‘How I Met Your Mother’ season 8 spoilers: More on the future

Are you ready for a bit of a “How I Met Your Mother” debate? Monday night marks the third episode of the show’s eighth season, but at the moment there are three questions that we are still out there:

1. Who is the mother, and how much more of her are we going to see of her at the train station this season?

2. How are Barney and Robin going to get back together, and will they end up married?

3. Will this show end in May 2013, or be pushed back another year?

When it comes to the answer to this third question, we don’t know, but there is one issue that we want to debate here: when is the last available minute that the show could find this out and still have a good ending that pleases many fans. In comparing it to some other shows that have recently ended after a decision-making process during the season (think “House”), February seems to be the longest that producers could wait while still crafting a few strong episodes to end the series. However, we also have an opinion that this show in particular needs to know before then. Unlike many shows that work a little bit more on the fly, “How I Met Your Mother” is mapped out and on a careful timeline; plus, we already know that certain things are going to happen that if they happened last year and the show was later renewed, we don’t know that the writers would have to work with. One prime example? We know that Ted is going to have one more girlfriend (played by Abby Elliot) before he ends up meeting his future wife. If the show is renewed, this story could carry into next year. If they start and end the storyline this year and the show is later renewed, Ted’s not going to be able to have another love interest until his future bride appears.

What do you think: should “How I Met Your Mother” end this season? Honestly, we would be shocked if this month ends without a decision.