Two and a half Men: Season 12 (DVD) – Series Review
The comical series Two and a half Men continues in a twelfth season, which is also the final season featuring our favorite comical duo Alan Harper and Walden Schmidt. Despite the lack of Charlie Sheen whom portrayed Charlie Harper until an unfortunate train accident occurred, the series have been able to maintain a steady dose of laughter and continues to do so until the very end.
Over the last three years, plenty has happened in the series. Charlie Harper has met the end of his life after a tragic accident and his free-loading brother Alan Harper (Jon Cryer) has formed a surrogate family with Walden Schmidt (Ashton Kutcher), an internet billionaire with a terrible track record when it comes down to women. Alan’s son Jake Harper (Angus T. Jones), who continues to surprise the viewers with his lack of brains, has joined the Army and currently resides in Japan.
The final season of Two and a half Men is a turbulent one for our favorite comical duo. In preparation of Halloween, the duo find themselves dressed up and ready to leave when Walden has a minor cardiac crisis in the form of a mild heart attack. Scared for his friend’s life and the assets he might lose, Alan decides to take care of Walden. During his home revalidation, Walden begins to realize that his fortune doesn’t make him happy and he wants more meaning of life in the form of a tiny human being. Unfortunately Walden isn’t married and his track record with women is as disastrous as Alan’s and thus he finds himself at a crossroad when the adoption agency tells him that only couples are considered. Alan would be more than happy to be adopted by Walden but Walden surprises him by presenting him another offer; to get married and pretend to be a gay couple.
Luckily the odd duo have formed a strange but loving bond over the years and they pass off as a gay couple quite easily, much to the confusion of their friends. The road to adoption is still a rocky one, even after their vows have been said and emotions flow freely when the duo are able to adopt a lovely baby boy. However fate is not on their side and things go south rapidly. When asked to adopt an older kid, they happily agree to take in Louis (Edan Alexander), a foster child who has bounced around the system for a while already. The duo takes their roles serious and they start bonding with single mothers to ensure that Louis can have playmates. Walden becomes attracted to one of the mothers while Alan is doing perfectly well being his perverted self while still claiming to be fashionably gay. The truth reveals itself and social worker Ms. McMartin (Maggie Lawson) is freaking out as she promised to help these children by following the rules. Mishaps happen when Alan sleeps with her but wants to try his luck with his ex-girlfriend Lyndsey Mackelroy (Courtney Thorne-Smith) who has recently been to rehab. These mishaps only increase in size when Walden jumps in, trying to save the adoption of Louis before it’s too late.
As we don’t want to spoil the entire season, we’ll stop right here with the narrative but as you can see, the health scare, the epiphany of wanting a child and the road to get there forms a coherent whole. The season finale ends with a bang and has absolutely nothing to do with the red wire found throughout the entire season but it is certainly an interesting take on how a series should end. Even after so long, the series continues to maintain a steady dose of eye-rolling and sometimes perverted jokes allowing the series to stay light and hilarious.
The acting performance of Jon Cryer and Ashton Kutcher remain steady until the very end and both actors were able to excel in putting down their character’s quirks perfectly. The performance of fellow actors such as Conchata Ferrell (portraying Berta), Holland Taylor (portraying Evelyn Harper) and Amber Tamblyn (portraying Jenny Harper, Charlie’s biological daughter) should not be forgotten as each of their characters provide a vital dynamic in the series. The season finale features a surprising cast of guest stars Arnold Schwarzenegger (Lieutenant Wagner), Angus T. Jones (portraying Jake Harper), Christian Slater as himself and Sophie Winkleman as Zoey.
The DVD box of season 12 comes with a compilation of bloopers in the form of a gag reel which extends the view time by ten minutes. As this is the final season of the show, I would have appreciated some more juicy extra’s but we have to settle with the gag reel.
Conclusion
Throughout the twelfth season of Two and a half Men, you’ll never feel that this is the final season of the series and the often perverted jokes continue to roll easily until the very end. All good things must come to an end eventually and the season finale does not only feature a surprising cast, it also has a surprising twist to the plot of the last four seasons and the entire TV-series in general. It’s been a blast and the show does not disappoint.
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