S3, E1: Charlie Harper is a well-to-do bachelor with a house at the beach, a Mercedes in the garage and an easy way with women. His casual Malibu lifestyle was interrupted when his tightly wound brother, Alan, and Alan's young son, Jake, came to stay with him a couple of years ago. Complicating matters further are Charlie and Alan's narcissistic, emotionally toxic mother, Evelyn; Alan's deeply neurotic ex-wife, Judith ; Charlie's domineering, unapologetically blue-collar housekeeper, Berta & Rose , a brilliantly manipulative and vaguely crazy neighbor who had a brief fling with Charlie, remains obsessed with him and is determined to stay in his life by whatever means necessary. Despite the complexities of their lives and their own strained relationship, Charlie and Alan have one thing in common: They both love Jake and want what's best for him. As a result, they manage to create a little family unit that promises to make each one of them a better man.