Judith Harper-Melnick

Judith Harper-Melnick
Vital statistics
Names	Judith Harper, Judith Melnick, Judy.
Gender	Female
Race	Human
Occupation	Unknown
Origin	Two and a Half Men Season 1 Episode 1: Pilot (Most Chicks Won't Eat Veal) September 22, 2003
Alignment	Mixed
Age	35 (S1) 47 (S12)
Created By	Chuck Lorre, Lee Aronsohn
Height	1.65m (5ft 5in)
Weight	56kg (123lbs)

Judith Harper-Melnick is one of the main characters and the secondary antagonist of Two and a Half Men. She was Alan Harper's first wife, daughter of Lenore and Sheldon, and the biological mother of Jake Harper and Milly Melnick. She was a member of the Harper family by marriage. She was the first woman Alan slept with, but their marriage was cold and she said she was only happy when she was pregnant with Jake. Alan often rails against her hypocritical behavior (especially her disapproval of him having girlfriends around Jake when she herself has had relationships with another woman and various men), but he also seems to still have feelings for her, to the point of having visions of her and her new husband Herb when he started dating a mutual friend of theirs. She made no secret of the fact that she was living the life of luxury with Alan's alimony payments and even had breast implants.

Meanwhile, she remarried to Dr. Herb Melnick (Ryan Stiles), Jake's pediatrician, a union that pleases Alan because it means he no longer has to pay alimony. She still makes Alan pay alimony for activities she doesn't want to bother Herb with. In season 6, she was pregnant with either Alan's or Herb's child. In the final episode of the season, she gave birth to Milly Melnick with Charlie sitting next to her. The couple divorces in the tenth season when Herb has an affair with his receptionist. Judith only made one appearance in each of the last three seasons of the series.

The main reason why Alan and Judith got married in the first place was their similar backgrounds. Both were extremely unpopular at school, Alan was abused as a child by both Charlie and his mother and Judith was overshadowed by her more attractive and popular sister Jill. Both are also self-conscious, needy, neurotic messes and had unsupportive families.

Appearance

Judith is a physically appealing woman in middle age, possessing a fit physique. She sports long brown locks, brown eyes, and fair complexion. She typically dons long-sleeved tops or v-neck, no-sleeves, and jeans, along with her brown purse.

Personality

Judith embodies the archetype of the evil ex-wife Despite her deep affection for her son Jake, who even elicits intense emotions from her during his military service, Judith is characterized by her self-centeredness, vindictiveness, hostility, obstinacy, infidelity, irrationality, deceitfulness, callousness, treachery, resentment, and harshness. It's evident that Judith prioritizes power and control over genuine love. Judith is replete with animosity and malice, all directed towards Alan. She consistently places the blame on him for her personal misfortunes, including the loss of her youth due to marrying young and forfeiting much of her life with him. Judith's most disturbing quality is her refusal to recognize her ethical shortcomings and her tendency to scapegoat Alan or anyone she dislikes for her own transformation into the person she has become. Even after their divorce, Judith refuses to accept Alan's happiness in any form and will go to extreme measures to ensure his unhappiness, which she consistently achieves. However, it's apparent that Judith's marriage to Alan was a pivotal point in her life, and it's unlikely she would have married at all. Judith's true joy is derived from her ability to inflict misery on those she despises. Nonetheless, there have been instances where Charlie has managed to outsmart Judith by subtly undermining her with clever yet biting remarks, which have significantly wounded her pride each time. This might explain why, in one instance, Judith tries to establish a connection with Charlie at his home, but Charlie remains aloof in his response, choosing to maintain his distance.

