Episode 10: I’m His Swish
Sophie (Kim Cattrall) explains to her son in the distant future that when you are young it is easy to think that older people have all the answers. She proceeds to tell him that since she has been dating Robert (John Corbett) it has made her incredibly happy.
At Pemberton’s, Sophie (Hilary Duff) meets her friends, and she is giddy with glee over her relationship with Robert. While Sid, Val, Jesse, Ellen, and Charlie (Suraj Sharma, Francia Raisa, Christopher Lowell, Tien Tran, and Tom Ainsley) are happy for her, they remind her that she is so infatuated with her new boyfriend, that she has barely paid attention to any of them.
Sophie regales her friends about the amazing dates that she has been on, and the only thing that Jesse wants to know is if Robert has a life alert necklace. (A funny joke that always works when a younger woman dates an older man. Come to think of it, I think Ted Mosby used the same joke on Robin in HIMYM.) The razing about the age difference continues with Charlie asking if Robert sleeps in a floor length nightgown, and Ellen mimics some old timey snoring.
While she takes their ribbing in good fun, Sophie tells her friends that Robert will be there soon, and she would like to see the end of the old man jokes. Robert sneaks in, and overhears a joke about his age, and when the friends learn it’s him, they are shocked by how young he looks. (John Corbett is so cool.) Ellen is awestruck, proclaiming that Robert can’t be old because he is beautiful. (Tien Tran is hilarious, and the perfect person for moments like this.)
Robert and Sophie say goodbye to the gang, and while they discuss what their next date is, Jesse laments to Ellen about how disappointed he is that Sophie is so attracted to Robert. He had hoped it would be a novelty moment, like Sophie’s previous obsession with wearing a top hat. (This side bit is brilliant.)
Charlie is begging Sid to reassure him that he will age as well as Robert, and while Sid tries to calm his worried friend, he ends up revealing to Charlie that he sees grey hair. Later, Ellen joins her brother in the apartment to distract him from his misery over Sophie and Robert. Excited to spend time with her Jesse, Rachel (Aby James) calls and wants to get together, but Ellen reluctantly stays to comfort her brother.
The worry over grey hair has turned into a nightmare for Charlie and Sid. Together they are staring at a mirror in the bathroom, thinking about how fast they are aging. They both agree to take better care of themselves so they can age as well as Robert. A promise is made to not do anything drastic. Both head to a spa asking to look young forever.
Planning her date back at the apartment, Sophie is surprised to see Val return with her much younger date Swish (Michael Cimino) who is a college student. Sophie tries to get rid of Val claiming they are ridiculous, and that Robert is on his way over, but Val isn’t buying it, and vows to not go anywhere. Both agree to share the apartment for the night. (This will not end well.)
Back at the spa, Charlie and Sid are getting the full tour. It’s not a pleasurable experience for either guys. Speaking of bad experiences, Sophie and Robert are trying to enjoy their dinner, while Val and Swish dance to really loud club music. Fed up with the noise, they invite Val and Swish to join them for dinner.
Charlie and Sid have survived their first treatment but are made aware that if they want something quick the next treatment involves needles. At the apartment, Jesse is returning with the pizza when he walks in on Ellen and Rachel. Shocked, he drops the pizza, and Ellen feverishly apologizes to her brother. Encouraging him to move on, the two join Jesse at the bar in hopes of meeting someone new.
The detente between Sophie and Val collapses and they start attacking each other for their choice of boyfriends. Sid and Charlie learn how they will look in twenty five years if they do nothing, and it’s not pretty. Both guys beg to be injected with everything possible.
Jesse has an awkward encounter with a girl at the bar, while Val comes clean that she is not serious about Swish. The two friends reconcile, and while Val explains why she likes being with Swish, Sophie has a realization that she is the female version of Swish.
It seems that an awkward introduction was not a failure for Jesse. Walking back to his apartment with a girl from the bar, he is shocked to see Charlie and Sid in the apartment, and they look terrible. Wondering what happened, they describe the awful experience they had at the spa.
Testing to see if she is Robert’s Swish, Sophie learns that Robert is not trying to avoid making plans with her, he’s just tired and wants to go home to bed. An unexpected proposal from Swish gets Val to say yes. Thinking Swish will forget about it tomorrow, Sophie in 2050 tells us that Swish won’t.
Episode 11: Daddy
Sophie is trying to pack for her weekend away with Robert but wants to know what is happening with Val and Swish. Are they still engaged? Val says they are still engaged, but she believes he will get cold feet and call it off in 24 hours. Sophie in the future informs us that this is not the case. Thinking that Swish is in his dorm room trying to figure out how to break up with Val, we learn that Swish is calling home asking for his parents to send him his grandma’s engagement ring.
