I sat down multiple times last Tuesday to film a review right after watching the sixth episode – because I am doing an “every three episodes review then do a single finale review” thing, after all – and I had absolutely no time to sit down and edit it until these past two days where I discovered the review was really poorly done. I hated it. Honestly, it’s taking all of my energy to even try to care about recreating what I had said but actually concisely and fully. so, bear with me if my grammar diminishes or there are a considerable amount of typos because this guy has too much on his plate to be fancy and I am quite frankly done with so many speed bumps this week alone.
Obviously, spoilers ahead.
I am currently writing this review while 2067 on Hulu plays, and let me tell you, that movie is POOR. There’s my quick review on that movie.
How I Met Your Father episodes 4 – 6 misses the mark on humor, characterization, and, frankly, directing. Looking at other shows like I Love Lucy and Brooklyn Nine-Nine, one could see how those were directed with the actors being allowed to be as whacky as they possibly can be with creative antics and not just tired old sex jokes that need to be explained (BOE -Big Owner Energy. Massive eye-roll). Sophie’s character should be like Ted – an obvious and crazy weirdo who is funny and outlandish at times. Those characteristics were given to Jesse, which is the wrong move because the show is about Sophie, yet Sophie isn’t even a Jess Day from New Girl who is ditzy, oft clueless, but still very smart and mature when need be! Sophie is just… a person. Maybe she was written this way to allow the audience to project our own wants, desires, emotions, etc. onto her to live vicariously throughout Sophie, but that’s just cheap and poor writing if it is. Those types of characters usually don’t work; frankly, I don’t think that is what they were trying to do. In episode 1, Sophie seemed like she was supposed to be, but was likely directed poorly and they had what they had. Either way, I know Hillary Duff has range and I am waiting to see it. That “I am SEEEEEEX” line was so awkward because she seemed as though she didn’t want to say it with which to begin! Either way, the characters can improve – links directly into writing and directing.
This brings me to my next point about characters and writing. Sid is supposed to be the “Marshall Eriksen” of the new show. He’s a genuinely, honestly, purely stand-up dude (as well as Charlie… what a man, we’ll get to him in a second). I love his wisdom paired with humility (because wisdom is usually paired with pride) but his willingness to still be impulsive, childishly friendly, and knowing how and when to have fun. We all got this from the get-go. At the very least, I didn’t know Sid loved his bar as much as he is claiming (I say “claiming” because we legit haven’t seen it) he loves his bar. We got a really nice backstory about the bar and why he bought it, but I was never once clued into his absolute love for his bar until he told the story SIX EPISODES INTO THE SHOW. I felt this moment and the weight of it was wasted because the proper setup wasn’t given to us before this. It would have been nice to establish Sid by maybe showing him obsess over the countertops by putting napkins under the glasses (even though bars don’t need them) and just being overtly careful – an overprotective bar owner, that’s funny! This whole show is riddled with specifically sex jokes, one-liners that usually don’t land, and little characterization. I know we are supposed to learn about characters as time goes on, but we at least should see how they live, regardless. I shouldn’t have been told Sid loves that bar, I should’ve been able to see it for myself from the beginning, it wasn’t. That’s what I’m talking about, it’s just not that well-thought-out.
Next Let’s talk about Charlie and Valentina, again. Oh man. I hated – capital HATED Valentina. She was not funny. She was a jerk to Charlie for five episodes. She was just a mess of a human being and needed to step out of the show. It turns out Valentina… is Valentina supposed to be the “Barney” of this show but redone in a “modern way”…? Either way, they did right by having her finally admit to Charlie that she does, indeed, truly love Charlie (after getting mad at him for having followed other girls across the world IN THE PAST yet, IN THE PRESENT she was sleeping with other dudes without charlie’s knowing and coaxed him along to join in the openness of a relationship even though, he did not want to do that. Ugh). In any case, Charlie is awesome and hilarious and a very loveable guy, Valentina imperatively needs to consider herself lucky – no, blessed Charlie hasn’t already left her, because she gave him every reason to leave. However, I do love that she learned a lesson with Charlie also having learned how to understand her as a woman who has her own set of needs, as well. It was a beautiful moment and Francia Raisa, the actress who portrays Valentina, did a beautiful at acting the scene out!
Finally, there is Sophie and Drew (I am skipping Jesse and Ellen because Ellen feels crammed into the show from the start and Jesse for some reason seemed to take the backest backseat these past three episodes, so…). Their story continues, of course, and we see them grow their relationship, seeing comparisons between the two (opposites attract, etc.). Episode 3 “The Fixer” has been my favorite episode so far (as it should, I discovered recently that Dan Levi wrote it and yas, queen, love me anything Dan Levi – phenomenal creator and writer! CLEARLY as seen by how well this episode was written), but episode 6, “Stacey” comes close. In that episode, every couple was experiencing their own issues and problems due to the lack of proper communication. I honestly thought this would be a great finale episode and have every single character break up and have everyone be single in season 2, just how Marshall and Lily spent a majority of season 2 being broken up and trying new things, which everyone and their mothers (and fathers) hated at the time, haha! Either way, that did not happen (yet it still could, who knows) and everyone stayed together. I loved how each person humbled themselves and learned a lesson with their partner. It was touching to see something work out for once rather than it not… UH-GAIN.
All in all, I do think How I Met Your Father is improving. Yes, it’s been a rocky start with blatant nostalgia-baiting with the apartment, theme song, and entire IP, but, as I said in my recorded review BEFORE news broke that Hulu renewed HIMYF for a second season, I think the creators of this show, which were the writes of the last show, have a plan in mind! I think they have at least three seasons at the very least planned out and maybe even more mapped out. I canimagine them saying, “I know at the time, it will not look like much… but trust us.” And I am choosing to trust them. It doesn’t mean I won’t be critical about the show, it just means I will have more to talk about in the future and am excited to have more How I Met Your Other content!
Speaking of, Hulu renewed the series for a full 20-episode order! That’s so much more than Hulu (and subsequently FX [and subse-subsequnelty, the rest] allows for their shows. They, and other streaming services, usually give 6, 8, 10, or 13 episode orders; I don’t know why. It just is. However, I think Hulu totally listened to the audience when we all said that 10 episodes would be NOWHERE NEAR ENOUGH for a HIMYF story and, oh boy, it’s true. The first season is rushed, the pacing is off, but that’s blaming the 10 episode order. Sitcoms have longer seasons because there’s only so much you can tell in 22 minutes with both situation comedy and overall storyline. It’s why shows like Workaholics and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, which are shows about primarily nothing, has shorter seasons because there’s only so much one can write, watch, and produce. In either case, I AM EXCITED BECAUSE THAT MEANS WE COULD BE GETtING SEASON 2… THIS FALL OR WINTER! – That is, if they go full force into production, if not, they may choose to wait a whole YEAR AND A HALF to make the 2023 Fall TV Season. Only time will tell.
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