Tuesday’s How I Met Your Father finale argued (and then proved) that timing is everything.
If Becky hadn’t found out about the Captain’s infidelity and decided to divorce him, she wouldn’t have seized and sunk his valuable boats – including the ship in Australia that Ian’s marine biologist worked on, Sophie’s Tinder date from Episode 1. Suddenly, Ian passed out . work and back to New York, just in time to reunite with Soph for the Naomi Reisberg exhibit.
Of course, Sophie and Ian’s romance wouldn’t have happened if Sophie hadn’t cut off her relationship with Jesse. When Jesse suggested he was “all over” in their relationship – not only did he support the occasional “I love you” he blurted out in his sleep (#TedVibes), but also turned down touring with ex-girlfriend Meredith – Sophie suggested it was too much and too early. A subsequent conversation with celebrity news reporter Robin Scherbatsky (more on this comeback here) helped Sophie realize that she had overreacted out of fear, but when she returned from McLaren to confront Jesse, it was too late. He has already reunited with Mer.
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Below, series creators Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger discuss the big twist linking Ian to The Captain, explain why Sophie and Jesse aren’t ready for a relationship (yet), and tease what happens after Charlie and Val’s breakup, Sid and Hannah’s spontaneous marriage and sudden good fortune. Ellen is all in the How I Met Your Mother season 2 sequel.
TVLINE | In our last conversation, I theorized that Ian was somehow related to fellow marine biologist Naomi, also known as Slutty Pumpkin from How I Met Your Mother.
APTAKER | Yes, you made the wrong reference to a marine biologist. [Laughs]
TVLINE | Was George von Smoot – or rather the Captain – always ready to be part of the HIMYF puzzle?
APTAKER | Yes, that was almost always the plan. And like we said, we were really lucky because we had a contingency plan. [in case we weren’t able to get Kyle MacLachlan back from Australia] it wouldn’t have been as fun and cool when we were about to introduce this new, wealthy New York philanthropist. But the fact that this is the Captain and he’s a Marine, that’s always been the intention. We’re so glad it matched.
TVLINE | Just when it looked like Sophie and Jessie were about to give romance a try, you went and ruined their almost relationship. Why?
APTAKER | They still have a lot of work to do on themselves. When they met each other, they were in very difficult situations – and although it will be 9-10 episodes, Jesse is still very worried about what happened with Meredith. He’s so excited to see her, and now she’s written a song, if not an entire album, about their relationship, so he’s still in a very difficult position. And then we see with Sophie that she’s still pretty flustered and insecure about the relationship, so maybe they’re not quite ready to try it.
BERGER | When we were talking about this ending, one of the things that came up in the writers’ room was the idea of self-sabotage and the idea of getting on your own path – this idea where you can search, search, search your identity. and then they introduce themselves to you, they give you everything you thought you wanted, and you went crazy. It was something that a bunch of people in the room experienced and we thought it would be really fun to play with Sophie, which doesn’t mean that Jesse is necessarily her person, but it was definitely who she thought he should be. towards Sophie. the end of that season, and by the time she realized she blew it, it was already too late.
TVLINE | Sophie and Ian seemed like the perfect couple in the pilot, but neither Sophie nor the audience knows Ian too well. Is that part of the attraction of bringing him back now?
BERGER | I think you got it somehow. Obviously, Sophie and Ian only saw each other in a fantasy version; they experienced the fun, flirtatious, light-hearted joking version that exists in each other’s phones, and it’s very different when someone is actually in front of you in real life and you’re faced with day-to-day decisions and challenges. We’re excited to explore what it’s like when the two of them are together “IRL” as the kids say.
TVLINE | Charlie and Val break up after Charlie tells Val that he never wants children. Should we read this at all in terms of Charlie’s candidacy as one of the potential fathers?
APTAKER | No, definitely not. Many people do not want children at a certain age, and then change their minds. Many people do not want children, and then accidentally have them. There are many different paths people take to fatherhood, and just because at some point you say you don’t want them doesn’t mean they’re not in the cards.
TVLINE | I thought we were going to rehash Marshall and Lily’s fight at the end of the first season of HIMYM, culminating in Lily’s departure to San Francisco. Instead, Sid and Hannah press pause and… head to City Hall to get married. The bride and groom from the two coasts are doomed, right?
APTAKER | In the writers’ room, we all know so many of these couples where they both want a real big life and they also want to be together, but no one wants to make big sacrifices or compromise. The question is, how long can it sustain itself? We think the characters are so good together, but at the same time they are so rooted in their cities and their careers. Does it break at some point? This is what we are going to explore in the second season.
BERGER | The couple always has hope that a big step can save the relationship – you will get married or have a child. But sometimes it just means sweeping everything under the carpet and not really dealing with what can be really difficult. By the end of the first season, they have swept some of their problems under the carpet and try not to think about them. We’ll see them boil and explode as we move into Season 2.
TVLINE | Sid and Hannah’s “good news” is debatable, but Ellen’s good news is actually good: a new job as an assistant producer to Goliath and a second chance with neighbor Rachel. Is it time to give Ellen the win—or, in this case, a double win?
APTAKER | She’s been hit hard all season. [Laughs] I mean, we’ve seen her throw punches so many times that it just felt like Ellen deserved the cosmic win. We’re thrilled to see this character, for the first time since her divorce, try to get into a new relationship and try out this very different career path, where she goes from running this cute small town lettuce farm to this big corporation. We think it will be a really funny story about a fish out of water.
What do you think of the ending of How I Met Your Father? Did you suspect Ian’s connection to the Captain, or were you stunned by the revelation? Rate the episode (and season 1 in general) and then leave a comment with your full review.