Garage Sale is the fifteenth episode of Season 4 of Malcolm in the Middle and the seventy-eighth episode overall of the show.
Synopsis[]
Home from a visit with her sister Susan who had called her "hopeless," Lois puts Reese in charge of the family garage sale, against Malcolm and Dewey's warning not to. Meanwhile, Hal finds his old pirate radio transmitter and restarts a pirated broadcast he ran in college under the pseudonym Kid Charlemagne. However, when he makes unacceptable speeches about the government again, he becomes wanted by the FCC again. Meanwhile, Malcolm finds an old computer worth thousands of dollars and tells Lois about it. After Reese intentionally destroys it, she reprimands him and reminds him that they desperately need the money. At the ranch, Francis uses a sock puppet to help Otto deal with his estrangement from his son Rutger, an experience that helps him say just what Lois needs to hear when he calls home.
Plot[]
In the opening scene, Dewey runs into the kitchen and tells Malcolm that he learned in school about people doing a broadcast convincing people that aliens were landing. His idea is that once Reese falls asleep, they can trick him by flashing lights outside his window and making a pre-recorded tape. Malcolm tells Dewey that he’s completely overthinking his plan. He yells out to Reese that aliens landed down the street, and Reese comes out wearing a football helmet and holding a bat yelling “Every man for himself!” Before running out the front door. Dewey is pleasantly surprised at how easy it was.
Following the events of "Hal's Friend," the bedroom wall is still knocked out and covered with plastic. Hal and the boys are trying to clean house and get the unwelcome animals out of the house when Lois returns. Malcolm uses a tennis racket to shoo away some pigeons, Reese uses a broom to get a rabbit out from under the bed and Dewey chases out a skunk that he named Foamy. Hal reminds the boys that if they see the bobcat don’t try to be a hero and to get on a chair and use a whistle to defend themselves.
When Hal brings Lois home, Reese questions if she’ll notice the grass fire. Malcolm says the important thing to remember is that as far as they know, Dewey has always been missing the tip of his finger. Lois comes in and greets the boys saying how much she missed them, and Reese immediately confesses that Hal knocked down their bedroom wall.
Hal's stammering assurances that he's got expansion plans in mind fail to worry her and she's just glad to be home after an apparently unpleasant experience staying with her sister. She tells Hal that Susan is the most obnoxious, sanctimonious know-it-all she’s ever met and spent every second of her visit criticizing her for everything she’s done wrong in her life. Hal backs up her statement that dating her was the worst five years of his life. Lois explains that the reason why she’s so stuck-up stems from their childhood which her parents always praised Susan for being pretty, smart and talented, while Lois was often looked down on as the one who couldn’t do anything right. Remembering her treatment made her do some soul searching. Moreover, she's been thinking of Reese and his wayward ways, venturing that if the lad were given some encouragement and responsibility, he might turn a corner. Obviously, nothing akin to trusting him with a key to the house, but just a project that he can be in charge of and demonstrate his skill set. Hal agrees before showing Lois that the eggs have hatched in a nest of birds that nested on top of their lamp.
At breakfast the next morning, Dewey walks in without pants until Hal reminds him that his mother is home. Hal announces that it’ll cost at least $800 to close up the wall. Lois says she could return to work at Lucky Aide and if she falls, the amniotic fluid will provide a great cushion. When Malcolm brings up all of the unused rummage out in the garage and suggests trying to sell it all. Reese wonders if he means having a garage sale, Lois allows Reese to take credit for the idea and then puts him in charge of organizing the event. Peeved at this theft of his thunder, Malcolm protests but is silenced by a determined Lois, who's rooting for Reese to do well to prove that if given the opportunity he could succeed like herself if her parents had ever given her the chance.
Over the phone, Francis calls home telling his mom that she can’t sell all of his stuff in the garage because everything represents a beloved childhood memory of his. Lois isn’t convinced since the only things he had in the garage were a bunch of old magazines, a broken yo-yo and a Rubik’s cube that he painted all one color, with Francis emphasizing how impossible it is to solve it. Lois refuses to argue with him any further and gives him ten seconds to give her a good reason to keep his junk or she’s getting rid of it. Francis states that this is why she’s a terrible mother because everything has to be a competition with her and he’s hanging up now then Lois tells him not if she hangs up first. Before he can respond Francis hears the line go dead to his frustration.
