First things first, I am a diehard fan of the original show, How I Met Your Mother. As we all know, How I Met Your Father is a spin-off of HIMYM created by the same people, although the cast is entirely different.
If you’ve also watched HIMYM, you will know that the storyline, the narration style, the way the show is shot, and the opening credits song of HIMYF are all the same as the original show. Keeping that in mind (and my obvious bias for HIMYM), I will try to answer the most asked question about How I Met Your Father after the first three episodes were released on Hulu.
The spin-off revolves around Sophie, the protagonist telling her son how she met her father in the year 2050. Sophie’s love story began in 2022, as revealed in the first episode.
Drew or Jessee might be the father on HIMYF. It is revealed that the father was introduced in episode 1 itself. In episode 3, Sophie recalls meeting Drew on the engagement night in episode 1. This means that Drew and Jesse are the top contenders.
The original series, too, had a similar plot except the protagonist was an old man, “future” Ted Mosby, who tells his kids the story of how he met their mother. The show progresses similarly to How I Met Your Mother, and so my theories are mainly based on drawing parallels with the original show.
But I do understand that not everyone watching HIMYF has also watched HIMYM (though I highly recommend it). So don’t worry, I will explain every theory and parallel drawn for your convenience.
Who Is the Father in How I Met Your Father?
It’s just been three episodes, right? HIMYM took eight entire seasons to reveal who the mother was. So, knowing the makers and how their minds work, we aren’t getting a confirmation on who the father is anytime soon.
In the first episode, an older Sophie narrates the story and tells her son that she met his dad “that night,” which most likely indicates that we meet the father in the first episode.
This is confirmed again when her son replies, complaining that she did not even ‘get together’ with him. So that means Sophie already mentioned the father, but they did not ‘get together’ in the first episode.
While this means that you have three potential candidates we meet in the first episode – Ian, Charlie, and Jesse, there’s a twist in episode 3. On a phone call, Sophie reveals that she met Drew on the engagement night, which means he is the fourth contender. Sophie did not get together with Drew either, at least not on that night, so it only makes sense for him to be a potential candidate.
Although I am personally rooting for Jesse, here’s what I think about each one of them.
I. Ian
Sophie begins her story by saying that it all began with a Tinder match. Sophie’s Tinder match was Ian, a marine biologist who had to leave for a full-time job in Australia just after an incredible first date with Sophie.
Sophie pulls off a classic Schmosby in the episode, just like the pilot of HIMYM, and runs to the airport to let Ian know that she is up for a relationship, even if it is long distance. But Ian does not give in to her romantic proposal and explains that it will be hard.
So it does not work out.
But Ian is not gone. My bets are on Ian returning precisely on the day Sophie is probably about to move on with someone else, or her current boyfriend is about the propose. We’ve watched enough sitcoms to predict that, didn’t we?
II. Charlie
Surprisingly, many seem to think Charlie is the father because he was not portrayed to be so. Charlie is a British guy who was introduced as Sophie’s roommate and best friend Valentina’s love interest.
I guess he is meant to bring more humor to the series, a job with ‘legen-wait-for-it-dary’ standards. In HIMYM, the main asset was unarguably Barney Stinson, who brought in the humor and spark in the series. Charlie is nothing compared to Neil Patrick Harris’s iconic role, yet.
In fact, I seem to find a parallel with most of the characters and the original HIMYM characters, but Barney appears to be missing. Nevertheless, there is no hint of Charlie and Sophie having anything in the first two episodes, but perhaps that is the most significant sign?
They might be taking a Barney-Robin route. Nobody expected Robin and Barney to get together in HIMYM, but they did and still remain one of the most popular sitcom couples of all time.
Also, since Sophie’s son explicitly mentions they “did not get together” and both the other options (Jesse and Ian) had some romantic interest in Sophie, Charlie seems to be a probable bet.
