How I Met Your Father may share a concept and a universe with How I Met Your Mother, but the show made changes big and small to set itself apart from its predecessor from the very beginning. To name a few: focusing the camera on older Sophie (Kim Cattrall) instead of her son while telling her story; limiting the titular "father" to the attendees of a particular party; having the core friend group be virtual strangers at the start of the show - and those are just the changes from the pilot.
Shaking up the formula was a smart move for HIMYF. Reboots and spinoffs can suffer in comparison to the original, particularly one as successful and beloved as How I Met Your Mother. By making such distinct choices, the show could stand on its own outside HIMYM’s shadow. When the series did reference the previous incarnation -- such as Jesse (Chris Lowell) and Sid (Suraj Sharma) living in Marshall (Jason Segel) and Lily’s (Alyson Hannigan) old apartment - it was a subtle nod, more of an Easter egg for fans than an actual plot point.
That’s why it was so jarring when the season 1 finale dove headfirst into HIMYM lore. The episode began with the return of The Captain (Kyle MacLachlan), before sending Sophie (Hilary Duff) straight into MacLaren’s pub (her friends typically hang out at Sid’s bar, another small but important change of the show). There, she encounters Robin Scherbatsky (Cobie Smulders) After carefully creating separation between Sophie’s world and Ted’s (Josh Radnor), we suddenly have our protagonist rubbing elbows with a core HIMYM cast member.
The episode didn’t just borrow key characters and settings from the original series, either. The plot points themselves were recycled straight from HIMYM’s greatest hits. Just as Ted’s ill-fated "I love you" to Robin on their first date derailed their relationship in the original pilot, a sleep-talking "I love you" comes between Jesse and Sophie on their first date. Meanwhile, Valentina (Francia Raisa) and Charlie (Tom Ainsley) split up over differences about wanting to have children, which was a key factor in Ted and Robin’s breakup. There are plenty of conflicts to be mined from their particular circumstances without falling back on what is arguably the defining relationship conflict of How I Met Your Mother. Robin’s appearance at MacLaren’s emphasizes how familiar these relationship dilemmas are, and underscores the fact that we are retreading paths that were already thoroughly explored in the original series.
It’s a curious pivot to rip straight from past plotlines after HIMYF had made a concerted effort to forge its own path. Moreover, it’s completely unnecessary to have done so. The series already set up smart, original obstacles for their main couples. Jesse’s ex Meredith (Leighton Meester) - who broke his heart after a public proposal - returned to cause trouble for his and Sophie’s budding romance. The fact that Jesse rejected Meredith (and her invitation to tour together) for Sophie could have easily caused the same emotional crisis for her as the somewhat improbable sleep "I love you." Similarly, Charlie and Valentina are two capricious individuals who jumped into a commitment way too fast before truly getting to know one another. He gave up his family fortune and moved to another country with no prospects just to be with her.
There are instances in the HIMYF finale that prove the show can execute references and create parallels to HIMYM without sacrificing the plot’s originality. For example, the seemingly non-sequitur tale of The Captain’s divorce ends up advancing Sophie’s story by returning her paramour Ian (Daniel Augustin) from the pilot. Not only is The Captain a familiar face from HIMYM, but the storytelling device is pulled from the blueprint of that show, using wacky cutaways and creative, convoluted means of making a point. It shares the spirit of How I Met Your Mother while still building something new in the HIMYF world.
Sid and Hannah (Ashley Reyes) are an example of an effective parallel that diverges from the source material. Like Marshall and Lily, Sid and Hannah get engaged in the pilot episode, and they have some of the same relationship issues. Hannah and Lily are both granted career opportunities that would keep the couple apart (in Hannah’s case, keep them apart for longer) and disrupt their wedding plans. In HIMYM, Lily (temporarily) leaves Marshall for her art fellowship. In HIMYF, Sid and Hannah mutually decide to work through it and elope instead. Whether it works out in Season 2 remains to be seen, but the different choices these couples make highlight how different the characters are.
Sadly, the same distinction is not made for HIMYF’s other couples, even though they, too, are different from their predecessors. The show tries to differentiate Sophie and Jesse’s issues from Ted and Robin’s by highlighting the slightly altered circumstances. Unlike Ted, who only knew Robin for days when he declared "I love you," Jesse points out that his accidental slip happened after they had been friends for a while. (Though, due to the short 10-episode order of Season 1, it doesn’t feel like the characters know each other that well at this point.) Robin even counters Sophie’s story by mentioning Ted said "I love you" on their first date -- but Jesse’s slip essentially did happen on the first date. The fact that Robin is there at all to counsel Sophie through this situation reinforces that the situation is a complete callback.
Encouraging comparisons to the original series in such a way does not work in HIMYF’s favor. Where Ted and Robin’s breakup over their future family plans was a heart wrenching split between soulmates (a conclusion supported by their reunion in the series finale), Charlie and Valentina’s breakup for the same reasons just emphasizes how little they really know each other and how ill-suited they are as a couple. It’s a disappointing wall to hit when the show has asked us to overcome all the other obvious hurdles of their relationship and invest in their romance.
Similarly, for HIMYM, the "I love you" slip was a fundamental moment for the characters and the series, whereas, for HIMYF, it only represents a misstep. Ted’s "I love you" established his character as a hopeless, impulsive romantic, and kicked off the will-they-won’t-they relationship with Robin that was central to the series. Jesse’s "I love you" was a literal accident (again, a sleep "I love you" is a stretch, to begin with) and doesn’t reveal much more about his character that we didn’t know. Meanwhile, Sophie’s negative reaction to it runs so counter to her own "hopeless romantic" personality that Robin is able to talk her out of it in a brief encounter. When Sophie’s attempt to reconcile is thwarted by Meredith, the whole ordeal is frustratingly chalked up to "bad timing," rendering the "I love you" almost inconsequential.
All in all, the finale placed How I Met Your Father firmly back in HIMYM’s shadow, a disappointing end to a promising new series. In dealing with the fallout from these choices in Season 2, the show will be right back at square one trying to differentiate itself from the source material. But bringing Robin back has tied Sophie and her friends closer to the original gang than ever before. Now that the door to MacLaren’s has opened, it’s going to be a lot harder to close it again.