REVIEW: ‘How I Met Your Father’ Episode 5 – “The Good Mom”

Last week’s episode saw Sophie (Hilary Duff) being worried about Drew’s (Josh Peck) perception of her after learning about Valentina’s (Francia Raisa) plans for Sophie’s  30th birthday party. In How I Met Your Father Episode 5, “The Good Mom,” Sophie decides to make drastic changes to the party, which turn out to make her hosting duties and hanging out with Drew to be extremely difficult. Jesse (Christopher Lowell) and Ellen (Tien Tran) attempt to bond as siblings but find it more difficult than expected. Finally, Valentina and Charlie (Tom Ainsley) try to spice things up rather than defying their relationship.

In How I Met Your Father Episode 5, Sophie gets an unexpected visit from her mom (Paget Brewster), which immediately makes Valentina worry about her friend. Sophie decides to accompany her mom on a night out rather than going on a date with Drew but quickly regrets her decision. Charlie attempts to help Jesse and Sid (Suraj Sharma) face past traumas. Meanwhile, a culinary quest leads Ellen to an unexpected encounter with someone new.

Sophie’s relationship with her mom took center stage in How I Met Your Father Episode 5. It was established in the pilot episode that Sophie’s parents had split and it put a strain on her childhood. In “The Fixer,” Sophie goes into detail on how her mother’s love life caused her to feel alone for most of her life. I was afraid that this character trait would be dropped to make room for other elements but was pleased that her mom was introduced. The scenes that Brewster and Duff share are authentic and it’s clear that the bad history still gets in the way of their interactions. The love they have for one another is evident but Sophie’s distrust prevents the more feel-good moments that would have been out of place in the episode. Hopefully, Brewster makes a return later on in the series in order for their relationship to be mended.

How I Met Your Father has suffered from not finding a way to blend in its other characters other than Sophie and finding a way to give them proper development. However, How I Met Your Father Episode 5 does an incredible job in blending three characters in one storyline that had the necessary development and comedic moments. With Charlie offering to help his friends, it shows that he cares about them. Jesse and Sid facing their respective traumas show signs of them wanting to move forward. The episode doesn’t completely have them get over their traumas, but seeing them try will make audiences want to root for them. The comedic moments don’t poke fun of their trauma but they do offer relief to not make their efforts seem effortless.

The narrators in How I Met Your Father and How I Met Your Mother play a major role in the overall story. While we don’t see the narrator of How I Met Your Mother, audiences have been introduced to future Sophie (Kim Cattrall) since the pilot episode. However, she hasn’t really been given much to do so far in the series. The interactions she has had with her son are connected with the story she’s telling him but don’t make an effort to deliver any sort of meaningful moment. It’s not until the very end of “The Good Mom” that audiences get a glimpse of a meaningful interaction but it’s quickly overshadowed by glimpsing back into 2022. Future Ted ( Bob Saget ) in How I Met Your Father was never shown until the series finale but was still given meaningful interactions and narrations throughout the series. Revealing future Sophie from the very beginning could have brought on more personal interactions with her son. I only hope that Cattrall is given more to do as the series progresses.

Overall, How I Met Your Father Episode 5 was an enjoyable episode and will undoubtedly be considered to be the best episode of the series so far. Making an effort to include the rest of the cast while focusing heavily on Sophie and her mom proved to be successful. With the episode ending on Sophie choosing to grow closer to Drew after interacting with her mom, it will be interesting to see what’s in store for their relationship moving forward.

How I Met Your Father Episode 5 is streaming now on Hulu.