I tweeted yesterday that I was excited for the premiere of the final season of “How I Met Your Mother” against my better judgment. The show, which I have been with since it premiered, had really started to get on my nerves. I’m not the only one bugged by the constant fakeouts, unnecessary tangents and downright bad writing from creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas. (And I’m not even getting into the recent Daily Beast video which showed that Ted was basically telling his kids what a slut he was.)

But they bought a ton of goodwill when the mother appeared in the end of last season’s final episode. They had always said we wouldn’t meet her until the final episode of the series, but the surprise addition of Season 9 forced that to change some. Now, only Ted won’t meet her until the spring even though some flash forwards (like one at the end last night) will bring them together during the season.

The scenes between the mother and Lily last night showed how the writers can(hopefully) bring some fresh ideas to the table while working off the existing traits of the main characters. The small difference between the name of the cookie and one of Lily’s favorite insults put something extra into the meeting between the two women. Plus, the actresses showed really good chemistry.

But those moments and the final scene with Ted and the mother (one year hence) provided most of the good parts. The desk clerk had some good stuff, but I continued to be annoyed by Barney and Robin. They don’t seem like a good fit to begin with and plot lines like “are we related?” make absolutely no comedy connection for me. Marshall’s escapade entertained me a little, but mainly because Sherry Sheppard is rarely not funny. I did love the fast, old guy at the rental car counter.

A decent start to a season I don’t think many people wanted to see.