I didn’t watch the episode, but there was a clip of Russian Ted standing on a small stage wearing nothing but the pineapple.
The perfect ending will be the final slap-bet slap, followed by Marshall saying “five,” and black. I guess have Ted give the mystery Mother a first kiss just before, or something, if you want to say the focus of the show is still Ted’s quest.
Nice thought except the spoiler tags were added by a moderator. :smack:
So the big reveal would be that the kids are adopted and it’s about how ted meets their birth mother?
aaaaaand now it makes sense. Sorry.
Oh no. Here’s a chilling thoguht: are we absolutely certain that Ted is talking to his own children?
Ooh, I know!
In a loving tribute to Seinfeld’s awesome last episode, Barney is hit with a class action paternity suit. As part of the eventual judgement, his various friends/enablers are forced to adopt and raise two of his bastard offspring!
So, the kids are actually Barney’s. Their mother will be some poor girl that Barney has banged and forgotten. In the final episode Ted meets her doing the walk of shame out of Barney’s apartment.
After all, Old Ted always says “kids” and “your mother”. He never says they’re his kids. The wackiness writes itself! It’s gold, Jerry! Gold!
-Joe
Final episode: Ted meets some woman and within five minutes goes back to her place – where he meets her two kids, and starts regaling 'em with the story of how he met their mother. Which he could have covered with a brisk “I thought she had a cute smile and so bought her a drink at my favorite bar five minutes ago,” but he wanted to bring 'em up to speed on why he was at that place in his life.
I’ve seen this idea thrown around before. I’ll just say that I’d be very surprised if they turn out not to be his own kids. It seems like that wouldn’t really be in the spirit of the show.
Personally, I’m just enjoying the show because it’s funny and I like the characters, and the Mother Mystery is secondary to me. But I have a feeling that when all is said and done, there won’t be any tricks or backpedaling or retconning. It will all fit together somehow.
Yeah, people who don’t think they’re actually Ted’s kids are just a little too much in the ‘Usual Suspects’ zone. They’ll be his kids.
Or, if they really want to go dark with it, it could be a “kids, the courts have mandated that I need to come here and tell you how I met your mother before I murdered her in that alley. However, since they’re going to execute me right after I finish the story I decided to drag it out as long as possible…”
-Joe
I’m pretty sure in the early episodes where the kids talked, they called Ted “Dad” at one point.
have there ever been any important black characters on this show? it’s not really important, and I don’t really care, but I’m just curious.
Barney’s gay brother, played by Wayne Brady, has appeared several times.
That’s about it, barring a few people dated by Ted or slept with by Barney.
How I Met Your Mother is set in the Friendsverse, in which Manhattan is peopled almost exclusively by European-Americans. Occasionally a non-white will show up for, ah, amorous interactions, but that’s about it.
I disagree. James, and more recently his father (Sam? played by Ben Vereen) are very important.
While the cast could use more diversity, it’s not completely bereft of it.
Oh, the lack of diversity doesn’t matter to me much. I’m too busy laughing at Barney and Marshall, lusting after Lily and Robin, and wondering why Ted doesn’t get punched in the schnozz more often.
Aisha Tyler lived there for a little while as well. She managed to bag two Friends.
Ted really does go on about a bitch.
That’s what I was referring to. 
Though in fact I recall a few black background characters. One of Monica’s coworkers at her first restaurant, for instance. They were few and far between, though: probably an effort to forestall any crossovers with Law & Order.
Well, there’s always Fantasy Guy from Barney and (formally) Marshall’s office.