Spoiler Alert: if you haven’t watched the How I Met Your Mother series finale, watch it and then come back.

Since 2005, Ted Mosby, Lily Aldrin, Marshall Eriksen, Robin Scherbatsky and Barney Stinson from How I Met Your Mother met in MacLaren’s Pub and charmed our TVs with slap bets and the famous yellow umbrella. This series recently concluded its ninth season and left some wondering: did the finale really tie up all the loose ends?

The series finale begins like the typical Pixar movie: optimistic and cheerful, but evidently leads to the death of a significant character. Throughout eight seasons, HIMYM provides hints describing Ted’s soul mate and perfect match.

Throughout the series Ted introduces the idea of the mother, but when we officially meet her at the very end, a mysterious sickness kills her off. This loss fails to provide a heartfelt conclusion of the series because it brings up questions regarding the purpose and significance of her death. What sickness caused her death? Would she have wanted Ted to fall in love (again) with Robin?

Also, why does Robin stray from the group so much in the finale? She becomes a distant journalist whose work trumps all else, even her marriage with Barney. Robin rarely has scenes in the finale because she travels around the world as a reporter instead of spending time with her friends and new husband.

The entire last season embellishes Robin and Barney’s wedding, but they split after three years of fighting. Pretty much the entire season prior to the finale goes to waste as a result of their failed marriage. Gradually she disconnects from the group, so nine years of friendships turn to nothing in a 40 minute finale. The series does not have to end with the friendship splitting apart.  The finale did not bring an adequate end to a beloved nine seasons.

How I Met Your Mother had an interesting storyline but everything shattered apart during the finale. Fans even created a petition requesting a rewrite of the finale. CBS announced they shot two different endings at the time but only aired one. The alternate finale will be available on DVD this fall. Hopefully they will get it right this time.