Although many How I Met Your Father fans want a cameo from Barney on the sitcom spinoff, there is another How I Met Your Mother character whose season 2 return would make even more sense. Since none of the characters in How I Met Your Father have any direct canon connection to the stars of HIMYM, it can be tough for the sitcom spinoff to ground cameos from its predecessor’s lead actors. For example, Robin’s season 1 finale cameo acknowledged its own silliness as the show’s heroine Sophie wondered why Robin would even want to talk to her.
Similarly, bringing back Barney wouldn’t be an easy task when time has not been all that kind to the HIMYM lothario’s schtick. However, bringing back one of Barney’s exes in How I Met Your Father season 2 could allow the show to build on Sophie’s established character without stretching credulity within the show's universe. Having already brought back Kyle MacLachlan’s The Captain, How I Met Your Father could now facilitate the return of one of Barney’s most important romantic partners.
Since Becki Newton’s Quinn wasn’t part of HIMYM's central quintet, Sophie meeting her wouldn’t be too unrealistic despite her already encountering Robin out of the blue. Quinn, Barney’s long-term love interest and fiancé before Robin, shares Sophie’s How I Met Your Father character flaw and it came to define her story on the original series. How I Met Your Father could have Quinn talk to Sophie about her fear of commitment since it was this that eventually ended Quinn and Barney’s engagement. Interestingly, though, Quinn remained happy without Barney, proving that Sophie doesn’t need to be in a relationship to be happy—something that How I Met Your Father hasn’t been fond of showing her between dating Ian, Drew, and Jesse in the first season alone.
Throughout How I Met Your Father season 1, Sophie’s lack of interest in a long-term committed relationship has been viewed as an inherently bad thing. In the season 1 finale, Sophie loses Jesse to his ex, Leighton Meester’s Meredith, because she isn’t able to return his “I love you” fast enough, and earlier in the season, her perceived flightiness and lack of realistic goals is what ends her relationship with Drew. However, there is nothing inherently bad about Sophie not wanting to settle down—something proven by Quinn’s happiness after she and Barney parted ways.
Although Quinn was seemingly bitter and frustrated at Barney when he encountered her at his bachelor party, this turned out to be a ruse perpetrated by Robin. In reality, Quinn was happy to have avoided marriage and ended up content, a rare win for a minor How I Met Your Mother supporting star. Much like How I Met Your Father fixed the Captain by making him less likable—and making Ted’s betrayal of his trust more reasonable by proxy—the spinoff could also make use of Quinn’s happiness in singledom by introducing her to Sophie. This How I Met Your Mother cameo could reassure the How I Met Your Father star that her fear of commitment is no fatal flaw, something the heroine could do with knowing before season 2 starts.