‘How I Met Your Mother’ Series Finale: Why Was The Mother’s ‘Heart-Wrenching’ Funeral Scene Cut?

“How I Met Your Mother” might have aired its series finale over a month ago but fans are still fuming over the controversial ending. You know the one we’re talking about, right? For nine long seasons, viewers of the hit CBS sitcom patiently waited to find out just who “the Mother” was. And when we finally did, Carter Bays and Craig Thomas ripped her out of our hands faster than you could say “son of a b----.”

The death of Cristin Milioti’s character was quick, confusing and pretty heartbreaking to say the least. One moment she was unwrapping Christmas gifts with her family and the next she was lying in a hospital bed. The only thing we were told about the Mother’s expected death was that it occurred six years prior to Ted finishing his story of how he met his wife.

Now, here’s where things got weird: While fans were still dealing with the initial shock of the Mother’s demise, Ted had just received the closure he was longing for when his children told him it was time to move on—to Aunt Robin. That’s right, after finishing the nine-year tale, Ted hauled his butt over to Robin’s dog-filled apartment where he presented the iconic blue French horn to her.

A majority of fans were distraught over how the show ended—especially Alyson Hannigan who played the role of Lily Aldrin on “HIMYM.” According to the actress, she thought the last scene of the series could have made a bigger impact on fans if Bays and Thomas decided to air “the Funeral Scene.”

According to TV Line, a funeral scene was filmed for the series finale but ultimately didn’t make the cut—along with another 18 minutes of footage. Hannigan revealed that the finale table read, which included the funeral scene, was “perfect.”

“[The full script] was also much more heart-wrenching,” she shared. “Honestly, if you saw [that] cut, it would be even more heart-wrenching than what the finale was. They were like, ‘No. It’s just too gut-wrenching.’ And I was like, ‘That’s what I want. I want my heart ripped out and slammed on the floor and, like, stomped on!’”

The sassy actress continued to admit that if the funeral scene wasn’t cut from the series finale then maybe fans could have come to terms with Ted moving on.

“­Oh, [Ted] mourned. He got closure’ — and then they’d be happy that [he and Robin] got together. Rather than be like, ‘Oh, wait. She died? What? They’re together, huh?’ And credits. That’s what I think was too fast.”

Would you have liked to see the funeral scene in the series finale of “How I Met Your Mother”? Chime in with your opinion in the comments section below.