Reese's Job is the ninth episode of the third season of Malcolm in the Middle. It broadcasted on January 20, 2002.
Summary[]
Reese is given a job at a fast-food place called "Circus Burger" but he gets into trouble when his co-workers think he stole money from the cash register. Dewey tries to prove himself trustworthy with a goldfish and his parents try to sabotage his efforts with switching the live fish with a dead one, until they find out that Dewey was switching the fish with others in order to get a dog.
Malcolm finds himself eclipsed by the newest, youngest Krelboyne--Herkabe's latest attempt to get rid of Malcolm--until the boy helps Malcolm clear Reese's name by revealing the real culprits who are unmasked as Francis old friend Richie and Richie's girlfriend Greta.
Francis helps one of his lodge friends prepare to marry a Russian mail-order bride, but what arrives is not what they expected, thanks to a drunk Eric and Artie's prank.
Plot[]
In the opening scene, as Hal shaves his chest in the bathroom, he notices his gut and starts singing and shaking about it before breaking into a silly dance. Lois is in the tub and states that once again she’ll have to be embarrassed for the both of them, which Hal confirms.
At breakfast Lois tells Reese to go straight to his new job after school and doesn’t want to hear any excuses such as a lion escaped from the zoo or the bus driver went insane and refused to stop. Malcolm explains that Richie gave Reese a job working at a fast-food place named Circus Burger. He claims how perfect it is that Reese gets to spend all day being bossed around by the only person on the planet who is dumber than he is. Reese protests how stupid the job is but Lois informs him that if he wants to drive upon receiving his license, he’s going to have to pay for his own insurance. Reese questions why he needs insurance if everybody else already has it, Hal says it’s not that simple and attempts to explain before realizing that it is. Dewey comes into the kitchen carrying his pet goldfish Charlie in a fishbowl showing everyone how alive he is. Malcolm explains that his parents made a deal with Dewey: if he manages to keep his goldfish alive for two months, he can have a dog. He asks them if he’s doing a good job and after Lois confirms he leaves the kitchen. Lois questions Hal how the fish is still alive, and Hal is in disbelief as well as they were certain that Dewey will kill it in no time, only for it to survive despite him being irresponsible with it by neglecting to feed it, leaving it out in the sun for hours and Hal found an old banana peel in the bowl last week. With the deadline closing in Lois reiterates that she doesn’t want a dog in the house as the boys are already enough of a handful. Hal claims as long as it’s alive there’s nothing they can do. In desperation, Lois asks Hal to “take care” of the fish and he wonders what she’s suggesting. She says she isn’t suggesting anything she just makes her point clear that she wants it taken care of.
At school, Mr. Herkabe tells the class that today they’ll be beginning a new round of independent study projects. He hands out books on subjects and Malcolm receives a book four times the size of the others. Kevin sees that Malcolm has been assigned hydrostatic equilibrium and that he is still mired by path integral quantization and realizes that his stepdad was right about how useless he is. Mr. Herkabe explains that some students are more advanced than others and some even think they’re more advanced than himself. Malcolm claims that he never said that, and Mr. Herkabe claims how garish he is by assuming he’s talking about Malcolm, despite looking right at him.
He works hard there despite Craig annoying him with his specific order for his Burger and refuses to participate in a "pocket transaction," an illegal practice of stealing his coworkers secretly pull to keep one transaction of $5-$10 in their own pockets instead of putting in their register. However, to still appear cool to his peers, Reese pretends to do a "pocket transaction" for Craig's order but discreetly puts the money into the register. He later gets into trouble with Richie when he accuses him of stealing $400 from the cash register as that is what appears on his till. Richie threatens for him to return the money into the register by the next day when the owner comes in or there will be consequences.
Malcolm finds himself eclipsed by the newest, youngest Krelboyne, Barton.
Dewey is begging Hal and Lois to get him a dog. Hal and Lois are totally against the idea; not only do they not want one in the first place but the idea of letting Dewey care for one terrifies them.
At home, Malcolm expresses frustration to Barton over all the formulas his advanced work requires. Reese returns home begging Malcolm for help to clear his name. Malcolm quickly concludes Richie is setting him up, and the boys leave start to sneak out to confront him, bringing Barton along. Before leaving, Malcolm asks Dewey to cover for them, so Hal and Lois don't get suspicious over them sneaking out at night. He does by punching himself to make it appear that Malcolm and Reese are still in the house beating him up.
In Alaska, Francis helps one of his lodge friends, Pete, prepare to marry a Russian mail-order bride named Svetlana. He is very concerned by this not only because Pete is marrying a total stranger, but also Eric and Artie are plotting a terrible prank on him. When Francis attempts to confront them, they staunchly deny it at the bachelor party. However, he doesn't believe both Eric and Artie. Francis is still suspicious and for a good reason. This is because he sees the sly grins on both Eric's and Artie's faces. To him, it warrants concerns because they up to something horrible.
At Richie's home, Barton proves Richie's innocence while to the boys accuse him (Richie keeps mistaking Barton for Dewey due to their similar age and size) with stealing the money which he denies. Barton finds a citation which proves Richie was miles away from the Circus Burger, being impossible for him to be present at any possible time for him to steal from Reese's till during Reese's shift. This is until his girlfriend, Greta (who also works there), walks into the room and accidently reveals she was the one who stole from Reese's while she was working the same shift, not knowing the boys were present. To avoid getting thrown in jail, Richie ends up making a deal with Reese and Malcolm to allow the boys to use his house for a party on the weekends that he's away, free burgers for life, and to drive them to school and work.
