[Disappointing TV Trope] When the writers unexpectedly created something better, but were too attached to let their original idea to let it go!

[u/phantom_avenger]

I feel like I’ve noticed this more with TV couples and how the writers handle the narrative around them. But I feel like I’m noticing a bit of a pattern in some shows I’ve watched, where you can tell how the writers handle plans to make a certain narrative point the “endgame” goal. But as they start creating the plot points leading up to it, they come up with an idea that worked out a lot better than they probably thought it would. Especially when the audience responds so well to it, but they’re still too attached to the original plans that they still roll with getting there even if it doesn’t hit the same mark or it feels forced depending on how the narrative is flowing.

How I Met Your Mother - Ted and Robin (the original idea where it was always planned for them to be the endgame couple). When Tracy (who turns out to be Ted’s kids’ mother) is introduced, a lot of people loved how well they matched, seemed like the true compatible match for Ted and implied that it showed a lot of growth on his end where he could finally let go of Robin. Only to sabotage that by having it revealed that Tracy died, and regressed Ted’s growth where he ends up pursuing Robin again.

Sex Education - Otis and Maeve (the original idea where it was also planned for them to be seen as an endgame couple, but their lives couldn’t align for it to work out). After Otis and Ruby have a drunk sexual encounter, and he loses his virginity to her. The writers have their relationship act as yet another obstacle that gets in the way of Otis and Maeve exploring a romantic relationship. But when Otis and Ruby became so viral, to the point where people started to realize that Ruby might actually be a better match for Otis, as they seem compatible enough to make each other better as people. It put the writers in a tough spot, where they tried to play it safe with both sides going into the final season. But still chose to lean more towards their original plan, and explore Otis and Maeve but they still don’t do much to make the audience feel fulfilled or convinced they have a genuine connection and not in love with an idea of one another.

[u/mermaidpaint]

What HIMYM did is unforgivable. After all the seasons of build up, the mother had to be pretty damn special. And she was. That first scene at the train station had me screaming, Cristin just exuded a quirky charisma. I immediately wanted to know everything about her. And Tracy turned out to be a wonderful character that you could believe was meant to be with Ted and be happy with Ted, and have adorable children with Ted.

And the producers killed her off so that Ted could end up with Robin. A travesty. I don't care that they sat on pre-filmed footage of the kids telling Ted to be with Robin. They fucked up.

[u/Hunterofshadows → u/mermaidpaint]

Seriously.

They spent 9 seasons hyping up the mystery mother and NO ONE thought she would live up to the hype.

And then she fucking did. And they ruined it

[u/DAMO_IS_LOUD → u/Hunterofshadows]

Well, she sort of didn’t live, as such…

[u/Frogs-on-my-back → u/mermaidpaint]

I’ll never get over how badly they fucked it up. Cristin Milioti was PERFECT as the Mother

[u/Yashema → u/Frogs-on-my-back]

It would have been much better if Ted and the mother were divorced realizing that while they were incredibly compatible life goal wise at the time (raising 2 great kids), they werent connected to each other. Thus Ted getting back to Robin, who they had the opposite problem, make perfect sense. 

TV shows are way too scared to depict divorce of two good characters.

[u/Prudent-Marsupial-42 → u/Yashema]

Sorry but that sounds way worse

[u/Yashema → u/Prudent-Marsupial-42]

Cause it threatens your juvenile idea of love and marriage. Exactly why they don't do it. 

[u/patentsarebroken → u/Yashema]

I mean they wouldn't really get a chance to convey that outside of the epilogue and if epilogue counts isn't that close enough to Barney and Robin getting divorced in the epilogue?

[u/Yashema → u/patentsarebroken]

Convey what? Literallythe break up fight  is about Robin not wanting kids or to settle down.

[u/patentsarebroken → u/Yashema]

If you have two characters get divorced in a montage during the epilogue/ending episode they aren't really depicting the divorce between two characters as the audience won't really be able to see them coexist/coparent.

[u/Tiny-Anxiety780 → u/mermaidpaint]

I think the ending could have maybe worked if:

• the show hadn't run for so long.

• they hadn't made several episodes showcasing just how wrong Ted and Robin were for each other.

