--- title: How I Met Your Mother Finale Dead Mother Theory Is Crazy, Says Actress description: Or is this that just what they want us to think? canonical: https://time.com/18668/how-i-met-your-mother-theory/ author: Lily Rothman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-03-10T18:06:14.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T06:41:11.961Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: How I Met Your Mother Finale Dead Mother Theory Is Crazy, Says Actress og:description: Or is this that just what they want us to think? og:url: https://time.com/18668/how-i-met-your-mother-theory/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta33ae7ffdcc281ef/698684c9e53abac1604d1695/140310-himym.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: How I Met Your Mother og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How I Met Your Mother Finale Dead Mother Theory Is Crazy, Says Actress twitter:description: Or is this that just what they want us to think? twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta33ae7ffdcc281ef/698684c9e53abac1604d1695/140310-himym.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # VIDEO: _How I Met Your Mother_ Actress Calls Finale Conspiracy Theory "Crazy" > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account.  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Mar 10, 2014 6:06 PM UTC  CBS  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Mar 10, 2014 6:06 PM UTC **_How I Met Your Mother_** **conspiracy theory spoilers below.** One moment on last week’s episode of _How I Met Your Mother_ was enough to cause the show’s dominant conspiracy theory to blow up. Now, just as quickly, the theory seems to be deflating. The theory is that the revelation that the Mother is dead or dying when Ted begins telling his story of meeting her will be the big twist in the March 31 series finale. The evidence was convincing — future-Ted crying over the idea of the Mother missing their daughter’s future wedding, plus the fact that the future kids are willing to sit through a decade-long story about their father’s dating life — and the outrage was real. TIME’s James Poniewozik [described the possibility of such an ending as “whacking us with an emotional 2×4”](http://time.com/12284/how-i-met-your-mother-vesuvius-review/) (in a bad way). But the actress who plays the as-yet-unnamed Mother [tells _The Hollywood Reporter_ ](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/video-how-i-met-your-686668)that that’s “crazy.” (**WATCH**: [‘How I Met Your Mother’ Mom Didn’t Know What She Was Getting Herself Into](http://entertainment.time.com/2013/12/19/how-i-met-your-mother-cristin-milioti)) In a video interview about the upcoming end of the show — the full clip of which can be watched below — actress Cristin Milioti answers a question about a potential Dead-Mom-gate scandal. “That’s insane,” she says. “There are some crazy conspiracy theories… That is so crazy.” Though Milioti says she has only ever seen the last episode of _Lost_, she clearly knows that many people were upset about the character death revelations on the similarly secretive show, and brushes off the controversial fan theory as something that wouldn’t fit with _HIMYM_‘s carefully crafted arc. Then again, she never says “The Mother is alive” in so many words. 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