[10][11] Ashton Kutcher assisted Chuck Lorre with the creation of Walden Schmidt and co-wrote the story of "Slowly and in a Circular Fashion", which develops his character.

[12] The character of Charlie Harper, despite being killed off, was re-introduced late in the season as a ghost in a woman's body for a guest reprisal, played by Kathy Bates.

Saddened by still being separated from Bridget, Walden shares his feeling with Judith, who has visited to remonstrate with him for influencing Jake to quit education but ends up making out with him.

Alan, knowing that Courtney is a con artist (see "Fish in a Drawer"), confronts her about taking advantage of Walden while he is still heartbroken over Bridget.

After having a discussion with her about honesty, he decides to reveal all of his life's secrets to her (including the fact that he gave her earrings stolen from Judith, may be the father of Judith and Herb's baby, got his family involved in a Ponzi scheme, found out Rose's "husband" was a mannequin and took $50,000 to keep it secret, and was tricked by Charlie into letting the family dog lick peanut butter off his genitals as a child).

Walden, having been inspired by Lyndsey's role in the porn film, learns to bake and makes a batch of cannabis brownies with Berta, and then proceeds to hold a party to cheer up Alan.

Lyndsey shows up to apologize just as a stoned Alan is surrounded by bikini-clad girls ready to eat whipped cream and cherries off of his body.

When he finds out that Walden donated his brother's piano, an object that has many memories of the latter tied to it, Alan drowns his sorrows with alcohol at a local bar.

After watching Walden picking up another woman named Alicia (Amanda Schull), he returns home with them and steps out on the deck, looking up into the night sky as he talks to Charlie through the Heavens.

When a labrador runs up to him, followed by its owner, a beautiful woman named Melanie (Taylor Cole), he suddenly starts to behave and talk like Charlie and even manages to seduce her.

While lying in bed in the hospital, Alan, believing he is in the presidential suite of the Bellagio, orders two Asian prostitutes from room service, sits back with his cigar and declares that he is "winning", thus referencing Charlie Sheen's public statements after he was fired.

On the way back home, his newly acquired confidence faces a setback when Jake tells him that he is about to father a child with his girlfriend Megan.

Just as he loses his last bit of hope, a beautiful woman named Veronica Hastings (Nicole Steinwedell) invites him to a glass of wine, immediately cheering him up.

When Jake asks his new "boss" if he owns a yacht, he tells him that he does not like displays of extreme wealth and, at the same time, reveals that he already got a private jet.

Alan agrees with Berta and visits a pawn shop to make some money off of his old Gateway computer and the diamond cufflinks Evelyn gave him (which turn out to be fake).

As Sid (Jonathan Banks), the pawn shop owner, rejects the items, Alan presents him a vase which he hopes is worth a few bucks.

Walden's mother, Robin (Mimi Rogers), visits for the holiday and Alan's sorrows are immediately forgotten as he becomes smitten with her the moment he sees her.

When Walden and Zoey are heading out for dinner one night, they spot a lone Alan taking profile pictures for an online dating site.

Alan is confused, but gains new hope when a stoned Eldrige, who is watching Beavis and Butt-Head with Jake, tells him that Dylan is gay and that Lyndsey misses him.

Later, while making out, Lyndsey tells him that she felt too pressured to please a young man like Dylan, as she couldn't let him see her without makeup for fear that he would "think he just nailed his mom", among other issues.

Walden finally agrees (with Berta being revealed as a former prison hairdresser), but then changes his mind again when Alan tells him about the things Judith made him do while they were married.

The couples plan to part ways for Valentine's Day—Zoey and Walden heading in his private jet for a romantic night in Cabo San Lucas, Lyndsey and Alan going to a nice B&B near Santa Barbara—but the horrible rainstorm outside causes a major sinkhole right outside the house that strands them all there when the power goes out.

It turns out Zoey also started her period and has tampons on hand for a grateful Lyndsey, and the women share stories about their terrible ex-husbands, both agreeing that Walden and even Alan are major improvements.

Feeling rejected, Walden meets Zoey's neighbor Jennifer in the elevator and brings her back to the house for a walk on the beach and get better acquainted; Zoey calls Walden to clear up the matter (revealing that she's said it twice only for bad things to happen, once to Nigel and again to Russell Brand), only for Jennifer to walk into the room and ruin the call.

After brief visits by Walden, Evelyn, Judith, Jake, and Lyndsey, Alan finds a strange woman (Kathy Bates) sitting at the foot of his bed.

Everyone but Zoey is being incredibly and unusually nice to Alan when he gets home from the hospital after his non-heart attack: Walden lets him stay at the beach house, Judith tells him not to worry about his lack of up-to-date child support checks until he gets back on his feet, and Lyndsey performs oral sex on him while he eats peach cobbler.

His business partner, Billy (Patton Oswalt), does hire them for an overnight shift to look after the hard drives connected to their computer server, and replace any that fail.

Lori Rackl of the Chicago Sun Times gave the season positive reviews, saying "filling the void left by a well established character isn't easy, but Kutcher mostly succeeded.

At times his character seemed a bit like Lennie petting the rabbits in Of Mice and Men, but give him a few episodes, and he should settle in nicely.

"[42] Kutcher's performance in the show was praised by Hollywood.com saying "What makes Ashton a suitable replacement for Charlie Sheen is that he does not need to be the main attraction every half-hour.