Malcolm Films Reese is the fifth episode of Season 5 and the 90th episode overall of Malcolm in the Middle. It aired on November 30, 2003.
Plot[]
Malcolm's teacher forces him to secretly record Reese as he divulges his innermost secrets; Francis strikes back after a critic writes a scathing review about the hotel; Dewey secretly starts his own novelty act at an outdoor mall.
Synopsis[]
In the cold opening, as Lois tucks Jamie into his crib she finds a rose on her pillow, put there by Hal with champagne glasses for a romantic evening in the bedroom. Lois objects since they can’t wake up the baby, but Hal explains it’s exactly what old reliable is for. He then puts on some soul music and states that babies never remember anything. However immediately upon hearing the music the boys recall repressed memories of what happened when they were infants and all curl up as they recall their trauma.
Lois is having problems with her two biggest tormentors aside Malcolm and Reese, the defective washer and dryer which have ruined the new shirt she had just bought. Malcolm explains that Lois yelling at the washer and dryer has become a daily event and that she actually pays more attention to them than the boys, but upon seeing her kick the washer he believes that maybe it’s not a bad thing. They keep breaking down and she keeps yelling at them to stop it since she can’t afford to keep buying new clothes. Hal comes in and suggests they replace them, but she refuses as the two simply don't have the money. Hal believes his stock options at work are about to shoot up due to a merger and it could be the big break they need. Dewey comes in and bids his parents farewell saying he’s handing in the diorama he made and doesn’t want to be late. However, while walking to school, this quickly proves to be a ruse as Dewey goes the opposite direction than his classmates and quickly tosses his diorama in the garbage before grabbing a dressing cloak from behind a bush.
In class Mr. Herkabe yells at Stevie that for sixteen weeks of Intermediate Psychology he still can’t classify a simple test case and thought that at least his ears were functional. Stevie argues that he knows a castration complex when he sees it. Herbie explains that he’s trying to get them to go beyond convenient labels and brings up one of William Blake’s quotes “To generalize is to be a fool” until Malcolm corrects him, and he actually says “to be an idiot” instead of a fool. Mr. Herkabe thanks him as the bell rings and he yells out that tomorrow he wants progress reports on their term project as they run out the door. Malcolm tells Stevie he needs to speak with Mr. Herkabe for a second asking if he’ll wait for him. Stevie tells him his next class is gym, and he needs to change his tires before leaving to do so.
Malcolm is told by Herkabe he’ll be given his assignment later in his office which Herkabe doesn’t understand why everyone is so afraid of (It’s because Herkabe has the school’s PA system in his office, and he regularly uses it to name and shame students who committed minor misconduct). Malcolm is given his assignment by Mr. Herkabe to secretly film Reese using a hidden camera inside of a baseball cap. Mr. Herkabe tells Malcolm to try and expose Reese's sensitive side and catch it on video. Although feeling uneasy, Malcolm agrees.
At the Grotto, Otto is excited as the newspaper arrives until Piama asks if he’s aware that the papers come every day. Otto explains that a review of the hotel is about to appear in the paper in the Lifestyle section. However, the reviewer, Charles Cutler, completely trashes the ranch with a scathing critique calling it the worst hotel in the world. However, Otto decides to go with the denial route and says that he wasn’t listening.
Malcolm tries to talk to Reese about his feelings while secretly filming him. Although his initial attempt earns Malcolm a punch in the face.
Dewey comes home lying about how great school was and Lois starts getting suspicious before Hal calls her and distracts her. Dewey notices a letter in the mail pile labeled “Urgent” from his school (likely about Dewey’s truancy) and quickly steals it before his mom can see it. Hal explains that he’s been seeing people flying in and out of the board room all day while he’s been playing Tetris. He believes that the merger is about to commence only to find his boss Mr. Fortinberry escorted out in handcuffs for financial transgressions instead. He asks Hal to pull his jacket up over his head so that he can avoid prying eyes, Hal agrees before he is arrested and escorted out to face charges.
Dewey comes home the next day removing a blinking light accessory from his ear before greeting his parents and grabbing an apple from the fruit bowl on the table. Hal explains that the whole company is under investigation for embezzlement and that they used the pension fund to buy a recording studio for the CEO’s girlfriend. Lois realizes how horrible it is but reassures him that they’ll figure things out somehow. She then makes a phone call to Gene who is responsible for the delivery of her new washer and dryer and sadly tells him that due to their financial troubles she’ll have to cancel her order.
Back at the Grotto, Francis tells Piama that due to Cutler’s negative review, The Flagstaff Elks cancelled their convention they were planning to hold at the ranch, Piama doesn’t blame them as the review has lost them a lot of business. Otto has fallen into a deep depression since the review was posted and has been wearing his bathrobe ever since. He takes a certificate off the wall naming him “Innkeeper of the Year” since it is the lie of the century before throwing it in the fireplace. Francis is appalled since he worked hard for that award. But Otto asks him to repeat his words because couldn’t hear him over the crackle of his failure.
