Ted and Robin are one of the most talked-about couples on How I Met Your Mother. They are pretty much the central relationship on the show and although there are many instances when their relationship is beautiful and romantic, there have been several times when the exact opposite was the case. Here we go into detail about the five times Robin was terrible to Ted (and the five times Ted was terrible to Robin).
TED: PRESSURING ROBIN INTO A RELATIONSHIP
The idea of Ted eagerly wanting a relationship with his number one crush is sweet in theory, but the way he goes about trying to get Robin to be with him is extremely pushy. Ted demands an answer from Robin and he creates an enormous amount of pressure for her to make up her mind.
He even gets a string quartet to come and play as he makes her come up with a decision. Perhaps if Ted hadn’t pressured her so much, it would be a whole lot easier for her to make a decision.
ROBIN: LEADING TED ON
Although this is a debatable topic, Robin often seems to get Ted’s hopes up throughout the series. She knows how much he loves her and cares about her because he is the type of guy to wear his heart on his sleeve at all times.
Yet despite knowing she could break his heart at any moment, she tends to play with his emotions even though she isn’t even sure if she wants Ted. One could argue that Robin is just confused about her feelings, and that’s perfectly okay, but it’s best for her to tone down the flirtation with Ted when she doesn’t return his romantic affection.
TED: HE TRIES TO CHANGE ROBIN INTO SOMETHING SHE’S NOT
Although Ted really does fall in love with the authentic version of Robin as the series progresses, it’s made pretty clear at the beginning of the series that he wants her to be someone who she is simply not. Robin is an ambitious character who wants to see the world and explore the single life before settling down. In fact, Robin doesn’t even know if she wants to settle down. It is made clear from the start that she doesn’t want kids, yet Ted seems to try to persuade her opinion often in order to get what he wants. In his perfect world, Robin would be his wife and they’d start a big family together. He tries to persuade her to one day be this woman, which shows he wants to change Robin.
ROBIN: SHE DATES HIS BEST FRIEND
Perhaps one of the cruelest things Robin has done to Ted was when she decided to go for his best friend, Barney. Despite knowing how much Ted was in love with her, Robin fell in love with Barney even though she knew it was wrong.
Although we can’t control who we end up having feelings for, we can control whether or not we make the active choice to be in a relationship with them. Robin picking Barney over Ted is just so heartbreaking for the lovesick architect and we can’t help but feel awful for his position when Barney and Ted are together.
TED: HE DIDN’T UNDERSTAND BOUNDARIES IN THEIR RELATIONSHIP
Whether they were platonic friends or boyfriend and girlfriend, there were plenty of moments throughout the series when Ted would make it clear that he had no respect for Robin’s personal space. Robin is an extremely independent person, yet Ted would always send her drunk voicemails or show up to her place unannounced. This kind of behavior is quite normal in the wonderful world of sitcoms, but in real life, it would be the cause of some serious boundary issues.
ROBIN: SHE WASN’T HAPPY FOR TED WHEN HE FINALLY FOUND SOMEONE
When Ted found out that Robin and Barney were in love, he took it like a champ. Although it absolutely killed him, he was ultimately happy that Robin was happy. With Robin, on the other hand, she never seemed to be okay with the fact that Ted could find happiness without her. This was totally unfair because she could never give Ted a straight answer as to whether or not he was “the one”. When Ted would bring home a new girl, Robin would be quick to judge them and she even slut-shamed Victoria on one occasion because she was jealous that she was with Ted.
TED: REFUSED TO TAKE NO FOR AN ANSWER
At times, we finally started to buy into the belief that Ted had moved on from Robin. There were moments where it seemed as though he accepted the fact that Robin would never love him the way he loved her. Those moments showed sincere maturity on Ted’s part and we were proud of him. Yet eventually, Ted couldn’t take it anymore and he revealed this to be the case when he had this to say: “When you love someone you don’t stop, ever. Even when people roll their eyes or call you crazy. Even then. Especially then! You don’t give up!” While this seems wildly romantic in theory, what Ted is essentially saying is that he won’t take no as an answer from Robin. He won’t stop pressuring her even though she has verbally made it clear that she doesn’t love him.
ROBIN: SULKS AT TED’S WEDDING
As stated earlier, it was unfair of Robin to get angry and lash out whenever Ted would find love elsewhere because she would do the exact same thing to him when she entered new relationships. When Barney and Robin got married, Ted was totally calm and respectful at their wedding. Even if he was hurting greatly inside, out of respect for his friends, he put on a brave face. This wasn’t the case at all with Robin, who visibly sulked the whole time when we got to see sequences of Ted and Tracy’s wedding. Robin should have at least been somewhat happy for Ted if she really loved him.
TED: MADE ROBIN GET RID OF HER PET DOGS
This was by far the worst thing Ted Mosby has ever done to Robin. When Ted and Robin finally become a couple, Ted feels extremely uneasy over the fact that Robin still owns a bunch of pet dogs that were given to her by her ex-boyfriends. His jealousy over this silly fact made Ted ultimately force Robin to get rid of her beloved K-9s which is just totally uncalled for.
ROBIN: SHE REFERS TO TED AS A “BACKUP PLAN”
As stated previously, it’s pretty clear that Robin knows how much Ted loves her. Knowing that she is the love of his life, she still goes on to call Ted her “backup plan” without even considering how Ted might feel about it. Although it wouldn’t be the most terrible thing if she actually felt this way, it was certainly uncool of her to actually tell Ted straight to his face that he was basically plan b (more like plan z).
