‘Two and a Half Men’ season 11, episode 11 spoilers: Odette Annable’s debut; Brooke returns

When “Two and a Half Men” returns from its winter hiatus in January, you are going to have an opportunity to see the return of some familiar stories, and also the arrival of some new ones.

When talking about the old ones here, we are not referring so much to Alan’s transgender girlfriend. That ship seems to have sailed after Alan misread yet another signal and for some reason thought that getting with Paula’s ex-wife was going to be some sort of smart idea. Instead, you are going to be seeing the return of Aly Michalka as Brooke, the wax technician who Jenny fell for in this past new episode. Thanks to Walden, the two’s relationship will be still going strong when the episode picks up … but there will be trouble that rises soon after that.

Also, the synopsis for this episode (entitled “Tazed in the Lady Nuts”) also features the arrival of Odette Annable as a woman who could become a new love interest for Ashton Kutcher’s Walden Schmidt:

“Walden joins his beautiful former employee on a brilliant new project. Meanwhile, Alan advises Jenny to open up to her girlfriend or risk losing her.”

Personally, we’re interested in the show actually trying to focus more on some longer arcs at this point in the season, especially when the majority of the series regulars are involved in them. At the moment, Alan is one of the principal three without a love interest to call his own, and he’s just coming off a relationship. Therefore, it’s pretty hard to feel that bummed out for him right now. This show’s never going to become like “Homeland,” with a story that just crosses over from week to week until the end. We have to just celebrate the little victories sometimes.

Are you excited to see what comes next on “Two and a Half Men”? Click here to read our most-recent episode review, and we will have more to share soon.

Photo: CBS