The latest Two and a Half Men continued the refreshing trend of last week: really taking advantage of its half man. Jake, along with his father, finally explored his feelings over the loss of their respective uncle and brother.

It was actually a pretty welcome change to see Charlie spoken about in a slightly positive light via "Thank You For The Intercourse." Sure, there was still the obligatory venereal disease jokes, but there was also plenty of heart as they talked about the man.

I understood the necessity for a sitcom to jump right into the laughs on a season premiere - but when you decide to kill off a major relative of several of the characters, you need to address some legitimate mourning. Bravo for getting that job done here.

From Jake's reminiscing of how his uncle treated him like an adult idiot, all the way to Alan's full on mental breakdown, it really was #winning to me.  Now that they seem to have gotten enough of the Charlie out of their system, maybe the show is ready to move on.

While Jon Cryer is no stranger to playing a character pretending to be Charlie, this week he really shined, going full-on crazy when Alan truly believed he was Charlie.  hanks to some great lines, a Nat Nast shirt, and a beautiful girl, Cryer almost felt like Charlie even. I'll give you a hint, I didn't do the dog people style.

It was a fun, goofy half hour that didn't rely too much on Walden, gave Cryer a chance to shine and perfectly balanced the use of Jake and Berta. Maybe Alan was right at the end. I'd say it was as winning as this new format can be.

Now, be sure and browse our Two and a Half Men quotes before you rant about how the show should bring Charlie Sheen back.  

Eric Hochberger is the programmer of TV Fanatic, so please forgive his mediocre writing. His programming is far better. Follow him on Twitter and/or email him. Just don't request threaded comments. They're coming.