‘How I Met Your Father’ Episodes 1 & 2 Review: The Guessing Game Begins!

Hulu’s sequel to the iconic sitcom, How I Met Your Mother, titled How I Met Your Father, starring Hilary Duff, premiered Tuesday with its first two episodes, seemingly leaving a positive impression on most viewers.

For one, diehard fans of the original series are more than thrilled that they brought back Ted Mosby’s apartment for the spinoff series.

Meanwhile, fans of the famous CW drama, Gossip Girl, were shocked to see Leighton Meester make a cameo in the pilot episode.

 

Still others ecstatic to see the revival of the beloved Disney Channel character, Lizzie McGuire, through Duff’s outfit in episode 2.

Given I have never seen How I Met Your Mother, I can’t compare it to its spinoff. With that being said, as a standalone series at least, I think How I Met Your Father is off to a good start. While I am not currently emotionally invested into any of these characters (which is okay because it is only the beginning), I am very curious to see how this plot unfolds.

Warning Spoilers Ahead!

For a brief recap, Sophie (Sex and the City’s Kim Cattrall) begins to tell her son how her younger self (Duff) met his father. On the night Sophie met her husband, viewers see her running late to a Tinder date with Ian (Daniel Augustin), whom she momentarily believes is “the one.” However, due to his moving to Australia, the two decide that a committed relationship would not work out for them.

Then there’s Jesse (Christopher Lowell), the cynical Uber driver with a broken heart ever since his ex-girlfriend, Meredith (Meester), turned down his proposal (not to mention on a recording that went viral), who ironically begins to fall for Sophie and her hopeless romantic personality from the very moment he met her. Despite his obvious feelings for her, they, unfortunately, decide to be strictly friends in the second episode since they are both still affected by their previous partners.

The other men Sophie encounters the same night she met the father of her son are Sid (Suraj Sharma), Jesse’s best friend who gets engaged that same night to another woman, and Charlie (Tom Ainsley), the new boyfriend of her best friend, Valentina (The Secret Life of the American Teenager’s Francia Raisa).

Although they are suspects given that Sophie met them that night, it does not seem to be that Sid or Charlie are “the father” due to them being in their own steady relationships. Although things could certainly change, I just do not see any potential chemistry or any foreshadowing of a romance arc between Sophie and either men. Sure, she and Sid accidentally swapped each other’s phones, but that barely led to any interaction between them.

At the moment, I think that the mystery father is either Ian or Jesse. Both men are clearly into Sophie, and I can totally see Ian coming back to New York City to be with her.

However, I am personally Team Jesse. Society can use a break from online dating. What ever happened to classic romcoms featuring meet cutes and “opposites attract?” Pursuing these tropes found in the dynamic of Sophie and Jesse would add a stronger foundation for a romance as well as more sentimental value for the show than a Tinder-based relationship ever could.

While on the surface they appear very different, Jesse and Sophie are deep down both broken-hearted souls who are finding themselves and yearning to love and be loved in return. Besides, they both have the same comfort song. This practically confirms that they are soulmates in my book.

How I Met Your Father episode 3 releases January 25 on Hulu.