Warning: Spoilers ahead for How I Met Your Father episode 3!
How I Met Your Father’s premiere seemingly revealed every contender for the title father, but episode 3’s twist ending solves this problem for Sophie’s future romances. The How I Met Your Mother spinoff repeats the original’s premise in which Sophie (Hillary Duff) slowly tells her son the story of how she met her father. While How I Met Your Mother took eight seasons to finally introduce the mother Tracy (Cristin Milioti), the events of How I Met Your Father’s very first episode end with Sophie revealing this was the night she met the father. The episode then flashes to four male characters introduced in the pilot: Jesse, Ian, Sid, and Charlie.
Although this was an exciting twist considering any woman Ted met in How I Met Your Mother could have been a contender for his future wife, HIMYF episode 1’s reveal proposed a major issue for the series. If How I Met Your Father had already revealed the only possible choices for the father’s identity, any other character that Sophie dated in the remainder of the series would be pointless, as audiences would know he’s not the father. While Ted dated numerous women that were clearly not going to be the mother, there was always a chance that circumstances could change, which made his extensive dating life far more exciting.
By hinting that only the four men audience had already met could be the father, How I Met Your Father risked losing the intriguing mystery of Sophie’s future and growth in the series. This also posed a problem with the introduction as Josh Peck’s character Drew, who was implied to be a major love interest for Sophie in HIMYF’s trailers. Since Drew wasn’t seen in How I Met Your Father’s first episode, it seemed counterproductive to include him as a significant romantic interest as the series suggested he wouldn’t be the father. Thankfully, How I Met Your Father introduced an exciting twist at the end of episode 3, where Drew revealed that he had already met Sophie at Sid and Hannah’s engagement party - the same night that Sophie said she met her son’s dad. How I Met Your Father’s twist is extremely important, as it explains that the flashes to possible fathers at the end of episode 1 weren’t the only choices, but just the contenders based on who the audience already knows were there.
By revealing that Drew is now back in the running for the identity of How I Met Your Father’s title dad, the series is reopening exciting opportunities for Sophie’s dating life. First of all, viewers now know that Sophie and Drew’s romance has a purpose, as he could truly be the man that she has a child with in the future. How I Met Your Father's change is also suggesting that several new characters could be introduced as contenders for the father that she met that night, creating an even more interesting roster to look at. Considering Sid and Hannah’s engagement party had plenty more attendees not yet seen, Sophie could later reconnect with another guy she met that night. It’s also possible that there’s an entire event from that night that How I Met Your Father has yet to show onscreen. The pilot episode showed Sophie going on a date with Ian, riding in Jesse’s Uber, arriving at the airport, crashing Sid and Hannah’s engagement party, and going to Ted and Marshall’s old HIMYM apartment, so there are still more unseen situations for meeting the father.
The How I Met Your Father twist is also positive for the show’s future in that viewers now know Sophie’s important relationships aren’t contained down to four men. She can now have the same extensive, wild dating life that Ted had in How I Met Your Mother without it feeling pointless or irrelevant to the story. Tracy wasn’t introduced until HIMYM season 8 and fans still grew to love her, so Sophie could still meet the father way down the line. After episode 3’s twist, How I Met Your Father isn’t confined to such a tight parameter for revealing the father.
How I Met Your Father releases new episodes Tuesdays on Hulu.