It’s already a glorious thing that I start work at 9 A.M., but this past Friday, March 4th, was even better because my boss decided it was a “work from home” day, so I suddenly had 40 extra minutes on my hand to cram even MORE content into my brain before work. The night before I had made a mental schedule on which sitcoms come out when so I can keep up with them weekly, so I knew exactly when to expect Abbott Elementary, Home Economics, and How I Met Your Father to name a few. When I logged onto the Hulu app and saw a nice surprise, I only assumed that Hulu had decided to be nice and release Episode 9, “Jay Street” early on a Friday – a half/mid-week release, per se – and then release the finale on Monday business-as-usual; a brilliant tactic to not delay the ending and to rack up viewership – “the tea is quite hot” if you catch my drift. Honestly, my original intent was to the newest Single Drunk Female episode, which I have yet to do at the time of me writing this article, but seeing the How I met Your Father thumbnail with a shiny “NEW EPISODE” over the top left (or right…?) corner – MM. How could I resist?
Yeah, so, it wasn’t a marketing plan, according to Showbiz Cheat Sheet, it was accidental…
BUT I got to see it, so let’s capitalize ON THAT! (did you catch that? I capitalized “on” and “that” … I’m a writer!)
So – spoiler free section, by the way, I’ll warn you when there are spoilers – something happened and I am now suddenly enjoying both life and this TV show. I don’t know if the writing truly got better or my attitude overall got generally less sour, either way, I’m accepting all of it because things are SPICING up!
The truest benefit of not having the traditional 23-episode order for your show is that you cut out all of the unnecessary, potentially muddy filler episodes that a majority of people do not enjoy as much as other episodes that carry weight and information about character or story. How I Met Your Father is getting to things and getting there fast and where this is the usual pace for the last four to five episodes in a given sitcom season… traditionally speaking, you still had fifteen to eighteen episodes to truly get the feel for the characters as individuals and thinkers, otherwise, characters suddenly flipping identities or changes to their character a bit uncomfortably fast for comfort (COUGHCOUGHPRETTYSMARTCOUGHCOUGH). Yes, I am harping on this because this is How I met Your Father’s biggest drawback – in my opinion. To others it could be the fact that it is quite boring AT FIRST; I stuck around and can say it does get better, to be fair, I also give shows/series more benefits of douts or what have you than the average person …so.
I guess I wanted to show my thought progression tri-weekly… every three-weeks-ly…? After the first two episodes, for example, I hated the show. It was boring, uninventive, and just not great. Then, episode three happened and brought me back, but then 4 – 6 was a bit weird still… but somewhat promising. It started to feel like a real show toward the end. I thought, “Dang, every third episode will be the best and only good episodes of this show aren’t they?!” and then… episodes 7 – 9… and my mouth dropped. I can’t believe I’m saying this but I might actually want more How I Met Your Father. I am… deep breath, Ivan …sad that I will have to wait for more How I Met Your Father. I grew to enjoy joining Sophie’s bizarrely scripted story and come to enjoy all of them as … well, them! I sort of just accepted this is what we have, we are getting a season 2, I’M GONNA ENJOY THE RIDE IF THAT’S THE CASE! (AND I AM). That’s where I stand currently, just sad that I am indeed not getting episode ten this Monday, but happy that I’m not getting episode ten this Monday because that means I have a week still to catch up on my other video reviews! :’) (Hey, we all love relatable manual sarcastic emojis from time to time).
Anywho, in essence, How I met Your Father‘s AWFUL pacing is a detriment for the traditional formulaic sitcom that HIMYF is trying to be, but because of nostalgia for basically Josh Nichols and Lizzy Macquire in a HIMYM world, it seems to have bypassed any real consequence that other streaming service produced sitcom of the past that I won’t name (Pretty Smart) have suffered: Cancellation. I mean, as frustrating as it may be, I guess nostalgia worked this time around! R.I.P. Finding Dory… However, that’s the biggest complaint I have about this show. Every other flaw falls nicely into line directly behind the pacing, which will be solved by Season 2 having a 20-episode order. So, in hindsight, who cares about the rest of the flaws if the main flaw is going to be/already is fixed?!
Also, I have said many things about the show, but there is ONE thing I said in the past about something that I won’t say again before the spoiler section, but I want it to be known that this guy… yeah, this brown nerd [might have] got[ten] right again and there’s internet proof this time, aka my last article! Read on to see what I [might have] got[ten] right!
SPOILERS FOR Hulu’s How I Met Your Father Season 1 Episode’s 7 – 9
You’re still here? Cool.
I’m spacing these out for those whose eyes love to wander, you lusty for spoilers you.
Things work best in three, sorry.
Okay, so! I think I am going to talk about the three episodes as a narrative whole to save time and really dive into the meat of this story. At this point, we have talked enough about the BTS-DIY -Making-of of the show, so let’s focus on story.
Jesse and Sophie’s will-they-won’t-they was teased since episode one but dropped after the biggest hint being episode 3, “The Fixer,” where Sophie meets Drew and decides to pursue Drew in a relationship. Since then, it seemed like things were going really well for Sophie and Drew. they seemed to be great fr- oh, uh, wait, boyfriend and girlfriend… heh… awkward… Sophie is realizing that they may be better off as friends than a couple because Josh Nicho- Sorry. Drew. Because Drew doesn’t, fundamentally deep down, doesn’t believe that Sophie’s dreams, career choices, and goals are viable qualities in becoming “an adult.” It is interesting because we have spent a great amount of time with Sophie doing her job as a freelance Photographer. As one myself, I will say it’s a little more stressful than they make it out to be, but they do hit it right on the nose. We do struggle and we do suffer, just like any other profession. IN fact, life is all about you getting out whatever you put in most times, having a degree won’t get you a job, but that’s a tangent for another day. HIMYF isn’t shying away from showing Sophie going through so much for her job because it’s really not just a passion-turned job… it’s Sophie. An artist doesn’t art. An artist lives, breathes, and fully is art. It’s not something that is turned on and off for a job, it’s just there constantly running until we die. Art.
