In episode 8 of How I Met Your Father, the gang sets individual goals for each of them to complete and get a reward or face punishment. The episode is streaming on Hulu.
Recap
Sophie returns from a far-off job assignment and complains about the travel when someone suggests learning how to drive. Valentina says that she and Sophie got the learner’s permit in college but decided that driving is too dangerous and pointless.
When Charlie mocks them, Ellen mentions that he doesn’t know how to shave because he grew up with an in-house barber and is too afraid of doing it himself. He hits back at Ellen and brings up her rude co-worker Rhonda who Ellen cannot confront.
Sid tries to chime in when his inability to chug a beer is brought up and he gets an idea. He says that he and Jesse came up with a thing called rewardishments back in college where they would either reward or punish themselves if they were able to complete a task within a given deadline.
He sets a deadline of 48 hours so that everyone can complete their tasks and Ellen suggests the reward be a group sleepover where they join all of their beds. As a punishment, Sid says they will each have to take a shot of the bar mat “drippings”.
Jesse wishes all of them good luck but Sophie asks him what his goal is. He says he’d rather not take part but when pressured, he mentions that there is one hula trick that he was never able to perform during his hula days.
All of them initially have trouble with their tasks while Valentina changes hers altogether. While taking an eye test at the driving school, she admits that she can’t see well and is too afraid to put contacts in her eyes.
Charlie tries to shave his leg for practice but gets a cut and Sid takes him to the hospital. At the hospital, he shaves a random patient’s chest to build confidence and eventually completes his task.
They got to the bar to celebrate where Valentina is trying to put on her lenses. Charlie suggests celebrating his accomplishment and keeps adding pepper to Sid’s drink until he needs something to cool down.
Charlie places a beer in front of him and Sid chugs it down. Charlie is happy with the progress and decides to help Valentina but the pepper in his fingertips burns her eyes. She’s taken to hospital but the experience toughens her up and she succeeds in putting on the contacts later on.
Sophie goes for her driving lesson but freaks out when she has to take a left turn and another student drives them to the hospital when the instructor has a heart attack. Jesse and Ellen go to her office so that she can practice confronting Rhonda when Rhonda shows up.
She says she came in to feed her snake but the snake gets loose and bites Charlie. Luckily for him, Rhonda had the poison sacs removed but Charlie still ends up at the hospital after Ellen finally gives Rhonda a piece of her mind.
Jesse sees Sophie at the hospital and tells her that he’ll help her learn to drive. He calmly instructs her and she completes her goal so Jesse is the only one left.
He admits to Sophie that it’s more a psychological thing because the last time he tried it, his mother had flaked and there was no one from his family supporting him.
They go back to the bar and Sophie says that all his friends are now so he can definitely do it. Jessie successfully does the trick but they cross the deadline by 10 minutes. The end up taking shots of the drippings and collectively get bacterial meningitis.
Review
- This is a fun episode involving all the primary characters and seamlessly linking their stories. It is well-written and can be considered a solid filler episode with a few key narrative progressions.
- The main cast has wonderful chemistry with each other and this is one of those episodes that showcase it perfectly. You can mix and match them up in any combination and they tend to deliver.
- The pacing of the episode is comfortable and this series is perfect to casually enjoy for anyone who’d like to unwind. There’s a good balance of humor and romantic exploits throughout.
How I Met Your Father season 2 episode 8
Director: Phill Lewis
Date Created: 2023-03-14 10:00
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