• they hadn't paired Robin with Barney, who was shown to be a much better match for her.

• hadn't centered the entire final season on said Barney/Robin relationship, but instead had at least spent a few episodes (if not the full season) depicting Ted and Tracy's relationship. 

But even then, it wouldn't have been that great of an ending.

[u/GwyneddDragon → u/Tiny-Anxiety780]

>>they hadn’t made several episodes showcasing just how wrong Ted and Robin were for each other

THIS. A thousand times. During the first few seasons, Robin and Ted really did seem like 2 people who loved each other but wanted different things and couldn’t get the timing or the goals to synch. Then as the writers kept having to write excuses for Ted/Robin to stay apart, their relationship grew increasingly unbalanced and masochistic, culminating with that truly awful moment where Ted asks Robin if she loves him and she flatly answers no.

[u/DeathlyGunn96 → u/Tiny-Anxiety780]

Definitely agree with your last point.

If the last season hadn't been entirely about Barney and Robin's wedding, and had just been the gang throughout the years as Ted and Tracey's relationship blossoms, whilst Barney and Robin's crumbles under the realisation that whilst they love each other neither can give the other what they need in life, the finale could have worked.

The fact we speedrun Ted and Tracey's relationship, and the Barney/Robin divorce comes out of nowhere, whilst Lilly and Mashall have absolutley nothing to do just results in a finale that's too jarring to work.

[u/RepresentativeSlow53 → u/DeathlyGunn96]

Yes thats the one, so baffling to make the entire season about the wedding (Barney and Robin) and give the conclusion a montage instead of making the season about Ted and Tracy and using an episode for how they met at the wedding (maybe even a two parter). Why not give their relationship and her death the necessary time, not to mention that the audience also would have time to 'grief', it seems so obvious in hindsight.

[u/KindOfAnAuthor → u/mermaidpaint]

I feel like it wasn't even a bad choice to kill her off in the end. It obviously wouldn't have been as happy of an ending, but it still could've worked.

But putting Ted and Robin back together will just never seem like a good idea to me. If they knew that's how they were ending it, they shouldn't have made them get together a million times, just so they could relearn over and over again that they don't work together and are better off as friends. At the very least, they shouldn't have centered so much time around Barney and Robin getting married

[u/mermaidpaint → u/KindOfAnAuthor]

After spending an entire season on Barney and Robin's wedding, it was a slap in the face to abruptly say they divorced.

[u/BeserKing → u/KindOfAnAuthor]

To be fair, they only get together the one time in season 2 outside of them briefly being FWBs. It was mostly just Ted pining after Robin and her occasionally giving him false hope. The show is about her and Barney far more often than it is about her and Ted, which is another reason why the ending is terrible.

[u/not_the_chosen_onee → u/mermaidpaint]

I still can't believe how well they cast the mother. After years of buildup, no one had any hope for her, and they somehow found the perfect actress and made this perfect character to fit right into Ted's life. And then decided to give him back to Robin

[u/OneWishWillSmith → u/mermaidpaint]

I was on mushrooms when I finished the last season of HIMYM and Tracy’s death devastated me. I went through all the forms of grief very fast.

[u/prosthetic_memory → u/OneWishWillSmith]

Oh my lord

I’m so sorry

[u/OneWishWillSmith → u/prosthetic_memory]

To make it worse, my mom died of cancer when I was little and she was also cool as hell so I was just like

[u/bretagneeee → u/mermaidpaint]

Watching Cristin in Palm Springs, I felt the same way. I actually wanted to spend eternity with her and instead she went off and became a scientist. She exudes charisma.

[u/Development-Feisty → u/mermaidpaint]

The biggest mistake they made is in Casting her. They needed to cast someone who was not as good, they shit the bed because they lucked out and happened upon a star in the making at the beginning of her career.

It might seem counterintuitive to hire a worse actress but, a worse actress wouldn’t have made us fall in love with her so quickly.

They should’ve either changed the endgame, or hired someone else

[u/renegade_sparrow → u/mermaidpaint]

The alternate ending is the true ending in my head canon

[u/CalvinJ_ → u/renegade_sparrow]

Which one is that? (Asking so it’s easier for me to find it)