How I Met Your Father (Season 2), Episode 7: Recap & Ending Explained – Is Ian the father?

How-I-Met-Your-Father-Season-2-Episode-7

How I Met Your Father (Season 2), Episode 7: Jesse, Sophie, and Valentina used Ellen and Dr. Dominguez to solve their issues. They then groveled before the mental health professional to ensure that Ellen wasn’t penalized due to UFS (Uninsured Friend Syndrome). Charlie and Sid tried to profit from Judge Judy, but she arrived, took the product from Pemberton, and sold it herself.




While the previous episode saw the group end situations from the fifth episode and before, the seventh episode saw them move forward by looking at the past. More specifically, the group of friends sat and recollected ‘No Good,’ ‘Very Bad,’ ‘Terrible,’ and ‘Horrible’ stories about Valentine’s Day.

Here’s what went down in the seventh episode of Season 2 of How I Met Your Father- A Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Valentine’s Day.

How I Met Your Father (Season 2), Episode 7 Recap:

The episode began with old Sophie dancing with a teddy bear. It was her first gift from her father on Valentine’s Day, something he had a soft spot for. The episode then went to the present day, with Jesse saying Valentine’s Day was the worst. He called it an excuse for greeting cards and chocolate cupcakes, earning a response from Valentina, who called it not such a hot take. Sid called him a love grinch. Sophie revealed that she spent her Valentine’s days with the hottest thing in the city, i.e., Valentina. They called it Valentine’s Day.




Ellen bought a gift- a naked ice sculpture of and for Rachel. She informed the group that Rachel would not be there for their date and that she was occupied elsewhere. The group elected to narrate their worst Valentine’s Day stories to cheer her up.

Sophie went first and began her narration. However, Ellen cut her short because it was a pre-puberty story. Hence, Sophie moved on to talk about a story from when she was 13. It was a clip from The Lizzie McGuire Show with Hilary Duff’s character of Lizzie urging Ronnie to hang up first. As Ellen didn’t find that bad enough, Charlie went next. Valentina stopped him as it seemed like a soft-core porn story.




She then shared her story from college, where she met Sophie, and they realized that they slept with the same guy. The girls decided to get even and attacked Brendan’s cycle with their baseball bats. Brendan then told them it was not his bike. That day may have been embarrassing, but it formed the bond that is going strong in the show. Ellen did not buy into it; she needed to hear something pathetic.

Up next was Jesse, who had a history of expressing his love way too soon. These all came on Valentine’s Day. Charlie continued with his story after processing their feedback. A few sentences in, he learned that the group was all staring at their phones.




Sid, who was waiting for Hannah to arrive, received a communication that her flight to New York had been diverted to Houston. He found this problematic as Hannah, and he had to spend every Valentine’s Day together. It was due to their poor first one.

Sid and Jesse were in their apartment, where the former was trying to play cool and stay away from Hannah. He then saw a video of her and decided to react. Hence, he and Jesse went to the apartment and saw that Hannah was dancing with another guy (Drew).

They tried to make Hannah jealous, but she and Drew actually set up that plan to make Sid react. Hannah and Sid had an argument all night, and then Sid made a bagel heart display with cream cheese as the glue. This won Hannah over. Amidst this, Sophie found an issue with Jesse saying “I Love You” to every girl he was with. This was because she assumed it was exclusive, and it made her feel special when Jesse said it to her.




Hannah showed up without any explanation as to how she reached Pemberton so quickly. Charlie was the distraction as he finally completed his story. It was about him getting stood up whilst wearing nothing but whipped cream.

A pizza guy showed up and took away the awkwardness by asking for Ellen. Rachel had sent a pizza and timed her face time to the dot to apologize for her absence.

Jesse and Sophie sat at the bar, where he explained his “I Love You” habit. He revealed he hadn’t said it for years and never thought he would utter those words again after Meredith and the proposal fail incident. But when he met Sophie, things changed. Sophie said she got it, and it made her feel less irked.




She then shared her embarrassing third-grade story with Jesse, which was actually quite a cringe had pre-puberty stories not been dismissed at the start of the episode.

Jesse and Sophie then agreed that eating chocolate ensured that Valentine’s Day didn’t have to be such a bad day after all.

How I Met Your Father (Season 2), Episode 7 Ending Explained:

To tease the audience, the makers showed all the men in the show using different words to talk positively about Valentine’s Day. The speakers included Jesse, Sid, Drew, Charlie, and Ian. 

Sophie’s son spoke about how he wasn’t even in the story, prompting her to say that it was another Valentine’s Day. This is a clear sign that Ian will return, and he’s not just a pilot, season premiere, and season finale guy. 




Did Ellen get to hear a story of a bad Valentine’s Day?

She did, as Charlie’s story was pretty embarrassing. Also, Rachel saved the day with her pizza order even if she didn’t. 

Is Ian the father?

Sophie named the three regulars and one of her ex-flings. But when she named Ian, no personal nomenclature was used to address Ian. Sophie’s son just said, “he.” Another theory indicates that he could be the father and that Sophie’s son is clueless. But Ian is not the father as the story’s name and purpose is to tell audiences how Sophie met the father of her child. It would have ended had the meeting taken place. 




What’s happening on the Sophie and Jesse front?

Sophie and Jesse decided to stay apart, but there were feelings. Sophie looked upset at learning that “I Love You” wasn’t special. Also, it was quite telling that Jesse took the time to explain himself to her. The underlying message was that his feelings for her were genuine, not a spur-of-the-moment reaction. That could get Sophie to think and react. When she does get her picture back, it could spur her thoughts back in that direction.   

What did you make of this episode? How I Met Your Father will return next week with Episode 8- Rewardishment. 

<< Previous Episode | Next Episode >>

How I Met Your Father TV Series (2022- ) Links: IMDb, Wikipedia
How I Met Your Father TV Series (2022- ) Cast: Hilary Duff, Christopher Lowell, Francia Raisa
Where to watch How I Met Your Father
Reubyn Coutinho

Well, it would be stating the obvious if someone proclaimed their love for films here. Why else would they be here? What would be useful, is knowing that I adore Hitchcock, Tarantino, and Nolan. I'm not averse to any type of film though as each cinematic work of art assists me in growing as a person and a cinema lover and a writer.