by Jeff Alan, Contributing Writer
When How I Met Your Father premiered, I feared it would be a cheap rehashing of its predecessor’s story, but to my surprise and relief, I found it to be a fresh take on a format I was already a fan of! The sophomore season of HIMYF brings us back into the world of Sophie (Hillary Duff/Kim Cattrall) and her gang of eccentric friends, and continues her journey of recalling the story of her path to meeting the love of her life and the father of her son.
Season Two picks up immediately where Season One leaves off, when Sophie’s old flame Ian (Daniel Augustin) walks into her art show, and they start to rekindle their relationship. Meanwhile, Sid (Suraj Sharma) and Hannah (Ashley Reyes) celebrate their impromptu wedding by inviting everyone back to Pemberton’s to have a reception of sorts. Jesse (Christopher Lowell) informs Ellen (Tien Tran) and Sid about the month-long tour that he is doing with his ex-girlfriend and now-current girlfriend Meredith (Leighton Meester). While Ian is still interested in dating Sophie again, Sophie – being fresh off the heels of her moment of heartbreak with Jesse getting back together with Meredith – tells him she is not ready to jump back into anything, and they go their separate ways yet again.
The rest of the extended second season is packed with fun and hilarious moments and stories that kept me entertained throughout. Sophie decides to discover who her father is, and it leads to some really funny moments. Val (Francia Raisa) and Charlie (Tom Ainsley) decide to remain friends after realizing they want different things, and Val overcorrects and dates a young college student named Swish (Michael Cimino), who she ends up accidentally getting engaged to, and then has difficulty getting out of it. Sid and Hannah deal with their long-distance marriage while Hannah finishes up her last year of school in California. Jesse dates Meredith regardless of Sid’s disapproval, which leads to them getting into a fight. And Ellen lands a new job and a new girlfriend in a matter of weeks.
When I heard that HIMYF was getting renewed for another season, and that it was to have double the number of episodes as the first season, I was pleasantly surprised, and now having seen the full season come together, I am not surprised at all at that decision. The new season feels like a step in the right direction for the show’s ability to step out of the shadow of its predecessor and make a name for itself! For lack of a better definition, it’s How I Met Your Mother for the millennials. It brings the decisions and troubles millennials face in their lives and relationships, and presents them in a fun and comical way, while not beating you over the head gratuitously with the dumb side of being a millennial in 2023, like the fact that we are constantly on our phones and are wrapped up in social media. There is some of that, but it’s not over the top. The show focuses more on the connections between the characters, and that’s what’s important.
The cast is also great, both in a group and independent of each other. One gripe that I have is that the group doesn’t mix up their pairings much throughout the two seasons. Sophie and Val, Sid and Jesse, and Ellen and Charlie are the main pairings, but it would be nice to see them shake things up a bit more moving forward, like pairing Sophie and Charlie up together for some hijinks, or Jesse and Ellen for more things since they are step-siblings. However, when the team is together, they are very fun to watch!
Additionally, guest stars and cameos in this season are great! Josh Peck and Meester appear as Drew and Meredith, but the season also brings in some bigger names like Paget Brewster, Meghan Trainor, Mark Consuelos, John Corbett, Clark Gregg, and Lance Bass and Joey Fatone from NSYNC. And we have two surprise How I Met Your Mother roles coming back in this season for a couple of quick scenes that I enjoyed a lot too.
Overall, this season is a really good return to the HIMYF story, and I had a good time getting to know these characters a bit more. Apart from some different character pairings that I would have liked to have seen explored more, and a season ending that is a little repetitive of a How I Met Your Mother moment that I won’t reveal, I am excited to see a third season of this if it is renewed, and have grown quite fond of the story that is laid out in front of me!
Rating: Liked It
How I Met Your Father is currently streaming on Hulu
You can read more from Jeff Alan, or follow him on Instagram, Twitter, and Letterboxd