At the bar, Charlie announces to Ellen, Val, and Jesse that it is Lost & Found day, and the friends get to scrounge through the lost and discarded items left behind at the bar. Jesse gets a watch, Val gets a book on home haircuts, which Jesse identifies as his, and wants back. Figuring that there must be something special about the book, Val refuses.
Sid is getting ready to fly out to see Hannah in Los Angeles. On the plane, he learns that he is sitting next to a famous rapper named Lil Toasty. Sid saves the woman next to him from being hit on by Lil Toasty and they strike up a conversation. Both commiserate over their long-distance relationships.
At Robert’s country home, Sophie is loving the wine but concerned that she might be dating her father. Robert talks about going to a Jane’s Addiction concert in the 90’s and gives similar details to how her mother describes how she met her father. This thought has derailed Sophie’s evening and wants Robert to show her pictures from the concert.
Jesse has challenged Val for ownership of the book, which leads to Charlie and Ellen creating a challenge for them to complete at the bar. Both must assemble outfits from items in the Lost & Found box. Val wins the challenge and discovers a hidden note in the book.
Back on the plane, Sid is talking to his seatmate about the challenges of a long distance relationship. From the time zone difference to difficulties of feeling close with their significant other. While Sid struggles with the complexity of his marriage, Sophie is shocked to see a picture of Robert from the concert, standing next to her mother (Paget Brewster). Is Robert her dad?
She texts her mom a picture of Robert, and then jumps out the second-floor window. Driving away, and hoping to get her mom on the phone, Sophie collides with Barney Stinson’s (Neil Patrick Harris) car.
Before Sophie could apologize for the accident, Barney starts his mantra of apologizing for being a serial philanderer and possibly having duped her for a one night stand. (We get the greatest hits from Barney for all his past misdeeds.) Sophie stops him and says that she was not trying to exact revenge, she’s just having the worst night of her life.
Not sure what to do, and worried she is going to go broke to the fanciest perv in New York City, Barney makes a deal with Sophie. If she tells him the twisted sordid details of how she might be dating her dad, Barney will cover the cost of the car himself. Sophie tries to tell him that is a weird challenge, but Barney loves weird challenges.
Jesse and Val meet quietly at the bar, and we learn that Jesse wrote a love song about Sophie and tells Val that he still has feelings for her. Val agrees to never tell anyone about the song, and Jesse is happy to move on.
In the midst of her story to Barney, Sophie gets a text from her mom saying that Robert is not her father, and now Sophie is thinking about how she ran away from another great guy. Barney asks who she pictured as her father when she was a kid, and she says Bryan Cranston. Barney talks about how he pictured Bob Barker as his dad. Telling her that after a great friend of his lost his father, (shoutout to Marshall Eriksen) Barney tracked down his dad before it was too late. Asking Sophie if she ever thought of finding her father, she admits to wanting to, but is scared.
Barney talks about how the best thing that ever happened to him was his daughter Ellie. She was the motivation for him to change. Telling Sophie that if she does choose to track down her dad, it won’t fix all of her problems, but it will be great. Barney offers to cover the cost of the car.
Sid arrives at Hannah’s (Ashley Reyes) apartment, and while happy to see his wife, he’s even happier to see his friend from the plane has followed him on social media. Back in New York, Robert meets up with Sophie, and they talk. She tells him the whole story about the concert, and her thinking he was her father. Both know that their relationship can’t survive this story, so Robert leaves.
Sophie walks back into the bar and tells everyone that she and Robert broke up and that she wants to find her father. Before leaving the bar, Val puts the song Jesse wrote back in the Lost & Found box. (I like how Val plants this seed for a future discovery. I’m guessing the next Lost & Found day will be near the end of the season.)
Bill’s Final Thoughts:
A great couple of episodes, with some hilarious moments, which makes for a great addition to a very successful season.
John Corbett gets a special commendation for playing the older man character. He’s funny, likeable, and someone that seems to match well for Sophie. There is no way this relationship lasts, and it doesn’t.
Having Neil Patrick Harris come back as Barney, and in the way that he did was a perfect way to show fans of HIMYM how their beloved man child has grown and changed. He is still Barney, but while his presence was hilarious, he played a critical role in helping Sophie through a difficult moment.
There is something unique about a show like How I Met Your Father. It’s not meant to be a serious look at the pratfalls and problems of being in your 20’s finding the love of your life. There are silly, and downright ludicrous moments that make for great moments of comedy, but there is another quality that runs through the show that displays empathy, warmth, and a slice of humanity that we all wish we could be.
I like this show a lot because for once I can sit back, relax, and enjoy the humor, while not being on the edge of my seat witnessing unspeakable violence, or wonder about the dastardly deeds of a wealthy family bent on destroying one another. How I Met Your Father makes me laugh, and I am grateful for it.