Episode 4 of “How I Met Your Father” Season 2 was one of the slowest episodes, screenplay-wise. It took the viewers through the understanding of Sophie and Valentina as toxic friends that find relief in their loner friend Deirdre. Deirdre ends up writing a book on them, which puts Val and Sophie in a confrontational mood. They question Deirdre’s reasoning for making them seem like toxic friends. Deirdre, who claims to be on the path of positivity, ends up showing her negative side. On the other hand, Charlie’s gesture to the woman he had a one-night stand with backfires when the woman thinks his gesture is a sign of him wanting to date her. Sid and Jesse, though, are on two different sides when it comes to Meredith. Jesse, to finally make things clear, asks Sid not to be his friend anymore if he cannot understand that Meredith and Jessie are in love.
Spoilers Ahead
Setting Valentina Up
Sophie announces that she and Valentina are heading to the suburbs to meet Valentina’s parents. Valentina especially did not know they were both meeting up with her parents. Valentina is not keen on meeting her folks because every time she heads home, they set her up with a stranger, hoping that she will start dating him, fall in love, and get married. This behavior of her parents makes Valentina not want to meet her parents often. Valentina tries to stay away from her parents because they have made up their minds about Valentina not wanting what they have. Her parents met in high school, fell in love, and have been happily married ever since. Valentina, though, is not keen on being set up. One thing she knows is that she is adult enough to understand who to date and who not to. Her parents’ constant need to make sure she finds someone to be happy with puts her not just in a bad mood but also makes her want to stay away from them and only meet them whenever necessary.
Sophie has the opposite view on Valentina’s parents. She finds them lovable and affable and thinks they always look out for Sophie and Valentina. Sophie finds them attractive and sees them as the kind of parental figures she never had growing up. Sophie’s gravitation towards them stems from the fact that her mother never bothered to know what was happening in her life. Sophie needs to have a parental figure, be it motherly or fatherly. This is the reason she wants to hang out with Valentina’s parents more than she should. Valentina, though she understands Sophie’s need to want the same, never stops her best friend from hanging out with her parents just for the sole reason that Sophie never had the privilege of stable family dynamics. Looking at Valentina’s parents makes her want to think, “If only she had parents like them.”
Meredith And Jessie On Tour
Meredith is on tour, and with that comes a barrage of press junkets she must fulfill to make sure she remains the talk of the town and, of course, relevant enough to make her other concerts sell out. Jessie is visibly uncomfortable with the amount of media exposure thrown at them. But he is also uncomfortable to see Meredith being okay with their relationship being public. Meredith has no qualms about being in the public eye and talks in detail about her relationship with Jessie. In the process of making her song a bigger hit, Meredith goes all out to let the audience know she and Jessie are back together, and the new hit single is all about her regret over having broken up with Jessie before.
Even though Jessie is highly uncomfortable with so much of the publicity on social media as well, he is unable to convey to Meredith that he does not like the limelight. He loves her, and he does not want to be the man who would stop her from doing what she thinks is right for her. Jessie is not a male chauvinist, but he wants to feel heard in this relationship, too, which makes him uneasy with the endless amount of exposure to the public. If only he and Meredith could have a chat about this situation he is in, it would be easier for him to understand the matter and probably move on and be with her for the tour. They seem to have reached a point where Meredith only has her hit single in her mind, and Jessie is fixating on them being in a public way too much.Â
Sid’s Dilemma
Sid is still bummed by the fact that Jessie has asked him to back off and stop being his friend. If Sid cannot understand the fact that Jessie and Meredith are together, Sid will just have to deal with it. Understanding Jessie’s anger, Sid plans not to attend the concert and stays back alone while the rest of them head out. Sid has never been alone on his own on the weekend. He is either with his girlfriend, now his wife Hannah, or most of the time; he is spending time with Jessie and the gang.
Sid’s decision to stay back gets to him, and his mind starts spiraling. Sid is bummed, but he knows Jessie; he doesn’t intend to fight with his best friend for many years. Jessie is too occupied to be thinking of Sid, but Sid’s mind goes on overdrive. Sid is missing Jessie, but being an adult, he sticks by Jessie’s decision not to talk to him and lets him give his guy the space he needs. Sid is not upset at Jessie because he knows Jessie will soon be back, and all will be forgotten.
Season 2, Episode 5: Ending Explained
As Sophie and Valentina reach Valentina’s home, Sophie is more than happy to see her parents. Sophie is excited to meet Valentina’s parents because they seem to come across as concerned parents, which is what Sophie always wanted as she grew up. Valentina’s parents end up inviting Oscar on a prospective date, this time not for Valentina but for Sophie. She is excited to know of this surprise, and she states she cannot wait to meet Oscar. Valentina is taken aback by the amount of interest her parents showed in setting up Oscar with Sophie and not her.
