The eighth Episode of “How I Met Your Father” Season 2 was all about the gang facing their fears, which would lead to a mega reward. A pact was made by all of them to achieve the task of facing their biggest challenge and making sure nobody gave up. This leads to plenty of mishaps, but almost all of which find a way to complete their task. They sadly end up losing the bet, but it helps them master a skill they thought they would never think of mastering. The group is bonding better than they could ever imagine, and it will possibly lead to plenty of good news. Where do they go from here?
Spoilers Ahead
Perks Of Being Val’s Best Friend
Episode 9 of “How I Met Your Father” Season 2 begins with all of them trying to do the planks in Sid’s bar because why not? A group of friends gather around and indulge in some fun activities. Sophie is happy to see she outperforms the boys. This group so far does not seem dysfunctional, but they are happy to be there for each other during good and bad times. Valentina, who just got a promotion at her workplace, styled a celebrity for the upcoming premiere of a musical. Her only concern is that the said celebrity is very picky and choosy and has mood swings. But despite all the troubles, Val is hoping this will be her big breakthrough in the world of styling celebrities. She might be able to move on to become an independent stylist as well. Val is glad to have taken a stand and quit her job. Her resilience made her boss look into her talent and offer her a promotion, which she took. The promotion led to her getting the chance to style high-profile celebrities like Daphne Dupree, who is starring in a Broadway musical, and Val now has the premier tickets for the same. She invites Sophie to join her, and Sophie is beyond excited to attend a high-profile party that will be filled with celebrities. Sophie finds the perks that come from being Val’s best friend. She is more than happy to be attending a party where she can run into people she might have seen only on the screen.
The Welcome Protocol
Jesse reveals that he has started dating a girl named Dana, and he would like his friends to meet her. Sid is against this idea because Jesse has only been on one date with Dana, and he thinks introducing her to Sid, Charlie, and Ellen is a disastrous idea. Charlie and Ellen are also not keen on Jesse’s idea to meet his date because they think it would put pressure on the girl way too soon. Sid recommends dating the girl for two weeks before deciding to introduce her to the rest of the gang. Jesse, being himself, does not want to take it slow. This is probably his way of moving on from Meredith. He is trying hard to get over the heartbreak, and fast-tracking the date with Dana will probably help him get over her faster. Sid does not recommend that he do this, but Jesse has made up his mind and has put across the demand of invoking “the welcome protocol.” The welcome protocol involves all the friends chipping in to make sure they put up a good image of their friend in front of the date, making a date think the person he or she has chosen is the right person. The friends butter up and elevate their friend’s personalities. They experimented with “the welcome protocol” on Ellen’s girlfriend Rachel, where Sid and Jesse would make sure they said good things about Ellen, Charlie would tell absurd stories, Val would make sure Rachel found something interesting in her line of work, and Sophie would be the one laughing at Ellen’s jokes. These tricks worked for Rachel, who is still Ellen’s girlfriend, and she likes the group as well. Jesse intends to repeat the feat without Val and Sophie.
Does The Welcome Protocol Work Out? Will Val Somehow Save Her Career?
Sophie and Val reach the party, and they cannot believe they are at a high-profile celebrity event. Val is looking forward to parading Daphne and hopes that will help her get more clients. This could be her make-or-break situation if the night goes well. It’s tough for Val to know that styling Daphne has been a nightmare of sorts, but finally, Daphne picked the clothing of her choice out of many trials. Sophie, though, starts indulging in the fancy food in front of her when she meets Chef Robert, who makes all the food. He initially comes across as funny but also as a snob who thinks he is the only one who knows about the food he makes. Sophie finds him kind of rude but also interesting enough to have a conversation with. Robert is keen on making Sophie eat the food the right way, and she is feeling a little taken aback by someone who is not just obsessed with making her understand how his food is to be consumed but who also comes across as someone keen on talking to her. Sophie does not understand that Chef Robert is trying to flirt with her. Sophie came for the party just as a strong support system for Val, for she knows how important this gig is for her best friend. Whether she succeeds or fails, Sophie will be there for Val. Sophie, though, notices a big mistake made by Val, and that is just the tip of the iceberg.
