How I Met Your Father: Is Drew The New Victoria?

Warning: Spoilers for HIMYF episode 3!

How I Met Your Father has introduced Drew (Josh Peck) as Sophie’s new love interest, who seems to be taking on the same role as How I Met Your Mother’s Victoria. Taking a spin on HIMYM’s iconic storytelling formula, How I Met Your Father ended its first episode with a major twist, revealing every possibility for the father’s identity. This made any of Sophie’s new love interests introduced after the first episode seem pointless—until she began dating Vice Principal Drew. At the end of HIMYF episode 3, it is revealed that he and Sophie met on the night of the engagement party from episode 1, suggesting that he too is a contender for the father—similar to Victoria’s arc with Ted in HIMYM’s first season.

Although How I Met Your Mother’s pilot set up Ted and Robin as the show’s core will-they-won’t-they couple, the first season primarily saw Ted date Victoria, a woman he met and fell for at a wedding. They continued to date for most of the season until Victoria moved to Germany for a culinary fellowship, which coincided with Ted realizing Robin liked him and deciding to be with her instead. Ted and Robin finally got together shortly after he and Victoria broke up, but Victoria remained one of Ted’s most popular girlfriends on the series, who even would have become the title mother if the show hadn’t been renewed for a second season. Victoria returned in HIMYM season 7 in a short-lived romantic reunion with Ted, but realized she could never be with him because he was still in love with Robin.

Since Sophie and Jesse parallel HIMYM‘s Ted and Robin, Drew’s involvement in HIMYF season 1 appears to be repeating Ted’s relationship with Victoria. Just like how Ted and Robin decided to remain friends rather than date in the first season, Sophie and Jesse realize that although they could try becoming a couple, it’s better to remain friends for now. After Robin and Ted decided to be friends, Ted began dating Victoria, who he remained with until the end of HIMYM season 1 when he realized Robin liked him back. Directly after Sophie and Jesse decided to be friends, Sophie began dating Jesse’s coworker, Drew. Since the first few episodes establish a possible romance between Sophie and Jesse, it appears that Drew may be a red herring for How I Met Your Father‘s dad identity, or at least serve as the significant other that stands in the way of the two leads finally getting together.

Since the possibility of Sophie and Jesse’s romance still underscores How I Met Your Father’s season, it seems likely that Drew and Sophie will date until – like Ted and Robin – she realizes that she is actually in love with Jesse. Even if Sophie and Jesse just remain friends, How I Met Your Father has also set up Sophie’s unfinished romance with Ian, which suggests that he could return from Australia and come between her relationship with Drew. While Drew seems to be the most mature, stable option for Sophie as she continues to find herself and enter her 30s, his role in the long run of How I Met Your Father‘s timeline seems to be temporary, much like Victoria for Ted.

Josh Peck’s character may also be repeating HIMYM’s Victoria in the sense that he could become the title father if How I Met Your Father isn’t renewed for a second season. HIMYM’s original plan was to make Victoria the mother if the show didn’t get picked up again, so Sophie and Drew’s romance could truly be the story of her meeting her husband if the new spinoff series doesn’t return. Since Sophie’s story looks to be far from over, Josh Peck’s character Drew actually works much better if he’s serving as How I Met Your Father’s version of Victoria, thus allowing Sophie to find better closure with her unrealized romantic interests.

New episodes of How I Met Your Father drop Tuesdays on Hulu.

About The Author

Jordan Williams
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Jordan Williams is a Movie/TV Feature Senior Staff Writer for Screen Rant. She graduated from the University of Oregon in 2020 with a B.A. in Psychology and a minor in Media Studies.

Jordan is based in Seattle, Washington and enjoys exploring the natural beauty the PNW has to offer. She runs on coffee and classic movies, taking pride in having watched every film on AFI’s 100 Greatest Films list and every Best Picture Oscar winner.

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