III. Jesse
If you ask me, Jesse is the one I am rooting for. But he is probably the least likely to be the father as Sophie did not “meet” him for the first time in the first episode.
In HIMYM, despite all the Barney-Robin outrage, I always remained a loyal Ted-Robin shipper. I still am. Jesse is the one who gave me classic Ted Mosby vibes – the quiet lover who lets the girl go.
Though Sophie is supposed to be the Ted counterpart here, she ends up being the Robin, atleast in the first two episodes for Jesse. Jesse also seems to be knowing Sophie for a long time, so ‘that is the night I met your father’ does not work here in a literal sense.
But I am still keeping him in the loop because I do feel he will have a significant role to play even if he is not the biological father. Even if he is not the father, we can still route for him to be Sophie’s endgame like Robin was for Ted, isn’t it?
IV. Drew
Drew might be the actual father in HIMYF. After Sophie’s big reveal in episode 3, everyone’s eyes are on Drew. People think Drew might be the father. Jesse asks Sophie to date Drew and even offers to set them up. Although she declines, she does, later on, call him and make date plans on Friday. This brings Drew up close with Jesse as a potential father on HIMYM.
However, I feel that Jesse is in a better position because Drew seems to share tropes with Victoria. For instance, in HIMYM, Ted and Victoria date for the first season right after Ted and Robin decide to be just friends. The same seems to be happening in HIMYF with Sophie, Jesse, and Drew, where Sophie and Jesse decide to be friends and she starts dating Drew right after.
While the story can pivot in any direction, just like it did with HIMYM, for now, I think Drew might be a close contender, but not closer than Jesse.
Have We Really Met the Father Yet?
I know, Sophie declared, ‘that’ was the night she met the father. But trust me (especially all the HIMYM folks, hear me out), Ted Mosby said that at least 50 times in the entire show back in HIMYM.
But we still did not get a glimpse of the mother, and the mother ended up being someone we had met but not ‘seen.’ In other words, there’s a high chance that the father is none of the guys we have seen interacting with Sophie.
I mean, who knows. The makers are the ones who made How I Met Your Mother. For all you know, the father was some guy who passed by with a yellow umbrella, and none of us even noticed. Or one of the guys in the bar line or someone Sophie did not mention clearly.
It took 9 whole seasons for us to finally meet Tracy McConnell, the actual mother in HIMYM. I really don’t think HIMYF will reveal the father soon.
Before I end my rant, here’s some free advice as a veteran HIMYM fan. We know the makers. So, they already have decided on Sophie’s endgame. No matter how popular another ship gets, the endgame will remain unchanged. Also, the father doesn’t have to be the one with whom Sophie actually ends up.
It was not the case in HIMYM atleast, and the ending still gets enough backlash from fans. But that also means that the makers are aware of how unpopular the HIMYM ending was, so they might not make the same mistake again.
As of now, to quote Lily Aldrin, “You can’t just skip ahead to where you think your life should be.” Similarly, you can’t skip ahead to know who the father is. Take Mosby’s advice and “enjoy the journey.”
Also, watch How I Met Your Mother if you haven’t yet. The spin-off show is going quite well. It was a bit nostalgic to see the return of a laughing track in a sitcom, and the title song brought back so many memories, but that does not mean we forget the OG classic!
About How I Met Your Father
How I Met Your Father (HIMYF) is a spinoff series of the incredibly successful CBS show, How I Met Your Mother. The original show ran for nine seasons, from 2005 to 2014, quickly making its mark with a dedicated cult-like fanbase.
HIMYF was announced to start production in April 2021 with the Lizzy McGuire star Hilary Duff playing the lead called Sophie, narrating her journey to her children in the future.
The show’s flashbacks will start from Sophie and her close friends navigating love, life and struggles in the modern era of dating, paying bills and more, in 2021.
Created by writers Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger of This Is Us fame and directed by the original show’s director, Pamela Fryman, the first season of HIMYF is revealed to have 10 episodes. No further details have yet been released.
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