Sophie is the first one to notice Daphne’s ensemble is perfect, however she points out to Val that there are not one but two women wearing the same dress as worn by Daphne. Daphne, being the insecure person she is, will surely be intimidated by other women wearing the same dress as she is, and Sophie and Val try to salvage the situation because if she loses Daphne, Val’s career will end before it even begins. Sophie offers to help her by spilling sauce on one woman, and as a way to help her, she offers her coat to cover the fact that she is wearing the same dress as Daphne. For the other woman, Sophie is forced to give up her dress. Sophie, though, ends up waiting in the pantry in her innerwear, unable to connect to Val, who promised to get some coats for her. Sophie, being a good friend, offers to put herself in an uncomfortable situation to make sure Val does not lose her job. Val wouldn’t have asked for Sophie’s help if she wasn’t desperate. Sophie’s dress maneuver does not work because the woman is enamored by the fact that Daphne is wearing the same dress as her. Daphne sees the commotion that ensues and is livid at Sophie for not doing her work, and she considers firing Val. Daphne is also desperate for work, and she hopes to be a part of a musical that will jump start her career as well. Val understands her point of view and her situation, and she offers to help do something that would be good for Daphne’s PR exercise. Daphne comes out and acknowledges the fact that she is so happy to see the women who wore the same dress as she did. She puts forward a façade of being down to earth by acknowledging that women need not be jealous. This serves the purpose and the fact that the celebrities are equally insecure about their status in public, and yet they have put on a face of being sensitive and considerate so that their image never tarnishes. Val helps Daphne from here, and she can only hope it will help fuel her career.
Sophie, on the other hand, is stuck in the pantry in her innerwear when Chef Robert accidentally walks into the pantry, not knowing Sophie is in there. They both start conversing, and he offers a hotel robe to her and takes her to the kitchen. Once they start conversing, they seem to like each other, even though their meeting is brief. Robert is attracted to her, and Sophie also feels she might like him. Robert is quite a bit older than Sophie, and he asks her out for dinner. Sophie understands the situation she is in; she politely declined his offer. Chef Robert and Sophie could have hit it off because their chemistry seemed fine, and they seemed to like the conversation with each other. It is just Sophie; she may still be hanging onto Jesse, and that was probably the reason why she turned Robert down. Robert is also keen on dating Sophie, but he understands the age difference would be an issue, which is why he made it clear about the elephant in the room, which is that he is a lot older than Sophie.
Jesse brings Dana to the pub to start working on “the welcome protocol.” The gang ends up liking Dana because she kind of understands who they are as people. All of them relate to Dana, and they give Jesse a good review of her. Jesse, on the other hand, bails and claims that he doesn’t connect with her anymore, and he would have to sabotage the plan by faking a family emergency. Ellen likes Dana, but she is forced to get involved in the plan hatched by Jesse. The plan works smoothly when Ellen is asked to call him as his mother to inform him about a medical emergency. At the same time, Dana’s sister comes by the bar to inform her that their grandmother is critically ill. Jesse confronts Dana and asks if she pulled off the same stunt to get out of the date. Unfortunately for Jesse, Dana informs him that her grandmother has been ill for a while, and it is ridiculous of him to think she would do something so beneath her just to get out of date. Dana breaks up with Jesse immediately. Ellen and Jesse have a conversation over the incident, during which he reveals that he is still hung up on Sophie and that it is not Meredith that is bothering his mind. He conveys that he senses Sophie is also seeking him, but the timing seems all wrong. Jesse tried to fast-track the date with Dana in the hope of getting over Sophie, and her not being in the pub right now made it easy for him to work around Dana. He also realizes he cannot jump into a relationship to let go of his feelings for Sophie. This made him break up with Dana in the most bizarre fashion.
What Can We Expect From Episode 10?
Episode ten of “How I Met Your Father” Season 2 will be all about Sophie and Jesse trying to understand if they are good together and how timing will surely play a factor in their getting together as a couple. It would be interesting to know where Barney Stinson makes an appearance this season. We look forward to also knowing if Suraj and Hannah will be able to make their long-distance marriage work.
Final Thoughts
The ninth episode again went back to being a lukewarm episode. The humor, which was spot on in the eighth episode, was again missing from this one. This episode focused more on the gags than the underlying humor, which was the reason the eighth episode worked well, and the ninth one did not. Performance-wise, too, this episode felt a little over the top. The “Ocean’s 11” touch given to the episode was smart, but that did not help the episode elevate the viewing experience. “The Welcome Protocol” is a decent watch.
