Two and a Half Men

After Charlie is killed in a subway accident in Paris, Alan faces the tough reality of moving out of the beach house, as well as losing his only brother. Although he did inherit the residence, Alan finds out that the house has multiple mortgages on it, and since he is unable to pay it, he and Jake have to leave the house and move in with Evelyn. Soon after, however, a suicidal young man named Walden Schmidt (Ashton Kutcher), who turns out to be a billionaire, shows up on the deck after a failed suicide attempt. The two broken-hearted men form a friendship, leading to Schmidt offering to buy the house.

Walden moves into the beach house, leaving all of Charlie’s belongings intact, and Alan leaves to move in with his mother. Not long after, however, Walden asks Alan to go with him as backup when he tries to get his wife, Bridget (Judy Greer), to take him back. Eventually, Bridget agrees to give Walden a chance to prove himself, and Walden agrees to let Alan stay with him temporarily in Malibu, as a ’Thank you’ for all the help Alan has given him.

When Berta becomes Walden’s live-in housekeeper and takes what was Alan’s room, Alan and Jake have to share Jake’s room. Walden and Jake get to know each other, and Jake decides to quit education like Walden. Walden’s date with Bridget does not go as he had planned. Saddened by still being separated from Bridget, Walden shares his feeling with Judith, who has visited to remonstrate with him for influencing Jake to quit education but ends up making out with him. Jake takes a video of Judith kissing Walden, intending to blackmail her into letting him quit high school.

Still depressed by his recent separation from Bridget, Walden decides it is time to start searching for the new Mrs. Right. He meets Courtney (Jenny McCarthy) at a bar, and the two hit it off. The two carry on a brief, shallow relationship, much like the relationships Charlie had with her. Alan, knowing that Courtney is a con artist (see "Fish in a Drawer"), confronts her about taking advantage of Walden while he is still heartbroken over Bridget. When Courtney ignores him, Alan calls Bridget and explains the situation to her. Bridget arrives, and Walden is forced to make a choice between Courtney, with whom he enjoys having sex, and Bridget, whom he truly loves. Walden almost chooses Courtney, but chooses his wife when Bridget reveals that Courtney is really a con artist and gives her $50,000 to leave Walden alone. Grateful for all the help Alan has given him, Walden allows Alan to move in permanently, and Berta resumes her job as a part-time maid, rather than a live-in. Meanwhile, Alan tries to rekindle his relationship with his ex-girlfriend, Lyndsey.

Alan discovers that Lyndsey once starred in a soft-core porn film called "Cinnamon’s Buns" and confronts her about it. After having a discussion with her about honesty, he decides to reveal all his life’s secrets to her (including the fact that he gave her earrings stolen from Judith, may be the father of Judith and Herb’s baby, got his family involved in a Ponzi scheme, found out Rose’s "husband" was a mannequin and took $50,000 to keep it secret, and was tricked by Charlie into letting the family dog lick peanut butter off his genitals as a child). Disgusted, Lyndsey throws him out and the two split up. Walden, having been inspired by Lyndsey’s role in the porn film, learns to bake and makes a batch of cannabis brownies with Berta, and then proceeds to hold a party to cheer up Alan. Lyndsey shows up to apologize just as a stoned Alan is surrounded by bikini-clad girls ready to eat whipped cream and cherries off of his body. Walden throws Alan off the deck so he can truthfully tell Lyndsey Alan is not home. The next day, Lyndsey apologizes for acting so rashly, but Alan reveals what he was really doing when she showed up at the party the previous night, causing Lyndsey to throw him out once again.

