How I Met Your Mother is the beautiful story about how Ted Mosby met the Mother of his two children. Told over the course of nine seasons, the show ventures into the lives of Ted and his core group of friends as they navigate life, love and slap bets. Fans waited 208 episodes to find out how Ted’s love life would pan out. What they were treated to was an emotional roller coaster ride. From lower-back tattoos to being left at the altar, and from making cupcakes to blowing up buildings, Ted’s life was incredibly entertaining. Throughout all of this craziness, there was always one constant force in his life - Robin Scherbatsky.
Despite the show revolving around Ted ending up with The Mother, Robin is the one that he never truly loses his feelings for. From Robin’s perspective, she constantly ran hot and cold with Ted - one day she loved him, the next she had no feelings for him. Based on that explanation, only one thing is for sure - nothing about the two of them together makes any sense at all.
Fans have vehemently discussed their displeasure with how the show ended since the finale aired. Placing the focus entirely on Ted and Robin went against the spirit of the show. While there are certainly a lot of Ted and Robin “shippers” out there, there are far too many reasons why they do not make sense as a couple. Stemming from their compatibility issues through their inability to commit, there are numerous issues with them as a couple.
Here are 20 Things That Make No Sense About Ted And Robin’s Relationship.
20. He Asks For Approval To Date Her
Not only does Ted Mosby tell the longest stories of all time, but he certainly has a strange relationship with his children. While there are certainly many twists and turns throughout Ted’s story, the craziest one came in the from the realization that their mother had passed away. Even though Ted was using this story as a therapeutic method to deal with the tragedy, there was a hidden agenda as well.
It turns out that this story was actually used as a method to gain his kid’s permission to date “Aunt Robin”. Ted’s daughter realized this as he “ended” the story, and encouraged him to go after her one last time. Ted had revealed some crazy details to his kids through this story, but using it to gauge their reaction to him dating again was certainly a strange outcome.
19. They Have Different Views About Kids
The will-they-won’t-they story of Ted and Robin was very fun to go through during the first seasons of How I Met Your Mother. In fact, many fans related it to the Ross and Rachel relationship on Friends. However, their story was much more troubled as they held different opinions on their life trajectories.
Ted is very interested in starting a family, and even has his kid’s names picked out - Luke and Leia - by the time he meets Robin. On the other hand, Robin is far from interested in starting that portion of her life. In fact, any time that Robin comes in to contact with a baby she only reacts with fear and disgust. With such a fundamental disconnect on parenting (and children in general), how did they expect to coexist in a relationship together?
18. Robin Is Not Interested In Settling Down
Following Ted and Robin’s relationship can be a very tiring task. Especially considering that fact that they have very different outlooks on relationships in general. Ted is searching tirelessly to find someone to spend the rest of his life with, while this is the last thing that Robin wants to do. Robin has some serious life goals (including traveling to Argentina, apparently), and does not want to be tied down to someone so early in life.
Ted’s journey to find “the one” spans the entire series. Meanwhile, Robin’s story of avoiding commitment and running from relationships is one of her calling cards. How can two people end up together when they have such different goals? Ted is the type of person who already has his wedding planned out, while it is not even on Robin’s radar. Instead of spending years chasing each other, they should have had an honest conversation to sort this out much earlier.
17. He makes Her Get Rid Of Her Dogs
No one is going to accuse Ted Mosby of being a very level-headed person. In fact, he is one of the most emotionally-unstable characters in television history. However, his tactics of dealing with insecurities in his relationships are especially cringe-worthy.
In the season two episode “Stuff”, it is revealed that Robin’s five dogs are gifts from her ex-boyfriends. Ted is not able to handle this, and manipulates Robin into getting rid of her animals. While Robin was also insecure about gifts from Ted’s ex-girlfriends and asked him to get rid of them, it was a much different story. Ted’s items were household items, while Robin’s are living creatures. For Ted to ask her to get rid of animals that she is very attached to is just awful to ask.
16. Keeping Their separation A Secret
While their heart was in the right place, pretending to still be in a relationship together is just strange. In order to not take any focus away from Marshall and Lily’s wedding, Ted and Robin do not reveal to their friends that they have broken up. Instead, they continue on and pretend to be together all the way through their wedding in Something Blue. Isn’t it strange that both of them are hurting from broken hearts but continue the charade of a relationship?
Considering how close they are to their friends, they could have been honest about the situation. In fact, by hiding their break-up they actually put more attention on themselves at Lily’s reception than if they had revealed it earlier. By going through weeks without revealing their broken hearts, they did more harm than good.
