The Two and a Half Men Finale Was a Well Exectuted “Screw You” to the Fans

The finale’s vanity card explaining why Charlie Sheen didn’t make an appearance.

More accurately, it was an aggressive “Screw You” to anyone watching. It was incredibly meta, with many of the jokes being dedicated to the characters pointing out how the show has long overstayed its welcome, and totally irreverent. Seriously, everything the season was building up to prior to the finale (Walden’s surprisingly heartfelt adoption arc, or Alan’s growing up and proposing to his on-again-off-again love interest Lyndsey) were all tossed to the wayside and mercilessly mocked, almost as if the show was actively trying to make anyone who was even marginally invested feel as terribly as possible. And if it wasn’t obvious from just watching the series, a couple of jokes were even devoted to how painfully unfunny the show has been as a whole for the past 12 years (I told you, it was a really meta finale). Mixed in with all of this were fitting character send-offs, misdirection, and of course the “Return of Charlie”. This is where the show gets really mean-spirited.

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Two and a Half Men’s Adoption Arc: A Surprisingly Thoughtful Story or a New Low?

My post today is a way to direct your attention at something that is happening with the final season of Two and a Half Men. Two and a Half Men, for the most part, is a pretty raunchy show following raunchy people. It peddles cheap laughs with a slew of dirty jokes thrown at the audience at breakneck speeds. If there is any opening for a lowbrow joke, you better believe this show will take it. Originally starring Charlie Sheen as the drunken womanizer Charlie Harper (“HAHAHA KINDA LIKE THE REAL CHARLIE SHEEN HA!”), the show followed how his life was shaken up by the arrival of his deadbeat brother Alan Harper who is played by Jon Cryer. After Sheen was fired (thus ruining the integrity of Two and a Half Men for many viewers by sullying its proud name), Ashton Kutcher came aboard as Walden Schmidt, a tech-company billionaire bachelor. A few sitcom contrivances later, Walden has replaced Charlie as the person Alan is sponging off of as a deadbeat tenant. Now, after a few seasons of being with Alan, Walden decided his life was empty, so he decides to adopt a child. Because he can’t adopt a child as a single man, he needs to find someone he can marry quickly (and due to his unbelievably terrible experience with women), he has chosen to marry Alan who he can trust. This is where things get tricky.

Continue reading “Two and a Half Men’s Adoption Arc: A Surprisingly Thoughtful Story or a New Low?”