Reese Joins the Army: Part 2 is the 22nd episode of Season 5 and the 107th episode overall of Malcolm in the Middle. It aired on May 23, 2004.
Synopsis[]
Reese injects the violence that he and his brothers used to have for each other into his work for the army, making him one of the best soldiers in the army. Meanwhile, Hal is testifying before court, being blamed for some extreme crimes that his CIA group has caused. Lois is also sinking deeper into insanity and makes a bunch of milk jug pigs instead of saving Hal.
Plot[]
In the pre-credit sequence we get a summary of the previous episode.
Hal is in front of the public library, pretending to be from the bomb squad, defusing the device in his backpack, which is really a transmitter for his electronic ankle bracelet. An officer from the real bomb squad shows up, but Hal confuses him with technical mumbo jumbo. Suddenly, he shouts that the bomb is about to explode. He counts down to one, when all the police officers hide behind their sheilds, brace for impact and avert their eyes. Nothing happens and when the officers open their eyes, they see that Hal has run away.
Lois is still suffering from a nervous breakdown, making pigs from empty soap bottles. Francis and Piama plead with her to stop with her madness and help Hal out because it's not doing them any good. However, she continues to worry them by giving in to her insanity more. This makes Malcolm further regret chasing Reese away by stealing Beth from him. He believes if Reese had been home, he'd help the family snap Lois out of her insanity and convince her to help Hal.
Meanwhile, at the army camp, the instructor boasts to his colleagues about Reese's blind obedience. Perhaps his team can win the next battle simulation.
In court, an impressive number of people testify against Hal, all of them doing this to avoid prison time for themselves. Hal believes his luck has changed when Gordon Walker gives his testimony. This is the mystery man who promised to help Hal the other day at the library. But Walker also points the finger at Hal. (He later explains that he isn't dying after all, and so he doesn't want to go to prison.)
At the battle simulation, Reese and the red team perform remarkably; One member is hit and decides to die in the shade. Reese follows his sergeants directions exactly. A flour bomb goes off and a member of the blue team is immobilized due to his wheat allergy, a member of the red team tells Reese that he will swell up like a balloon. A vehicle from blue team approaches and Reese intercepts the truck by jumping in front of it. Unfortunately he breaks his walkie talkie that way, and bereft of instructions, he doesn't know what to do next. He gets caught by the blue team.
In court, the prosecutor lists all the evidence against Hal, and the dates on which he did the illegal acts. Dennis has fallen asleep and Hal tries to wake him up, he informs him he’s awake and is trying to get him grounds for an appeal.
Dewey goes into his parents bedroom which is flooded with pigs and he asks his mom if she’s coming out for dinner. Lois buried in the sea of pigs tells him she’s taking Penelope’s temperature believing she caught Ambrosia’s cold. He questions if Penelope is the foreign correspondent or the candy striper, but Lois tells him she’s just a homemaker but a big candy company is interested in her taffy recipe.
At dinner, Malcolm asks for the potatoes and Hal tells him he can have whatever he wants if he’s willing to work for it. Depressed by his bleak future, Hal gives the boys some life lessons that evening such as when they write an angry letter to hold onto it for a few days since you might feel differently the next morning and never invest in a friend’s restaurant. He even teaches Dewey how to shave, which concerns Francis and Malcolm but he feigns happily agreeing as his dad tells him when he tips a valet to fold up his dollar tightly so by the time he’s finished unfolding it he’ll already be halfway down the block.
Outside in the backyard's porch, Malcolm brings his dad some coffee as he sobs but claims he’s singing. Hal has a heart to heart talk with Malcolm over his poor parenting abilities. He admits that it is ironic that he got in trouble by his boss for a job he never really liked and how he wanted to quit 10 years ago when they began deducting pay for sick days or wished he just quit a year ago when they made them vacuum out their own cubicles and if he did they would’ve found another patsy and he wouldn’t be in the mess he’s in and admits they should’ve just fired him for how incompetent he was. Hal hated it so much that he never even went to work on Fridays for 15 years and skipped out to go on his own activities which he really enjoyed. He admits that if he ends up going to jail, he's proud of Malcolm for remaining calm and keeping it together even after all the Wilkersons been through and asks him to promise he’ll learn from his mistakes and that he should never settle which he agrees. Hal then leaves to have sex with Lois one last time, with Malcolm stating how he likely wasn't going to get any sleep that night anyway.
