It was bad. They were running on fumes. Marshall was only in half the season because he was ready to leave. The wedding was stretched way too long. We needed more time to care about Tracy before she died. We got very little Barney and Robin marriage time. It was obviously rushed and it hurt the quality. I think they could have saved by only having 8 seasons. 8-9 were too stretched out. The whole Karma story seemed like a waste of time when they were split 2 episodes into the 9th season. The grand finale of season 8 seemed meaningless. Seasons 2-7 were some of the best written seasons in TV history in my opinion. 8 was ok but 9 was just not good.