Everyone — and some days it feels like literally everyone — seems to have an opinion and/or theory as to the how and the why Ted is telling his kids an incredibly drawn-out and long-winded version of How I Met Your Mother. Is it just Ted being Ted, or is something far more nefarious going on? Namely: is this all a backwards way of telling us The Mother is dead? Not no, it seems — if this The Hollywood Reporter interview with the titular character (played by Cristin Milioti) is to be believed.
No, it seems as though — unless Milioti is purposefully trying to lead people off the scent — those who believe The Mother might be dead are actually just dead wrong. In fact, the actress goes so far as to call the theories that her Mother character is DOA in present-day Ted and kids’ life as “insane.” But in a loving way, of course!
"That's insane," quips Milioti in the clip. "There are some crazy conspiracy theories, which actually just makes me love the fans more… there’s such passion there! That is so crazy."
With the series finale heading our way on March 31st (so soon!), and the finale episode only filmed in the last two weeks, there’s bound to be an onslaught of interest knowing we’re in the homestretch of it all. But Milioti insists that the show’s co-creators Cater Bays and Craig Thomas have something far more “beautiful” (in her words) planned.
"They've had this vision for nine years,” explained Milioti. “And it's in great hands. They know exactly what they want to do."
Of course the biggest flame-fueler of the theory that The Mother is dead came in last week’s episode when (spoiler alert!) Ted looks at his wife forlornly after she quipped, “what sort of mother doesn’t go to her daughter’s wedding?” Many took this to mean that The Mother herself has some sort of terminal illness, but given Bays and Thomas’ penchant for flipping meaning, we’re apt to believe this could mean something else. Like, say, maybe The Mother’s mother didn’t come to their wedding (ever think of that one, Internet conspiracy theorists)? Just a thought.
All will be discovered soon enough, though. The final countdown for the series begins tonight — yes, as in today’s eveningtime! — with the last four episodes of How I Met Your Mother kicking off Monday, March 10th at 8PM on CBS.