At the front desk of the Grotto, Gretchen informs Francis he shouldn’t talk to his family that way since there’s nothing else more valuable than family. She sees that the Mannkussers received a letter from their son Rutger and implores Francis that they need to hide it immediately. Francis questions why they have to hide a letter from their son, until he receives the answer immediately as Otto grabs the letter and sets fire to the envelope. Otto informs them that nothing happened before proceeding to look through the rest of the mail.
Back at the house, Lois says she’ll help Hal and the boys once the swelling in her ankles goes down, no matter what it does to the baby. Hal realizes they are on their own for the heavy lifting. Malcolm suggests to Reese to put the heavy boxes down first and stacks the light ones on top. Reese sees how much it kills Malcolm to know that he’s in charge of the garage sale. He then puts a heavy box on top of a box of Christmas ornaments, crushing them much to Malcolm’s frustration.
While cleaning out the garage, Hal uncovers an old radio transmitter which he tells Dewey that he used it in college for a pirate talk-radio broadcast which he did anonymously as the tiger mascot for their sports team. After hearing Hal's story Dewey claims he was just asking a question and didn't think Hal would punish him for it. Inspired to renew his "Kid Charlemagne" character, he starts transmitting again from behind the garage, filling his frequency with increasingly cockeyed conspiracy theories.
Reese finds an old robot toy he had as a child and how it was supposed to move, talk and learn his name, but it never worked. A flashback shows that the reason it never worked is because Reese as a toddler simply hit it on the ground saying ‘robot’ over and over. Malcolm finds his old construction toy set and remembers how Reese burned his hand after heating up a piece on the stove, leaving him with a burn scar on his hand. Dewey finds his old baseball glove and has an identical flashback to finding the exact same baseball glove. Malcolm finds a vintage 1976 computer chassis asking his dad if it belonged to him. Hal says it wasn’t his and must’ve belonged to his roommate. Reese thinks it’s nothing but junk and orders him to throw it away, but Malcolm suggests that maybe they should find out more about it first. Reese immediately calls out to his mom that Malcolm isn’t respecting his leadership, she yells out to order him to obey.
Hal gets an extension cord and sets up a broadcast station behind the house. He plays the song “Joy to the World” by Three Dog Night and manages to get it to connect with their own radio. Afterwards, he goes on the air and tells all his loyal listeners that Kid Charlemagne has returned because he could not be silenced.
At the Grotto, Gretchen tells Francis that Otto always planned that when Rutger finished college he would come and live with them on the ranch. But Rutger insisted on going to medical school and even became chief surgeon of his hospital. Rutger’s decision to become a doctor instead of working at the ranch like Otto hoped caused a falling out between father and son. Francis finds it odd that Otto never mentioned it before, but Gretchen explains that it’s Otto’s Teutonic pride and utter refusal to show his feelings to anyone. However, Otto begins to greet the guests while sobbing over Rutger but refuses to admit anything is wrong.
Back at the house, Lois calls Malcolm and Hal for dinner, as Malcolm wraps up the old computer in a blanket and hides it under his bed, while Hal is outside continuing his broadcast. Lois calls him again and he takes the tape out and puts it in the radio.