15. Friends With Benefits Was A Bad Idea
No matter who the relationship is between, having a friends-with-benefits deal tends to never end well. When Ted and Robin move in together, their relationship has been over for a long time. However, in order to curb the small arguments they have with each other as roommates, they agree to have sex together anytime they get angry.
Considering that Ted has always harbored feelings for Robin, friends-with-benefits did nothing but confuse him even further. By continuing to prey on their unresolved feelings for each other, it caused them some serious problems later in life. Instead of letting their relationship become truly platonic, they would always have recent memories of being together. If only they had not made this bad decision, things could have been very different for each of them.
14. She Can Never Make Up Her Mind About Ted
If Robin were able to decide and stick to her feelings, How I Met Your Mother would have been a much shorter series. Ted’s feelings for Robin remain fairly consistent over each episode of the series. While Ted was never to able to shake his feelings for his old flame, Robin was much more sporadic. There were times when she pined for Ted to love her, and other times where she did not want anything to do with him.
Robin’s inability to make up her mind about Ted always came at the worst times. For instance, she decided that she had feelings for him again just prior to her wedding with Barney. While it is impossible to stop the heart from having feelings for someone, Robin should learn to make up her mind.
13. She Freaks Out When He Almost Proposes
If there was one sign that Ted and Robin’s relationship did not make sense, it was when she thought he was proposing. When Robin received a glass of champagne with an engagement ring floating in it, her reaction was not someone who was excited. In fact, her exact response was “No, no, no, you can’t do this to me”. Thankfully, she was not actually being proposed to and the ring belonged to another person.
Being rejected like this must not feel good, and it led to their breakup. Unfortunately, their on-again-off-again status would continue. However, the big question is, why would Ted still be interested in a relationship with Robin given her reaction? If his ultimate goal is to get married, she is certainly not the one who will walk that aisle for him.
12. They Are Manipulated By Lily & Marshall
While Lily and Marshall may be Ted’s closest friends, they have not done him any favors when it comes to relationships. In fact, Lily has been directly involved with manipulating many of Ted’s former flames out of his life.
When describing The Front Porch Test, it proves how much Lily has meddled in Ted’s love life. If Lily did not deem the women to be someone she could visualize growing old alongside, she sabotaged the relationship. This was not limited to Ted’s relationships with Karen, Stella, and even Robin. Lily is one of the main reasons that Ted and Robin did not work out together, and she proudly admits it. By manipulating Robin’s feelings about commitment, she was able to pry the two of them apart. Their friendship may go back to their time in college, but Lily doesn’t always act like she has his back.
11. He Throws Multiple House Parties
The How I Met Your Mother men have done some fairly strange things in order to meet women. While most of these nefarious plots come from Barney, Ted is not immune to pulling off a scheme. However, when he does it he just comes off very clingy and creepy.
In an attempt to get Robin to his apartment, Ted pretends to throw a house party and invites her. However, Robin fails to show up to the party. Instead of giving up, he plans a party for the next day too so she can attend. When she cannot make it that day, he tries to throw a third which ends up being very miserable. While Ted is sometimes seen as romantic, it is gestures like this which make him come off much creepier.
10. The ted victoria and robin love triangle
Ted Mosby has had multiple chances to happy with other women, but he has always messed it up. The most famous example of someone he could have had a great life together with is Victoria. After dating her, he was finally happy and could see spending the rest of his life with her. While her moving to Germany threw a monkey wrench in his plans, he made a much bigger mistake. At the first sign of trouble in his long-distance relationship, he immediately went to Robin’s apartment to be with her.
Not only was he unfaithful to Victoria, but he lied to Robin and said that they had broken up. Ted had instantly damaged two relationships with one move. Perhaps Ted should have looked before he jumped, otherwise things would never have gotten better.
9. giving robin up
Ted is no stranger to grand gestures. Whether he is trying to make it rain or creating a “Symphony of Illumination”, he is always willing to do what it takes to express his feelings. However, sometimes when he does so it pushes the boundaries. Once he has resolved the fact that Robin and Barney are getting married, he makes a big deal that he is “letting Robin go”. This means that he is publicly letting his feelings for her go so that she can move on with her life.
Ted needs to realize that by this point Robin has already let him go, he just hadn’t realized it yet. Robin is already dedicated to her relationship with Barney, and was not thinking about Ted. A grand gesture was not needed and it was just a waste of time on his part.
8. He Sabotages His Career To Find Her Locket
When Ted rushes out to help Robin in “Something Old” to find her buried locket, he is not just trying to do a good deed. In fact, he rushes out to help her in order to gain her favor before she marries Barney. Robin is understandably committed to Barney at this point, but Ted tries to sweep in anyways. By the end of the ordeal, it is actually Ted trying to talk her out of giving in to her doubts about Barney.
