‘How I Met Your Mother’ season 8 debate: When’s the right time for a wedding?

Now that we know the official news that “How I Met Your Mother” will indeed be back for a ninth and final season, it has allowed us an opportunity to look at a whole new score of debates pertaining to the show, especially when it comes to just how it will end.

Since we already know that Barney and Robin are eventually going to be getting married, we’re left instead with this question: just when should this wedding happen? The producers have a solid season and a half (which is around 35 or so episodes) to figure this out, and much of the way that they find their answer could just be through the lens of solving one primary issue: do they want us to meet the famous “Mother” at the center of the show soon, or would they prefer to leave us hanging and have the closing shot be Ted meeting the women for the first time? At the end of the day, there are benefits to both.

The case for meeting the Mother – Think of all the storytelling possibilities! For those out there who are starting to feet like the show is just dragging its feet on a way to a conclusion that we all know is coming, this would be a way to see something that is a little bit more surprising. The options here could be to either meet the mother at the end of this season and have a whole year with her moving forward, or introduce her at some point near the end of the series, and give us a taste of what she is like.

The case for keeping her a secret – For one, you have something to look forward to beyond just some good jokes. The show is called “How I Met Your Mother,” and not “How I Met Your Mother and What Happened Afterwards.” We’re not sure that the point here is to know just what sort of woman she is or what her history could be, but rather to find out a little bit more information about Ted and the journey that caused him to be ready to meet her in the future. Plus, you could save the whole Mother story for a spin-off … right? We still think that this could be fun.

What side are you on with this issue? If you want to read some more news pertaining to just what sort of challenges Barney and Robin are going to face moving forward on “How I Met Your Mother” season 9, you can do so over at the link here. New episodes will resume on CBS next month.

Photo: CBS