Reese does begin to open up and confesses that he has dreams where he sings really high akin to “Saturday Night Fever” and that he likes clouds (calling them "sky kittens") and that he’s never told anyone about it and that he has a wishing hole in a tree on Jefferson Street. Malcolm reluctantly delivers the footage to Mr. Herkabe.
Dewey starts skipping school to utilize his hidden talents as a street magician calling himself “Le Great El Foldo”. Dewey dresses in a tight outfit and contorts his body to fit inside a small box before disappearing and reappearing behind the onlookers, earning him a lot of money from his audience.
In Malcolm’s class, Herkabe explains that Malcolm’s assignment was based on the Milgram experiment where people were told to deliver painful shocks to others to see how far they’ll go to obey authority. But in this case, the painful shocks have been replaced with emotional damage, and he then plays the tape to the class (encouraging them to spread Reese's secrets) telling them this is his own experiment to see if Malcolm would betray his own brother under orders from someone in authority. Malcolm later confronts Herkabe for what he did when he’s about to leave as Herkabe states that he did it to prove that he was superior to Malcolm before driving away in a dilapidated car.
Lois is trying to come to terms with having to stick with the old washer and dryer bargaining with it to work by giving it name-brand fabric softener. Hal reads in the newspaper that his company’s CFO had his dog on the board of directors. Dewey comes in asking his parents if he still has to go to school if he’s making $400-$500 daily. Lois insincerely says that Dewey can quit school if he’s making that much money which Dewey happily accepts as he starts placing his earnings inside of a vase in the living room.
As a result of the video being shown, Reese becomes a laughingstock, while Malcolm is portrayed as a sadistic monster. Malcolm tries to apologize to Reese to no avail.
Francis manages to have the critic return after crying and begging him to. However, when Cutler arrives, he immediately starts insulting everything around him. He goes too far however when he insults Piama calling her a diversity hire as a “token native”. Appalled and infuriated at his racism, Francis tells him that Piama is his wife. Cutler then mocks her marriage to Francis and the idea of them having children which he believes will be baboon-like hoteliers, causing Francis and Otto to give him a severe beating (which Cutler also reviews negatively) and he had to be taken out on a stretcher.
Dewey continues his street performance routine. Soon, Lois accidentally breaks the vase containing Dewey’s money stash while cleaning. Lois and Hal are overjoyed when they see the money thinking it was some type of fund hidden away for a big purchase that they forgot about. Unable to reveal the truth (since it would mean telling his parents he skipped school for weeks), Dewey is forced to let them have the cash which Lois uses to buy a new washer and dryer.
Desperate to make things up with Reese, Malcolm initiates a fight between two students which makes Herkabe leave his office. Malcolm then sneaks into Herkabe’s office and blocks the door and takes over the school's PA system. Malcolm reveals his own embarrassing secret that he has impure thoughts about a lunch-lady. However, he declares that this means only he is even with Reese, but the rest of the school isn’t. So, to rectify this, Malcolm starts going through everyone's files and reveals embarrassing secrets about every single student.
After Cutler is taken to the hospital and the newspapers trumpet the story, the Grotto is sent flowers and gifts from all the venues Cutler negatively reviewed. In fact, other hotels are so grateful they’re now sending guests they can’t book reservations for to the Grotto, allowing business to boom. As for Cutler, he even gave a negative review to the hospital he was sent to which Otto read and stated he’s never going there again.
Determined not to see his earnings go entirely to waste, Dewey takes over washing and drying to make certain Hal doesn't break the new machines.
Although Malcolm is suspended for three weeks following taking over the PA system, he comes back to school to find no one is able to look anyone else in the eye. Except for Reese, who is enjoying his own payback mocking every student he sees with their embarrassing secret.
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[]
- Chris Eigeman as Mr. Herkabe
- Kenneth Mars as Otto
- Jonny Acker as Ira Prescott
- Craig Lamar Traylor as Stevie Kenarban
- Emy Coligado as Piama
Cameos[]
- Don McManus as Charles Cutler
- Julian Barnes as Mr. Fortinberry
- Joan Blair as Lunch Lady Shirley
- David Battisini as Truant Officer
- Darryl Reed Jr. as David Abernathy (credited as student)
- Jennifer Shon as Patty Lin
- Jacob Gray as Malcolm's Classmate (Uncredited)
Quotes[]
- (In a beginning scene, Lois is heard yelling at the top of her lungs. Everyone assumes it's Malcolm and Reese again due to their track record of being in trouble)
- Lois: I can't believe it. You two always ruin everything.
- (Inside the house, it's really her defective washer and dryer she's yelling at.)
- Lois: Look at this. I just bought this shirt, and you ruined it.
Trivia[]
- This is one of the few times Reese shows his sensitive and vulnerable side to Malcolm.
- After Reese learns Malcolm embarrassed him, he asks if Malcolm can fly around the Earth to turn back time like Superman. This is a reference to the 1978 Superman movie, starring Christopher Reeve.
- This episode first reveals the conspiracy taking place at Hal's job and gets further expanded on in Reese Joins the army.
- It’s possible that Charles Cutler is the same Mr. Cutler that was mentioned earlier at the end of the episode Academic Octathalon who cancelled his original stay at the Grotto due to an argument with his wife.