Monkey is the twenty-second and last, episode of the third season of Malcolm in the Middle, which was broadcast on May 12, 2002.
Synopsis[]
After knocking out a burglar, Reese turns to law enforcement academy, believing that he has a future as a police officer. Elsewhere, Craig is laid up by injuries, thanks to being chased into traffic by Dewey's dog. Rather than spend his insurance money on a nurse per Lois's recommendations, he gets Oliver, a Capuchin monkey "butler"--who's actually deranged and homicidal. Francis is laid off and left with no choice, he and Piama leave Alaska, leaving Eric behind in revenge.
Plot[]
In the cold opening, the boys are watching a TV documentary about rockets and Reese claims it to be nonsense and how the astronauts would be squashed by the force instead of becoming weightless. Malcolm goes into detail about the rotational velocity of the earth and how fast it is rotating around the sun and hurdling away from other galaxies due to the expansion of the universe. Reese holds on to the couch arm for the speed of rotation and Dewey enjoys the ride they were unaware that they were already on.
One night, a burglar tries breaking into the house. Hal tries to get up to confront him, but gets tangled in the bedsheets, leaving Reese to come in from the bathroom and knock the intruder out with a baseball bat.
After the police arrive to take the burglar away, Dewey asks Malcolm what would’ve happened if Reese hadn’t knocked him out. Malcolm claims that as soon as the burglar saw their TV and stereo, he would have realized that he made a horrible mistake by robbing their house.
He enjoys the praise he gets from Lois and the police, especially after they give him a community award, and decides his future is in law enforcement. Reese originally starts off with good intentions in patrolling the neighborhood and stopping people from causing trouble. However, he soon begins to rule the residents with an iron fist, dealing out brutal punishments for minor infractions. However, Reese takes it too far when he smashes Lois' car window after she refuses to move it for pedestrians. She is last seen trying to climb a tree to get a hold of a now-terrified Reese.
Hal is put out that he wasn't able to do anything about the burglar and had to leave it to his son, and is determined to prove how tough he can be. He goes out looking for a fight but finds the bruiser hanging around an ATM simply wants to warn him about the money he has sticking out of his pocket. He later intentionally steals a car parking space and is ready to fight the guy who he pulled in front of, but quickly flees when he learns the man is in a wheelchair and he had accidentally parked in a disabled space. Dewey is left terrified at the idea someone could break in and is unable to sleep, and in turn keeps Malcolm awake every night. As the days wear on, Malcolm starts to lose his mind by spreading peanut butter on his textbook and uses a highlighter on two slices of bread.
Lois arrives at Craig’s house with his lunch consisting of burgers and chicken from Nugget World, emphasizing how she had to drive a half an hour across town to get them. Craig is in a wheelchair laid up by injuries. Lois asks him when he’s getting a nurse. Craig says he’s been a little preoccupied having his arms and legs broken thanks to being chased into traffic by Dewey's dog and knowing the intense trauma his cat Jellybean suffers staying at his mothers, and the numerous forehead sticks he wasted learning how to use the bathroom. Lois reminds him the insurance company gave him money to hire a qualified nurse to take care of him. Rather than spend the insurance money on a nurse he instead gets Oliver, a Capuchin monkey "butler". For a while, he does exactly what Craig asks of him, including making a cup of tea for Lois when she visits but she is visibly squeamish in Oliver’s presence especially when he starts giving Craig a temple massage and leaves after becoming too uncomfortable.
But soon, Oliver is revealed to be deranged and homicidal as he quickly starts abusing Craig, such as forcing him to eat very hot lasagna, making him a milkshake with drain cleaner in it and forcing him to drink it (Craig manages not to drink any), setting the thermostat to uncomfortably high levels, chewing on the break cables in his wheelchair and locking him in the house. When he tries to warn Lois, she gets angry at Craig thinking he's making excuses so he can move in with her again. She reminds him about her previous warning about how he’s letting an animal with a brain the size of a wad of gum to run his house. As Oliver peaks out of the kitchen cabinet Craig bursts out laughing claiming Lois telling such amusing stories. She tells him to be sensible and how tomorrow he will be using the money to hire a qualified nurse and leaves him.
