Season 2 of How I Met Your Father continues to follow Sophie and the gang as they go through significant events in their personal and professional lives. All episodes are available on Hulu and Disney+.
Story
Jesse and Sophie’s brief tryst is over even before it properly begins as Jesse gets back together with Meredith and agrees to go on tour with her. Sophie tries to move on and has multiple opportunities to do so.
Sid and Hannah navigate their first few months of marriage dealing with the long-distance situation, while Val and Charlie reach a major roadblock in their relationship.
Ellen enjoys her time with Rachel before it meets an unfortunate end, and Jesse eventually realizes that Meredith isn’t the one for him, although he takes some time to find out who is.
Performances
Hilary Duff continues to be a charming protagonist who is easy to root for. Her character is well-rounded and Duff does well with every aspect of Sophie’s personality.
Christopher Lowell supports her well and provides a suitable foil for all of the other cast members throughout the season. He’s yet another “everyman” character who is incredibly relatable.
Similarly, Francia Raisa, Suraj Sharma, Tom Ainsley, and Tien Tran serve up wonderful performances as an enjoyable cast isn’t always backed up with stellar material.
Positives
Season 2 of How I Met Your Father has a consistent tone that is very casual and fun with the occasional depth-filled episode making it quite an easy watch.
The directors have handled the cast well and capitalized on their brilliant chemistry perfectly. They have stuck to their strengths on most occasions and produced some wonderful arcs.
The writing is strong as it does balance humor and more intimate situations deftly. There is a variety of relationships portrayed throughout the season.
Negatives
Having a 20-episode season is a bold decision and unfortunately, it hasn’t exactly panned out the way the creators would have hoped for. The elongated season means multiple arcs dipped in and out which made things a little uneven.
Despite trying to differentiate itself from HIMYM, there are some very clear parallels that can’t help but be drawn, and that creates a bias toward the show that they would have wanted to avoid at all costs.
Verdict
How I Met Your Father season 2 feels like a throwback to shows of old that ran longer seasons complete with filler episodes and while there are certainly wonderful moments to enjoy, the season on the whole isn’t exactly impressive. It’s a simple, fun show that can certainly be enjoyed casually but isn’t a must-watch.
Also Read: How I Met Your Father season 2 episodes 19 and 20 recap & review