This all sparked from the fact that Sophie and Valentina landed Sophie an opportunity to get one of her photos featured in a famous magazine run by Rivka Rebel’s mom, who rejected Sophie in the past but now considered her since Sohpie and Valentina got shots of Rivka when no one else could (they convinced Rivka and her friends that Rivka stole and are on Adderall but they only stole aspirin instead and Sophie and Valetina would tell their parents if they did not comply). Episode 7 was truly really funny just watching Sophie and Valentina struggle as young artists trying to make it in the real world with jobs that literally, quite literally, nobody takes seriously, yet has the potential to make the most money if done right. HIMYM shied away from showing the struggle of being an artist with Lily being one, so it’s a nice feeling for me to be validated – especially the NOT HAVING HEALTH INSURANCE, HAHA (laughter quickly turning into sobbing). The artist’s struggle was the catalyst that finally made Sophie realize that, perhaps, Drew may not be the one for her …perhaps, that person is Jesse, who she ends up kissing inadvertently cheating on Drew.
This is where things get SUPER interesting! It brings up the debate of “good cheating” versus “bad cheating.” “When is cheating considered to be good versus considered to be bad?” It’s a dicey topic for them because they bring up that “it’s okay when cheating leads you to your soul mate and marriage.” Yet, nobody ever brings up the other person who is left in the dust, which is Hannah’s concern. Hannah was offered an opportunity to stay in L.A. for an additional year and a half and now that Sid is gloriously happy with Sophie and Jesse cheating on Drew, it didn’t settle well with Sid. I think that these are huge discussions to be had with your partner and when things happen, honesty is truly the best route with which to go. Often, honesty and humility lead to a truly sorry and repentant heart, which leads to partners forgiving and working toward something better. But, that cannot always be the case, I realize.
Sid and Hannah aren’t the only ones whose relationship suffers, however. It goes without saying, but Sophie and Drew are obviously heading toward a tough discussion, which ends with Sophie in a true-to-life SITCOM situation and losing a Rock, Paper, Scissors battle with Drew’s mom in order to win the right to give Drew bad news! Sophie womans up and tells Drew, in a sweet way, that they are not right for each other. In a way, Drew may have known that deep down inside, but perhaps not. Prestige and money can blind people in a special way. Drew is a sweetheart, but he is not for Sophie, but is Jesse really for Sophie? Adult Sophie has a print of that photo of Jesse in her home hinting that they, at least, have not ended at the VERY LEAST their friendship in the future. That piece is not only her first award-winning piece to be put in a gallery, but it’s the moment that Sophie realized she needed to stand up for herself and take for once instead of just give or go with what’s easy. Sometimes, going through hard times and suffering a little bit can make us truly appreciate what we value most, otherwise, we become desensitized to hard work and the feelings of others around us. I know I have been guilty of that many times, but I try to do better every day. This is why I am starting to enjoy (i won’t say love quite yet) How I Met Your Father because of the relatablity. This is why jess and Sophie are starting to like each other, as well. They relate with each other… which could be a bad thing.
Financial struggles are the number one reason a marriage or a relationship does not work out. So, if the two struggling artists get together too soon, that might be a problem for them. In fact, Jesse’s ex returned in a hopeless attempt to get back together with Jesse, and Jesse, looking for closure, ends up accidentally standing Sophie up. Ouch. I don’t think Jesse and Sophie are going to end up together. Maybe for a half-season or a full season or two seasons! There’s no reason why we can’t see them work out for a bit then realize it does work out only short-term, but long-term is hurtful for the health.
I am sad to bring this one up, so I will bring it up fast and briefly. Charley is having second thoughts, again. After Valentina failed to celebrate soccer with Charlie at the bar, in fact, nobody did, he is homesick and having cold feet about having moved out to “the Americas” and be with Valentina, who admitted that she hopes to be married and have children with Charlie one day after making the whole apartment look like England, because SHE LOVES HIM. Instead of that making him happy.. it made him SAD because it seems he is no longer in love with Valentina… Oof. Big oof. He swore Valentina was not just another girl she ran across the world to be with. He swore that Valentina was different and that he loved her. He swore that he wouldn’t run back to England and leave her like he has done the other girls. WHY ARE THERE SO MANY POTENTIAL SEASON TWO LILY’S?!?!?!?!?
I GOT IT RIGHT WHEN I SAID THE SEASON WOULD END WITH EVERY COUPLE BEING BROKEN UP.
Now, that’s just me being presumptuous because the finale can turn out to be anything and I could be wrong and look like a FOOL and I will slap my neck and say, “my bad!” Nevertheless, episode 9 ends with so many doubts about the future of each character, (minus Ellen. She still seems thrown into the mix a bit just to have more laughs, I guess? It seemed rude that she wouldn’t know or care what “Code M” means in the first place if Jesse truly meant that much to her). I think season 1 is heading where I said it would be heading: everyone is going to break up and the series will end with everyone being single. I am beyond sad and somewhat happy to be right. For once, my knowledge of characterization and PR/Advertising would pay off in some way!
You can catch How I Met Your Father every Monday on Hulu until the finale next week, March 14th!
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