‘How I Met Your Father’ Season 2, Episode 1: Recap & Ending, Explained: Do Sophie & Ian Finally Start Dating?

“How I Met Your Father” season 1 ended on a lukewarm note. The humor is hard to grasp, and we are hoping that the second season will pick up the pace with more layers added in, along with good callbacks. Sophie’s life changed within 48 hours of kissing Jesse, and Jesse’s life has also gone through a rollercoaster. What will we see as Sophie runs into a potential old flame? Season two’s first episode, “Cool n’ Chill,” was released on January 24th, 2023, on Hulu to give us a peek into what’s happened in everyone’s life ever since the big changes.

Spoilers Ahead


Sophie’s Choice

Sophie is surprised to see Ian at the exhibition that has showcased the photograph she clicked. Sophie, who called off a potential relationship with Jesse and broke off with Drew for kissing Jesse, is now suddenly hit by a giant wave of confusion about what to do next. Ian is someone Sophie always thought she would end up with. They knew each other well, and the fact that Ian came looking for Sophie at the exhibition makes her wonder if she should pursue Ian after all. She always thought if Ian hadn’t left for Australia, they both would have fallen in love by now. Sophie is keen on dating Ian. Ian asks her if she is romantically involved with anyone—a fair question. Sophie is carried away by Ian’s charm and admits that she isn’t dating anyone now. Sophie is stopped by Valentina, and she asks her if she is interested in Ian or if she is going ahead with him just because things did not work with Jesse and Drew. Sophie is feeling vulnerable at this point, and she would go anywhere where her heart is asking her to go. High on emotions, Sophie agrees to date Ian.


Hannah And Sid’s Wedding Blues

Hannah and Sid are feeling the blues about the fact that their wedding was not memorable. It was just the clerk at the city hall who approved their wedding by signing on a piece of paper. Hannah and Sid wonder if this is the memory they are going to live with. Coming from rather traditional families, both Hannah and Sid will have many things to worry about now that they have decided to elope, and adding to that, having almost no memory of them signing the legal document puts pressure on both of them to do something that would be remembered by them and their friends for years. They decide to throw an impromptu party for themselves at Sid’s bar, where Jesse would be the best man and Sophie would click their pictures.


‘How I Met Your Father’ Season 2, Episode 1: Ending

All of them were not aware of Valentina and Charlie breaking up. They inform everyone at the exhibit and also tell them the reason behind why they broke up. Valentina and Charlie know that it will be difficult being around each other after they went through a brief but strong whirlwind romance. But they promise each other not to seduce or sleep with each other under any circumstances. As the party is about to begin, all of them have been allotted tasks to make Hannah and Sid’s “wedding day” a lot more memorable than the actual wedding ceremony. Jesse, Valentina, and Ellen are surprised that Sophie invited Ian to the party, making it clear to Jesse that she has moved on rather quickly without giving any closure or answers. Jesse is taken aback by the change of scenes around Sophie. He did not expect Sophie to jump back to wanting Ian this quickly when they just had a small fallout over commitment. One tiny part of the whole scene is, Jesse is not aware that Sophie caught him kissing Meredith, which is a sign that Jesse will always be into Meredith, and that’s why he made up with her the moment Sophie and he had a small disagreement. The relationship died before it even took off.

Sophie has no idea how to handle both Jesse and Ian being in one room and avoids all the questions being thrown by Jesse. Jesse is embarrassed because he has no explanation for his behavior. Sophie requested her friends not to mention Jesse or Drew to Ian, for that information would probably freak him out. Sophie intends to tell Ian about the incidents that have happened to her in the past 48 hours, but right now, all he wants to do is to be happy about the fact that he’s back and he wants to be with her. She would love to tell him everything, but at the moment, Sophie is freaking out about the fact that Ian came looking for her. Charlie and Valentina, only a few hours into the breakup, cannot keep their hands off each other, for there is so much love in the air. Sophie realizes that Jesse is staring at Ian, but she makes it clear that Ian is going out with her, and she has no interest in pursuing Jesse anymore, and finally, she admits to witnessing him kissing Meredith. Jesse is taken aback by this revelation. Jesse is all confused about what to do with his life from now on. He wants to go on a month-long tour with Meredith and her band as a pianist, but he also knows Sophie might get livid with him for getting back with his ex-girlfriend. Sid also will be angry at the fact that Jesse is again giving Meredith a chance that she does not deserve. Sid believes that Meredith is using him for her benefit.

As the party goes to the next stage, Drew shows up because he is friends with Sid and Jesse from college. Drew is all drunk and crushed by the fact that Sophie dumped him. Drew liked her, and he’d introduced her to his parents as well. Sophie calling off their relationship out of the blue took him by surprise, and that’s why he shows up intoxicated, much to Sophie’s horror. She is in no mood to introduce him to Ian. She does not hurry to inform Ian about the fact that she just broke up with Drew because this will change things between them, and she doesn’t want Ian to have second thoughts about starting up with her. But Ian catches on to the fact that she and Drew broke up only recently. All three of them being in one place starts nauseating Sophie, and Ian picks up on the fact that there is something she is not revealing. Sophie informs about her situation because she doesn’t want him to be unnecessarily dragged into a drama he wasn’t even aware of. Ian realizes this is probably not the right time for him to get back with Sophie, and he also knows it would be wrong for Sophie to get into any relationship, for she needs to sort her mind out first before deciding on Ian. The episode ends with Sophie running into Barney Stinson in the coming days. It will be interesting to see this cameo and how it takes the plot of the show forward.


What To Expect From Episode 2 Of ‘How I Met Your Father’ Season 2?

A glimpse of the second episode of “How I Met Your Father” Season 2 has us all excited to see Barney Stinson. Is there a possibility that Sophie might be Barney’s daughter? It will all depend on the timeline of when Sophie’s mother and Barney met in the “How I Met Your Mother” universe. Sophie, now that she isn’t with Ian, Jesse, or Drew, will possibly not pursue them for a while since the major debacle. She will have to face Jesse again regularly and probably come to a truce on what are the ground rules they should follow to avoid bringing up the dreaded topic.


Final Thoughts

The first episode of the “How I Met Your Father” Season 2 did take the narrative forward, and thankfully the writing was not as sloppy as the last season. The humor landed quite well, and it will be interesting to see where the story will take us. The point at which the first episode ended is proof of the fact that writing had improved, and it kept us intrigued about what to expect from the next episode. The performances, though, are average, but we can only hope the writers don’t stagnate the story to accommodate throwbacks from “How I Met Your Mother.” Looking forward to the next episode.


Smriti Kannan
Smriti Kannan
Smriti Kannan is a cinema enthusiast, and a part time film blogger. An ex public relations executive, films has been a major part of her life since the day she watched The Godfather – Part 1. If you ask her, cinema is reality. Cinema is an escape route. Cinema is time traveling. Cinema is entertainment. Smriti enjoys reading about cinema, she loves to know about cinema and finding out trivia of films and television shows, and from time to time indulges in fan theories.


 

Latest articles