To call this week’s Two and a Half Men insulting would be accurate but meaningless. Two and a Half Men has never been all that smart or shown any respect for the intelligence of viewers. To call the show out for being insulting now is a waste of time.
Walden (Ashton Kutcher) had a brother monkey named Magilla. For years Walden thought Magilla was an imaginary friend. It turns out that Walden’s mother, Robin (Mimi Rogers), a primatologist, actually used science to make sure that her son and Magilla were born around the same time so that she could watch them grow up together for an experiment.
The memory of Magilla sets off a flood of emotion for Walden who suddenly recalls the abandonment he felt when Magilla was sent away and the residual fear that he’s carried with him for years; the fear that if he acts out, “One false move, Zimbabwe.”
Meanwhile, Zoey’s (Sophie Winkleman) parents are in town and she’s not ready for Walden to meet them just yet. Walden is in fact, moving their relationship along so quickly that not letting him meet her parents isn’t a statement so much as good sense.
Of course, Walden will meet Sophie’s parents and not under circumstances that are, to say the least, favorable. After remembering his ape brother, Walden goes for a drink and winds up at Sophie’s apartment where he indeed does meet her parents before climbing to the roof for his best King Kong impression.
Alan (Jon Cryer), of course, has dreams of sleeping with Walden’s mom; it’s only fair, Walden slept with Alan’s mom if you recall. (Yeah, that happened. Ugh!) Robin shoots Alan down with relative ease though Alan’s awful flirting is something of a runner throughout the episode.
In the end, Walden is reunited with Magilla; the ape has apparently been held in captivity for a number of years. The final moments find Walden and Magilla sharing a brotherly hug and Magilla tickling Walden as he laughs hysterically.
Why this is funny is, I gather, is in the eye of the beholder. If you think Ashton Kutcher being tickled by a guy in a gorilla suit is funny, so be it. I didn’t think it was funny but it’s my job to seek something more from a sitcom than ape tickling.
Random Notes:
- I kind of like the way the show has held on to Zoey. It seemed like she was going to be a one off character but somehow she’s lasted three episodes and at least a fourth ahead as somehow she didn’t end up dumping Walden after his King Kong freak out in front of her parents.
- Am I the only one who thought it would’ve been hysterical if Walden’s mom had once slept with Charlie? That certainly would have been a better plot than the whole ape thing.
- Once again, jokes about Charlie are the funniest jokes in the episode.
- Less Jake this week, although, once again, Angus T. Jones was spot on; delivering one funny line after another.
- How much longer do you think Zoey will hang on? Does it matter? Nothing on this show seems to.