In Alaska and despite his reservations, he asks if Pete is aware of what he's getting himself into since he's marrying a total stranger. He reassures Francis that he will love Svetlana no matter the hardships they'd face. This puts him at ease and supports Pete. However, when Pete opens the door and expects to see his Russian mail-order bride, Svetlana, he's in for a big disappointment. Francis's suspicion has proven right all along. It had been a prank set up by a drunk Eric and Artie to give him a blow-up doll. Pete is discouraged and humiliated by this because he expected an actual wife there. Eric and Artie continue to laugh it up, but Francis directs their attention to Pete. They begin to apologize, when Francis tells them to get rid of the doll at once before Lavernia finds out and punishes them. They leave, arguing over who should carry it, with Artie feeling he should as he signed for it. Eric argues back that he came up with the prank and should do it. In the end, both agreed to just tell the truth and face Lavernia's wrath.
That night, Hal sneaks into the boy’s bedroom and swaps Charlie with the dead fish. The next morning, Lois is pleasantly surprised that Richie is driving Reese and Malcolm to school. Reese claims that it’s Richie’s way of showing gratitude to Reese for a job well done. The two boys leave for school. Dewey comes in and the two are shocked when Dewey arrives with a live goldfish. After he leaves, they find another living goldfish in the kitchen cupboard, and they realize that Dewey had been replacing the dead ones to trick his parents. Horrified at the notion of how many goldfish Dewey managed to get through Lois says that Dewey will pay for tricking them, but Hal reminds her that if they bust him then he’ll know that they’ve been cheating too.
They enter the bedroom and tell Dewey how proud they are of him for taking such good care of his fish and proving that he can be trusted. Lois emphasizes how nice it is to have a son as conscientious, responsible and honest as he is and how he always finds a way to do the right thing. Dewey looks at them with guilt and Lois asks if there’s anything he wants to tell them before they go any further.
The two reveal their scheme. Dewey is upset and angry calling them cheaters for breaking their promise, as he runs out of the room crying Hal claims that although it wasn’t the best way to break the news, he and Lois are just relieved that they don't have to get a dog.
At school, much to Mr. Herkabe's disappointment, Barton is preparing to leave the class after cleaning out his cubby. He asks Barton if he’s sure that he can’t talk him into staying, but he refuses. He mentions that his mom says he needs a healthier learning environment, and she is very uncomfortable with the way Mr. Herkabe is using him for his own self-aggrandizement. Mr. Herkabe tries unsuccessfully to convince him that he doesn’t need a healthier environment and that he will never connect normally with other human beings and how people will recognize his brilliance and loathe him for it and the only thing he can understand is uncomprehending fear from which only he can mold him. Barton asks to leave, and he allows him to leave just like his ex-wife and all his therapists did. Barton briefly stops to say goodbye to Malcolm and his friends and thanks Malcolm for that conversation they had. Kevin wishes him good luck as Barton’s parents have decided to relocate to Florida so he can be a normal kid again and plans to use his intellect to join NASA and promises to send them a letter once he’s declassified. After he leaves, the class shows their support by giving Mr. Herkabe a picture of Barton and himself together. Malcolm explains that it’s actually a picture of Barton with his dad and they photoshopped his head in, regardless Mr. Herkabe is pleased.
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[]
- Todd Giebenhain as Richie
- Chris Eigeman as Mr. Herkabe
- Craig Lamar Taylor as Stevie
- Kyle Sullivan as Dabney
- Evan Matthew Cohen as Lloyd
- Victor Z. Isaac as Kevin
- Kristin Quick as Flora Mayesh
- Eric Nenninger as Eric
- David Anthony Higgins as Craig
- Sandy Ward as Pete
- John Ennis as Artie
Cameos[]
- Will Stabile as Barton
- Brian Treitler as Sean (Barton's father)
- Katherine Boecher as Greta (credited as Pippi)
Trivia[]
- This is the first episode to show Reese actually being innocent of what he was accused of, as opposed to Reese usually being the offender. The next episodes that will follow are Malcolm Films Reese, Malcolm Defends Reese and Lois Strikes Back.
- Malcolm narrates Reese starting his job and that he will be supervised by Richie, someone dumber than Reese.
- This is also Reese's first ever job.
- Craig reveals that he applied for Circus Burger, but didn't get the job.
- This episode and Zoo are the few times that Francis is mature in calling out someone for their behavior. The last time this was alluded was in Lois's Birthday.
- Although Lavernia doesn't make an actual appearance in this episode, it's revealed that she hates having X-Rated sex toys in her lodgings, has fined her employees over it with more work and docked their pay. Francis is apparently aware of this which is why he ordered Eric and Artie to get rid of it.
- This episode marks the final appearance of Richie.
- The Circus Burger fast food restaurant chain is actually a Carl’s Jr. fast food restaurant chain.
- Craig Feldspar’s first appearance in Season 3.
- Despite Reese's name being cleared, he is never seen or mentioned working at Circus Burger in later episodes. 
Errors[]
- There are minor widescreen errors not visible in the original 4:3 broadcast:
- In the cold open, Lois is visible at the edge of the screen well before her intended reveal.
- When Pete and Francis have a discussion about marriage and commitment, the camera is visible through the mirror on the left side.
- In the scene where Craig walks in and starts ordering from Circus Burger, at one point there is a woman standing behind him in line. In the next shot, she is gone. There was enough time in between shots for the woman to "walk away" but this was likely an error while shooting.