Malcolm's Job is the sixth episode of Season 5 and the 91st episode overall of Malcolm in the Middle. It aired on December 7, 2003.
Plot[]
Lois forces Malcolm and Reese to get job after having to put up with another bullying with them on Dewey. Meanwhile, Hal must take Jamie to Polly's baby yoga classes. Francis gets a visit from Dewey who wants to stay with him.
Synopsis[]
In the cold opening, Lois accidentally knocks over a glass of juice onto the carpet while tidying the living room. She then proceeds to use a number of cleaning supplies to clean the stain from the carpet. After she finishes however she realizes that the part of the carpet she cleaned now stands out since the rest of the carpet is dingy and stained. Lois then decides to take dirt from a plant and sprinkle it on the carpet patch she just cleaned to make it filthy once again.
Malcolm and Reese walk in and Lois wants to talk to them. She tells them since the two of them are getting older they are entitled to a little more independence. Reese assumes that they’re getting a car, but Lois informs them that they’re going to get jobs. She tells Malcolm that he starts at Lucky Aide on Monday and tells Reese since he's been mentioned six times by name in the security handbook he'll have to look for a job elsewhere but emphasizes to be in a paper hat by the end of the week. Malcolm tries to get her to let him find his own job but she tells him it’s already done and she had to call in a lot of favours with Mr. Young for it for it. Hal comes in and Malcolm and Reese start telling him about Lois' idea. Hal tells the boys they have to focus on their schoolwork before wasting their lives on dead-end jobs and they’ve got their whole lives to work and only one chance to learn. Lois tells him she told them to get jobs so Hal shifts the lecture about the value of hard work and how money doesn't grow on trees.
Dewey finish is making Reese‘s bed and informed him that he has made his bed for a year and honour his end of the deal that now he gets his bed. Reese informed him that wasn’t the deal. Dewey reminds him that their deal was if he made Reese‘s bed for a year: he would get it every day afterwards. Reese points out that he gets it every “day” afterwards, but he still gets it at night. He cries out how unfair it is but Malcolm states he should’ve been more specific in his words. Dewey calls Francis to complain that Malcolm and Reese had a good big brother while he's stuck with mean ones. Francis however is busy with work and has little interest in Dewey's problem, so hangs up on him.
Meanwhile, Hal takes Jamie to Polly's Father and Baby Yoga Classes. Soon the men are seen competing over who can burp the loudest, make large bubbles and who has the dirtiest diapers.
In Lucky Aide, Craig is seen teaching the potential workers. When Malcolm recognizes him in the video and asks, he staunchly denies it. Craig pretends to take notes, but he's not fooled.
In the slaughtering house, Reese is shown the ropes there. He finds himself enjoying the work there.
In New Mexico, Francis is shocked when Dewey turns up at the ranch by himself wanting to stay with him and experience having a nice big brother for a change. When Francis finds out, he calls home and tells Hal what happened and promises he’ll bring Dewey home on his next day off, and he should give Dewey some credit for finding his way to the ranch all by himself and how the last time his dad tried he wound up in Mexico.
The next day at Lucky Aide, she confronts Craig who confesses that their boss promoted him as district manager. He tried to talk the latter out of it, pointing out that Lois was much better suited for the promotion due to her work ethics. Lois points out that she doesn't want to be promoted because it would mean longer hours at Lucky Aide and she wants to be at home to micromanage her family. The stress of her fight with Craig, causes her to sneak outside, lights up a cigarette and start smoking. When Malcolm sees this, he first thinks she's a hypocrite. Later on, he finds out she is addicted to smoking caused by stressful situations. Malcolm and Craig finally talk some sense into Lois and helps her see what cigarettes does to the system. She promises to quit, while Malcolm promises to not stress her out as much.
As Francis drives Dewey home, Dewey complains about how Reese and Malcolm treat him and how he wishes they were good brothers like Francis is to him. Francis tells Dewey that when they were growing up he was far worse towards Reese and Malcolm than they are towards him; he'd often beat them up, steal their stuff, lock them in closets and even left Reese with a permanent scar from a bayonet. Dewey doesn't understand since Reese and Malcolm speak so highly of him, and Francis can't understand it either. All he knows is that families can be weird sometimes. Francis then tells Dewey that he has an opportunity to break the vicious cycle and be a good big brother to Jamie and actually care for him instead of making his life miserable... however Dewey and Francis quickly agree that doesn't sound fair.
Lois and the boys enter the gymnasium after Francis returns Dewey home and Lois suggest that since they have the whole family together, they should go out for dinner. However, once they see Hal shuffling Jamie across the floor they are all shocked and appalled at what Hal is doing. As Hal collects his money from the other dads the boys wonder why Lois isn't doing anything, she tells them she wants them to remember the look on their father's face because it will likely be the last time they will ever see it.
Trivia[]
- Reese keeps his job at the meat packaging factory until his firing in Butterflies.
- This episode once again shows Hal's addiction to gambling.
- During a scene in the gym, the babies of the other fathers are replaced by dolls.
- This is the first episode which Francis admits Dewey is his favorite brother. The next times he mentions it are in Kitty's Back and in Hal's Christmas Gift.
- This Episode was supposed to premiere as the 2nd episode of season 5 and Watching The Baby was supposed to appear a few episodes afterwards.
- Lois is revealed to be a secret smoker in this episode. This makes her the third member behind Francis in Pilot and Hal in Red Dress. Dewey will be the last member addicted to smoking in Reese vs. Stevie. The only members who haven't been secret smokers are Malcolm, Reese and Jamie.