At dinner, Lois thinks they should start the garage sale at around 7 AM because serious shoppers like to get a good pick of the good stuff unless Reese has another idea. Reese instead wants to start at 11:30 so he can watch cartoons. Lois seems he’s doing that, so he’ll be rested and more ready to focus but questions his methods in her mind. Reese asks Malcolm where he was since he ordered him to sort the twist ties according to length. Malcolm argues he was doing homework, but Reese states that no homework should take more than 20 minutes. Hal comes in and Lois questions why he’s been disappearing so much since she’s been gone for six weeks and now she barely sees him. Hal says he missed her too and quickly makes an excuse to put on some music. He puts on his Kid Charlemagne recording but no one pays attention to it. Reese ask Malcolm why he constantly feels like he hast to undermine his authority. Malcolm tells him to bite him and Reese feigns being upset and he was just about feeling confident in his abilities to irk Lois’s rage upon Malcolm. Lois once again accuses him of trying to undermine Reese taking her frustrations out on Malcolm because of how he is acting like Susan by hogging all the praise for himself. She informs him that this is Reese‘s project and he’s going to be supportive of it, no matter what he asked him to do. Malcolm tries to protest but Lois informs him that he can either let Reese be in charge of him for the garage sale or let him be in charge of him every day for the rest of his life. As Hal’s Kid Charlemagne recording continues, he tries to divert their attention to it by claiming that he’s saying what they’re all thinking. Lois tells him to turn that racket off, Hal claims he shouldn’t have expected a suburban housewife like her to understand his message.
Outside organizing boxes, Reese tells Dewey a tennis ball goes with the ceramic bananas in the yellow pile. Dewey finds it stupid and asks why they are sorting everything by color. Reese says it’s because he’s in charge and that alphabetical order was slowing them down. Annoyed at Reese’s attitude Malcolm enlists Craig’s help by bringing him into the bedroom to show him the computer. Craig claims it had better be good since they’ll be hell to pay if Jellybean wakes up and finds out he’s not on the massage table next to her. Malcolm tells him it’s a Nortair 680B and is one of the first personal computers, Craig understands how there aren’t many of them left and tries to lowball him with five bucks but Malcolm tells him to get serious since he discovered online that it’s in mint condition and is valued at least $1300 which Craig agrees to but reminds him he’ll need a few days to get the money. Malcolm claims that’s his plan to have him purchase it at the garage sale that Saturday with cash during a scripted transaction where he’ll react in horror when he discovers that Reese was going to throw it in the trash and in which Reese's judgment will be decided in favor of Malcolm's. Craig tells him that he’s starting to sound like a James Bond villain but Malcolm knows that he is right. Craig agrees but reminds him that his revenge schemes have a way of backfiring and informs him if he’s going to make someone an Ex-Lax milkshake, not to do it on an empty stomach.
Hal drives around the neighborhood to find the broadcast range of his broadcast until he is pulled over by a police officer. The officer asks if he knows why he was pulled over, Hal nervously responds that he was definitely not operating a pirate radio station and wonders why he's asking so many questions despite not asking any. He explains that he pulled him over for running a stop sign. Hal is in disbelief since there wasn't a stop sign, the officer corrects him that a new one was just put up at the entrance of the country club before writing him a ticket. That night Hal as Kid Charlemagne rants on about how the stop sign is a declaration of war from the fat cats up on the hill playing golf while regular Joes like himself are late for their second jobs, church or family dinners because those robber barons are incapable of looking both ways.
When Francis finds Gretchen by the fireplace going through a box of Rutger’s childhood mementos. After finding an old plus-sized onesie she happens to find "Schlupi," a sock puppet which Otto once used to communicate frank messages which he otherwise couldn't relay to his son. Gretchen feels sad that all those happy memories are all gone now. Francis hates seeing her so upset and implores her to talk to Otto about it, but she emphasizes that there’s no getting through to Otto as he’ll continue to deny anything is wrong. As Otto walks through the lobby sobbing, he feigns singing a song to avoid any prying. Francis has an idea.
The day of the garage sale eventually falls, Malcolm asks Craig if he got the money. Craig says he has the $1300 and it cost him three little Lulus and a Captain Picard plate, as Malcolm goes to get the computer he tells Craig to memorize a script he wrote. Despite Lois's stalwart reassurances, Reese is a nightmare of bad salesmanship and harebrained ideas. Such as telling a woman who is interested in their vacuum that it’s a set and she can only get the vacuum if she gets the lamp too. She says she doesn’t need a lamp before leaving, Reese is certain she’ll come back and when she does the lamp isn’t going without the blender. Lois says Reese must’ve thought out everything and commends him for planning ahead. She then questions where Hal keeps disappearing off to.
Malcolm is about to close the rehearsed "sale" of the vintage computer to Craig in Lois’s presence when a frenzied Hal spirits the portly Lucky Aide manager away while trying to evade lurking agents working with the FCC much to Malcolm’s frustration.
