Hot Tub is the tenth episode of season five of Malcolm in the Middle.
Plot[]
Hal gets a rash from a hot tub he was supposed to keep clean; Malcolm gets his drivers permit. Dewey befriends a kid named Noah, who uses their friendship to get Reese to beat up his bullies.
Synopsis[]
In the cold opening, Reese and Malcolm come into the kitchen from playing basketball and grab popsicles from the freezer after Reese rants about how Malcolm can shoot free throws better than him he is happy his popsicle is twice the size of Malcolm's but Malcolm quickly shows him they are the same size side by side, after Reese realizes he says "Never mind."
Polly is feeding Jamie and mentions that processed baby food isn't good for him. Malcolm comes home with Lois after getting his driver's permit. Dewey introduces him, Lois, Polly, and Jamie to Noah, his new friend. She is excited, but he tells her to calm down because he doesn't want to scare Noah off and makes her promise not to tell Hal anything. Lois' good mood is shattered when she learns that Hal purchased a $2800 hot tub at a 20% discount. She gets annoyed that he didn't discuss with her before buying it. Hal points out that he expects this kind of reaction from Lois because every time he brings something good home to the family, she always ends up being a killjoy by complaining. She responds that she has a right to be mad at him because he knows the family can't afford to own a hot tub and he wasted the money. Malcolm and Dewey thinks it's a great idea to have a hot tub. However, Lois is still furious and points out that they need return the tub at once and get a refund. She reminds Hal that they need the money to pay the bills. Hal insists that the hot tub is a good investment and asks Malcolm to help read the instructions, which he immediately agrees. Further annoyed and furious, Lois asks for Polly's support in telling Hal to get rid of it. Polly refuses and says nothing, making Lois truly alone against it. For the second time, Lois tells Hal off and leaves for Lucky Aide.
At the Grotto Ranch, Otto is putting a placard sign over the new safety rules due to the careless accidents from the employees. Francis asks to let him nail the sign on a more secure place. However, Otto insists he can do the job himself since Francis is busy with other stuff. He is soon carelessly nailing it to an unsecured spot to the point that the wagon wheel falls off the secured hook that Francis had earlier nailed it on properly along with the other items that he had secured. Thus, ending it with Otto accidentally being struck by lightning due to holding the rake up.
After installing the hot tub, Hal and the boys relax in it. Malcolm explains that despite Lois' insistence on getting rid of the tub, he admitted that Hal proves to be someone with a good idea. Polly asks Hal to let her borrow the keys for her to go to Lucky Aide to pick up some stuff for Jamie whom is napping. Despite her insistence that she can drive herself, Malcolm gets dressed quickly and chooses to take Polly there himself. Lois comes out of the house to take out the trash and Hal invites her over. She refuses and reminds him that he and the boys chose the hot tub over her. Thus, Lois refuses to get inside it until Hal gets rid of it. Reese and Dewey are in heaven over the jets drowning out her complaints.
Malcolm gets to know Polly and discovers her terrible marriage and that she hasn't believed in TV for 12 years. She asks him to drop her off briefly at her ex-husband, Danny's house so she can get something. Polly runs out of the house with her mother's ashes, gets into the car and tells Malcolm to drive. While driving, he asks her what is going on with her. Polly confesses that after their divorce, Danny took the house and her mother's ashes away from her. It was also implied that he was terribly abusive to her during their marriage. Polly asks Malcolm not to tell anyone about this and including Hal and Lois.
Gretchen tells Francis about her concerns over Otto's recent behavior and unintentionally hurting himself. She suspects that this is due to her getting a letter from a former fiance of hers and a rival of his named Man-fried Schmidt. Gretchen asks Francis not to tell anyone about this as she's been trying to avoid seeing her ex-fiance. Otto appears and tells her to get a pair of tweezers because he fell on his ass in a bunch of cactus. Gretchen asks him if he always has these accidents for now apparent reason. Otto denies it, pointing out that those accidents are not his intentions to embarrass her. After Gretchen leaves, Francis confronts him and asks why he's causing those accidents on his own. He accidentally mentions Man-fried Schmidt to Otto. Realizing this, he confesses to Francis that the two used to be friends back in Berlin. He explains that once both of them found out that they were in love with Gretchen, he and Man-fried became enemies and competed in getting her hand in marriage. Once she accepted Otto's proposal, Man-fried was angered over his betrayal and swore to avenge himself. He admits that while he felt terrible for his former friend, he maintained that he loves Gretchen with all his heart.