Walden receives his divorce papers, and decides to burn all his mementos of Bridget so he can move on with his new life. He is also planning to sell the house and move to New York. When Alan hears this, he becomes worried about losing his home and convinces Walden that this may be a sign of depression. He refers him to Charlie’s old psychiatrist, Dr. Freeman (Jane Lynch). She convinces him that it is better to stay and solve his problems rather than going away with them. After running into Bridget with a date (Joe Manganiello) at the movies, Walden heads to the bar with Alan to drown his sorrows. There, they meet a woman named Danny who looks strikingly like Bridget, although she is a lesbian and accompanied by her partner, Kiki (Monika Smith). Walden kisses Alan, trying to win Danny and Kiki’s favor by convincing them he and Alan are also gay. The four head back to the house where he eventually confesses to Danny that he is not really gay and only wanted to spend time with her because she reminds him of his soon-to-be ex-wife. Danny forgives him but she walks in on Alan and Kiki kissing, and Danny punches Alan in the face three times before storming out with Kiki. In the end, Alan confesses to Walden that he only sent him to Dr. Freeman because he did not want to move out again and that he understands if he has to go. Walden then tells him that he is going to stay, as he took the doctor’s advice to sort out his problems instead and states "How could I leave behind my best friend?".

Evelyn gets contacted by a bank that Charlie had a safe deposit box in. She finds a journal in it and gives it to Alan, who becomes fascinated with it, as the entries give an insight to a whole new side of Charlie that he never saw before. It is revealed that Charlie actually listed his real cause of death among other possibilities (including liver failure) and that he questioned his condescending behavior towards women. It is also hinted that, despite all the mocking and disrespect, he actually loved his brother and missed him when he moved in with Lyndsey, however knew at the same time that he would return "before long". Meanwhile, Jake gets himself a tutor to help him study for a chemistry test. The tutor, Megan (Macey Cruthird), whom Jake has a crush on, is attracted to Walden, which deeply disturbs Jake. Walden, however, completely ignores her, as he wants to redecorate the house. As a result, he hires Evelyn as his interior designer. Alan tries to warn him and tells him that Evelyn is a "super-duper-über-cougar". However, Walden ignores him and tells him not to worry. After they come back from furniture shopping, Evelyn invites him in and they end up having sex. As a result of being let down, Megan contents herself with Jake, who, in return, is very thankful.

Walden finds out about all the jingles that Charlie wrote and sings them out loud, causing Alan’s grief to get the better of him. When he finds out that Walden donated his brother’s piano, an object that has many memories of the latter tied to it, Alan drowns his sorrows with alcohol at a local bar. After watching Walden picking up another woman named Alicia (Amanda Schull), he returns home with them and steps out on the deck, looking up into the night sky as he talks to Charlie through the Heavens. When a labrador runs up to him, followed by its owner, a beautiful woman named Melanie (Taylor Cole), he suddenly starts to behave and talk like Charlie and even manages to seduce her. Berta remarks that "it’s walking like Zippy, but it sure ain’t talking like Zippy". Walden and Jake become worried about him after he starts to wear bowling shirts and calls himself Charlie Harper. He even walks in on Jake and Megan (Macey Cruthird) making out and ends up telling them to use protection. Walden then takes him to a mental hospital by pretending that they are going to Vegas. While lying in bed in the hospital, Alan, believing to be in the presidential suite of the Bellagio, orders three Asian prostitutes from room service, sits back with his cigar and declares that he is "winning", thus referencing Charlie Sheen’s public statements after he was fired.

Alan is released from the mental hospital and gets picked up by Jake. On the way back home, his newly acquired confidence faces a setback when Jake tells him that he is about to father a child with his girlfriend Megan. Although he is very upset, he calms himself down and arranges a meeting with Judith and Herb to tell them and face it as a family. During the meeting, Walden, who looks after a grown Milly, remarks that she looks a lot like Alan, deeply upseting Herb. Soon after, Alan also receives a letter from the IRS, informing him that he is being audited. The agency is claiming he owes them $80,000 (for reasons unknown). When Alan finds out that Lyndsey has left him for Walden, he completely loses his temper. Walden also asks him to move out, as it would be creepy if he stayed with them. They tell him that they put his stuff in a storage bin at the airport. Alan then tries to commit suicide through an overdose of CO, but fails miserably, as his engine breaks down. After being rejected by his mother, he seeks shelter in his storage bin. Just as he loses the last bit of hope, a beautiful woman named Veronica Hastings (Nicole Steinwedell) invites him to a glass of wine, immediately cheering him up. As the woman walks away to get the wine from her storage bin, Herb steps out of the dark in a trenchcoat. He informs Alan that he performed a DNA test and found out that Milly isn’t his daughter. He then takes out a pistol, and shoots Alan repeatedly. It is then revealed that Alan is still in the hospital and everything that happened was just a dream. When he actually returns home, he is confronted with Walden’s new and modernized house decor. Much to his sadness, it no longer reflects Charlie’s home, prompting him to admit that he no longer belongs here. But when Walden asks him if this means he is going to move out, Alan declines immediately. Gary Busey guest stars as Alan’s clinic roommate.