Valentina is shocked to conclude that her parents don’t understand her at all. She is also astonished to know that her parents think Charlie, her ex-boyfriend, does not exist. Her parents only saw his picture once and never met him in person. They refuse to believe he exists. Valentina dreads coming to her parents’ place at Sophie’s insistence. She is tired of making them understand her life and choices. To prove to them that she is worthy of Oscar’s attention, she starts to be herself in front of him. Sophie is shocked to see Val trying to take the man away from her, and they have a big chat in Val’s bedroom. Sophie has never seen Val be so competitive in pursuit of the same thing that she is. She knows her taste in men is different than Sophie’s, so she is unable to decipher Val’s strange behavior.
Val decides to take Oscar away from Sophie when she realizes how stupid she sounds. Val has never chosen men over Sophie for best friends before any man. Val understood that her parents made this setup to make sure Sophie and Val would compete because of Val’s jealousy. She finally understands her parents’ plan and goes ahead and makes a fake scene in front of her parents to make it look like Sophie and she are breaking up over a man. Val knew this plan would work, and her parents instantly apologized. Val also reveals that it was all a ploy to make them understand not to mess with them by bringing a guy in between. It is their code not to let any man come between their friendship, which is more important to them than the love of their lives.
Charlie was the love of her life; Val still has not given up hope on finding the right partner for herself. She makes it clear not to bother her when it comes to finding the right partner. She will find someone just like they found each other. Val has been sensitive about this subject since the breakup, and that’s why she makes it clear by communicating that once and for all. Sophie stands by her friend’s decision to have a talk with her parents about her relationship status. Sophie is an amazing best friend here. Even though she has a soft spot for Val’s parents, she stands by her friend’s plan to make a point. Oscar, on the other hand, is intrigued by Sophie and asks her out on another date with him. Val and Sophie’s stood the test, and it is easy to understand the bond they share. Val will never betray Sophie, and vice versa.
Jessie, at the concert, is taken aback by the fact that Meredith is simply okay with adding her rejecting Jessie’s proposal onto the montage of her hit single. Jessie is uncomfortable with the thought of Meredith being okay with practically everything private and intimate being shared for the benefit of her popularity. Jesse wants to draw a line here, and with that thought in mind, he politely asks her to remove the one video that caused him humiliation, from an incident he is sensitive about. Meredith refuses to remove it, stating the video is the reason she wrote the song, and she is not willing to compromise on that. Jessie understood her point of view, which is that she would choose her popularity over his emotions. She probably used the relationship to make sure her single became more popular by being willing to share her whole life with her followers. But she refuses to just understand his state of mind and is unwilling to talk about it. On the stage, Meredith finally announces that she and Jessie have broken up, which shocks Charlie, Ellen, Val, and Sophie.
Charlie, on the other hand, engineers a rather naive plan to reunite Sid and Jessie. A plan he thinks will work out because it will make Sid want to come to see Jessie and thank his best friend. After the breakup, Jessie calls up Sid only to see him coming to meet him. Sid and Jessie reconcile when Charlie is happy to see his plan work out. Sid reveals that the cookie sent by Charlie had allergens to which Sid’s body reacted. Sid realized he wanted to see his best friend’s performance one last time before he died. The EMT saves him in time for Sid to rush to be with Jessie on his biggest night, which turns out to be Jessie’s saddest night. Even though Jessie and Sid had a fallout, this did not stop Jessie from calling Sid the minute he broke up. Jessie still wants his best friend in the event of a breakup, and he does not let any ego stop him from calling Sid. Sid did the same thing. Wondering if he would die immediately put him in a crisis of mind where he realized he could not die without meeting his best friend. In Episode 5 of “How I Met Your Father” Season 2, there were two different kinds of bonds and friendships shared between the four leads, which made them want to put their friends before anyone else. Val and Sophie choose to let no outside factor mess with their friendship; Sid and Jessie choose one another by not bringing pride.
What To Expect From Episode 6 Of ‘How I Met Your Father’ Season 2?
The next episode of “How I Met Your Father” Season 2 will be about Jessie getting over Meredith, a scenario Sid is aware of. Jessie will try to make contact with Sophie, hoping she will be interested in being with him. Sophie, on the other hand, might again fall into a conflicted state of mind with Oscar and Jessie showing interest in her. A scenario she is also familiar with. The plot trudges through this storyline, hoping to see what Sophie chooses again.
Final Thoughts
The fifth episode of “How I Met Your Father” Season 2 felt more on a level playing field, where the humor landed, the narrative moved forward, and there was an arc of friendship discussed rather smartly. The writing does not let you down, wanting the audience to know how the episode will end. The breakup was not inevitable, but it was not expected this early in the second season. It would be interesting to watch how the writers take the narrative forward.
