How I Met Your Mother: 5 Things Season 1 Barney Would Hate About Finale Barney (5 Things He Would Be Proud Of)
How I Met Your Mother has an incredibly controversial ending - but how would the main characters feel about where they end up? In the first season of the series, Barney has only recently joined Ted, Lily, and Marshall, and is still devoted to 'teaching Ted how to live'. He's obsessed with suits (which never changes), views commitment (even to the extent of a second date) as anathema, and is all about having a good time.
In the finale, though, Barney is shown to have changed a huge amount - he's still suiting up, but he has been married, learned how to commit and to be vulnerable, left GBN and the job that was a mystery for almost the entire season, and most notably, has a new baby daughter. It's a massive swing, and if the Barney of the finale met up with season one Barney at MacLaren's, what would he think?
10 Hate: Burning The Playbook
Barney eventually burned his Playbook as part of a long, elaborate 'play' to propose to Robin - and while he stood by that decision for a long time, if season one Barney heard about this, he would view it as nothing less than sacrilege. He views his Playbook like a bible, and has poured so much of himself into it, that finding out he burnt it (and burnt it specifically to commit to a woman) would not go down well. At least finale Barney could reassure him that the Bro Code is still unburnt and well.
9 Proud Of: Coming Clean To His Mother
Fans don't know it at the time, but throughout the early seasons of the show, Barney is spending regular weekends with his mother, and with a fake family that he has hired to convince his mother that he is leading a settled, happy life. He seemed happy to continue to keep up this (presumably expensive) charade with his mom, but when he eventually comes clean in season four, he's thrilled to be able to actually have an honest relationship with her (and it's a sweet one). He'd be happy to know that he doesn't have to keep this up forever!
8 Hate: Finding Out His Dad Isn't Bob Barker
Of course, Barney also had some ups and downs with his Dad over the course of the show. For a long time, he believed that his father was Bob Barker (at least, he claimed to believe it, rather than admit he didn't know who he was). If season one Barney learned the truth - that his father was a driving instructor living in the suburbs with a family, he would be just as heartbroken and angry as Barney was when he found out in season six. Hopefully, season one Barney would find solace in the relationship that he'll eventually build with his father, though.
7 Proud Of: Getting The Best Of GNB
One of the biggest Barney-mysteries in the series is how he has so much money, and what he actually does for a living. In the end, it's revealed that he was working for GNB all along as a 'please' - an acronym for 'Provide Legal Exculpation and Sign Everything'.
He was hired so that GNB could blame him for all their nefarious deeds, but he actually took their money (and a lot of it), and then turned them over to the feds in exchange for immunity for the things he signed for. He'd be pretty happy that this plan paid off!
6 Hate: Never Really Finding A Purpose
One of the saddest things about Barney, though, is that while everyone else has a passion and a purpose in their work, he really doesn't. He earns more than everyone else (combined, most likely), but he never really seems to reach a point where he is working at something that really fulfills him and brings him joy. Perhaps season one Barney wouldn't really care about this (and would definitely act like he didn't), but he may be a little sad about it on the inside.
5 Proud Of: Still Best Friends With Ted
Admittedly, Marshall would be the one who would really be Ted's best friend, but through all their ups and downs (and that includes some big ones), Ted and Barney are as close as ever at the end. And while season one Barney wouldn't admit it, their friendship means everything to him - he definitely puts his bros as a higher priority than the women in his life. Knowing that this bro-lationship stood the test of time would definitely be a reason to be proud.
4 Hate: Marrying Robin
Barney makes it repeatedly clear in the early seasons that he thinks that marriage is a terrible idea. He loves to talk about how people who wed are making a terrible mistake, ruining their lives, and wasting themselves on monogamy and commitment.
So the fact that Barney himself ends up married would come as a total shock to his younger self. He would absolutely hate the idea that he eventually marries anyway, instead of continuing to sleep around until he is on his deathbed, as he originally planned.
3 Proud Of: Sleeping With Robin
Season one Barney may hate the idea of being married to Robin, but he would undoubtedly be pretty proud of sleeping with her - and would definitely come up with a particularly crude way to phrase his feelings on the matter. After all, season one Barney is all about sleeping with as many attractive women as possible, and Robin is absolutely stunning. If Barney found out some other things about Robin - her love of cigars and Scotch, her willingness to suit up, her ability to play laser tag - he may even accept that they were in a full-blown relationship.
2 Hate: Having A Child
In the same way that season one Barney would be appalled that he got married, he would hate that he has a child. Throughout the show, Barney makes jokes about being terrified that one of the women he sleeps with might get pregnant. When Lily announces her own pregnancy, his first reaction is to shout 'I've never seen that woman before in my life' and then run out of the room - so it's clear he has some strong feelings on fatherhood, and they aren't positive.
1 Proud Of: Being A Daddy
One of Barney's catchphrases throughout the show is, of course, 'who's your Daddy?'. And in the end, he is - and the show even references this in the sweet scene where he meets his daughter for the first time. And while season one Barney would definitely pretend that he hates the idea, deep down, he may well be proud of the fact that he is a Dad in the end. At the very least, after his own experiences with an absentee father, he would be proud that when it came down to it, he showed up in his own child's life.