At night, as Craig pretends to be asleep, he witnesses Oliver locking the door. When Craig tries to call 9-1-1, Oliver cuts the call short. Fortunately, Hal comes to Craig's rescue by defeating the monkey, restoring his self-worth in the process.
In Alaska, as Francis, Eric, Artie and Pete bemoan their lousy job again by cleaning the kitchen chimney hood, and a giant dead possum falls out as they all back away in disgust and fear. Francis states that it’s the worst job ever and wonders why they’re putting up with it. Artie claims it’s because he’s still paying off law school. Lavernia suddenly arrives in the lodge and informs them that they are fired and they need to begin clearing out. A confused Francis questions why they are just out without any prior notice. She explains that the logging camp is closing down since all the trees have been chopped down so the loggers are moving on, while the entire area is about to be bulldozed and drilled for oil. Pete states he’ll have to move back in with his parents.
Francis fails his audition as a pianist for an Alaskan cruise ship because he doesn’t know the music to Cabaret. Upon coming back, he finds out that his home is scheduled for demolition, but Piama refuses to leave when her father and policeman arrive to let them know that they served their eviction notice thirty days ago. Piama asks if they can live in the other side of the house and is denied when the Indian reservation has been bought by the mining company; she breaks a mug over the policeman’s head and is arrested, but is set free for a $50 fine. Piama tells Francis she isn't as brave as he was when he journeyed to Alaska. Francis tells her it wasn't bravery that led him to Alaska but stupidity, but he also knows he was lucky in that it allowed him to meet Piama. Piama wants to take her incident to trial, and Francis tells her that would take months and that there’s a bulldozer in the yard waiting to demolish the house whether they’re in it or not. He assures her that his 'stupid luck' will make sure that they are okay, and Piama's last few fears are put to rest when she sees the settlement check is worth $2000 with Francis overjoyed that it’s more than he’s made since he started working at Lavernia’s lodge, As a result, they purchase a car and drive off southbound finally bidding farewell to Alaska leaving Eric behind to hitchhike his way home as vengeance for suggesting work in Alaska in the first place, with Bernard the hamster rolling down the road.
Hal happily reads Dewey the newspaper article of his exploits as a bedtime story, which finally helps him and Malcolm to fall asleep.
Cast[]
- Jane Kaczmerek 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
- Eric Nenninger as Eric
- Brenda Wehle as Lavernia
- John Ennis as Artie
- Sandy Ward as Pete
- Emy Coligado as Piama
Cameos[]
- Steven Barr as a Deputy
- Thomas Lumberg Jr. as Amos
- Jesse D. Goins as Officer Smith
- Albert Owens as Officer Jones
- Ivan Naranjo as Ivan
- Al Rondon as Scary Burglar
- Kenneth Dolin as a neighbor
- J. Grant Albrecht as Tough Guy
- Michael Horse as Steve
- Crystal the Monkey as Oliver(uncredited)
- Philip Daniel Bolden as an eight-year-old kid
- Curtis Williams Jr. as a skateboarder
- Micah Henderson as a batter
- Dion Overstreet Jr. as a pitcher
- Elijah Rencorn as Kid #1
- Dylan Cash as Kid #2
Quotes[]
- Hal: Craig, you in there. What happened?
- Craig Behind you!
- Hal: What the hell's wrong with that monkey?!
- Craig He's crazy!
- Hal: Well, he picked the wrong guy to mess with. Take that, you damn dirty helper monkey!
- [Police officers are called in as Lois has chased Reese up a tree]
- Reese: Officer in need of assistance. Repeat, OFFICER IN NEED OF ASSISTANCE!!
Trivia[]
- Craig's age is revealed to be 36.