While grocery shopping, Walden and Jake meet a British woman named Zoey (Sophie Winkleman). Jake, who heard his father talk about how rich Walden is, helps the latter where he can, fully intending to get paid for it. He even advises Walden to ask her out, an offer that Zoey gladly accepts. When Jake asks his new "boss" if he owns a yacht, he tells him that he does not like displays of extreme wealth and, at the same time, reveals that he already got a private jet. He then proceeds to give Jake 250,000 frequent-flyer miles, having no use for them. At the night of the date, Alan recommends that Walden takes off his wedding ring, as it indicates that he still has feelings for Bridget. Walden gives the ring to Alan and decides to move on. During the date, he behaves oddly, mentioning his suicide attempt and the exact time that has passed since he and Bridget broke up, prompting Zoey to tell him that he is still in love with his ex-wife and isn’t ready for dating yet. Proving this point, Walden called Bridget after the date to tell her about it, only to hear her agree with Zoey.

Walden meets up with Zoey again to convince her that, one week after their first date, he is finally over Bridget. As she is sceptical, he proves his intentions by signing his divorce papers in front of her. After that, the two start dating again and things seem to be going great. Walden helps Zoey to get her daughter enrolled in a private kindergarten and they even fly to Mexico with Walden’s private jet. This idyll is disturbed when Bridget shows up at Walden’s house to tell him that she wants him back. The two go upstairs to have sex and, after pretending that he needs to use the bathroom and asking Alan for advice about what to do, Walden rejects her and suggests that she signs the divorce papers so that they can both move on with their lives (because Alan did not want Walden to sell the house and have to move back into Evelyn’s). Bridget is furious that Walden waited to tell her until she was half-naked in his bed and storms out. She then proceeds to drive her car into his house. Later, Bridget is shown standing on the deck, stalking Walden and Zoey. Rose shows up unexpectedly and proposes to "teach" her, an offer that she hesitantly accepts.

Alan spends his first Christmas without Charlie alone. Evelyn is busy engaging in an orgy with two men, and Jake is gone with Eldridge. Walden’s mother, Robin (Mimi Rogers), visits for the holiday and Alan’s sorrows are immediately forgotten as he becomes smitten with her the moment he sees her. He tries hitting on her numerous times, but eventually fails miserably. During a shared dinner, Robin tells Alan that she is a primatologist and mainly works with gorillas. Walden mentions "Magilla", an imaginary gorilla friend that he had when he was a child. It is then revealed that Magilla really does exist and that Walden shared the first four years of his childhood with him, as his mother wanted to see if a gorilla baby could learn as fast as a human baby. She then had to send him back to the jungle, as he tried to kill a Jehovah’s Witness. Walden remembers and is stunned, as he believed that he would be sent to Central Africa just like his gorilla brother if he did not behave. He leaves angrily and, after getting drunk, visits Zoey and her parents, who are very British and appear to like him despite his odd behavior. Zoey then calls Alan and Walden’s mother, as Walden has climbed on the roof of her apartment house. Alan gets up to him and tells him he knows how painful it is to lose a brother and comforts him, just as the LAPD arrives with a helicopter. In the end, Walden and his gorilla-brother are reunited with the help of his mother and Alan.