Dewey comes out and sees Reese selling Dewey's piggybank, which happens to contain $16 of Dewey's money, for a mere two bucks. Dewey tries to tell Lois, but she does nothing to help him and tells him he’s as bad as Malcolm and she doesn’t want to hear anymore complaining from him for the rest of the day. She orders him to help Reese sell some items. Dewey is then approached by a couple of customers who ask if they have a microwave for sale. An enraged Dewey smugly retaliates by underhandedly selling them their microwave for $16, exactly how much of his money Reese thoughtlessly gave away. When the husband asks him if the stereo is for sale, Dewey asks him to make him an offer.
The wife turns on the stereo to check that it works and hears Hal’s ongoing illegal Kid Charlemagne broadcast. Hal continues broadcasting from inside Craig’s van as the FCC inform him that he is conducting an illegal broadcast and order them to pull over. Upon hearing his words Craig recognizes that he is Kid Charlemagne and gets excited.
Reese then sees Malcolm with the computer and angrily questions him why he still has it after he told him to throw it out and tries to take it from Malcolm. As the two fight, Lois breaks it up and gets angry at Malcolm for trying to be the center of attention and points out that Reese has worked hard to make the garage sale work. As Lois speaks, she is unaware that Dewey is selling most of the family's furniture and belongings from inside the house and then pocketing the money for himself and is oblivious to all their customers carrying their belongings, such as their couch and TV down the driveway behind her.
Left with no other options, Malcolm finally tells Lois the truth about doing research about the old computer and reveals that it is extremely rare, with few in existence and that Craig will give them $1300 to purchase it. That he tried to tell her several times about, but she didn't care at all. Upon learning the truth, Lois is immediately in awe about being able to get $1300 from it and her faith in her older son wanes. Enraged that Malcolm disobeyed his wishes and feeling that he was wasting his time telling the family about the vintage computer, Reese intentionally destroys it. Only then, Lois realizes her mistake in not heeding Malcolm's warning against Reese heading the garage sale and angrily asks him what he thinks he’s doing. Reese calls Malcolm out for wasting his time with the garbage he was trying to sell Craig and that he has more important things to do. He has already put a jet ski on hold that he's planning to buy and the store closes at 6 PM. Lois is outraged, she immediately confronts Reese and points out that money isn't his to begin with at all. She mentions that Malcolm's sale of the old computer to Craig was going to give them the money that they need to finish Hal's expansion plans for the new baby. An aghast Reese reminds Lois that when she put him in charge of the garage sale he assumed he'd be keeping all the money he earned. Lois points out that he was wrong to assume that and she wouldn't have let him buy that jet ski regardless of how he felt. Reese is horrified to realize that he's not getting paid and questions why the hell she wanted him to be in charge. Lois mentions the reason she wanted him to head the garage sale instead of Malcolm is because she wanted to help motivate him into being a better person and having good self-esteem. She furiously tells him off that he's going to need both of them later on in life because he is stupid enough to throw away $1300 that the family desperately needs. Reese is clearly horrified and intimidated by Lois's yelling because it's ironically the only thing he really understands.
Before she can chastise him any further, Craig pulls over the van and lies down on the ground telling the government agents that he's never met Hal before, that he hates the constitution and free-speech, he knows things and he's willing to snitch. Lois demands to know what's going on as she and everyone else watches Hal attempting to make a run for it with his old pirate radio with the agents chasing after him. The FCC agent warns him to make it easier on himself and turn himself in further warning him that running adds an additional $80 to his fine. Hal refuses and continues to flee.
At the Grotto ranch, Francis finds Otto in one of the stables sobbing while eating a pudding cup. He confronts Otto and encourages him to look at his ring. When he does in one second, Francis puts the Schlupi sock on his hand. Being encouraged by Francis and with it, Otto was able to tell him how he really felt when Rutger left him. When they came to visit him, it was very hard on him because he never made the attempt to visit them and realized how bad the estrangement is. Then, Francis arranges for a phone to be brought for Schlupi so that nature can take its course.