Biography

Alan realized marrying Judith was his biggest error, reflecting their mutual reliance on each other's issues. Judith became pregnant with Jake around two years after her marriage to Alan. She claims to have endured eight spinal injections for pain relief, though Alan disputes this, stating she requested them. Judith kicked Alan out of his home at the beginning of the series and embraced her newfound independence, supported by her monthly alimony from Alan. She lived luxuriously, renovated her kitchen, went on vacations to Hawaii, and even underwent cosmetic procedures like liposuction and breast augmentation. She was Alan's first wife, yet their marriage lacked warmth, with her admitting the only time she felt truly happy was during her pregnancy with Jake. She still harbored some feelings for him, especially after breaking up with a boyfriend who comforted her, leading to them making out and planning to have sex until Jake and Charlie walked in, interrupting them. She briefly tried to reconcile with Alan, but he saw through her unchanged nature. She later married Dr. Herb Melnick (Ryan Stiles), which brought Alan happiness as it meant no more alimony. In Season 6, their marriage hit a rough patch, leading to Herb's departure, which deeply hurt Judith, marking another failed union. Alan tried to comfort her, and they ended up making out, with Judith declaring she would never let him leave her. This only fueled Alan's decision to start a secret relationship. At the series' end, Judith was pregnant with either Alan's or Herb's child, giving birth to Milly Melnick in the season's final episode, with Charlie by her side. In Season 8, she expressed concerns about becoming Alan's neighbor, which was temporarily alleviated when Alan accidentally burned down Lyndsey's house shortly after. She and Herb were also involved in Alan's Ponzi scheme, contributing $15,000 and six months of child support payments. When Alan objected to the child support being for Jake, Judith responded, "Oh, don't be so naive." Judith appeared in just six episodes of Season 9. She made a brief cameo in "The Straw in My Donut Hole" when Alan suffered a heart attack, returning to Walden's house to look after him and waive his child support payments. In Season 10, Judith vanished from the show, with her absence only mentioned sporadically. Her reasons for leaving were never fully explained until "Run, Steven Staven! Run!", where Herb revealed their marriage had ended after Judith discovered him cheating with his receptionist .She brought their daughter Milly with her, while Herb stayed behind at their home.

Walden and Alan reach out to her, asking her to come and assist Herb in the pivotal episode "Someone Stole A Spoon," she comes and is reunited with him. Judith makes a comeback in the eleventh season, episode "Cab Fare and a Bottle of Penicillin," where she and Alan have a brief reunion and end up getting married in a drunken state. Their marriage ends when Judith discovers that Alan had proposed to Lyndsey before her. Her last scene on the show is in the series finale, "Of Course He's Dead," where Alan informs her that even though they're divorced, she was his true love. Judith replies, "How sweet," and mentions she has another call before hanging up on Alan.

Trivia

• Judith was named after the French actress Judith Henry because she and the actress look remarkably similar.
• It's possible that Judith casually mentioned her sexual orientation in the "Pilot" episode as a way to justify her decision to get a divorce from Alan.
• Judith has a strained relationship with her parents and sister, who favor Alan over her and seem to dislike Herb. They are both deeply disappointed in Judith's choices, such as "destroying her marriage" with Alan and briefly embracing lesbianism, which has led to Judith feeling angry and bitter.
• It's suggested that Judith seeks therapy, where she is prescribed strong sedatives to deal with her family issues.
• Judith is likely seen as the outcast in her family, similar to how Charlie was viewed by the Harper family.
• She continues to make Alan cover the costs of child support. In fact, she enjoys making Alan pay for everything, even going as far as to accept a $600 bill from her lawyer, who insists Alan must still pay her alimony after his divorce from Kandi. She only managed to gain this advantage because Charlie upset the lawyer Alan hired by having an affair with him and then leaving her before the case was resolved.
• Judith sees herself as isolated and enduring a lot, but she's actually quite harsh, self-centered, spiteful, illogical, and vindictive. As a child, Judith was anxious, needy, and suffered from an unusual eating disorder. She blames Alan and Charlie for Jake's lack of motivation, yet she herself appears to lack confidence and patience with him.
• Her exact birthdate has not been revealed in the series, unlike Alan and Charlie.
• It's unclear how Judith reacted to Charlie's passing after the funeral in Season 9, but her hatred for him suggests she wasn't deeply affected by his death. She can be seen at the funeral with Herb, indicating she might be grieving his loss.
• She had a romantic interest in Walden Schmidt.
• By the end of Season 9, when Judith drops Jake off at Walden Schmidt's new home, she bluntly states, "It's your weekend to have custody of this," indicating she has lost a lot of interest in him. However, this could change when she expresses her emotional goodbyes to Jake as he leaves for the military in "Oh Look! Al-Qaeda!" episode.
• In the Season 9 episode "Big Girls Don't Throw Food," where she and Walden share a kiss, Jake records them without their knowledge, intending to use the video to convince his mom to let him drop out of school. However, the video is likely to come back to haunt Walden as it often does with Jake's "dirty laundry."
• While Judith initially accused Alan of being controlling, it's clear she was the one exerting power in their relationship. She and Alan tried to keep their friendship, but as Judith turned into a resentful and spiteful woman, she devoted more time to harassing Alan and attempting to destroy his life.
• Judith appeared in just 6 episodes of the ninth season and only one episode of the tenth season. Despite this, she was still recognized as a main cast member.
• In season 11, she and Herb legally ended their marriage. She hardly talks about him or their divorce.