When an investment made by Walden goes bad, his ex-wife Bridget and mother Robin, the other two Board Members of his company, Walden Loves Bridget Enterprises, decide to terminate Walden’s presidency and make decisions by taking advantage of their vote share. After consulting with Zoey, Walden decides to use his power as the Founder of the company to add Alan as a member of the Board and use his vote to equalize the voting rights thus giving him the tie-breaking vote. Bridget and Robin, finding no loopholes out of this, try to convert Alan. Ultimately, Alan decides to remain loyal to Walden. Once reinstated, Walden uses his presidency powers to rename the company to Walden Loves Alan Enterprises. Alan finally enjoys success, receiving a director’s honorarium of $50,000 a year and Walden agrees to add Alan’s name on the deed of the house in order to ensure his loyalty.

When Walden and Zoey are heading out for dinner one night, they spot a lone Alan taking profile pictures for an online dating site. Walden pities him and invites him to join them for dinner, an action that seemingly annoys Zoey. At the restaurant, Walden spots Lyndsey, Alan’s former girlfriend. Alan assumes that she is as lonely as he is, and starts to talk to her. Then, a young and rich man named Dylan shows up, turning out to be her date. Alan is confused, but gains new hope when a stoned Eldrige, who is watching Beavis and Butt-head with Jake, tells him that Dylan is gay and that Lyndsey misses him. Alan immediately heads out to reunite with his former girlfriend, just as Eldrige reveals to Jake that he lied just to get his father to leave. Before he can ring the bell, Alan hears Lyndsey and Dylan having sex and being devastated, leaves. To his surprise, Lyndsey calls him the next day, telling him that she wants to get together. Later, while making out, Lyndsey tells him that it got too hard for her to keep up with a young man like Dylan, as she couldn’t let him see her without makeup or use the toilet in front of him. She then reveals that she is happy to be with Alan, as he cannot find someone better and is more than happy with her, thus she can relax (and even fart) while with him. Alan seems to be all the more confused after hearing this.

Walden becomes nervous when Zoey does not find their sex appealing anymore, and he’s also unhappy that she still does not want him to meet her young daughter. After a chat about his concerns with Alan and a subsequent Skype discussion with Zoey do nothing to set his mind at ease, an eavesdropping Berta suggests he and Zoey try her "special brownies" to spice things up. They do partake of the cannabis-enhanced treats, but Zoey ends up becoming incredibly paranoid and vanishes from the house, sending Walden on a wild goose chase to find her (he asks Jake and Eldridge for help, which they do little to provide because they’re even more stoned than Zoey is). Zoey returns safely to the house, eats most of the junk food on hand, and cheerfully admits to Alan she’s cold towards him because she really hates him. Walden brings a still-shaky Zoey home the next day, only to find her ex-husband waiting there with their kid. As Zoey and Nigel the ex have a frosty talk, Walden heads inside and immediately bonds with Zoey’s daughter, who dubs him "Sir Schmidt". Nigel tells Zoey she has to take her kid for the weekend, but that turns out well when Zoey sees Walden is great with her, and they have a nice afternoon at the zoo. Amazingly, the combination of the zoo and her child being sound asleep is the aphrodisiac Zoey and Walden have been seeking. They plan a follow-up trip—to the San Diego Wildlife Center the next week to keep the sexual momentum going. Elsewhere, Jake and Eldridge remain out of it, and Alan tells Jake that he and Lyndsey have no plans to get married—strongly implying they won’t repeat the mistakes that led to the existence of their sons.

