That Darn Priest

Whenever i start this series again i can just watch till season 8 because after that the show is just garbage. All the fun times with jake, alan and charlie will always be missed.

Despite making US$1.8 Million per episode, Charlie Sheen had annoyed just about everyone on Two and a Half Men, including the show's writer and producer Chuck Lorre.

Having called Lorre pretty much every abusive word under the sun during an interview, the hit writer and production company Warner Bros. Television fired Sheen for his comments. This for me and many others, spelt the end of Two and a Half Men.

As the 8th series had been cut short, and Charlie Sheen had turned down an offer to appear in the opening episode of series 9, Charlie Harper's story never got a satisfactory conclusion, but before we move to the show's horrendous 9th series, let's look at the final episode of the Charlie Sheen era.

I must say, although I'm sad that Charlie Sheen left when he did, the 8th series of the show may just be the perfect final series for him. It highlights just how far the character has come, his journey from heartless womaniser to a sensitive man looking for a soulmate, and his final attempts at a meaningful relationship.

The series displayed the sense of maturity that Charlie didn't have at the start of the series. Accepting a girlfriend that is older than him, and his friendly break-up with Courtney that displayed a surprising sense of responsibility.

His affair with Rose, who he believes to be married, is a story-arc that shows Charlie finally succumbing to his feelings for her, and a desperate attempt to keep hold of her, afraid of letting her go.

This story-arc prematurely comes to a close in this two-parter without a proper conclusion, and while that's disappointing, and I would've liked to have seen where the writers were going with it, it does make for a brilliant final story for Charlie.

Alan's ponzi-scheme is also a great story-arc for bringing back the main characters for Charlie's exit story. Many people have stated that they find this concept out-of-character and completely absurd, I don't think it's that far out there, and it fun watching Rose foil his plan, and Alan discovering her secret.

Bringing Berta, Evelyn, Judith, Herb, Rose and Gorden back for this two-parter was a brilliant co-incidence, as it allowed us to subconsciously look back on the Charlie Sheen era, and on retrospect, say one final goodbye to it.

Three Hookers and a Philly Cheesesteak is a brilliant story that focuses mostly on Alan's ponzi-scheme, which is fun watching him bounce back and forth between all of the character trying to keep them giving him money.

The Charlie and Rose storyline isn't as prominent but still manages to be entertaining. It's strange watching him taking Rose's role as stalker while Rose is the taken love interest. It makes for a new dynamic and I enjoy it.

That Darn Priest ends the Sheen years brilliantly. While it's not the funniest episode ever, it does have some good lines and hilarious moments such as Rose walking in on Alan in the surgery, and it does give the story-arcs at least a little sense of closure, although not much.

Alan's ponzi-scheme gets a different approach, with him instead trying to fight the guilt of him having conned his family out of thousands of dollars. Also, dark Alan is hilarious.

On retrospect, if Two and a Half Men ended here for me, then it's a good ending. I cant get to grips with the Kutcher years of the show, the dynamic is all wrong and so the humour doesn't get through.

I think this is a story that manages to wrap-up certain story-arcs well just in time for the end of the Sheen years. The show was doomed at the firing of the great legend that is Charlie Sheen, and although everyone tried really hard with Kutcher, Charlie was the heart of the show, and you can't just replace a Legend.

Bye bye Charlie, see you in Hell.

I like Charlie Sheen but watching the reruns with Ashton in the lead role made me form the opinion that by this point Charlie's sex crazed drunk character got boring and stale and Ashton's four seasons in the series was a breath of fresh air. Perhaps it was for the best that Chuck Lorre gave Sheen the sack and revitalized the program with Kutcher.