Two and a Half Men was depicted as sitcom culture’s most vengeful ex, and while she did deserve most of the outrage, there were times when she proved to be surprisingly kind and comionate. Judith is Alan Harper’s ex-wife and Jake’s mother and she has always been a problem for Alan, making his life increasingly harder, on purpose even. She’s vindictive, manipulative, and quite a bully, but then again she’s a great mother to Jake.
There are moments when Judith has been really nasty to the Harpers and there are times when she has proved to be great at co-parenting Jake with Alan. Here’s a round-up of all the times she was an overrated character and all the times she was an underrated one.
Underrated: When She Was Worried About Jake Staying At Charlie’s Home
Any decent parent would be worried if their impressionable kid was staying at womanizing Charlie would be a really bad influence on Jake.
At that point, Alan had nowhere to go and his only option was to stay with Charlie so Jake would spend his weekends with his dad and uncle. But Judith did her best to protect Jake and even took a therapist’s help when she realized that Jake was going through a tough time.
Overrated: When She Rooted For Alan’s Divorce
One of the nastiest things Judith did was to bet on how long Alan and Kandi’s marriage would last. Yes, the match was quite ill-fated and anyone could see that it probably wouldn’t last long. But Judith, being a divorcee herself is aware of how painful divorces can be and the trauma they carry.
Alan obviously went into this marriage with a lot of hope and wanted to have a future with Kandi, but when he broke up with her, a gleeful Judith revealed that along with Alan’s mom, Charlie and Berta, she too, had bet against his marriage and had actually won the bet.
Underrated: When She Helped Alan With Her Money Troubles
Judith gets a bad rap for being a nasty ex. However, she has surprised the viewers of the show by being sympathetic to Alan’s financial anxieties more than once. When Alan was dating Kandi, he was quite broke since he had to buy her a new car and pay her medical bills and basically take care of her.
He sent Charlie to tell Judith of his financial situation so he could skip his child payments, and Judith was actually quite understanding, even though Alan behaved quite stupidly by splurging on jewelry for Kandi. Judith even tried to lend Alan some money so he could get back on his feet.
Overrated: When She Started Seeing Kandi’s Dad
Fans were quite confused when Judith started dating Kandi’s dad, especially because Kandi and Alan were still a couple and this would make things really awkward between all of them. This was very odd and quite a transgression on Judith’s part because she had always blamed Charlie of not having any boundaries, especially when it came to his love life.
But by dating Kandi’s dad she made things substantially messier because it entangled all of their lives together, and this is something fans expect the reckless Charlie to do but not Judith who enjoys her moral high ground.
Underrated: When She Was ive Of Alan Exploring His Sexuality
Though Alan wasn’t gay, his family and friends were convinced that he was, especially after he befriended a gay single dad who shared quite a lot of interests with him. Everyone from Charlie to Berta tried to convince Alan that he is gay and made quite a few jokes at his expense.
When Judith found out, she was surprisingly very happy about the news which shocked fans quite a bit because she has often implied that she wants Alan to be miserable. Judith even tells Alan that he looks happy and that he is glowing and was genuinely delighted with the idea that Alan had figured out the key to his happiness.
Overrated: When She Blamed Alan For Everything That Is Wrong In Her Life
Fans have noted a troubling pattern that is actually very realistic with estranged couples. People who can’t seem to get their life together or are not ready to confront their own mistakes usually try blaming their unhappiness on their exes. Judith did it quite a lot because she had often blamed Alan for taking away the ‘good’ years of her life.
She has even itted that she was very miserable when she was with him. So, naturally, whenever something went wrong in her life, she found a way to blame it on Alan, and this is not something Alan would do. He was broke and quite pathetic but was quite self-aware of how own issues, unlike Judith.
Underrated: When She Gave Alan Another Chance
The Harpers were shocked when they found out that Alan and Judith are giving their relationship another go, especially since Alan was so unhappy with their marriage. But for couples who have a child together getting back together after a split is not uncommon because people sometimes acquire better perspectives on their own issues after they have left a relationship.
In this case, Judith was actually the braver one, she was taking the bigger risk considering how sad she was when she was married to Alan. However, she was ready to let bygones be bygones and consider starting afresh for the sake of her kid.
Overrated: She Repeated The Mistakes Of Her First Marriage
Judith was domineering, bossy, and quite mean to both her husbands, Alan and Herb, and this has actually made fans realize that Judith was treating Herb the same way she treated Alan when they were married and was basically making the same mistakes.
It’s possible that Judith could only be with men like Alan or Herb because they are scared of confrontation or drama, and hence it makes it easier for her to get her own way. But Judith’s ignorance of her own flaws was a big reason why most of her relationships seemed to end on a bad note.
Underrated: When She Agreed To Be A Team Player For Parenting Jake
No matter how vicious things got between Alan and Judith they had agreed to put up a united front in front of Jake as it made parenting easier. Co-parenting is hard and it's much harder to do it with someone one dislikes so deeply.
Alan and Judith hated each other so much that they could not even be friends, but Judith did prioritize well when it came to Jake and even when she disagreed with Alan she made it a point to not vent her frustrations in front of Jake to make Alan’s job easier.
Overrated: When She Exploited Alan
Despite knowing all about Alan’s financial situation Judith has tried multiple times to squeeze money out of him. The funniest part is Alan already paid a hefty amount to Judith in alimony and child and yet she would send him a list of expenses for Jake like money for his new shoes, school uniform, or class trip, though this comes under the child category so he shouldn’t have to pay for it.
Alan was scared Judith would lawyer up and take full custody of Jake and agreed to whatever she said and Judith took full advantage of this situation.
