ted's soulmate. I know it's been six years since her death but it's a tough pill to swallow to see Ted get back together with Robin after telling his kids this story about meeting their mother and them realizing he's been in love with Robin this whole time. Tracy's lack of development in at least the final season feels like one giant plot hole.

6. Marshall's Fighting Knowledge

Here's another from earlier in the series. In a Season 1 episode, "Sweet Taste Of Liberty," Marshall believes a man to be hitting on Lily and comes to the bar to fight him. He turns out to be gay and Marshall tells him "Thank God, I've never been in a fight before." But in the Season 4 episode "The Fight," Marshall says he's been in lots of fights with his brothers. Some people might say that he doesn't consider fighting with his brothers as real fighting, but he uses the fighting with his brothers as his proof in "The Fight." That's a plot hole and continuity error if I've ever heard one.

7. Lily's Relationship With Her Father

Why does Lily say that her father would never pay for another wedding in a Season 2 episode when she's been estranged from him for so long according to the "Slapsgiving 2" episode? Plus, how would Mickey have paid for Lily's wedding if he was a failed board game designer?

8. Lily's Mother

Lily's mother is supposedly based in New York, judging by a few times Lily has pointed this out in previous episodes. But how come we see her so infrequently? We see Lily's mother maybe twice throughout the series and yet Mickey pops up many times, especially in the later seasons, and even goes to Rome with Lily and Marshall.

9. What Happened With The Damn Pineapple?

Seriously guys, what the hell? This is hands down the biggest plot hole of the entire series. The How I Met Your Mother complete series DVD collection, “The Complete Story,” has a deleted scene explaining the pineapple, but WHY ON EARTH was this not included in the actual show? People were freaking out about this information, and yet the creators chose not to include it? Since it didn't air in the actual series, it's still considered a plot hole (even if it is in the complete series DVD).

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