- This is the last episode to have the intro used since season 1. In the next episode, most of the clips are changed.
- Craig is in a wheelchair and bandages, mentioning that this is because Dewey's pet dog chased him out into traffic where he was likely hit by a car. This is a direct continuation of the events of the episode Dewey's Dog, where Craig's last appearance was being chased out of the house by Dewey's new pet guard dog.
- This implies that after the events of the episode Lois eventually found out about Dewey’s dog from Craig.
- Hal withdraws money from an ATM on this stage street on the premises of the CBS Studio Center. It has previously been used, e.g. in Sleepover and Water Park.[1]
- This is the final appearance of Eric in the series.
- Out of the recurring characters, Eric was one of the few characters that was given a reason he was dropped from the show. He was trying to hitch a ride with Francis and Piama so they can take him home to Texas. They ignored Eric and left him to hitchhike home as revenge for suggesting working in Alaska. The others that would follow are Otto, Cynthia, Nicki, and Jessica.
- Francis and Piama drive past Bernard, the hamster in the orange ball that Dewey had set free in the episode Health Scare. This is its fifth and final appearance in the series (previously: "Health Scare", "Poker", "Reese Drives", and "Hal's Birthday").
- The parking lot used for Hal's altercation with the man in the wheelchair is located on the CBS Studio Center grounds. It was previously used as the Tri County Fair site in Carnival.[1]
- In Dewey's Opera, Hal reveals that he is afraid of monkeys. The events of this episode might have caused that fear.
- This episode is the final appearance of Lavernia, Artie and Pete.
- This episode marks the third time that Lois has been arrested on her own. Her first arrest was in Traffic Ticket and her second one was in Book Club. The arrests that will follow occur in Reese Comes Home and Halloween.
- In one of the scenes in Craig's house, he is seen watching the Brisbane 2001 Goodwill Games, which means that all of Season 3 was filmed before the September 11 attacks.
- The song that plays during Oliver's final attack is "Denmark" by British duo The Chemical Brothers.
- While Francis and Piama are driving, the song that is playing on the car radio is "Sweet City Woman" by The Stampeders.
- After Hal traps Oliver in the trash bin, he says "Take that! You damn dirty helper monkey!" which was a reference to the original Planet of the Apes.
- It is unknown how Reese was fired from his police job.
- It was possible that he wasn't abusive to his community and Lois got him fired out of spite because he merely asked her to move her car forward to allow the neighborhood kids to pass on the sidewalk safely and she refused, demanding he help her with the groceries. In retaliation, Reese smashed the window of her car to prove his point.
- Despite this being the season finale, it is the 15th episode filmed in production order, as the episodes are filmed out of order.
- Originally, the episode featured a storyline about Piama and Eric hating each other.
Errors[]
- When Lavernia tells the crew they are out of jobs, Pete says that he will have to move back in with his parents. However, in Jury Duty, it was stated that Pete's family changed their name so he could no longer find them. This error could be due to Pete's poor memory or a possible foster/stepfamily.
- When Malcom is reading the dictionary to Dewey the second time (after Hal bursts into the boy's bedroom), the page he has open is too far ahead to be on "C's" for "Commingle". This could also be attributed to Malcolm being sleep-deprived or reciting from his memory.
- When Hal has an altercation with the man in the wheelchair, the parking space he parked in is not outlined in blue or have a wheelchair symbol indicating it is for handicapped users only (despite the sign). This is a requirement by law in the state of California, and many other jurisdictions.
- There are a few errors in the widescreen version that were not visible in the original 4:3 broadcast:
- In the first shot of the neighborhood kids playing safely and quietly, there is a piece of film equipment visible on the right side of the screen.
- When Hal picks a fight over a parking space, the Handicap Parking Only sign is visible well before its intended reveal.
- As Craig is talking to 9-1-1, the monkey's paw is visible hovering at the edge of the screen seconds before it reaches in to hang up the phone.