The Men of How I Met Your Father Try Not to Overthink the Big Dad Twist
How I Met Your Father threw viewers for a loop at the tail end of Tuesday’s premiere, when the How I Met Your Mother sequel series revealed that Hilary Duff’s Sophie had already met the father – and he’s likely one of four men: Uber driver Jesse (Chris Lowell), Pemberton’s Pub owner Sid (Suraj Sharma), Tinder date Ian (Daniel Augustin) or British expat Charlie (Tom Ainsley). And that twist came after it was revealed that Sid and Jesse are the current occupants of the apartment that last belonged to Marshall and Lily.
“For me, [the bigger surprise] was this idea that we’ve actually met the father in the pilot,” Lowell tells TVLine. “That was something that was a departure from the original that I think is so exciting, and also unexpected for fans of the original. I love that it’s a completely different way to experience this (hopefully) multi-season mystery.”
From the onset, Lowell decided to throw out any expectations about who the father could be. “I almost have to forego all of the Future Sophie [scenes] talking about the past,” Lowell explains. “I’m just looking at the circumstances of this specific episode and what’s going on with our characters, because those are the only things that my character should know anyway.”
As for whether Sophie and Jesse might get together at some point, Lowell will only say this: “The will they/won’t they dynamic is as much about their love for each other as it is about their love for themselves, and learning what they’re actually looking for in a partner. A big part of their arc in this first season, separately, is learning who they are and what they need for themselves.”
Interestingly, Duff recently teased a “very meaningful moment” not with Jesse, but with the recently engaged Sid, who is trying to make things work with Los Angeles-based surgical resident Hannah. But just like Lowell, Sharma has learned it’s best to focus only on his character’s current set of circumstances.
“For me, it’s about living in the moment, and for Sid to be true to what he is doing at the time,” Sharma says. “He is deeply, deeply in love with Hannah and is having a hard time with the long-distance relationship. He wants to make it work so bad. At the same time, his world is changing: He’s bought this bar and he’s trying to figure that out, and he’s made all these friends who are such weirdos, so I’m like, ‘OK, that’s his world. That’s the only world.'”
Ainsley, too, has tried to shut off the part of his brain that tells him that Charlie could be Sophie’s baby daddy, adding: “I don’t think you can look too far ahead, and I don’t think it would do justice to the relationship with Valentina.”
Who do you think will turn out to be the father of Sophie’s son? Log your early predictions in the comments.
You may also like
This reminds me of how the identity of Gossip Girl was revealed right from the start in the reboot.
It’s been a LONG TIME since I’ve watched HIMYM but from what I remember Sophie’s mother died? and Ted later married Robin. Though Sophie called her Aunt Robin she looked up to her as the closest thing to a mom………I think that’s the way the show closed?
Sophie was never a character on HIMYM. Ted’s daughter was Penny. This new show is a completely separate story set in the same universe. It doesn’t involve any character from the original, yet anyway.
Any word on where in Canada viewers can watch “How I Met Your Father?” We don’t get Hulu and the series hasn’t aired here yet. I know HIMYM was shown on City TV.
I think I read it was coming to Disney plus in March for Canada viewers.
It feels like Chris Lowell is going to be the Dad!!! He’s the one she has the most chemistry with and he is obviously into her.
He’s definitely Sophie’s endgame and they end up together at the end of the series ala Ted and Robin.
But I bet he’s not the father. It’s too obvious. There’s always chance Sophie got pregnant after one-night stand with some of the other guys or something. It’s gonna be a twist.
Why would they exactly copy the plot of HIMYM but gender swapped? That would be super lazy and boring. I guess I think if there’s one thing they *definitely* won’t do, it’s that.
The son is mixed….so the father is definitely not Jesse.
I get the impression that she crossed paths with other people so the dad may not even be the core 4!
Who decided they all should have virtually the same haircut?
I’m still just surprised I didn’t hate this! Feels like all those years invested into HIMYM can at least go somewhere, if only picking up the little easter eggs.
I do worry about how a show with such an identical premise can go too long without recycling the same storylines though. I was hoping for a massive twist in the launch rather than the same old mystery of who the father is.
Who says it’s one of the guys? My bet is on her lesbian friend that was hitting on everybody at the club.
And the kid is adopted
I’m guessing Sophie ends up with Jesse, but I don’t know that he will be the Father.
That’s *exactly* the plot of HIMYM, so unless they’re really lame writers that can’t do their own thing, I hope not. I would think that they would want to pay homage to the show without copying it exactly.
The dad is definitely not Jesse, he’s the most obvious option and I’m thinking the show wants to have a twist. It’s probably also not Ian (or Drew, who it’s later revealed she also met that night) since them being the dad wouldn’t be much of a surprise either. And I don’t see Sophie sleeping with Charlie, who’s clearly very much in love with her best friend (I would argue those two are the ‘new’ Lily and Marshall).
So, my guess is it’s Sid. The pilot makes it seem like he’s unavailable (which he is, at the moment), but judging by his personality alone he seems like the kind of guy Sophie is looking for: someone who’s just as romantic as her and who is responsible, while still fun. I’m thinking he breaks up with his long distance girlfriend eventually, while things between Sophie and Jesse don’t work out (with them deciding to stay friends) and then, when both Sophie and Sid are single, they finally realize they have feelings for each other and end up together.
That would also explain why they’re not showing the kid in the future: he’s probably mixed.
My thoughts exactly.. Sid seems a good fit
After watching episode 6 (where they’re sitting in the hallway together after arguing with their current partners), I’m really hoping for Sid in the end. I think it’s going to take a long time for them to get there. But I like the idea of them being friends and growing independently before getting together.
This is what I want to happen. I feel like unless they want to do a lame copy of HIMYM Sophie and Jesse shouldn’t end up together. That’s just a repeat of Ted and Robin (even though it was forced at that point) and every romantic comedy. If they actually want to be different I hope they’re trying to throw people off the scent by having Sid engaged instead of going with the first guy Sophie meets. In a regular rom com that would be fine but if they actually want to live up to the premise of the show they shouldn’t do something so unoriginal.
I’ve been thinking all those exact same things.
I like the theory but one point is everyone keeps saying the kids biracial so they’re not showing him because it would obviously be did or Ian but if he wasn’t biracial it would be just as obvious.