One HIMYF Character Isn’t Returning & Has Already Been Replaced

One character won’t appear in How I Met Your Father anytime soon, but the show is preparing to introduce a new love interest instead. One of the big threads early on HIMYF season 2 sees Jesse (Christopher Lowell) settling back into a relationship with Meredith (Gossip Girl alum Leighton Meester), who has appeared in nine episodes of the series. As their reunion deteriorates, Jesse realizes they aren’t a good fit together.

According to TVLine, Meester isn’t expected to reprise her role as Meredith for the foreseeable future. Instead, when the How I Met Your Father season 2 cast returns to Hulu with new episodes on May 23, the sitcom will bring in Hawaii Five-0 star Meaghan Rath as a gym teacher that works at Jesse’s school. In the quote below, Rath sheds some light on the character she’ll be portraying:

The character I play is, like, kind of crazy and weird. [Jesse] has this will they/won’t they with Hillary [Duff]’s character for the entirety of the series. So the conflict is really about him juggling those feelings and trying to move on and start a new relationship.

Meredith Return To HIMYF In The Future?

Meredith’s arrival in How I Met Your Father sparked some interest as Meester’s casting wasn’t revealed in advance, with her first scene amounting to a short cameo. Considering that the appearance on HIMYF represented a new role for Meester after Gossip Girl and her popular portrayal of Blair Waldorf, there was a lot of intrigue in how her new character would be handled.

The writing for Meredith shifted depending on what the story required. At first, she was depicted as sweet and attentive. But as she became more famous, her self-centered flaws began to resurface. This is a believable arc, though Meredith largely served as an obstacle to Jesse and Sophie (Hilary Duff). Meredith’s best episode focused on the dislike that Sid (Suraj Sharma) has for her, showing glimpses of how Meester could have fit into the group on a more long-term basis.

Related: Sid Is Right, Meredith Is Bad For Jesse In How I Met Your Father

If it’s the case that Meredith does return to How I Met Your Father, her previous usage suggests that she’ll be brought back to advance the story of a main character, likely Jesse or Sophie. But if it hopes to follow in the footsteps of the original How I Met Your Mother, the spinoff needs more recurring players that are allowed to be distinctive and complete in their own right.

Source: TVLine