Francis comes outside and states how worried he is about Lois' mental state that he has a heart to heart talk with Malcolm about the situation. Francis proposes to have Lois declared mentally incompetent by having him forge Hal's signature on a legal document he received at the state's government office. Francis mentions that when he goes to jail, she would be declared mentally unfit as a parent to care for the children and she'll be sent to an assisted living facility. Malcolm would be emancipated and be able to live his own life. Francis also mentions that Dewey and Jamie will be in safe hand with him and Piama in New Mexico. Dewey now with shaving cuts, makes an off handed comment about how he thought it would be Lois going to jail for her abusive and controlling nature, while he thought Hal would end up being in the assisted living facility. While happy at first at the prospects of finally getting a life away of his own choosing, it proves to be a failure. Malcolm remorsefully reminds Francis that he can only forge Lois's signature and can't help him forge Hal's signature. The only one who can forge his signature successfully for such a legal document is the missing Reese and even he's feeling terrible in chasing him away. When Francis tries to remind him how to build a rebellious streak, Malcolm recalls his conversation with Hal. It isn't long until he quickly figures out a way to save Hal from going to jail and having Lois return to normal. Francis is confused and asks Malcolm what he has in mind. He mentions that Hal's confession in skipping out of work on Fridays and he discerns that the dates of the crimes committed are on that day. Malcolm claims that it could help break the Prosecution's case over him and how he has to tell him, but when he remembers what his dad is doing he decides to wait 20 minutes.
Reese gets interrogated by the blue team. He answers every question with "Ask the sergeant", but after a while, he finds that rather annoying. He realizes following orders doesn't always work and he switches his brain back on. He decides his problem can be solved in much the same way he handles Lois. He holds his breath until he faints.
The men from the blue team bring him to the cage where Reese's colleagues are kept. The colleagues revealed they're in prison, but Reese disagrees and begins to untie himself. He explains that they're not in prison, but grounded and there is always a way to get out of being grounded. He suggests that they should just do what any grounded teenager might try like pry up some floorboards or set your bed on fire. Reese emphasizes that the solution requires a diversion and that little guy gets screwed, as soon as he sees the smallest of the colleagues he forces him to eat at least 3 lbs. of dirt and that it’s not fatal it only looks like it. When one of the colleagues reminds Reese of their predicament again, he has untied himself and mentions that he never had brothers who tied him up and left him in a dumpster on trash day or an overbearing mother who reigns punishment wherever she goes. After eating the dirt, the smallest colleague starts to vomit profusely, this distracts the guards long enough for Reese and the others to escape the cage and overpower them. He and his team locks the two guards inside the prison and suggests that they hike up their pants since he’ll be vomiting for another half hour. Later on, they do reconnaissance work and steals three keys(two for the armored cars and one for the tank).
The next day with Malcolm's encouragement, Hal gives his testimony in court. Dennis asks Hal what kind of employee he was. Hal admits he was marginal at best and compares it to a nature show he saw about a wasp injecting a caterpillar full of larvae and the caterpillar stays alive for weeks completely aware that it is being eaten alive from the inside and how he spent years envying that caterpillar because he got to be on TV. Jamie whines but Piama calms him down while Lois cradles one of her bottle pigs in a blanket. Dennis states countless eyewitnesses paint him as a man at the centre of an ingenious conspiracy and if he has any way of refuting those claims. He explains that he didn’t until his genius son pointed out that all the dates of the illegal activities were on Fridays. Hal confesses that he hadn't gone to work on that day for 15 years. He can prove that he was absent those days by showing tickets and photographs of all his Friday trips in his memory box including going to Bavaria Land, a pilgrim village, a community college production of "The Nutcracker", getting his drivers license for Grand Prix Go-Karts, newspaper clippings of him passing out at Disneyland's Haunted Mansion and being chosen to be a trainer at Ocean Land. With the prosecution's case broken, the jury clears him of the charges, but it's still far from over. Lois has recovered from her trauma, but can't get over the fact that Hal lied to her all that time about his working on Fridays so she berates him for lying to her after all the sacrifices she made for the family by working double shifts, driving carpool and cleaning the house while Hal was out feeding Shamu. Hal tells her the orca he fed was actually Keiko II who is smaller but will get you just as wet in the front row and suggests they see the show sometime.
Hendrix of the red team meets his counterpart of the blue team to surrender. The sergeant of the blue team, McManus, reminds him of their deal and he must appear in a dress and high heels. However, both men are surprised by the arrival of a tank cannon behind McManus. Then Reese orders the men in the armored cars to rip the tent apart. He is revealed to be in the tank, so the red team won after all. Hendrix is impressed as Reese orders McManus to surrender right now or else he will be covered in flour which he secretly stolen from the mess hall's kitchen. He reluctantly surrenders and must endure humiliation.
Everything is back to normal at Malcolm's house, apart from the fact that both Lois and Hal are out of a job, now that Hal’s bosses are in prison for white collar crimes and for framing Hal for them, that they are $20,000 in debt and that they have no idea where Reese is. But then a letter from him arrives. Lois is upset to learn that he has joined the Army and is further upset with Malcolm's behavior. In Reese's letter, he explains that he's ok and he wanted to wait until he was a success before writing to them. He explains has graduated first in his at the army training post and made his drill sergeant proud and for this he has earned himself some kind of reward.
