How I Met Your Father pilot recap: introductions, proposals, and apartments
The following contains SPOILERS for the How I Met Your Father pilot
The sequel series to the long-running show, How I Met Your Father’s pilot was filled with introductions for the audience and characters alike.
Described as a standalone sequel to Carter Bays and Craig Thomas’ hit sitcom How I Met Your Mother, that similar formula is back seven years after the original show ran its course. This time around, Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger are at the creative helm, and with their first homage to the original series, this Hulu series kicked off the same way, with the future version of the main character explaining to her offspring how she met their father. The How I Met Your Father pilot starts in 2050. Future Sophie (Kim Cattrall) calls her son through video chat to explain this love story, and — thanks to some wine — her son will be hearing a lot of unnecessary (and saucy!) details. Audiences do not see what her son looks like, but more on that at the end…
How I Met Your Father pilot: The main characters meet
Future Sophie goes on to explain how it all started with an Uber to a Tinder date in 2022. Sophie (Hilary Duff) gets into her ride from Jesse (Christopher Lowell), who is bringing his best friend and roommate Sid (Suraj Sharma) in the passenger seat. Sid has planned a whole proposal and surprise party for his girlfriend, who is his surgeon long-distance girlfriend in California. Sophie meets up with her date, who she had been texting for weeks before this, and has an amazing first date with Ian (Daniel Augustin). However, Ian is about to move to Australia for his marine biology job, and he and Sophia don’t kiss so they won’t know what they could have had.
When Sophie returns home, she finds her best friend Valentina (Franzia Raisa) has just returned to their apartment from London fashion week with a little extra baggage in the shape of a hunky British aristocrat named Charlie (Tom Ainsley). Because he fell for someone in a much lesser economic class in Valentina, his family cut him off. While Sophie clearly is not thrilled about this, her bond and relationship with Valentina are shown off beautifully with bestie trusting bestie. After realizing her phone was switched in the Uber with Jesse and Sid, Sophie makes her way to the location of Sid’s proposal: his bar, Pembertons.
How I Met Your Father pilot: Sophie gets her phone back
Sophie, Valentina, and Charlie make their way to Pemberton’s where they are greeted with an emphatic “SURPRISE!” since Jesse is tracking Sid’s phone and believes his best friend is bringing his future fiancée through the doors. After some classic comedy bits about someone walking into a surprise party that is not for them, everyone goes back to hiding and waiting. Sophie finds out Jesse was on the wrong end of a viral proposal gone wrong, while Charlie and Valentina bicker about how dirty New York City is compared to Charlie’s old pampered life. The two lovers also are introduced to Jesse’s adoptive sister Ellen, who just moved to NYC following her divorce to the only other lesbian in their small Ohio town.
Sid and his girlfriend Hannah (Ashley Reyes) arrive at the engagement surprise party, where Hannah says yes! As Sophie makes the decision to go try and salvage her relationship with Ian by going to the airport, Hannah gets a call that she is needed back in California that night. So with Jesse driving, Sid, Hannah, Sophie, Valentina, and Charlie all head to JFK airport. While Sid and Hannah say their goodbyes, everyone else watches Sophie try and save the one good romantic option in her life right now. Ian understandably still goes to Australia and gives her a “someday” to ease the fact it is unlikely. Sophie takes this with stride and walks across the Brooklyn Bridge on her own — something she once wanted to do with the love of her life.
How I Met Your Father pilot: a twist with suspense
After some googly eyes from Jesse for Sophie being romantic and Valentina mending things with the snobby Charlie, Ellen wraps everything up — while being slightly mean. Even though they are literally mostly strangers to one another, the six of them decide to head back to Jesse and Sid’s apartment. The hallway is giving some nostalgia vibes, and that is solidified when a “4” is on their apartment door, which opens to reveal it is the same apartment from the original How I Met Your Mother series where Ted, Marshall, Lily, and Robin lived in at one point.
Back in 2050, Future Sophie explains that it is the night she met her son’s father. This is all well and good, but that is the night where she met four different men for the first time in Jesse, Sid, Ian, and Charlie. As mentioned above, since we do not know who the son is, what he looks like, or his ethnicity, the audience does not actually know who the father is.
Who is your favorite character so far? Which man do you think will be the father? Will Ellen find a new love in NYC? Let us know your answers or your general thoughts on the How I Met Your Father pilot in the comments below!
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New episodes of How I Met Your Father premiere every Tuesday, only on Hulu!