‘Two and a Half Men’ season 11, episode 5 review: Alan’s silly inside job

We know that so many critics out there want to just blanket “Two and a Half Men” as an incredibly stupid comedy that has been on the air far too long, but we want to at least try to give our critical take on it. This is a show that does still have its share of humor, and it has a template as to how to make a great episode: Have a couple of separate storylines, and then tie them together in the end.

The problem with season 11 is that there are times when it forgets what this template is. The star of the show should be the guy not named Jon Cryer, whether it is Charlie Sheen or Ashton Kutcher. His character is so unlikable that it is hard to care about his journey, and we need more of the yin and yang. Having Walden Schmidt almost being totally a story about helping out Jenny, otherwise known as the random daughter of Charlie that is now a big part of the show, is a waste. Remember, Ashton Kutcher made more money in one episode than many people make in a decade just by sitting there and offering advice for half an hour.

Alan’s story hijacked the episode, and it was a pretty unfunny one, at that: Having to watch him infiltrate Lyndsey’s personal life and her boyfriend Larry, just to figure out what made him tick, was pretty silly and very predictable. There was no attempt at growing up, changing, or being a different person at all. Basically, he spent the entire episode trying to make his lover realize why Larry was a better guy for her.

The biggest issue here is that while this is a silly show, there really is very little reason that the show is giving us to believe that Lyndsey would want to be with Alan, save for his bedroom skills. But even with that, they’ve made him into such a cartoon-character here that we don’t believe it either.

So please, can’t we give Alan at least a little bit of his dignity back? At least in the first several seasons he had a real job, and was more than just a one-dimensional nerdy slacker. Let’s hope that the writers realize that soon. Grade: D.

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Photo: CBS