At the house, Hal puts ice on his bruised knee he received after his attempt to escape from the government agents. Hal claims that 20 years ago he would've cleared the fence he tried to jump over and the manhole that was hidden behind it. After being arrested, he was forced to pay the FCC a large fine to avoid imprisonment. Lois and Hal ponder the day's events and how the garage sale was a miserable failure as they now sit in their largely empty living room due to Dewey selling off their possessions and pocketing the money along with the money lost paying for Hal’s fine.
Lois feels remorseful for having not listened to Malcolm and Dewey about Reese from the beginning. Lois now realizes that Reese is nothing like her, and he doesn't care about receiving praise and cares more about benefiting himself. Hal reassures her that Reese is hopeless no matter how hard they may try to motivate him and the sooner he is out of the house the better. Lois is still depressed by this because that means she has to give up on him. Her thoughts are interrupted when the phone rings and she gets a pleasant surprise from Francis calling home to tell her (assisted by Schlupi) that he appreciates everything she did to try to help him and although they've had their disagreements, he now understands that she was only trying to do what she thought was best for him. Lois is surprised and asks him what brought this on. Francis says he doesn't know but in reality upon dealing with Otto and Rutger's conflict he realized he should try and appreciate his mother more. This helps brings peace to Lois and the two begin a heart-to-heart conversation.
Cast[]
- Jane Kaczmarek as Lois
- Bryan Cranston as Hal
- Christopher Kennedy Masterson as Francis
- Justin Berfield as Reese
- Erik Per Sullivan as Dewey
- Frankie Muniz as Malcolm
Guest Stars[]
Recurring[]
- David Anthony Higgins as Craig Feldspar
- Kenneth Mars as Otto Mannkusser
- Megan Fay as Gretchen Mannkusser
Cameo[]
- Kirk Ward as FCC Agent
- Richard Eks as Police Officer
- Mildred Dumas as Elderly Lady
- Matt Corboy as Man
- Kathleen Darcy as Wife
- Connor Swanek as Toddler Reese
- Jay Colette as Young Reese
- Cody Arens as Young Malcolm
Quotes[]
- Lois: [After realizing that Malcolm was telling the truth and sees Reese destroy the computer intentionally] That money isn't yours. It's going to rebuild our bedroom wall.
- Reese: But you said I was in charge. That means I get the money.
- Lois: No, it doesn't.
- Reese: Then, why the hell would I want to be in charge?!
- Lois: Reese, this is helping you become a better person and building your self-esteem. Which you are obviously going to need if you are [yelling at Reese, who is clearly intimidated] STUPID ENOUGH TO THROW AWAY $1300 THAT THIS FAMILY DESPERATELY NEEDS!
- Craig:[Pulls over his van and gets out of the car] I'm cooperating, I never met this man before, I hate the constitution, I hate free speech, I'll snitch, I know things!
- Lois: What on Earth?!
- FCC Agent: Stop, government agents.
- (Hal is seen running from the FCC Agents with his pirate radio.)
- FCC Agent: Fair warning sir, running adds $80 to your fine!
- (After Dewey tells Malcolm about his plans to trick Reese.)
- Malcolm: Dewey, you're totally overthinking this. Reese, aliens landed across the street.
- (Reese shows up with a baseball bat and wearing a football helmet as head protection.)
- Reese: Every man for himself!
- [Now inside the empty house, Hal and Lois are pondering what to do next after what happened. Hal puts an ice package on his knee while Lois is feeling hopeless over everything she had done. She's still remorseful for not heeding Malcolm's warning against Reese heading the garage sale]
- Hal: Tell you one thing, 20 years ago I would have cleared that fence... and the open manhole.
- Lois: Oh God, how could I have been so wrong about Reese? Hal, say it again please, I really need to hear it.
- Hal: Okay, Reese.... is hopeless.
- Lois: ... [Feeling herself better about her regret] Thank you. [Gives Hal a kiss]
Trivia[]
- This episode marks the first time Lois has regretted not heeding Malcolm's warning about Reese as he sees him as greedy and selfish.
- It is revealed that Susan was the clear family favorite of Victor and Ida's children, while Lois was considered hopeless like Reese.
