Warning: Spoilers ahead for How I Met Your Father season 2, episode 1.
The fact that How I Met Your Father season 2 brings back Josh Peck’s Drew proves the sitcom spinoff is keeping one welcome How I Met Your Mother trick alive. It is not uncommon for sitcoms to introduce short-lived love interests only to forget about them mere episodes later. From Brenda Song’s underutilized New Girl character to Mandy Moore’s wasted Scrubs heroine, sitcom history is littered with talented stars who have been introduced and swiftly forgotten by shows over the decades. However, not every sitcom is guilty of this trope.
The How I Met Your Father season 2 premiere, “Cool And Chill,” brings back Josh Peck’s Drew, a level-headed love interest who Sophie dumped in the penultimate episode of season 1. Drew’s presence screws up Sophie’s reunion with Ian, her love interest from How I Met Your Father‘s pilot. Drew’s comeback is justified via a believable gag wherein he was invited to a party because he and Sophie broke up only a day earlier and her friends were not up-to-date on her love life. This ensures Peck’s role in the episode is more than an unlikely cameo.
How I Met Your Father Season 2’s Guest Role Copies HIMYM
Unlike many sitcoms, where girl-of-the-week love interests are dropped after a few episodes, the unexpected reappearance of Josh Peck as Drew proves How I Met Your Father has no intention of wasting its lead character’s former love interests. How I Met Your Mother also twisted sitcom convention by bringing back these minor characters to illustrate their lasting impact on the main characters’ lives. While How I Met Your Father’s Jesse and Sophie romance will dominate proceedings in season 2, the spinoff still manages to keep the original show’s best trick alive when Drew’s cameo fleshes out Sophie’s story, just like Ted’s returning How I Met Your Mother girlfriends once did.
It would have been a waste if How I Met Your Father viewers never got to see Peck again after the Drew and Sophie breakup, which is the same reason How I Met Your Mother brought back Sarah Chalke and Jennifer Morrison’s characters long after their break-ups with Ted. Not only that, bringing back short-lived love interests also allowed How I Met Your Mother to comment on the conduct of its hero. The return of Ted’s love interests in How I Met Your Mother often proved he was as toxic from their perspective as they were from his. Similarly, Drew’s return highlights Sophie’s own relationship foibles.
Why How I Met Your Father Needed This HIMYM Trick
The return of Ted’s love interests routinely allowed How I Met Your Mother to portray its lead character in a new light, offering updated perspectives on old relationships. The trick also gave misused returning stars more screen time than they originally enjoyed. How I Met Your Father season 2 does exactly the same thing with Josh Peck’s Drew in “Cool And Chill.”
Peck’s return gives Drew a lot of solid lines, but also proves that Sophie is in a messier place than she wants to admit, and is not ready for the commitment of dating Ian. While How I Met Your Father has its problems compared to its predecessor, the spinoff needed to copy this guest star ex-partner technique to avoid wasting Drew’s potential and add more depth to Sophie. So far, bringing back How I Met Your Mother’s approach to returning love interests has proven perfect for How I Met Your Father season 2.