A major conflict erupts between Zoey and Lyndsey when Zoey off-handedly insults Lyndsey as uneducated and uncultured for not appreciating opera, and then the Harvard and Oxford-educated Zoey and the Santa Monica Community College-single semester attending Lyndsey become much more specific in how much they can’t stand each other. The dispute ends up costing Walden and Alan any chance for sex, as Zoey makes exaggerated lovemaking sounds to piss Lyndsey off, and Lyndsey does so in turn. The couples plan to part ways for Valentine’s Day—Zoey and Walden heading in his private jet for a romantic night in Cabo San Lucas, Lyndsey and Alan going to a nice B&B near Santa Barbara—but the horrible rainstorm outside causes a major sinkhole right outside the house that strands them all there when the power goes out. Lyndsey finds out her period has begun, and a frightened Alan heads into the maelstrom to buy her tampons; Walden, who is sick of Zoey’s rancor towards Lyndsey (and indirectly Alan) decides to take his chances and joins his friend outside. Alan rues the situation, but looks concerned when Walden says he’ll have to move out if Zoey and Lyndsey remain blood enemies. At the house, though, the women end up drinking wine ("from Wisconsin") and chatting fairly nicely. Lyndsey compliments Zoey on what a great guy Walden is, and Zoey manages to not insult Alan in her vague response, before Zoey listens to tips from Lyndsey on how to keep her hold on Walden. It turns out Zoey also started her period and has tampons on hand for a grateful Lyndsey, and the women share stories about their terrible ex-husbands, both agreeing that Walden and even Alan are major improvements. Lyndsey calls Alan to tell him to bring along some ice cream. A sudden mudslide, however, sweeps Alan into a raging riverbed. He begs Walden, who is holding on to him, to let him go, as he prefers whatever fate the riverbed holds over returning to the house with their fighting girlfriends. Walden, however, refuses because he does not want to be stuck with Jake.

Walden and Zoey are on their way back from their dinner in San Francisco when the jet hits turbulence; in the tense moment, Walden says "I love you" to Zoey, which she does not return. This bugs Walden and he considers breaking it off, especially when he tries to get it out of her as she rushes to London on a business trip. Feeling rejected, Walden meets Zoey’s neighbor Jennifer in the elevator and brings her back to the house for a walk on the beach and get better acquainted; Zoey calls Walden to clear up the matter (revealing that she’s said it twice only for bad things to happen, once to Nigel and again to Russell Brand), only for Jennifer to walk into the room and ruin the call. Jake is instantly infatuated with Jennifer, and awkwardly attempts to woo her multiple times (under the false impression that he is 24 years old).

Tensions rise between Walden and his ex-business partner, Billy (Patton Oswalt) as they try to reconcile and work together to build the "electric suitcase, as Walden finds out that Billy is now sleeping with his ex-wife Bridget. Meanwhile, after Lyndsey takes a vacation away from Alan (she won’t even tell him where), Alan starts to think that he has no real friends. He then goes to Berta’s house since she may now be the closest thing to a real friend he has (and vice versa). Berta sends him to give drug money to her supplier, Shermie, who ends up shooting Alan with a gun, causing him to flee, as the money is short of what Shermie was expecting. When Alan gets home, Walden reveals what the "electric suitcase" is: the two of them managed to tap into the continent’s power supply and could turn off the power in any area of their choice, though Alan does not seem to understand the value at all.

Lyndsey’s mother is visiting and both Alan and Lyndsey are showing her around Los Angeles. Her mother (Georgia Engel) acts sweetly, but voices disappointment in her daughter and grandson in a similar manner to Alan’s own mother so they introduce them to each other. At first the mothers don’t like each other, but they bond and go out after Alan and Lyndsey head home from dinner. In the morning Alan and Lyndsey find their mothers have slept together. Meanwhile, Jake and Eldridge want Walden to hire them as consultants who come up with new app ideas for his company. They get Walden to drive them to a party, but they have the wrong address details, much to Walden’s dismay.