- Out of Lois's children, Victor and Ida clearly favored Reese because his behavior reminds them of Susan. Whereas they show contempt for Malcolm as the two believed he inherited Lois's own weak traits.
- The "Nortair 680B" computer found by Malcolm is in fact an Altair 8800, considered as the first Personal Computer.
- This episode also marks the first time that a member from the Wilkerson family has been arrested by federal officers. In Hal's case, he has been transmitting negative talk about the government which landed him into trouble with the FCC.
- Francis would soon follow in Day Care for his alien hoax.
- This is the 2nd time that Hal has been arrested on his own. His first time was in Charity, his third time in Reese Joins the Army: Part 1 and the last one is in Malcolm Defends Reese.
- Despite being set in the fictional town of Star City, Hal is measuring the size of his radio broadcasting radius on a map of Chicago, Illinois, with Harwood Heights being clearly visible on the top left-hand corner. Their house was marked as being here.
- This episode shows a pivotal moment where Francis truly shed's his delinquent ways and helps Otto reconcile with Rutger with the use of a sock puppet named Schlupi. He later uses it to tell Lois that he does appreciate how much she cares about him, and this helps bring peace to her. The last three times he did this was in season 2's Lois's Birthday, season 3's Reese's Job and Zoo.
- This has been the 1st time Lois has given up on Reese. The next times this happens is in Buseys Take A Hostage and in Secret Boyfriend.
- This episode marks the first time that Malcolm warned Lois against letting Reese do anything, knowing the predictable results that would ensue. The next time, he warns against it is in Buseys Take A Hostage and in Secret Boyfriend.
- Blossom, a Powerpuff Girl, can be seen in the background of the yard sale.
- Strangely enough, the gnome from New Neighbors that was destroyed by Dewey in the end of the episode reappears in the background of the yard sale as well.
- There was originally going to be a scene where Hal defends Malcolm in his warning against letting Reese head the garage sale. Hal was to remind Lois of the last time they'd tried to motivate him back in Reese Cooks, with flashbacks supporting it. He'd say the family understands her depression over being deemed hopeless and low-class by her own family. However, that doesn't mean Lois should ignore the warning and take it into consideration, because they have seen what Reese is like inside. She goes on to ignore Hal and Malcolm, only to realize too late it was a bad idea. This was dropped to cut down on airing time.
- Another scene had Reese catching Dewey pocketing the money he made which is twice the amount the former made and is angry. He beats Dewey senseless, takes the money for himself and leaves. He is last seen laying on the floor and being ignored by Reese and Lois. Malcolm notices this and is further angered by this callousness. This was also dropped to cut down on airing time.
- It’s possible Lois’s refusal to help carry boxes in order to avoid harming the baby is revenge on Hal for not helping her carry heavy boxes in Flashback when she was pregnant with Malcolm.
- Hal's acceptance that Reese will never change and will always be a degenerate delinquent is revised here. The first time is in Reese Cooks. The last time will be in Secret Boyfriend.
- It is unknown how the Wilkersons get all their living room possessions back. It is likely possible that Hal and Lois took the money from Reese and Dewey to buy their furniture and possessions back from the customers. It's also likely that Hal and Lois let Malcolm off the hook due to having nothing to do with the sale of the possessions.
Errors[]
- When Dewey walks into the kitchen the following morning of Lois's arrival, it is hinted that Dewey is not wearing any underwear. However, when he turns, you can briefly see a waistband from the back.
- In this episode, we learn that Malcolm has a burn mark scar on his right hand given to him by Reese when he was younger. This is not seen on his hand in any other episodes or even later in this episode.
- When Craig mentions Jellybean, he refers to the cat as "her" whereas in Malcolm vs. Reese Jellybean is referred to as male. Jellybean's gender is unknown.
- This episode contains shots that reveal mistakes visible in the later widescreen format, but not in the original 4:3 broadcast:
- When Malcolm explains to Lois how much the vintage computer is worth, Reese can be seen standing still behind them until the camera turns to show him (and he subsequently smashes the computer).
- As Francis talks to Lois in the final scene, Schlupi is seen at the edge of the screen, spoiling its intended reveal.