Two and a Half Men finale: It's about Charlie till the very end

Remember when Two and a Half Men was all about Charlie Harper? 4 years after Charlie’s rather mysterious death, the sitcom finale was still just about that – Charlie.

The hit show that ran for 12 years came to an end with an hour long finale episode that brought back some of the show's biggest stars, albeit just for a fleeting scene or two. 

Despite it all being about Charlie, the real Charlie Sheen who was fired from the show before Ashton Kutcher replaced him in season 9, was not a part of the finale. Even though Sheen hinted earlier that he would love to be a part of it and later said he’d go where the love is ( indicating he was not a part of the finale), audiences were definitely hoping for it. Chuck Lorre, the creator of the show, told Entertainment Weekly that Sheen was offered a role for the finale but declined it over differences over his portrayal.

The usual dose of shallow comedy was upped with some celebrity cameos as well. While guest stars; Arnold Schwarzenegger played the top cop, John Stamos and Christian Slater were their funny selves.

The finale rolled on the usual path of almost-there humour, sex and booze jokes and subtle drama but what almost throws everything off is the lack of continuity with the rest of season 12 making the entire season look like an afterthought. Even though Miss McMartin ( Maggie Lawson), Walden’s adopted son’s social worker who is now Walden’s girlfriend appears for one scene, Louis (Eden Alexander) who almost became the ‘half’ of the two and half and was at the centre of season twelve’s storyline seems to have been forgotten for the finale.

The finale kicks off with a letter addressed to Charlie for a royalty cheque for his old music jingles. The $2.5 million get mysteriously transferred to an account in Cayman Islands making everyone believe that Charlie could still be out there, somewhere. Rose (Melanie Lynskey) lets the big secret out! The former neighbour known for stalking Charlie who later becomes his wife reveals that she had been punishing Charlie for what he did on their Paris honeymoon by keeping him prisoner in her basement all this while.

With the cat out of box the finale zooms into the suspense of Charlie’s return. And although a Charlie-ish figure is seen from behind as he walks up to the famous Malibu beach house just before the finale ends, it doesn’t make up for the MIA Sheen.

While characters stuck to their tongue-in-cheek styles the finale was all about self referential jokes. At one point Walden Schmidt (Aston Kutcher), Alan Harper (Jon Cryer), Jake (Angus T Jones) and Bretta (Conchata Ferrell) look at the audience and pause after one. Bretta is seen saying that “this could go on for another 5 years if Charlie were to come back"  while Alan in a scene refers to the 12 years and says “It’s been going for way too long,”. 

Characters take turns taking a dig at Charlie – his drug, women and booze lifestyle and his anger issues, so much so that Chuck Lorre appears during the closing scene. Lorre who appears to have come from a rather ugly fight with Sheen, turns towards the audience and says “winning”.

By the end of it all, it is almost hard to tell whether it was about Charlie Harper of Two and a Half Men or was it Charlie Sheen himself. Either way, the finale had Charlie written all over it.