How I Met Your Father’s Biggest HIMYM Connection Is Perfect

Warning: Spoiler ahead for How I Met Your Father‘s pilot episode!

Hulu’s How I Met Your Father made a connection to the original How I Met Your Mother series, and the link couldn’t have been better. The standalone sequel, created by Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger, comes over seven years after the Carter Bays and Craig Thomas’ CBS sitcom ended. After several failed attempts in developing a HIMYM spinoff, there was uncertainty in how How I Met Your Father would connect to the title that started it all in 2005.

Whereas HIMYM followed Josh Radnor’s Ted Mosby as he sought to tell his children the story of how he met their mother, How I Met Your Father centers on Hilary Duff’s Sophie. Like Ted, who shared the tale in a future timeline with the help of narration from the late great Bob Saget, Sophie’s present-day story is being revealed by her 2050 self, played by Kim Catrall. She, too, is documenting the events of how she met the future co-parent to her child, in this case, a son. The mystery of the titular character’s identity still lingers, but unlike HIMYM, only a few candidates exist by pilot episode’s end.

Ahead of How I Met Your Father‘s debut, there was ample speculation in how the Hulu show would link to How I Met Your Mother‘s continuity. It might not be a true spinoff that shares characters, but Aptaker and Berger’s show exists in the same HIMYM universe. This is further confirmed at the end of How I Met Your Father‘s pilot episode, unveiling that Jesse (Chris Lowell) and Sid (Suraj Sharma) lived in Marshall Eriksen (Jason Segal) and Lily Aldrin’s (Alyson Hannigan) former apartment. The apartment, which Ted also lived in for a significant time, was one of the primary settings for nine seasons of HIMYM. Not only did many memorable events and hangouts take place in the apartment, but Robin Scherbatsky (Cobie Smulders) also lived there for a brief time, meaning every main character besides Neil Patrick Harris’ Barney Stinson called the apartment home. Jesse revealed that he moved into 4C after finding it available on a Wesleyan University alumni site, which was an indirect nod to Marshall and Lily. This makes for the perfect HIMYM connection as it brings back a major setting without relying on original characters for now.

There was speculation that MacLaren’s Pub would be reused as the primary hangout for Sophie and her group of friends to connect the two shows, but that was quickly confirmed not to be the case. Jesse owns his own bar, Pemberton’s, meaning that it will likely be a heavily-used location outside of the characters’ apartments. However, by using Marshall, Lily, and Ted’s former apartment, How I Met Your Father is incorporating a familiar aspect for viewers while building a new story with fresh faces. To make the connection even better, Jesse reveals that the former owners left the infamous swords over the fireplace’s mantle.

In HIMYM‘s series finale, it was unveiled that Marshall and Lily sold the apartment to strangers after Lily became pregnant with their third child. The outcome in How I Met Your Father provides brings that detail back into focus while sharing the fate of a beloved living space for so many years. The apartment connection is subtle and doesn’t distract from the new characters in the focus of How I Met Your Father, but it also opens the door for more links in the future. This setting means Sophie and her new crew are close to other familiar HIMYM locations like MacLaren’s, which could still appear in a limited capacity considering the apartments sits above the bar. Also, it wouldn’t be surprising if familiar faces from How I Met Your Mother make a visit to their old neighborhood, leading to a legitimate crossover.

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

About The Author

Kara Hedash
(1744 Articles Published)

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Kara Hedash is a features editor and writer for Screen Rant. From time to time, she dives into the world’s most popular franchises but Kara primarily focuses on evergreen topics. The fact that she gets to write about The Office regularly is like a dream come true. Before joining Screen Rant, Kara served as a contributor for Movie Pilot and had work published on The Mary Sue and Reel Honey. After graduating college, writing began as a part-time hobby for Kara but it quickly turned into a career. She loves binging a new series and watching movies ranging from Hollywood blockbusters to hidden indie gems. She also has a soft spot for horror ever since she started watching it at too young of an age. Her favorite Avenger is Thor and her favorite Disney princess is Leia Organa. When Kara’s not busy writing, you can find her doing yoga or hanging out with Gritty.

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