Walden launches a new software app with his old partner, Billy, and his ex-wife, who both were in on the initial development. Zoey gets upset when she learns about this arrangement, so Walden has a dinner party for all three of them to clear the air. At dinner, Bridget says that there is nothing between her and Walden, though she is condescending to Zoey and accuses her of going after Walden’s money. Later, Zoey is on edge until Walden asks her and her daughter to move in with him. Zoey agrees, but tells him that Alan is going to have to move out, sending shivers down Alan’s spine. Meanwhile, Lyndsey’s mom announces that she is moving to Santa Monica to live with Alan’s mother. Evelyn throws a dinner party for everyone and toasts her new partner and the new family they are forming. As usual, Jake and Eldridge miss the point and think it is just two old ladies taking care of each other.

Walden’s commitment to Zoey is tested when she and her daughter move in with him. Walden instantly becomes annoyed when he runs out of energy playing with Ava and realizes that she does not like any of the breakfast food he makes for her. Meanwhile, Alan gets more than what he bargained for when he moves in with Lyndsey, then gets into a chain reaction of injuries just to have sex. At a bar, Walden asks Alan to come back if he can get rid of Zoey and Ava, to which Alan happily agrees to do so.

When Walden has second thoughts about letting Zoey and Ava move in with him, but is unable to convince them to leave, Alan is forced to move out. Just as he is about to leave, Alan goes straight over the edge and begins experiencing chest pains and is taken to the hospital. A doctor reveals to a worried Walden and an uncaring, disbelieving Zoey that Alan has suffered a mild heart attack, but will pull through okay. After brief visits by Walden, Evelyn, Judith, Jake, and Lyndsey, Alan finds a strange woman (Kathy Bates) sitting at the foot of his bed. The stranger introduces herself as the ghost of Charlie, Alan’s deceased brother, proving she is who she says she is by answering questions only Charlie could correctly respond to. Charlie goes on to explain that he is in Hell, and as part of his punishment must live eternity as a large, old lady, albeit with a pair of testicles. Charlie explains he came back to give Alan advice: to turn his life around and become self-dependent for once. Alan agrees, and checks himself out of the hospital so Walden won’t have to pay any more for his treatment. Alan announces to a compassionate Walden and overjoyed Zoey that he is moving out, and finds a small, run-down apartment to live in. After being visited by Charlie’s ghost again (who reveals his intent was not to help Alan, but just to mess with him and get him out of the beach-house at last), Alan fakes a second heart attack so he can move back in with Walden, while an annoyed Zoey looks on. Alan passes through the hospital without scrutiny but a clean bill of health, while Charlie attempts to mess with Jake (although failing because Jake is too stupid to pick up on the hints Charlie is trying to feed him) before returning to Hell with two sexy women.

Everyone but Zoey is being incredibly and unusually nice to Alan when he gets home from the hospital after his non-heart attack: Walden lets him stay at the beach house, Judith tells him not to worry about his lack of up-to-date child support checks until he gets back on his feet, and Lyndsey performs oral sex on him while he eats peach cobbler. Unfortunately, Alan’s visit to his cardiologist (Jason Alexander) produces a clean bill of health and the prospect of everyone treating him normally again (meaning, badly). Alan is left with one response: pretend that the news was bad and he might need a heart transplant. However, when Zoey gets proof about Alan’s misbehavior, Alan, awaiting his punishment for misbehaving, stupidly attempts (and fails) to fake another heart attack and is left lying on the floor until his shame goes away. Despite this, Alan continues to live at the beach house.

Jake and Eldridge graduate from high school. Alan asks Walden to give them a job; however, Walden points out that they don’t have any of the skills that his company needs. His business partner, Billy (Patton Oswalt), does hire them for an overnight shift to look after the hard drives connected to their computer server, and replace any that fail. Walden insists that they don’t smoke dope anywhere in or near the building or during their work hours, so they instead start downloading porn. After downloading too much porn, they crash the server and all of the hard drives fail. Jake and Eldridge then decide to join the Army based upon a recruiter’s sales pitch, "Do you like to play video games?" Alan fears for the boys and the security of America, and steals Jake’s application though unfortunately it is only a copy. The family gives him a teary though half-hearted sendoff. Finally Jake and Eldridge are seen in basic training, crawling under barbed wire, wondering about their decision.