The cast of 'How I Met Your Father' shares their season 2 predictions
During the first season of “How I Met Your Father,” viewers got acquainted with the “How I Met Your Mother” spinoff’s new faces — including Hilary Duff as the show’s lead Sophie. The 10-episode season came to end on March 15, 2022, with the finale tying up loose ends but also leaving audiences with questions.
Most pressingly? We still don't know the identity of Sophie's son's father, and likely won't for some time.
Viewers will get their answers soon, as "How I Met Your Father" will return for a second season on Jan. 24 — and with double the number of episodes. Hulu dropped the first trailer on Jan. 10, and from what viewers can see, Sophie is back on the dating game and going to be dating an older guy, portrayed by John Corbett.
“How I Met Your Father,” which premiered in January, applies the original sitcom's flashback-filled format to a whole new set of characters. Speaking from the year 2050, Sophie (played by Kim Cattrall) tells her son the story of how she met his father. The series then follows young Sophie (played by Duff) in 2022, as she searches for love in New York City.
With Season One wrapped, here’s what you need to know about what’s next for “How I Met Your Father” — including the cast’s hopes for their characters’ Season Two storylines.
The stars of "How I Met Your Father" tell TODAY their Season Two predictions
While chatting with TODAY.com at a “How I Met Your Father” experience in Los Angeles ahead of the finale, the cast shared what they’d like their characters to explore in Season Two.
Hilary Duff (Sophie)
“My selfish hope for Sophie is that she gets a little more career-driven this season. Maybe her photographs start to be spotted in a few more galleries and she builds confidence in that area of her life,” Duff tells TODAY.com. “I feel like if that gets a little more sorted, the love stuff will fall more into place because she’ll have the confidence to love herself more. But I feel like our show’s hopefully going to go on for a really long time, so we don’t want her to get too sorted, too fast.”
Chris Lowell (Jesse)
“For Season Two, I hope that Jesse is able to escape the gig economy and get a stable job that comes with health insurance,” Lowell says. “I think that would be a bonus. Plenty of my friends want that. I don’t blame them.”
Francia Raisa (Valentina)
“I’m excited to see what the writers come up with. Valentina went through a heartbreak in the finale and so I’m curious to see how my relationship with Charlie and our friend group is going to be and where they’re going to take that,” Raisa says. “And honestly, I kind of want Valentina to get into some trouble. I don’t know why. I think it would be fun.”
Tom Ainsley (Charlie)
“Charlie’s journey for Season Two ... well, I hope he gets to explore his friendships a lot more. I hope he gets into a lot of trouble again. But I think with it being Charlie, that’s probably a given,” Ainsley says.
Tien Tran (Ellen)
“I would absolutely love to see (Ellen and Jesse’s) childhood. I want to know who Ellen’s ex-wife is. What is she like? What is she doing? Is she going to pop up? (She) would be so fun to meet. Who is this person that she left?” Tran says. “I hope she goes out on that date. That’s something that she’s been wanting to do since day one in New York City, and I hope she really finds herself at this potential new job in produce and using her farming skills in a positive way in New York City.”
Here’s how the first season of “How I Met Your Father” ended
The season one finale culminated in a series of makeups and breakups.
Sophie and Jesse (Chris Lowell) take their relationship to the next level, spending a passionate night together. However, after Jesse says “I love you, Sophie” in his sleep, Sophie panics. When confronting Jesse about the slip, Jesse shares that his ex-girlfriend, Meredith (Leighton Meester), asked him to go on tour with him but he said no because he wanted to be with Sophie.
Sophie feels their relationship is moving too fast and tells Jesse he should have accepted Meredith’s offer. With emotions running high, she heads to the bar downstairs — the famous MacLaren’s from “How I Met Your Father” — where she runs into Robin Scherbatsky (Cobie Smulders) in a surprise cameo, a nod to the original sitcom. After unwinding with Robin and getting relationship advice, Sophie heads back up to Jesse’s apartment, only to find him kissing Meredith.
In another twist, Sophie’s Tinder date Ian (Daniel Augustin) from episode one shows up at the art gallery where Sophie’s photograph is featured. Could he be Sophie’s son’s father?
The show’s other characters have their share of drama, too.
Charlie (Tom Ainsley) and Valentina (Francia Raisa) break up after he admits that he doesn’t want kids.
Sid (Suraj Sharma) and Hannah (Ashley Reyes) fight over their long-distance relationship and the cost of their upcoming wedding. Stressing about their future, they spontaneously decide to get married at city hall.
Ellen (Tien Tran) takes in a cat after bombing her job interview, but then decides not to keep it. Just as she’s about to abandon it, she discovers it was her neighbor Rachel’s pet. At the art show, she tells the group that she and Rachel are going on a date and she was offered the job that she thought she wasn’t going to get.
Season Two will pick up immediately after the finale, but no word on the premiere date
We know when Season Two will begin, plot-wise. Speaking to Variety, the show’s creators and showrunners Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger revealed the second season will pick up right where the first season left off.
“There’s a lot left on the table right there. So we definitely are going to revisit the immediate events,” Aptaker told Variety. “We literally cut to black, so I think we’re certainly going to see what happens the rest of that night, whether we do it linearly or jump around a little bit before we get there, I think people are gonna have to wait and see.”
Expect to hear Leighton Meester sing more in Season Two
Leighton Meester briefly appeared in the show’s pilot episode in a viral video of her character, Meredith, turning down Jesse's proposal. Then, Meester returned for the final episodes.
Given the events of the finale, which saw Meredith and Jesse kissing, Meester's role may become more prominent in Season Two. In the interview with Variety, Berger teased the possibility of the love triangle between Jesse, Meredith, and Sophie, but wouldn’t delve into specifics.
“Obviously, we see (Meredith and Jesse) kiss at the end of the season, so there’s definitely still something there,” she said. “That being said, we think it’s possible that viewers could think they break away from that kiss and Jesse says, ‘Oh, my God. What did I do?’ and backs away from her or there’s a possibility that they’re headed off together. That’s sort of up in the air as we move into Season Two.”
While not specifying her role in Season Two, Aptaker said he hopes Meester sings more. He said, "I want to record more music on the show with her."
Moving forward, there might be more “How I Met Your Mother” cameos
Smulders wasn't the only actor from "How I Met Your Mother" to appear in the spin-off. The Captain (Kyle MacLachlan) and his wife, Becky (Laura Bell Bundy), appeared in the final two episodes. Carl the Bartender (Joe Nieves) is also featured in the finale.
The "HIMYM" cameos may continue into Season Two. Aptaker and Berger told Entertainment Weekly that they have talked to “HIMYM” creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas about bringing in more of the original cast.
“I think they’re all kind of watching this one curiously, wondering if they’re going to get a phone call,” Aptaker teased. “The door is definitely open to having more of the gang return.”
Where can I watch the first season of “How I Met Your Father?”
All 10 episodes of the first season of “How I Met Your Father” are currently streaming on Hulu.
This article was originally published on TODAY.com