Moment of Goodness: The Mother, Ted and La Vie En Rose, How I Met Your Mother’s 200th Episode, “How Your Mother Met Me” 

How I Met Your Mother is set to air it’s final episode on March 31 with Ted Mosby finally meeting the titular Mother, however Monday night in the landmark 200th episode, fans were granted a half-hour dedicated to the Mother’s life dating back all the way from the show’s pilot.

I felt like earlier episodes in the season the show’s writers made The Mother almost too perfect for Ted as if she was a robot from one of her paintings, programmed be his soul mate. How Your Mother Met Me provided a heartbreaking backstory and glimpses into the warm and adorable character’s history.

I was left speechless after my initial viewing. Of all 200 episodes of How I Met Your Mother, this is by far my favorite. For long time fans, this episode embodies television perfection and the majority of that has to do with the brilliant casting of Cristin Milioti as The Mother. In the few scenes throughout season nine with Milioti, we’ve seen glimpses of The Mother’s personality and the excellent chemistry she shares with Ted. She truly captures this character’s essence and, in my opinion, transcends fans’ expectations of the future Mrs. Mosby.

In this episode, we learn that The Mother’s first love, Max, dies from what is presumed to be an accident on her 21st birthday, scarring her view on love up until the moment she eventually meets Ted. Co-Creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas kept this episode very grounded as viewers learned the history of The Mother, but did a wonderful job sprinkling hilarious cameos of the cast with her near run ins with her future husband (one memorable time in a dress). After a gust of wind (Max), a twist of fate, and a failed marriage proposal by The Mother’s current boyfriend, Louis, she ends up at the Farhampton Inn in the room directly next to whom else? Ted Mosby.

This sets up the scene of the season, if not the series up to this point (and is my Moment of Goodness): Miliot, accompanied with the ukulele Max gave her for her birthday, serenades the audience with her lovely rendition of  “La Vie en Rose” with Ted revealed to be listening mere inches away.

Other Thoughts

-Cristin Milioti was amazing in this episode. She has stolen almost every scene she has been in this year. We’ve seen her comedic chops as awkward and adorable, but she was marvelous in the more emotional scenes in this episode as well. It gave me goose bumps whenever she started to cry.

-Also we finally got to hear Cristin sing! She was nominated for a Tony for her role as Girl in the Broadway musical, Once. Her version of “La Vie en Rose” is up on iTunes for download, her singing English muffin is still yet to be found.

-Can’t forget to mention Mitch, aka The Naked Man, making an appearance in this episode. Also The Mother providing the statistic that “The Naked Man” only works two out of three times.

-I’ve always had trouble justifying how Ted could be stuck on Robin for almost nine years, then magically fall in love with The Mother. In “How Your Mother Met Me,” while we see the similarities between Ted and The Mother, we’re able to see how she’s her own entity and not just an extension of Ted. Throughout the series, Ted’s looked all over New York City for true love ever since he broke up with Robin, while The Mother on the other hand has hid and closed herself off from the idea of love. They’ve both handled the last eight years of their lives very differently, but somehow were exactly where they needed to be to find each other. That is just beautiful.

Only eight episodes left before Ted meets the Mother, are you ready? How I Met Your Mother airs Mondays at 8/7c on CBS.