‘How I Met Your Father’ Episode 6 TV Review: The Red Flag

The most exciting chapter yet, How I Met Your Father episode 6, “Stacey,” seems as if it is fast-forwarded through the rest of the first season and hopped on to the second (not to mention Hulu confirmed season 2 which will feature 20 episodes). The whole “one-month time jump” between episodes 5 and 6 feels very rushed – it is almost like the writers ripped pages out of Jesse’s and Valentina’s character arcs in between the events of both episodes for fun.

On top of that, one of the characters might not be so trustworthy and perhaps someone to watch out for.

Warning spoilers ahead!

In this episode, Sophie and Drew go on a couple’s weekend getaway with Sid and Hannah, while Charlie and Ellen have Valentina, Jesse and Mia (the new girl whom Jesse is seeing and also just had a fling with his sister Ellen prior) over for dinner.

After Hannah accidentally refers to Sophie by the name of Drew’s ex-girlfriend, Stacey, Sophie begins to obsess about her boyfriend’s past relationship. Matters soon only get worse when Sophie learns that Drew has already been to the hotel/restaurant that they are staying at with Stacey and lies to her about it.

Even though Drew comes clean at the end and explains to Sophie that he did not want to harp on the bad memory that he had with his ex, the fact that he is able to lie so convincingly does not sit well with me (the only reason Sophie knows that he was lying was because of Stacey’s social media post).

Unfortunately, I can’t simply ignore this red flag. It appears that Drew might not truly be this “perfect guy” that he presents himself to be. I’m calling it now that things will not end well with him and Sophie.

Despite the fact that they make a cute typical romcom couple and are literally that Disney Channel/Nickelodeon crossover that I did not know I needed, the fact that their relationship is occurring so early in the series and that they appear “perfect” tells me that they are sadly not the endgame.

I honestly deep down knew this whole time, yet falling in love with their relationship was still inevitable. I mean hello… Josh Peck!

This episode is not all bad news, however, given that it confirms Jesse still has feelings for Sophie.

It is made obvious at the beginning of the episode when he tries to convince Sid to let him go on the weekend getaway with him and Hannah instead of Sophie and Drew. He then, later on, admits that he only went out with Mia because he hates being single as well as that he still wishes he went on the weekend getaway.

When Ellen asks whether it’s to hang with his buddy and his fiancé or be with Sophie, Jesse panics and answers, “The first one, obviously.” Mmm, sure.

While this does feel slightly forced considering that we have not witnessed Jesse act jealously around Sophie and Drew in the previous two episodes, given Jesse and Sophie’s dynamic from the first three episodes, it is not far-fetched at all for him to be slowly falling for her.

Yup, that’s right. I’m back on Team Jesse. I’m now 90% sure that he is the mystery father.

Jesse’s semi-forced arc, however, is nowhere near as bad as Valentina’s.

First things first, why did she regress after showing some maturity in the last two episodes? No offense, but I cannot comprehend how Charlie is so into Valentina despite the fact that she constantly talks about her exes. It is extremely rude! Charlie deserves better.

Now tell me, how does she go from being like that and then only minutes or hours later confessing her love for Charlie for the first time to him? Does she even know what love is? It almost seems like she is merely trying to mirror Charlie’s melodramatic act of lighting his passport on fire to prove that he is serious about their relationship.

As for Sid and Hannah, their arc is completely useless in this episode. If they need to fight, at least fight about something current rather than about something from the past that they had already moved on from.

Honestly, the only thing that has been making me stick with this show is Sophie’s love life and the mystery of who her future husband is. Other than that, the side characters and their arcs need a ton of work.

That being said, this episode is currently by far the best, and I am so ready for the next!