Well that sucked!
Ok, that isn’t exactly the most professional assessment a critic can offer but that was my honest exclamation when this week’s Two and a Half Men, “Frodo’s Headshots,” came to an end. For a show that is nine seasons old to blow the dust off of the old ‘it was all a dream’ story, there is little for one to say other than ‘that sucked.’
Last week, Alan (Jon Cryer) took leave of his sanity and became his late brother Charlie. His concerned friend Walden (Ashton Kutcher) checked him into a ‘Stress Clinic.’ 28 days later Alan is his old self again but his world has changed forever without him around.
First up is Jake (Angus T. Jones), with news that he has knocked up his girlfriend Megan (Macey Cruthird). Don’t worry though, they have a plan; they’re going to teach the baby to talk and audition him to replace the current E-Trade baby who has to be getting up there in years. Once back at the beach house things go from bad to worse as Alan finds out that he is being audited.
Then comes the time to tell Judith (Marin Hinkle) and Herb (Ryan Stiles) about Jake’s baby; and leave it to Walden to mention how much Judith and Herb’s daughter looks like Alan.
The bad news just keeps on coming as Alan finds out that while he was gone Lyndsey (Courtney Thorne Smith) dropped by to see him and ended up in bed with Walden. The two have been having mind-blowing sex and they want Alan to move out.
If you hadn’t figured out by now that all of this was a nightmare then clearly you don’t watch many sitcoms. This hacky ‘it was all dream’ story is an old sitcom chestnut saved for when writers run low on better ideas.
Having exhausted their well of Charlie Harper jokes in the last two episodes, the writers of Two and a Half Men found themselves bereft of good ideas and thus plunged forward with this awful, over-used story device and brought nothing remotely new or interesting to it.
I must give credit to Jon Cryer for trying, the man is a pro for dragging what few laughs he could from this awful premise, but there was nothing he or even Charlie Sheen could have done to rescue this truly terrible idea.
The really bad thing about “Frodo’s Headshots” is that it acts as a near admission that the writers of Two and a Half Men don’t know what to do with Ashton Kutcher. Walden had no story this week, what with this having been Alan’s dream.
Thus, this makes three weeks in a row where we learned nothing new about Walden and the character basically sat on the sidelines while Alan and Charlie got all of the laughs. And Charlie‘s dead!
Random notes:
- Sorry Two and a Half Men, no points for having Gary Busey in the ‘stress clinic’ with Alan. That’s too easy.
- No Charlie talk this week and no real laughs either. Coincidence?
- Jake has a point; that E-Trade kid must be getting up there in years.
- On the Walden naked watch this week: Fully clothed, what a shock.
- On the other hand, Lyndsey throwing herself at him does maintain the proper amount of Ashton Kutcher ego stroking as, I am almost certain, is guaranteed in his contract.
