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Block Party is the eighth episode in season five of Malcolm in the Middle.

Plot[]

Returning home from vacation a few days early, the family are surprised to find that their street has been barricaded to accommodate a festival. Moreover, signs indicate that it's the "Fifth Annual Block Party." A dismayed Malcolm realizes the implication: whenever the family goes on vacation the rest of the neighborhood celebrates their family's absence. Hal and Lois shrug off the besmirchment and decide to enjoy themselves in the merriment, while Malcolm sulks, and Reese devises a fiendish moneymaking scheme with Dewey in tandem.

At the Grotto, Francis finds that Otto has purchased a frame designed to imitate a cow's hindquarters. Otto is keen to start breeding his new prize bull Bruno but doesn't want him mating with any of his cows, so therefore intends to use the frame to extract the seed. Francis is dismayed to realise that Otto is expecting him to carry out the messy operation.

Neighbors are vexed at the family's return but can only endure their presence. Semi-recurring character Ed (Paul Wilson) seems to be emceeing the affair, inserting some biting commentary over the microphone. On a whim, Hal and Lois decide to enter a kielbasa eating contest, another staple of the festivities. One by one the competing eaters drop out as a record number of sausages are consumed. A particularly amusing quirk is Lois daintily using a knife and fork while others shovel the kielbasas down manually, yet she manages to keep up with everyone else. Finally, with only her and Hal left--plus only one kielbasa remaining--it becomes a duel with forks to scarf up this final sausage.

As Francis prepares to try and collect Bruno's seed, Otto visits and asks how Francis intends to entice Bruno. Francis now understands that he not only has to collect Bruno's specimen but also has to excite him to the point that he produces it. When Otto comments that he isn't 100% certain the cow frame will be able to take the weight of a sexually-excited two-ton bull, Francis demands a raise, which Otto accepts.

With all of the neighborhood kids out and about, Reese proposes a sweet deal. In retribution for the years of torment he has inflicted upon them, each youth may pummel a blindfolded Reese for a nominal fee of $20. A complicit Dewey collects several hundred dollars while Reese grabs an innocent bystander who must stand in for Reese and take the beatings in his stead. As fate would have it, though, the plan goes awry and the real Reese ends up suspended from a garage door mechanism, where the neighborhood kids pound him like a piñata.

In an effort to befriend some of the cold-shouldering neighbors, Malcolm helps a man load boxes from a house into his car, not realizing that he's actually assisting a burglar. The home's real owners happen onto the scene just as the man speeds away, and Malcolm is reduced to tears because of his error. However, when a policeman arrives to file a report, the owners downplay the extent of the theft and opt not to itemize the missing belongings. Malcolm's photographic memory can recall the wares, and as he impulsively rattles off a list which includes printers and embossing machines, he simultaneously realizes that these are all counterfeiting and forgery tools, and the criminal couple are busted on the spot for stock certificate forgery.

Francis spends two hours in the fake cow frame waiting for Bruno to make his move. Despite doing his best to entice the bull over, Bruno shows no interest whatsoever. Francis has him sent outside to graze, and tries to find out what he's doing wrong. He finds out that he was meant to smear the frame with cow pheromones which would have sent Bruno crazy with lust, however Francis finds that the bottle containing the pheromones is missing. Outside, a speedo-wearing Otto has just finished smearing the pheromones over himself having mistaken it for suntan lotion. It doesn't take long for Bruno to catch the scent, and Otto soon sees Bruno running towards him at full speed...

So who won the kielbasa eating contest? Never underestimate the power of true love, especially if it's that of Hal and Lois. To put it succinctly, they split the last sausage, making the contest a tie. So why is this funny? Because the climactic chow down involves the madly-in-love couple eating from either end of the kielbasa towards the middle--until they are both kissing. The crowd loves it, and the family's days as pariahs appear to be over. But perhaps in karma in kind, the contentious neighbors, no longer hating Hal and Lois, end up turn on each other for various trivial indiscretions. As the episode caps, the neighborhood's own odiousness causes their own isolation in spite towards each other, and the family enjoys the many and numerous spoils of the now abandoned block party carnival.

Trivia[]

This is the first episode to premiere in 2004. The 5th annual block party is an allusion to being the first episode to air in the show's 5th year of running.

the final appearance of Ed overall.

Malcolm in the Middle episodes
Season 1 PilotRed DressHome Alone 4ShameMalcolm BabysitsSleepoverFrancis EscapesKrelboyne PicnicLois VS EvilStock Car RacesFuneralCheerleaderRollerskatesThe Bots and the BeesSmundayWater Park
Season 2 Traffic JamHalloween ApproximatelyLois' BirthdayDinner OutCasinoConventionRobberyTherapyHigh School PlayBullyOld Mrs. OldKrelboyne GirlNew NeighborsHal QuitsThe GrandparentsTraffic TicketSurgeryReese CooksTutoring ReeseBowlingMalcolm vs. ReeseMini-BikeCarnivalEvacuationFlashback
Season 3 HouseboatEmancipationBook ClubMalcolm's GirlfriendCharityHealth ScareChristmasPokerReese's JobLois' MakeoverCompany Picnic (1)Company Picnic (2)Reese DrivesCynthia's BackHal's BirthdayHal CoachesDewey's DogPoker 2Clip ShowJury DutyCliquesMonkey
Season 4 ZooHumilithonFamily ReunionStupid GirlForwards BackwardsForbidden GirlfriendMalcolm Holds His TongueBoys At RanchGrandma SuesIf Boys Were GirlsLong DriveKicked OutStereo StoreHal's FriendGarage SaleAcademic OctathalonClip Show #2Reese's PartyFuture MalcolmBaby Part 1Baby Part 2Day Care
Season 5 VegasWatching The BabyGoodbye KittyThanksgivingMalcolm Films ReeseMalcolm's JobChristmas TreesBlock PartyDirty MagazineHot TubIda's BoyfriendSoftballLois' SisterMalcolm Dates a FamilyReese's ApartmentMalcolm Visits CollegePolly in the MiddleDewey's Special ClassExperimentVictor's Other FamilyReese Joins the Army: Part 1Reese Joins the Army: Part 2
Season 6 Reese Comes HomeBuseys Run AwayStandeePearl HarborKitty's BackHal's Christmas GiftHal SleepwalksLois Battles JamieMalcolm's CarBillboardDewey's OperaLiving WillTiki LoungeIda Loses a LegChad's SleepoverNo MotorcyclesButterfliesIda's DanceMotivational SpeakerStiltsBuseys Take A HostageMrs. Tri-County
Season 7 Burning ManHealth InsuranceReese vs. StevieHalloweenJessica Stays OverSecret BoyfriendBlackoutArmy BuddyMalcolm Defends ReeseMalcolm's MoneyBride of IdaCollege RecruitersMonoHal GrievesA.ALois Strikes BackHal's DentistBomb ShelterStevie in the HospitalCattle CourtMorpGraduation
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