How I Met Your Father: Season 1/ Episode 8 “The Perfect Shot” – Recap/Review (with Spoilers)

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Sophie’s attempt to take the perfect photograph brings her closer to Jesse, Valentina steals an expensive purse, and Jesse’s ex returns.

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Aired	3/1/2022
Network	Hulu
Directed By	Lynda Tarryk
Written By	Isaac Aptaker Elizabeth Berger Jeremy Roth
Introduced This Episode
Meredith	Leighton Meester
Fred	Dan Bucatinsky
Dr. Hoffman	Hal Alpert

Recap

The Perfect Shot – Jesse, Sophie, and Drew

Sophie’s on the quest to take the perfect photo for Naomi Reisberg’s New Voices gallery (as set up last episode) before making it to Drew’s school fundraiser that night. Along the way, she gets a chipped tooth, and Jesse brings her to his own cheap dentist whose waiting room is full of wannabe artists just waiting for their big break.

Sophie wonders if this is the future for her and Jesse, but Jesse reassures her that she has plenty of talent and a unique artistic perspective. Jesse’s car breaks down, re-chipping Sophie’s tooth and giving her the perfect photo of Jesse looking under the car hood.

The two finally make it to the fundraiser. Drew confides to Sophie that he wishes Jesse would take a full-time teaching position and “stop chasing a pipe dream,” which leads to him admitting he thinks Sophie should also get a stable job.

Later, an upset Sophie finds Jesse – the one person who never makes her doubt herself as an artist – and tells him about her fight with Drew. Jesse tells her that maybe Drew isn’t the right guy for her before leaning in to kiss her.

Grand Theft Chanel – Valentina, Charlie, Fred

Last episode mentioned how much Valentina dislikes her current job as a stylist’s assistant. This episode delves into the topic further, showing the verbal abuse Valentina suffers from her boss. When Charlie picks her up, Valentina steals (“swipes”) a costly Chanel purse to donate to the school fundraiser as retaliation against her boss.

Her move backfires when her boss notices the missing purse, but Valentina is unable to retrieve it before it’s auctioned off for $15,000. Without the purse, it’s practically guaranteed Valentina will be fired and blacklisted in the industry.

Luckily, Charlie steps up to steal the bag back. He’s easily spotted, but the two make a run for it and start making out, Bonnie-and-Clyde style.

Code “M” – Sid, Ellen, Meredith

Sid receives an unexpected visitor at his apartment – Meredith, Jesse’s ex, who rejected his public proposal. She’s looking for Jesse, but Sid leaves her alone while he schemes with Ellen to keep her away from Jesse.

Meredith finally asks them to deliver Jesse her message themselves. She’s about to drop a new single that’s expected to be pretty successful, and it’s about Jesse. Meredith anticipates it might be hard on Jesse, and she tells Sid and Ellen where Jesse can find her if he wants to talk. Sid and Ellen decide to wait until tomorrow to tell Jesse the news.

Things To Note

Question(s) Left Unanswered

1. How does Meredith’s new single frame her previous relationship with Jesse?
2. Will Sid be able to break the news to Jesse in time, or will he find out about Meredith’s new song by hearing it first?

What Could Happen Next

1. Meredith’s new single sends Jesse into doubt about romance and relationships – or leads to Jesse meeting up with her and hooking up.
2. Sophie is definitely going to break up with Drew soon, although she might try to frame her kiss with Jesse as a mistake that “won’t happen again” to prolong their relationship.

Collected Quote(s)

The way you see the world is incredible. You’re like this insane little ball of joy and hope and optimism.
— Jesse

Review

Highlights

Finally Some Stuff Happens

Some of How I Met Your Father’s previous episodes have felt like filler material, which is odd because there are only ten episodes in this short season (although the show has been renewed for a 20-episode second season). For a show ostensibly about Sophie getting together with her future son’s father, there hasn’t been a whole lot of development in Sophie’s romantic life – other than her lukewarm relationship with Drew.

In this episode, we finally see some changes though, with Sophie getting into a pretty serious argument with Drew and later kissing Jesse. At the same time, Jesse’s infamous ex returns to warn him about a new song she’s written about him, setting the stage for some larger confrontations and inner reflection in the season’s last two episodes.

Low Points

Sophie and Jesse’s Chemistry is Off

In the last episode, it felt like the show had been forcing feelings onto Sophie and Jesse that weren’t backed up by on-screen interactions, and even though this episode features heavy screen-time of the two of them, the kiss at the end still doesn’t feel earned.

Maybe it’s the acting, but I can’t buy that these two are so into each other that Sophie would cheat on her (up ’til now) picture-perfect boyfriend. Sure, Jesse has his monologue about how amazing Sophie is, but actions speak louder than words, and How I Met Your Father hasn’t shown these two falling for each other as much as it’s told us they are.

Meredith’s Storyline is Really Drawn Out

The subplot with Meredith is by far the weakest in this episode. Even though her message is an important plot point, it’s not revealed ’til the end.

Until then, each beat in her storyline is basically Meredith moving to another location without finding Jesse. She goes to the apartment, then Pemberton’s, then the apartment again, where she tells Sid and Ellen about her song, and that’s the whole subplot. The episode would have been tighter and probably packed more of a punch if she had simply showed up at the end to drop her news.

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