The end of Hulu's How I Met Your Father season 2 eliminated one character as the father of Sophie's son. How I Met Your Father (HIMYF) is a spinoff of the critically acclaimed TV series How I Met Your Mother (HIMYM). The show follows Sophie as she navigates relationships and adulthood with her friend group Charlie, Valentina, Ellen, Sid, Hannah, and Jesse. Additionally, the whole series is framed by Sophie telling her son about how she met his father. Throughout the first two seasons, Sophie entered and ended a number of relationships without the audience finding out who the father is.
Despite an initially rocky start, HIMYF has shown great potential in its interesting storylines, relatable characters, and nostalgic premise. In fact, halfway through the show's first season, Hulu announced HIMYF season 2 with double the episodes. By taking a chance on this show, Hulu has opened the door to a new hit series. The 2-part season finale of HIMYF season 2 offered exciting developments for the friend group that can be explored if Hulu renews the series for season 3.
Charlie & Valentina Have A Kid: Future Sophie's Reveal Eliminates Him As The "Father"
Since the first episode of How I Met Your Father, Charlie and Valentina has been a will-they/won't-they couple. They split up in season 1 due to Charlie not wanting kids. Throughout HIMYF season 2, the two grow closer as friends, with the season finale showing the love they still hold for one another. Despite this, the two-part finale throws a wrench in the whole situation by including a hookup between Val and Drew hooking up in the Pemberton's stockroom.
Future Sophie calls Drew and Val's relationship a disaster, but she also reveals that without it, Val and Charlie would've never had their son Alex. She, then, pulls out a photo of the three, happily posing as a family. With Charlie's arm around Val and his radiant smile, they seem happily in love. This eliminates Charlie as the potential father to Sophie's child. If Charlie was the father, Sophie would've called Alex her son's brother instead of his cousin. It would also greatly betray Val and Sophie's friendship.
Who Could Be The Father After HIMYF Season 2?
With Charlie out of the picture, Sophie's child has five potential fathers: Ian, Drew, Sid, Jesse, and an unintroduced character. As of the How I Met Your Father season 2 finale, the least likely known candidates are Ian and Drew. Season 2 showed Ian in a very happy relationship. This doesn't negate the possibility that they'll break up, allowing Sophie and Ian to get together and have a son. Drew, on the other hand, is still deeply in love with Sophie. His future relationship with Val would make it awkward if he's the father, though.
The most likely candidates for Sophie's son's father in HIMYF include Sid and Jesse. Though Sid appeared an unlikely candidate at first, he and Hannah broke up at the season 2 finale. This leaves room for him and Sophie to start a relationship. On the other hand, Jesse and Sophie seem like the best pairing as they've had chemistry since the first episode. After a mishap in their relationship, Jesse went back to his ex and then moved on to a colleague. In the two-part finale of HIMYF season 2, Jesse and Sophie profess their love for one another and get back together.
Though it's farfetched, there's one other option for Sophie's son's father. In the pilot of HIMYF, Sophie states that she met her son's father the night of the engagement party. She doesn't specify when or where that night she met the father, though. As shown with Drew, the show isn't afraid to introduce characters later that weren't in the first episode. Sophie could've met the son's father on the subway, at the engagement party, at the airport, or on the Brooklyn Bridge. It's possible that HIMYF season 3 will introduce a new character from that night.
How HIMYF Season 2's Finale Parallels HIMYM Season 1's Finale
How I Met Your Father's 2-part finale parallels How I Met Your Mother season 1, episode 22, "Come On." Firstly, both finales include Sandy Rivers acting like a terrible person. Additionally, the episodes include the main couple getting into a big fight. In HIMYM, Ted and Robin get into a fight about his grand gesture of love in her apartment. HIMYF made Sophie and Jesse fight about her fear of loving him. They both make up by kissing out in the rain.
Most notably, Sid and Hannah broke up in the HIMYF season 2 finale just like Marshall and Lily did in the HIMYM season 1 finale. The two couples both went through tension, but they seemed like a solid pairing. Unlike Marshall and Lily, it seems improbable that Sid and Hannah will get back together. Sid had an emotional affair with a woman named Taylor who he met on the way to visit Hannah in Los Angeles. He cut things off and was willing to dedicate himself to Hannah. However, Hannah kissed her coworker and fled out of fear. He realized she left so quickly because it wasn't meaningless.
No Major Cameo In How I Met Your Father Season 2's Finale Means The Show Is Finally Moving On
The two-part season finale of How I Met Your Father only included a minor cameo from Sandy Rivers. The news station demoted him to the weather forecaster, and he shares that a hurricane will hit New York. Sandy doesn't interact with any of the cast. Unlike in the season 1 finale and the season 2 mid-season finale, none of the main cast from How I Met Your Mother appeared in the HIMYF two-part finale. This signals that the HIMYF is ready to move forward from the original series.
HIMYF already includes big differences from HIMYM. Hopefully, this change will allow the characters to break out of the molds in HIMYF. Audiences can stop comparing couples to Marshall and Lily. The show doesn't need a hopeless romantic who chases someone uninterested like Ted. Though the premise will still mirror that of HIMYM, the HIMYF characters can forge their own personalities and identities without the shadow of the beloved OG characters.
Will How I Met Your Father Season 3 Happen (& Should It)?
As of July 2023, Hulu has yet to renew or cancel How I Met Your Father. Based on the analytics, this series has performed well overall. According to Parrot Analytics, HIMYF performed in the top 2.7% of all shows, landing in the "outstanding" category. Additionally, HIMYF season 1 aired on Freeform from late April to late May. Taking these two factors into consideration, there's a high chance that Hulu will renew the series for season 3. Moreover, they should renew the series because they have so many directions they can go in the story. Plus, it would mean there's a chance to see Val and Charlie get back together.