Marvelous Geeks

The How I Met Your Father cancelation comes just as the show finds its footing, making the circumstances much worse. As imperfect as the show was, it was miles ahead of the original with a diverse cast and a significantly more trusting friend group. Unfortunately, now that the show won’t be returning for Season 3, myriad questions remain in the air, and a devastating TikTok theory has our hearts in pieces.

Sophie Tompkins’ story is far from over. For starters, the writers and actors deserve to show us what they always planned while getting paid amply for their work. But studio greed continues to get in the way of well-developed stories, and it’s as heartbreaking as ever. Who is the father? What happens to all the characters? Do they get their happy endings? This theory suggests that all but one will.

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How I Met Your Father’s two-part season finale is a trope-filled blast from start to finish, despite the first part going to unnecessary lengths to prove why Jesse’s new girlfriend, Parker is toxic. They’re naturally wrong, but these scenes continue to emphasize that the friendship brimming in this show is still its strength. As much as the story is about the father’s identity, the platonic relationships here matter significantly more. Unlike its predecessor, it doesn’t matter who ends up with whom as long as the progressions happen in a way that doesn’t undermine years of development.

Still, for now, How I Met Your Father focuses on telling Sophie and Jesse’s story while it pushes viewers to understand that this relationship deserves a fair chance to blossom. Where one steady arc ends, another begins, and a likely one-time thing leads to the kind of surprise ending that elicits kicking feet up and screaming out of pure joy. How I Met Your Father’s Season 2 finale might just be one of the best episodes yet when it comes to bringing friendships to the forefront.

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How I Met Your Father, like its predecessor, How I Met Your Mother, excels at cementing thoroughly compelling friendships. But one of these shows could do right in continuing to honor the friendships at the end of the series, depending solely on how writers handle the romance. Contrary to what TV tries to sell, in the real world, friends who date friends don’t always stay friends, and friends who date a friend’s ex cross a line that’s hard to come back from. Yet, what happens when everyone has chemistry with everyone on a show like How I Met Your Father? 

It’s not hard to ship almost every dynamic in this show, especially with Sophie Tompkins—the character whose point of view we’re experiencing the show from. At the moment, the show is still teasing toward developing Sophie and Jesse’s romance, but it’s not hard to see the potential between Sophie and Sid—and also, what does the future look like for Valentina and Charlie? Ultimately, like most of Season 2 so far, How I Met Your Father 2×16 “The Jersey Connection” splits characters to showcase the strength in their budding friendships, making it definitive now more than ever that the show needs to be extra careful with the romance.

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How I Met Your Father Season 2, Episode 8, “Rewardishment,” might be one of the strongest episodes in the entire season solely for what a joyous adventure it is, even when it isn’t. There’s much to unpack thematically, a good chunk of the found family feels, and, more importantly, a whole lot of bonkers laughs. At the end of the day, it’s further proof that whatever happens, this merry band of loons will stick together, and frankly, that’s what matters.

“Rewardishment” is an intriguing tactic to inspire people to get stuff done, like me, by completing this review or these characters and confronting their fears. Because ultimately, knowing you could get bacterial meningitis from drinking the drippings from the bar mat is something that would motivate me too. As would a giant bed, and here’s to hoping that the show gives us a shot of that sleepover at least once throughout the show’s run. Yet, the thing that makes How I Met Your Father 2×08 a special episode is that it’s the ultimate reminder of how much these characters care about each other, much like in “Ride or Die.”

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How I Met Your Father Season 2, Episode 7, “A Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Valentine’s Day,” is a mouthful. Both in the title and the content of what we get with a bunch of stories that ensure the characters are even more ridiculous than we thought. And it’s not necessarily a bad thing, per se, at least not until the very end…Or is it? So much of how the endgame is perceived will likely depend on who viewers are rooting for, and the added angst between Sophie and Jesse is currently making their relationship better.

But what about that ending? We still don’t know if adult Sophie is with the father, but at least we know he’s alive, which makes the eventual conclusion better than How I Met Your Mother’s. He has to be, right? Otherwise, Sophie wouldn’t say, “go ask your father.” The decision to kill off Tracy is the worst part of how the show’s predecessor handles the reveal, making all the build-up feel worse when we barely get to know her as the audience. Still, did How I Met Your Father 2×07 boil down the choices to two people, or is this something that writers will retcon later?

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How I Met Your Father Season 2, Episode 5, “Ride or Die,” does the unexpected by pulling the plug on Meredith and Jesse sooner than later. It takes yet another episode and reminds the audience that this show’s most vital asset is friendships by bringing to our screens further proof of why these dynamics work so well in an ensemble show.

“Ride or Die” goes to dramatized but ridiculously entertaining lengths to show viewers that this group is in it to the end with each other. It cements that though there will be hiccups in their friendship, they’re bonded together for life now. And while How I Met Your Father 2×05 doesn’t exactly do anything substantial or profoundly moving, taking Jesse out of the toxic situation with Meredith and reuniting him with Sid is a solid moment worth dissecting alone.

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Sophie talks a lot about kissing in How I Met Your Father Season 2, Episode 3, “The Reset Button,” and yet, none of the kissing happens. It’s a little disappointing, but it’s fine because after last week’s “Midwife Crisis,” it’s once again nice to see dynamics split apart to allow us more time with different versions of each of them.