Back at the Wilkerson home, Dewey complains to Hal about Noah standing him up after he promised to do some activities together. When he comes inside the room, he discovers that Reese is hanging out with Noah. Later on in the kitchen, the family is having hamburgers. When Hal asks about Lois' day, she ignores him. She turns her attention to Malcolm and asks how was driving with Polly to Lucky Aide. Worried over the tension between Hal and Lois, he tells her that things went fine and that she asked him to take her to her house to get a few things from there. She demands for his permit and Polly speaks up against it by mentioning it was her fault that she asked him to go to her house to get a few extra clothes instead of driving home like he was supposed to. She apologizes to Lois who tells Polly that the next time that she asks for a favor, Polly needs to talk to her about it and not Malcolm. Hal compliments about the hamburgers, but Lois tells him off that it's a lot cheaper than that $2800 hot tub that he bought. He's had enough and points out that she's always hated the idea that when he gets a good idea, she has to be a serious killjoy. Reese and Dewey have an argument over Noah causing the tension to get worse.
The next day, Lois suffers from back pain and fed up, she orders everyone out of the house. Once the boys and Hal are out, she gets inside the tub to enjoy some alone time. However, she hides underneath the water when they return after being refused entry from the movie theater complex. Reese leaves to go to Noah's house to beat up a bully. Dewey goes with Hal to another movie complex. Malcolm heads into town and is confronted by Polly's ex-husband, Danny, who points out that her mother's ashes isn't the only occupant in the urn, but also his father's.
In the master bedroom, Malcolm confronts Polly and asked her why she didn't tell him about the true extent of the urn's occupants. Polly explains that Danny was neglectful to his father all his life and she was the only person who cared for him. When he died, she had his ashes put inside the same urn as her mother's ashes.
In the backyard the next day, Hal and Lois notices algae growing inside the hot tub. She points out that hot tubs need everyday cleanup maintenance to maintain it's use. Lois mentions that it proved her right in her refusal to keep it since Hal was very neglectful in not cleaning the tub regularly and sanitizing it. Hal is insistent that things are fine but once he gets inside the tub later on, he notices a frog there
At the Grotto Ranch, Francis tells Otto to finally reveal to Gretchen what he did that made Manfried hate him so much. Once he's out of the room, Francis confronts Manfried the and tells him to leave because she doesn't want to see him anymore. He refuses to believe Francis, but has a similar accident to Otto but actually gets rolled away by a wheelbarrow and blows up and dies. When Gretchen asks Otto why he's being secretive, Francis covers by mentioning that Manfried cancelled his trip at the last second and that Otto overpaid for a pair of expensive earrings for her.
At the boys' bedroom, Dewey confronts Noah and points out that he was only friends with him just so he could use Reese to beat up two of his bullies: Kevin Stevenson and Craig Janson. The only bully left on the list is Todd Lemmon and Dewey took care of him by beating the kid up. He pulls out parts of a bloody t-shirt, a retainer with Todd's missing tooth on it and a suspension slip that Lois had to sign, signaling he was suspended for 4 days including being grounded soon after. Noah is impressed that Dewey is tough and ends his friendship with Reese.
On the drive out, Malcolm and Polly are confronted by Danny who hid in Hal's backseat. When the two began arguing on the road, he gets annoyed and takes the urn. After rolling the window down, Malcolm quickly opens the top of the urn and dumps out the contents of the ashes out on the highway. When Polly and Danny asks why he did that, Malcolm is annoyed and quickly pulls over to the side of the road. He confronts the two for their constant bickering. Malcolm points out that their arguments were never about the ashes in the urn, but rather their own inability to admit where they went wrong in their marriage. He mentions that they need to be adults and talk over their problems. For the first time, Polly and Danny realizes how terrible they've been behaving and that Malcolm was right. Thus, the two start talking over their issues.
At the hospital, Hal is red from the tops of both arms, to parts of his chest and down to his legs. The only thing covering his neither regions is his underwear. This baffles the doctor since he's seen this infection on yachts and boats, not on hot tubs. He tells Lois and Hal that he's going to need to make a few calls from a specialist regarding his infection. After the doctor leaves, he tells Lois to go ahead and say "I told you so". Hal knows that she's dying to say them for a long time. However, Lois is fed up and demands to know why he has to make her a killjoy. Hal mentions that he and the boys are selfish and destructive fools. To them, Lois is the only one who keeps them sane and depends on her to refuse. She points out that it's taken a serious toll on her because she's hated being the one to ruin everything. Just once, Lois wishes that Hal allows one crazy and fun idea in her lifetime. Realizing this, he agrees as the doctor returns with some ointment and pills to deal with the infection. Hearing this, Lois comes up with a crazy idea and take the pills.
At home, Malcolm comes up with a frantic cover story, only to see Reese, Dewey and Jamie. He asks them where Hal and Lois are. Dewey tells Malcolm and Polly that they're at the hospital. He tells Reese and Dewey if Lois asks, mention he's been home all night. Hal and Lois comes home and announces the family's going to have ice cream.
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[]
Cameos[]
- Robert Joy as Danny
- Ryan Malgarini as Noah
- Ned Schmiditke as Manfriend Schmidt
- Barton Tinapp as Doctor
Trivia[]
- Final appearance of Gretchen
- Polly is revealed to be previously married to Danny.
- It is unknown what happened to the hot tub after this episode as it is never seen again in future episodes. It was likely dismantled and returned after the algae problem.