‘How I Met Your Father’: Who Will Return Sophie’s Photo? Fan Theories Include Ex-Lovers and ‘HIMYM’ Favorites
It seems Sophie’s photo of Jesse is about to have quite the journey on How I Met Your Father. Season 2 episode 3 of the Hulu series features a dinner with the buyers of the photo gone wrong, followed by Sophie (Hilary Duff) losing the photo altogether. However, Future Sophie (Kim Cattrall) reveals that someone returned the prized possession to her. But who? Fans are debating the person’s identity and whether it could have something to do with the identity of the father.
[Spoiler alert: The following story contains spoilers for How I Met Your Father Season 2 Episode 3, “The Reset Button.”]
Sophie’s photo goes missing in ‘How I Met Your Father’ Season 2 Episode 3
In episode 3, Sophie and Jesse (Chris Lowell) visit the rich couple who bought Sophie’s photo in episode 2. They meet Warren (Michael McDonald) and Megan (Jessica St. Clair) at their penthouse for dinner. To Sophie and Jesse’s surprise, the couple offers them raw bison meat — at least, that’s what Sophie and Jesse are told. Jesse is convinced Warren and Megan are cannibals. Thankfully, that isn’t the case, but they do want to sleep with Jesse.
Sophie eventually realizes that Warren is a misogynist who bought her photo to use as a backdrop in his men’s rights videos. She doesn’t want her photo to be associated with someone like Warren, so she tries to get Jesse to steal the photo back. When that doesn’t work, Sophie blows up at Warren, and she and Jesse leave with the photo.
Unfortunately, Sophie’s troubles aren’t over for the night. She sets her photo down on the back of a cab to use her phone. The cab suddenly drives off, taking the framed work with it. Interestingly enough, though, the photo of Jesse is hanging on Future Sophie’s wall. Her son asks how that happened if she lost it, and she says it’s a story for another time. So, who will give Sophie her photo back?
‘How I Met Your Father’ fans are predicting who will return Sophie’s photo to her
In a Reddit discussion of the episode, fans discussed whether Future Sophie’s comment about the photo is related to the father’s identity. One fan suggested that Sophie’s ex, Ian (Daniel Augustin) could find the photo and recognize Sophie’s work after seeing it at the art gallery in the season 2 premiere. He might hold onto it for a few years until he finds the right time to see her again. And who knows? This could lead to him and Sophie getting back together and having a child.
“That would be pretty cute actually, hope this happens,” another fan replied to the theory.
In another Reddit thread, however, fans have other thoughts about who returns the photo to Sophie — a How I Met Your Mother character, perhaps? It could relate to Sophie meeting Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris). One user suggested that it was Barney driving the taxi that took the photo. On the other hand, it could come from Lily Aldrin (Alyson Hannigan), who is an art collector for The Captain (Kyle MacLachlan). Or what if it’s Ranjit (Marshall Manesh), the limo driver?
Is Sophie’s photo like the yellow umbrella in ‘HIMYM’?
Some fans also believe that Sophie’s photo in How I Met Your Father parallels the yellow umbrella in HIMYM. Fans of the original series may recall that the umbrella traded hands between Ted (Josh Radnor) and Tracy (Cristin Millioti) a few times before they finally met and got together. If this photo is supposed to act as the same symbol, then whoever returns it to Sophie could very well be the father of her son.
In an interview with TV Insider, HIMYF executive producer Isaac Aptaker spoke on just how important the photo is to the story of Sophie and the father. According to Aptaker, it could go either way.
“I think that photo’s a really big clue, but we have to remember that’s not just about Jesse. That’s also the first photo she ever had exhibited in a real gallery,” he said. “That photo also means something to her in a huge way on a professional level. So who’s to say whether it’s about who she winds up with romantically, whether it’s about the start of her photography career, whether she just thought it looked good in her living room.”
New episodes of How I Met Your Father drop every Tuesday on Hulu.
