How I Met Your Father – Shady Parker

By: Gladys Luna

The episode opens with a previous memory of that time when Val (Francia Raísa) and Jesse (Christopher Lowell) had a fight over a book that has placed in the “lost and found box.” We are taken back to that moment when we realized that Jesse is actual concerned with what was inside this book, as he had hidden a song he wrote for Sophie (Hilary Duff) and he was afraid that someone would find it. That is how Val found out about said song making Jesse have to confess about it. Val has to decide to take the song and put it back on the box to use it when the time was right.

The next thing we see is future Sophie (Kim Cattrall) as she tells her son about one time in New York when things got a little “stormy” and not only on the figurative sense. That is how we see the group of friends all gathered as usually at Pemberton’s as they watch Sandy Rivers (Jordan Bielsky) on the news announcing that a hurricane has hastily arrived in the city and also talking about other “misdemeanors.” Sid’s (Suraj Sharma) only concern is that Hannah (Ashley Reyes) will be moving soon to the city and he wouldn’t like her to fly in the middle of a turbulence, something that makes Sophie and Val mock of him. On the other side, Ellen (Tien Tran) is fast to express her conviction that big weather warnings are only made to scare people and push them into buying things out of desperation only for it ending up being a whole lie. As they are debating about all of this Jesse storms in the bar holding Parker (Meaghan Rath) by the hand and announcing that she has gotten her new apartment and has invited him to move in with her. This is something that leaves everyone there nearly in shock trying to hide their actual thoughts about this but failing miserably at it. That is how we see Sophie who has now started to act weirdly towards them and Sid who seems to be a little jealous that his friend is soon going to be somebody else’s roommate. Val decides to take her friend to the warehouse of the bar and confronts her with the fact that it is evident that she still has feelings for Jesse and although the woman tries to deny it there is no way she can lie to her friend. Val tries to encourage her to speak about her honest feelings to him before he gets in too deep with Parker, but Sophie is determined to not to mess with his new relationship and has now decided that she will become his biggest supporter. Future Sophie confesses that her friend was convinced that he felt the same way and she was also determined to prove it. So, she went to the “Lost and Found Box” and searched for the old song that Jesse had written for Sophie but, unfortunately, she couldn’t find it.

Everyone gets to Jesse’s apartment as the man has invited them over with the excuse of celebrating his very last night at said place. However, when they get there they realize they have been tricked by their friend to help him pack. Parker apologizes for this “white lie” and tells them that she has ordered pizza and bought them beer as a way to apologize and to make them like her. Everyone is now busy helping their friend except for Sophie who is convinced more than ever that she should keep her “supportive friend” charade going. So, she goes to Parker and congratulates her again for the good news and hugs her much to Sid and Val’s surprise, who are watching the whole scene. Somewhere along the conversation Parker mentions that it wasn’t easy for her to move out of Nevada and leaving her friends behind. When Sophie wants to know more about it, Parker just tries to change the subject and appears to be very uneasy. This is a gesture that does not go unnoticed by Sophie who goes to talk to Sid and tells him that there is something suspicious about Parker and she will find out what it is. Ellen and Charlie (Tom Ainsley) are at Jesse’s bedroom packing his clothes when Val walks in and asks them about the “lost and found” box. Everything goes well until they start to act weird when asked if they have taken something from. Val is now convinced that they had something to do with the lyrics’ disappearance.

Meanwhile, in the living room the pizza has arrived. While Parker is distracted paying for it, Sophie takes her wallet an realizes that Parker’s credit cards have a different name on it  – a thing that only adds up to Sophie being more suspicious She makes sure that Sid is aware of it as well and they make a plan to unravel the other woman’s agenda. Val has now managed to lock Charlie and Ellen in the bathroom and won’t let them out until they confess to what they have done. Pushed by the pressure, the two of them end up spilling the beans about how they had stolen the book out of the box because it turns out that Ellen loves to cut her hair herself but she didn’t admit how much she loved the book out of the fear that they will laugh at her. Therefore, one day when trying to use it she accidentally gave herself such a bad cut so now she has been forced to use wigs. Val is surprised to hear all of this but at the same time frustrated to find out that this is not the confession she was looking for.

Sophie and Sid’s plan to catch Parker is on the move. Sophie has decided to challenge her to arm wrestling as a way to distract her while Sid steals her backpack to see if he can find something. He locates a number of bottles of pain killers with different names on the tags and they assume that she might be a drug dealer or something worse. The pair seem to be running out of ideas about how to uncover her real intentions, so the woman calls someone she believes might have some more information about her and that someone is none other than Drew (Josh Peck). Sophie tries to gather as much information about Parker as possible but Drew has nothing more than beautiful things to say about her; the only thing he highlights is that what made him hire her was that he received a letter from the principal she worked for, Mr. Harris (Kinner Shah), where he talked wonders about her. Feeling that they are walking into a dead end, Sophie makes the decision to call Parker’s old boss and dig more about her time working for him. However, the man initially says that he does not recognize the name which makes Sid and Sophie celebrate their findings. They leave the room they are in and search for Parker who is now with Jesse in his room. So, they ask Ellen to call for them. Once everyone is gathered at the living room Sophie and Sid say everything they have found out about the pills and the woman credit cards, but Jesse does not believe them and Parker swears that they are lying. Then, as a way to open their friend’s eyes, they say that they even have called Parker’s old school principal and tell her that he doesn’t know her. Parker denies everything so Sophie calls him again and the man confesses that he said he didn’t know her because he had just started working there but Sophie didn’t even give him a chance to explain. Therefore, he checked with his colleagues and friends and it turned out that she was a fantastic teacher. Sophie and Sid are now a tad embarrassed, but before they drop this case they decide to confront her about the rest of the matters. Parker explains everything to them – how she had moved to New York to take care of her mom who is recovering from a terrible accident and it seems that Jesse knew everything about it. Unfortunately, Sid and Sophie do not know how to make things right. Sid apologizes to her and says that he was affected by the news that his best friend is moving out so soon and then he begins to cry making Jesse to cry as well. The two best friends hug each other and invite Parker in. Sophie tries to join them too but Jesse does not let her in. She understands that maybe is too soon for it. She apologizes to her and says that the reason she acted like that was because she just wants the best for Jesse, but now she sees that the best for her friend is her. Right at that moment thunder roars outside and the rain falls harder as though it is a reflection about how Sophie actually feels inside. Parker announces that she needs to go back to her mom and Jesse walks her out. The rest of the friends return to what they were doing before except for Val, who stays on the couch looking pensive while Drew tells her his thoughts about the party. Val confesses that she has just realized how that something she was looking for is now gone. Meanwhile, Drew confesses that he feels the opposite. Jesse comes back and Sophie reaches for him asking for a box to help him pack, but he is still upset about her behavior today. Suddenly, the power goes out and Ellen finally admits that the warnings about the weather were not fake and they are actually in the middle of a hurricane.