Despite being a comedy, How I Met Your Mother was able to do drama well - just look at 'Bad News', one of the most popular episodes of the entire series, and the one where Marshall's dad dies. Not only is this an incredibly impactful moment for the character and the audience, but the entire episode builds up to it, with a countdown in the sets around the characters throughout.
'Bad News' is simply one of many when it comes to well done dramatic episodes that both impact the characters and resonate with the audience. With the six main characters having such an array of personal problems, and the writers willing to explore the deeper issues, there are many other episodes dealing with more serious, emotional topics ranging from the likes of financial strain to childhood trauma.
10 Drifting From Friends
One of the hardest parts about growing up is drifting apart from friends. This happens to people of all ages from all walks of life, and How I Met Your Mother's finale focuses on this happening.
Marshall and Lily are married with kids, Barney has a daughter, Ted and Tracy are enjoying building a family and life together, and Robin is as successful as she dreamed of, but the gang are not the same; they are not with each other every day. They are together on special occasions like they agree, but Robin appearances are far rarer. Ridiculous costume aside, her conversation with Lily about the gang being no more is heartbreaking.
9 Toxic Relationships
Romance and relationships are significant parts of How I Met Your Mother, but just because it is a comedic show does not mean relationships and love are all full of happiness.
The more prominent example of toxicity is from Barney. His relationship with Robin the first time around led to the two becoming shells of their former selves, unhappy, unambitious, and not in love because, at that time, they did not work. There is also Barney's lack of maturity in dealing with his engagement to Quinn that highlights this issue and many of Ted's relationships, not least his obsession with Robin.
8 Being Stagnant While Everyone's Life Moves Forward
One of the most powerful and most heartbreaking moments of the entire series, no matter how unpopular Ted may be, is when he is alone with his Robots vs. Wrestlers ticket.
This scene highlights how everyone is moving forward in their life, as future Barney points out. Marshall and Lily are dealing with their children while Robin and Barney plan their wedding. They cannot be out at MacLaren's or go to the event with Ted; they are busy with their lives. Ted is not, he is alone, and his life is at a standstill, something that is a harsh reality that some have to deal with when growing older.
7 Extreme Debt
The entire issue surrounding Lily's debt may not have been brilliantly done maturely, and it certainly did not make Lily any more popular, but it is still a serious issue the show tackles.
Over the years, Lily hid her obsession with shopping and retail therapy from everyone, including Marshall, and maxed out a slew of credit cards, which not only ruins finances for her and Marshall (who has to take a job he hates to provide for them), but it hurts them both as they cannot obtain bank loans without colossal interest.
6 Family > Dreams, Dreams > Family
Speaking of Marshall taking a job he hates, this is an issue that is prominent throughout most of How I Met Your Mother as he, in particular, has to choose between his family and finances and his dream of being an environmental lawyer.
As a corporate lawyer, Marshall earns insane money but is not happy. As an environmental lawyer, Marshall would be happier and fulfilled but would not earn enough money to provide for his family. Then as a judge, he has to choose between his new dream or Lily's job in Italy. Thankfully, it all ends up working out for Supreme Fudge.
5 Struggles Of Parenthood
Children and the issues surrounding them are huge parts of each of the gang's lives at one point or the other, and for those who do actually become parents, the hardships with that are highlighted.
Specifically through Lily, who, heartbreakingly and candidly, talks to Ted on the roof about how much she struggles as a mother. There is then the idea of unexpectedly becoming a parent, which happens to Barney. Barney, Lily, and Marshall are all examples of characters having to alter the way they live to suit being parents and how that can be a difficult adjustment.
4 Death Of A Parent
The most heartbreaking moment in How I Met Your Mother, in the eyes of most fans, is during 'Bad News', mentioned earlier, one of the best made episodes of the series as well as the most affecting, as Marshall finds out his dad has died.
It is not just the death of Marshall's dad itself, but it is the aftermath that the series tackles. Marshall has to deal with his (now alone) mother, with having a prosaic final goodbye from his father (for a short while, that is) and with just adjusting to the colossal change in his and his family's lives overall.
3 Childhood Trauma
Each one of the main gang has issues that stem from their parents or childhood. Robin and the approval of her father, Lily, and the uselessness of hers, Ted and his parent's divorce (and Clint), and then Marshall's, which is just a bundle of love and strangeness.
In examining how this trauma can affect adult life, the best example is Barney. His absence of a father and his mother's lies led to so many of his insecurities, and when he finally meets his dad for real, he is less than enthused. Barney taking down the basketball hoop in anger is one of the most powerful scenes in the series and one that hits home for many people who grew up abandoned by a parent, and especially one whose other parent was unreliable.
2 Being Unable To Have Children
Robin was always empowering and independent as a woman driven by her career, which was pretty much uninterested in marriage and children for most of the show. Basically the opposite of Ted.
However, she later finds out the choice is not hers and that she is simply unable to have children of her own. The show does an excellent job of looking at how this news can even be hard to deal with for those who never wanted children in the first place.
1 Death Of A Life Partner
Most entries on this list deal with issues that provide fantastic scenes, moments, and episodes. This one, though, is highly divisive and comes in one of its most controversial episodes.
It comes as a huge shock to fans when Tracy is shown to have had a terminal illness and dies. The show does not spend too much time dealing with the immediate aftermath, but the moment itself makes the audience's hearts sink. There are even moments where her death is foreshadowed, and Ted is visibly upset, making the moment all the more painful and, unfortunately, relatable to some.
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