Season synopsis
Contains spoilers for this season and earlier seasons.
Season 9 begins after Charlie’s funeral: Rose says he died in Paris after falling in front of a train, and Alan and Jake must leave the beach house when it is sold. Walden Schmidt, a wealthy internet entrepreneur reeling from his separation from Bridget, buys the property after attempting suicide following their breakup. He and Alan form an unlikely household, with Jake still living there between school and home, while Walden tries to repair his marriage and then move forward.
Bridget’s return and her business connection with Walden keep their divorce unsettled, but Walden begins dating Zoey, a British lawyer who has a young daughter, Ava. Alan and Lyndsey continue their uneven relationship as Jake and Eldridge drift without plans after high school. Walden’s friendship with Alan becomes a steady domestic partnership, even as his romantic life pulls between the former marriage and Zoey. At season’s end, Jake graduates and the two friends accept military recruiters’ offer of a new direction.
After Jake and Eldridge fail at their server-room job in Walden’s company by filling the machines with downloaded pornography and viruses, they are fired. They enlist in the Army, and Alan tries to stop Jake, briefly attempting to take away his application before discovering the recruiter has a copy. The family gathers to send the young men off; the final scene finds Jake and Eldridge crawling through basic-training obstacles in the dark. Walden and Alan remain in Charlie’s former home as Jake leaves for military service.