14 DAY TRIAL // Last night, CBS’ long-running and still very successful comedy series “Two and a Half Men” ended, with an episode that’s already been billed by industry critics as the most meta thing on television - not in recent years, but ever.
“Of Course He’s Dead,” the final episode of “Men,” the one that rounded up 12 seasons of shameless humor, major bumps in the road (including the departure of two members of the principal cast, which should have changed the name of the show to just “One Man”), and plenty of brilliant moments, played out like something out of Charlie Sheen’s mind.
And it was #Winning all the way.
*Please be advised that this article contains spoilers, so if you haven’t caught up to the series finale yet, it’s best to stop reading now.*
Charlie Sheen and that much-hyped comeback
For several months now, fans have been hoping against all hope that Charlie Sheen would somehow manage to put his ego and his differences with series creator Chuck Lorre to the side and agree to reprise his role after 4 years, for one final appearance.
Lorre himself said that he’d be open to the idea, but considering the infamous way in which these two parted ways, in the midst of a drug scandal and outrageous accusations being thrown around from all sides, it was to be assumed he’d want the comeback to happen on his own terms.
Ashton Kutcher, who came to take over from Sheen in the series through the introduction of a new character, seemed to confirm back in December that, indeed, he would be back. He also promised that the finale would be “rad” and so off the wall that he was actually feeling quite “scared” about its reception.
He had every reason for that, as it turns out: on “Of Course He’s Dead,” fans found out that Sheen’s character, Charlie Harper, had actually been alive all this time and that he’d lived for the last 4 years in Rose’s “dungeon,” after she tried to kill him for cheating on him, but failed. So she turned him into her slave.
Right after this is revealed to the fans, Rose drops another bomb: yes, Charlie is alive, but he’s no longer in her custody, having successfully escaped from her basement just a short while before.
As Alan (Jon Cryer) and Walden (Ashton Kutcher) get spooked into alerting the police, at the thought that Charlie might be coming for them next, fans are teased with the promise of seeing him until the final second - when he appears again and is crushed by a huge piano falling from the sky.
Charlie Sheen, of course, didn’t appear on the finale, and all was seen of his character was the back of the head. But the promised (or at the very least, hinted at) comeback did happen.
And then, there was Lorre smiling in the director’s chair, happy that he finally saw to the killing of the Charlie character in a way that Rose wasn’t able to. A second piano was dropped on him after that.
No Sheen, but plenty of cameos
Even if Charlie Sheen didn’t want to be involved in the finale (the photo below is Lorre’s explanation for why it couldn’t be made possible), others were thrilled to be asked.
These included Angus T. Jones, the “Half Man” in the title, who made a brief cameo and broke the fourth wall by looking straight into the camera and addressing the audience. Christian Slater starred as himself but was mistaken for Charlie Sheen, John Stamos and Arnold Schwarzenegger also put in an appearance.
Reviews for the finale are mixed, with some saying that it was further confirmation that the series had long lost its appeal, once with Sheen’s departure. Others praised it for being unapologetic and true to the nature of the show, and for the clever way Lorre worked Charlie’s comeback in without needing Sheen for it.
Whether they hated or loved it, critics agree that “Of Course He’s Dead” is the boldest, most interesting, meta and self-aware series finale ever to air on TV. That alone should earn it a place in history.
What did you think of the final episode in the series? Are you happy “Men” is over, or did this last episode make you nostalgic for the kind of fun you’ll be able to have now only through re-runs? Let us know in the comments.
