How I Met Your Mother 'Daisy' Review: No! No! No! No! Just...No!

There are only three precious episodes until How I Met Your Mother goes off the air for good. Three half-hour installments for us to spend with the characters we've grown to know and love in the last nine seasons. So why, for the love of all that is good on this green and verdant Earth, are the writers trying to infuriate me?

I'll try to keep a level head about this, because there was plenty to like in this episode. But much like last week's final moments that seemingly revealed The Mother's ultimate demise, this week's last seconds featured a telling conversation between Robin and Tracey Ullman...I mean, her mother. After numerous examples of how Barney was just like Robin's father, Mama Scherbatsky told her daughter not to worry and asked her if she had found someone on whom she could depend for the rest of her life.

Robin, with a far away look in her eyes, said she did. And she may not have been talking about Barney.

There's a chance I might be reading way too much into this and that Robin was just processing everything before she realized Barney is the man for her. But if in that moment she was thinking about Ted, then we've got a major problem. With such little time left in the series, this move would be a transparent way to drum up some drama before the end of the series. It reeks of eleventh-hour desperation.

And if the show decides to somehow put Ted and Robin together in the end, then it would be a betrayal of the entire series. It would undercut not just the introduction and development of the Mother, but the growth of Barney and Robin as individuals and as a couple. Basically, we would have wasted the better part of the past nine seasons.

I know there are still plenty of fans who want Ted and Robin to live happily ever after, and I don't wish to upset those people; I've just never been among your ranks, because I've never seen how Ted and Robin are right for each other. But I truly believe that the majority of the series would be all for naught if the writers just throw Ted and Robin together at the end after spending so much time leading us in another direction.

The other major development in the episode was Lily's pregnancy, which was admittedly a surprise. It partially served as a way to get Marshall and Lily to Italy because Marshall wanted to give Lily her dream. And, as we see from the flashforward, Lily's dad and Marshall's mother accompany them across the ocean. The entire plot was extremely sweet and fit the Marshall/Lily relationship extremely well. As Marshall put it, she gave him his dream, so he wants to return the favor.

Plus, we learned Lily actually went to the Captain's house a few episodes back, and it was good to see that dangling plot thread sewn up. This episode also added a new layer to Marshall and Lily's fight because Marshall's line about "future children" and Lily's emotional response now make more sense.

Despite how it may seem, I actually enjoyed this episode. I'm just worried that the writers are going down the wrong road to the finale. I'll reserve total judgment until the final shot of the series, but let's just say these last two weeks have me concerned.

Notes and Quotes:

-       It was nice to see the show acknowledge how ridiculous this final season has been with Ted's line about how much stuff has happened in a day and a half.

-       Also, these characters have a wedding in about three hours and no one is even close to ready. Can somebody at least pretend like they're going to take a shower? Get dressed? Something?!

-       Barney and Marshall's reactions to Ted's satisfied slow-motion secret reveal were hilarious.

-       Marshall and Lily named their baby Daisy because that's where Lily hid the pregnancy test, which is adorable.

What did you think of tonight's episode? Am I overreacting? Let us know in the comments below.