Ted may be considered a great friend, but he was not looking out for his future at all. In order to help Robin, he left a very important architecture meeting behind. This may be very admirable, but he did it for the wrong reasons. Sometimes his romantic nature does him more harm than good.
7. Ted Gets Mad At Barney, Not Robin
When Robin and Barney hook up for the first time in “Sandcastles in the Sand”, it is the beginning of a beautiful relationship. Unless it is looked at from Ted Mosby’s perspective. Upon learning that one of his best friends was with his ex-girlfriend, Ted is very upset. However, even though it took two “to tango”, he only directs his anger at Barney. Ted is not the least bit upset with Robin and is only upset with Barney. In fact, he even ceases speaking to Barney and tries to remove him from his life.
Considering that Robin was a willing participant in the relationship, it makes little sense that he would place the blame solely on Barney. Isn’t Robin just as much to blame for his heartbreak? While he did eventually get over his issues, it is hypocritical that he let her off the hook so easily.
6. THEIR PACT
As long as he has hope that he and Robin will end up together, he will hold on to it with all of his might. Since both Ted and Robin have failed relationships, they decided to make an agreement together. They promised each other that if neither of them were married by the time they each turned 40, that they would marry each other. While this is sometimes seen in movies and other shows, there is one big question - does it ever end well?
Why would two people who did not work well together in a relationship make a pact like this? It is only setting themselves up for trouble. Ted and Robin first make this pact in season three and would hang on to it until near the end of the series. Ted Mosby is not one to let things go very easily, especially when it comes to Robin.
5. THEY MOVE IN TOGETHER AFTER THEIR BREAKUP
When Ted and Robin were dating, they discussed the possibility of moving in together. They did not go through with it because, according to Robin they were “all talk”. Despite being in a very serious relationship for over a year, they never wind up living together as a couple.
It is only afterward when Robin does not have a place of her own that Ted invites her to move in. Robin takes over Marshall and Lily’s old room, and lives with her ex-boyfriend for several months. Given their history together, living together did not make much sense. It was very nice for Ted to offer Robin a place to live, but that does not make it any less awkward.
4. HANGING OUT WITH AN EX IS AWKWARD
Not only is the fact that they live together strange, but they also hang out together every day. With so much history together, is it not strange that exes are so incredibly close? While it does not appear out of the ordinary to any of the core group members, onlookers see this dynamic as very odd. There are several other characters - not limited to Victoria, Kevin, and Nora who feel this way. In fact, there are several other new significant others of both Ted and Robin who mention the situation.
Considering Robin’s history with both Ted and Barney, it makes little sense that they spend little time apart. Perhaps one of those relationships would have worked out later if they did not spend every waking moment together.
3. SHE POINTS OUT HIS FLAWS
One of Robin’s greatest qualities is her honesty. If anyone ever wanted a straight-shooter, they should go to Robin Scherbatsky. Unfortunately, Ted is never really looking for someone to point out the negatives in his life.
Throughout their relationship (and beyond), Robin is very swift to point out all of Ted’s negative qualities and flaws due to her honesty. Ranging from her hatred of his red cowboy boots to making fun of his workout at the gym, Robin does not pull any punches. However, while reminiscing about their relationship, Ted mentioned that Robin’s inability to make him feel “needed” was a downfall in their relationship. Should Robin have learned to hold her criticism in? Or should Ted not be so sensitive with feedback?
2. HER DIFFICULTIES WITH MARRIAGE
The moment to decide that there are unresolved feelings for an ex should not be right before you are about to get married. While Robin was unable to decide if she wanted Ted while she was single, she also had a lot of difficulties with that while she was engaged. It seems as though each time there was a small hiccup in her relationship with Barney, that she would second guess everything and fall back into a relationship with Ted.
All it would take is the combination of Ted being available to her and Barney lying to her to make her completely re-think her wedding. Perhaps she was just looking for an excuse to leave the wedding behind all along?
1. ALL HER DEVELOPMENT WITH BARNEY WAS GONE
Longtime fans of How I Met Your Mother were incredibly excited for the finale. Finally getting to see the resolution for main characters that the audience have been watching is usually very satisfying. However, this show did anything but supply a conventional wedding.
Season 9 focused entirely on the days leading up to Barney and Robin’s wedding. This is certainly a lot of time to focus on one storyline, especially since it was revealed at the end of the show that Robin and Barney wound up getting divorced. While many fans point to the ending as being untrue to Ted and The Mother’s relationship, there is also a huge issue with how Robin and Barney were treated. After all of the emotions and effort spend on their relationship, all of it was deemed useless after Ted showed up at the very end of the series to win Robin back.
Can you think of any other things that make no sense about Robin and Ted in How I Met Your Mother? Let us know in the comments!