That said, this week’s episode does even more than last week’s did because it ultimately shows us how entwined everyone is even when they’re apart. It also exhibits that Sophie and Jesse do indeed work well together. At the same time, it gives us much more of Hannah, which the series has been lacking since it began. But perhaps the most riveting thing is how it allows Charlie to step forward in an almost unexpected way for his character, and it’s precisely what makes the episode solid.

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How I Met Your Father Season 2, Episode 2, “Midwife Crisis,” should be titled the one with all the lies, but this works too. The romantic comedy continues to do a decent job of placing friendships center stage to showcase the tremendous importance of all the dynamics within the series while strengthening Hilary Duff’s Sophie as our main character. By picking apart her flaws and placing them at the root of the episode, it allows her to feel more grounded and real.

Let’s take a moment and be honest about something: Who hasn’t embellished the truth a little when we’re intimidated? Perhaps not to the dire extent that Sophie does in How I Met Your Father 2×02, but we’ve all been there to some degree. There’s also something to be said here about how one lie dramatically propels the narrative forward through comedy, and another will likely lead to an emotionally taxing outcome.

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How I Met Your Father Season 2, Episode 1, “Cool and Chill,” is the type of solid premiere that sets up what’s to come without leaving you in agony over the waiting process. It’s hilarious, fun, and doesn’t miss a single beat in addressing all the elephants in the room. While characters aren’t exactly acting like adults, they’re not acting like children either, which is an excellent first step in allowing the series more credibility in its sophomore year.

In hopes that the show will differ from its predecessor, it already feels more established in permitting friendships to take center stage. And though the relationships are a large part of the story, How I Met Your Father 2×01 is the type of episode that brings all the ugly to the surface to show what matters, which in this case are the platonic bonds equally. It’s the found family they’ve uncovered together without ever searching for one another in the first place, making it that much more glorious.

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Timing is indeed everything as How I Met Your Father‘s Season 1 finale brings us to the kind of close we expected, are frustrated by, and yet, thoroughly understand the purpose. There’s a reason we got here this way, and it’s a good one, especially considering the cameo from Cobie Smulders’ Robin Scherbatsky.

For a sitcom to succeed, it needs its ups and downs, specifically if there isn’t a concrete picture or an endgame in mind. It’s why the aftermath of “The Perfect Shot” is both frustrating and entirely amusing because most of us likely predicted it’s too good to be true anyway. Even the most incredible couples like Parks and Recreation‘s Ben and Leslie and Brooklyn Nine-Nine‘s Jake and Amy, take time to get together. Suppose this season’s thematic arc rings around the idea of timing; in that case, next season could benefit from breaking everyone apart individually to put them together in ways that’ll be more beneficial to both the plot and the characters.

The real work isn’t happening tonight, and it organically allows the characters to sit with their emotions for a bit longer, even if we don’t see it on our screens just yet.

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In its Season 1 penultimate episode, How I Met Your Father doesn’t waste a single moment dropping the kind of bombshells you’d expect from this type of sitcom. While, in hindsight, it’s nothing innovative or unique, it does plenty to continue building up the core love stories within the show.

We don’t know if Jesse is the father still, but we also don’t know if Valentina and Charlie are it for each other either. Despite the romantic arcs on this show, it isn’t a romance; it’s much messier in how it finds its footing, but it represents the corners of our reality too. There’s a lot of talk about how older Sophie doesn’t wear a wedding ring, and while that could mean plenty of things, it’s still not enough to believe the sequel will go down the same route as its predecessor, How I Met Your Mother did. Sophie and the father could very much still be in a happy relationship, sans rings, but that’s neither here nor there.

The penultimate leaves us with critical questions such as, will Jesse show up to the dinner? Why did Charlie make that face in the end? Will long distance throw a wrench in Hannah and Sid’s relationship? We’ll know soon enough, but with the season officially renewed, there will likely be more drama than happier times, even if How I Met Your Father 1×09 “Jay Street” thematically makes it clear that the friendships they’ve found are part of the love story too.

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Sometimes, fans of a series need to wait seasons to watch their primary ship even hug, and then a kiss follows shortly after; other times, it happens eight episodes into the first season. That’s the case with How I Met Your Father, which could either be a great thing or an utter disaster, but I’m choosing to put my eggs in one basket and trust that this is the story they’ve wanted to tell all the way through.

Following last week’s episode, Sophie is fixated on finding the perfect shot before a school event Drew’s invited the entire group to. Valentina’s boss continues to be the absolute worst while Charlie proves he’s everything. Sid and Ellen try to keep Meredith (Leighton Meester) away from Jesse, all while he accompanies Sophie on a last-minute trip to the dentist after she chips her tooth. In an episode that thematically orbits around seeing people for who they truly are, the circumstances that unfold between Sophie and Jesse prove that they’re right for each other.

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How I Met Your Father‘s “Rivka Rebel” doesn’t shy away from subtly showing its audience the singular impact belief could have on a person. In a short, concluding scene, it cements that Sophie and Jesse’s meeting was always supposed to be something special.

It’s no accident that Jesse finds one of Sophie’s lucky bangles in his pocket right as he says to Sid he’s happy he’s with a girl who gets it. And finding the bangle in his pocket is one thing, but his decision to place it on top of his piano after such a moment is another. You could understand right in that decision that this tiny gesture matters to him.

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