How I Met Your Father: Season 1/Episode 6 “Stacey” – Recap/Review (with Spoilers)

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A couples’ getaway to a bed & breakfast turns sour, while Ellen and Charlie’s housewarming dinner experiences a few hiccups of its own.

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Aired	2/15/2022
Network	Hulu
Directed By	Phill Lewis
Written By	Isaac Aptaker, Elizabeth Berger, Donald Diego
Introduced This Episode
Grant Rose	Matt Letscher
Mia	Margo Harshman
Sid’s Dad	Indrajit Sarkar

Recap

Sophie, Meet Stacey – Sophie, Drew

When Hannah and Sid invite Sophie and Drew on their weekend trip to check out a wedding venue, Sophie is psyched to have sex for the first time with Drew. But her excitement is dampened when Hannah mistakenly calls her Stacey (Drew’s ex).

Sophie’s even more upset when internet sleuthing reveals Drew and Stacey went to the same bed & breakfast together – despite Drew’s pretense that he’s never been there before. Sophie messages Valentina a few choice words about Stacey, only to realize she’s accidentally DM’ed Stacey herself.

After Sophie tries and fails to delete Stacey’s subsequent texts to Drew, he confesses he lied because he and Stacey got in a huge fight that weekend. Sophie and Drew make up and make out (and more, although Future Sophie’s son interrupts before things get too steamy).

Sid and Pemberton’s Origin Story – Sid, Hannah

While checking out the bed & breakfast for the wedding, Sid tells its owner the story of how he bought Pemberton’s.

As a child in India, Sid’s father always wanted him to become an American doctor. But after he got into med school (where he met Hannah), Sid realized he liked spending time at Pemberton’s much more than medicine, so when Pemberton’s former owner died, he dropped out and took over ownership of the bar.

It turns out Hannah’s been harboring resentment towards Sid for making such a big decision without consulting her, and the two get into a big fight later. Sid realizes he should have told Hannah first, but that he just wanted to do something for himself for once. He apologizes with a KitKat and promises they will make all their big life decisions together from now on.

Ellen and Charlie’s Housewarming  – Ellen, Jesse, Misa, Charlie, Valentina

Charlie receives his first paycheck as a bartender and invites everyone to his and Ellen’s apartment for a fancy (if meager) housewarming dinner.

Jesse brings Mia, the girl he’s been seeing, who turns out to be Ellen’s most recent lay (and an insufferable activist). Ellen begs her not to tell Jesse, but when the truth comes out, Jesse admits he wasn’t really into her – he just hates being single. He’d rather be at the bed & breakfast (supposedly to be with Sid and Hannah, not Sophie, or at least that is what he claims).

Meanwhile, Charlie is fed up with Valentina talking about her exes all the time and mentions that he’s moved to another country for a woman many times before – to Valentina’s deep offense. They fight but makeup when Charlie burns his passport to prove his commitment to Valentina (doesn’t he need that…?). They both say they love each other for the first time.

Question(s) Left Unanswered

1. If Charlie’s moved across the world to be with women before, what is so special about Valentina that made his family disown him?
2. I feel like Sid kind of glosses over the point that Charlie working at Pemberton’s is “completely illegal.” So, is Sid just paying Charlie under-the-table, and why would he put his business at any type of risk doing that?

Review

Highlights

A Thematically Cohesive Episode

This is the first episode in this show that actually ties together the different subplots in a satisfying, cohesive way. Based on the theme of “you can’t escape your past,” we have Sophie comparing herself to Drew’s ex, Hannah bringing up a past grudge, Charlie and Valentina fighting over exes, and Jesse dating Ellen’s former fling.

What’s more, the show finally stops cutting between present and future in this episode and just opens and closes with Future Sophie. This structure provides a much stronger unity across the episode, as Future Sophie ties all the stories together with her closing commentary.

We Learn More About Sid

We get more insight into Sid’s background, from his childhood in India, his time in med school, and his decision to own Pemberton’s. It fleshes out his character and incorporates his ethnicity in a way that influences, but doesn’t control, his narrative.

How I Met Your Father has certainly been leaning into the backstories of its characters – from Sophie’s unhealthy relationship with her mom to Jesse and Ellen’s messed up childhood as siblings. Details about the past make these characters feel more grounded and relatable, as well as give them room to grow.

Trouble in Paradise?

This episode finally introduces some real drama into Sophie and Drew’s relationship, and even though they make up, it is a bit of a red flag that Drew was able to lie so easily and convincingly to her in the first place. Adding flaws to seemingly perfect Drew definitely makes him more realistic and their relationship more interesting.

Similarly, Hannah and Sid get into a fight that gets resolved in a somewhat mild manner. No grand gestures – Sid essentially promises to do better by Hannah, but actions speak louder than words. Only time will tell if he follows through or if their engagement will falter (perhaps mirroring Marshall and Lily’s season 1 finale break-up?).

Low Points

Talking Fixes Everything

The subplot resolutions in this one are not particularly interesting. Sophie talks things through with Drew, Sid talks things through with Hannah, Charlie talks things through with Valentina (well, he also burns his passport, to be fair). Even Jesse’s date with Mia just casually fizzles out (she leaves while he’s talking about Sid and Sophie).

All this talking means that the ending doesn’t have much of an impact. “We had a fight, and we talked it out” just doesn’t make for an entertaining story, although it does leave viewers to wonder if these fights are truly resolved or if they will resurface in the future.

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