Palm Springs featured Cristin Milioti as the female lead, and the movie proved that How I Met Your Mother botched the actress' role as the "Mother" years prior. Milioti starred opposite Andy Samberg in Hulu's recently-released romantic comedy movie. And after making a big splash at Sundance, Palm Springs is emerging as the hit of the summer. Much of that success is accredited to the cast, specifically Milioti, who shined in her role as Sarah.
Milioti's Sarah was a victim of the mysterious time loop at the focus of Palm Springs. Not only was she the black sheep of the family, but she was forced to relive her sister's wedding day over and over again in a Groundhog Day scenario. Thankfully, she wasn't along in the loop since Nyles (Samberg), a fellow wedding guest, fell victim long before Sarah became trapped. Though the pair used a lot of their infinite days to goof around, they also found time to reach some type of self-realization after suffering from an existential crisis. Along the journey, Sarah and Nyles fell in love before finding a way out of the loop.
The chemistry between Milioti and Samberg was undeniable. Whereas many viewers were presumably aware of Samberg's past work, the same might not be said about his primary co-star. Even though she was involved in one of the longest-running sitcoms in recent memory, Milioti only appeared in a total of 14 episodes and all but one came in How I Met Your Mother's final season. The actress played the titular Mother character whose real name was later revealed to be Tracy McConnell. The central character, Ted Mosby (Josh Radnor), spent eight seasons detailing the events leading up to meeting Tracy before she finally appeared on the series. But by the time the show came to an end, Milioti never had the time to reach her full potential. This notion was further justified by her performance in Palm Springs.
Palm Springs Revealed What HIMYM Missed Out On
Milioti was charming throughout Palm Springs but she could also jump from humor to seriousness at the flip of a switch. She lit up the screen in each scene she appeared in and held her own against Samberg, a comedy veteran. Milioti's performance shed light on what she could have added to How I Met Your Mother had she had more time to interact with the entire cast. Tracy's encounters with Ted's closest friends were brief since her presence was focused on Ted. This was a major missed opportunity since Milioti clearly had the comedic power to enhance the sitcom's cast. Instead, Tracy's in-person arc was cut short, and to make it worse, the show killed her off.
From the very beginning of How I Met Your Mother, it was obvious that the show was leading up to the introduction of Ted's future wife. It made sense why the plot was patient with her debut but the series just waited way too long for the Mother to become an actual character. Tracy should have been around longer rather than cramming her detailed arc within the already convoluted final season. Milioti would have lifted the series while also having the chance to prove herself as a member of the gang. If she could win over viewers in a movie like Palm Springs with a run-time less than an hour and a half, just imagine what Milioti could have done with multiple seasons of How I Met Your Mother.