In the final scene we see Reese in an army plane, on his way to Afghanistan. McManus is seen giving him a parachute ordering him to pull the green cord before the light green one. Reese realizes too late he's in over his head as the words "To be continued..." end the episode.
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[]
- Emy Coligado as Piama
- Steve Rankin as Sgt. Hendrix
Cameos[]
- Paul Gleeson as Mystery Man/FBI Agent Gordon Walker
- Jan Deveraux as Hal's former co-worker 1
- Noel Conlon as Hal's former co-worker 2
- PJ O'Connor as Hal's former co-worker 3
- Michael Chieffo as Dennis
- Michael Milohan as Sgt. McManus
- Judith Moreland as Prosecutor
Trivia[]
- Kenneth Mars, (the actor who plays Otto Mannkusser), provides the voice of the Narrator during the "Previously on Malcolm in the Middle" segment for this episode his role was uncredited.
- The instrumental that plays over the part one recap is a cover of the iconic riff to the 1973 Heavy Metal song "Smoke on the Water" by Deep Purple; the song that plays during the war games scene is Spiderbait's cover of the folk song "Black Betty"
- This episode, along with Christmas Trees, was submitted for an Emmy, but neither episode was nominated.
- The document that Francis procures for Malcolm to forge Hal's signature is implied to be custody papers concerning the welfare of Dewey and Jamie. Meaning if Hal winds up in jail, Lois will be declared mentally incompetent and likely be sent to an assisted living facility, Malcolm will finally be emancipated, while Francis and Piama will take custody of Dewey and Jamie.
- Out of all the family members, Malcolm is the only one who's aware of the stakes of what could happen to his family in that courtroom if he hadn't convinced Hal to testify in his own defense. As much as he desires his own life away from his family, he knows the consequences of his own actions. Malcolm would have to live with the guilt over breaking up his family once more, along with his selfishness in stealing Beth from Reese (which lead to him running away from home), Hal going to jail over a crime for which he was obviously framed, Lois remaining mentally broken and sent to an assisted living facility, and Dewey and Jamie living in New Mexico with Francis and Piama. To Malcolm, he would rather deal with an angry Lois than live with his guilt.
- The trips that Hal goes on every time he missed work on Fridays to disprove the prosecutions case are: Bavaria Land, Go-Karts, Disneyland's Haunted Mansion, Ocean Land (an obvious parody of Sea World), and a few others.
- This episode marks the 5th time that a cold opener episode has deviated from the normal cold opener routine, in which it has a significant role in the plot. The first time was in Water Park. The 2nd time was in Emancipation. The 3rd time is in Humilithon. The 4th time in Day Care The later episodes that will follow are Reese Comes Home and College Recruiters.
- The last episode where Francis is a main cast member, starting next season he would be reduced to a recurring character.
Quotes[]
- Reece: You're gonna have to eat some dirt, about three pounds of it. Don't worry, it's not fatal, it only looks it.
- Hal: I haven't worked on a Friday for the past 15 years.
- Dennis: He hasn't worked on Fridays for 15 years.
- Hal:(to the judge) That's not going to be on the record, is it.
- Dennis: Is there any evidence to back up this wild assertion.
- Hal: Well yeah. Once I knew what I was looking for, I realized I have almost all I need in my memory box.
- Dennis:(goes to the first Friday date) The prosecution maintains you gave the Board of Directors a set of cookbooks on August 9th.
- Hal:(procures a picture him on a roller coaster) Yes, that's when I went to Bavaria Land.
- [Dennis posts the first picture on board, shocking the prosecution]
- Dennis: And when you were supposed to be hiding money off shore on December 6th.
- Hal: I went to the Nutcracker. Pretty good for a community college production.
- [Dennis posts a ticket of the Nutcracker. He later posts a driver's license at Grand Prix Go-Karts.]
- Dennis: February 21st.
- Hal: My Driver's License at Grand Prix Go Karts.
- Dennis:(posting another picture of Hal at wooden cuffed with an Asian female co-worker) June 27th!
- Hal: Pilgrim Village.
- Dennis:(posting a newspaper clipping from an incident from Disneyland's Haunted Mansion) July 11th.
- [Everyone in the jury snickers]
- Hal: There was a ghost in my car. Right in my car.
- [Dennis posts a picture of Hal at Ocean Land feeding a killer whale named Keiko II.]
- Dennis: And finally August 22nd.
- Hal: Well, I was chosen to be a junior trainer at Ocean Land. He did all the work I just stood there.
- [The prosecutor is embarrassed over her case being broken.]
- Lois: You didn't work on Fridays?!
- Hal:(nervous)Ummmm......
- Lois: After all the sacrifices I made for the family. For 15 years, I worked double shifts, drove carpool, cleaned the house, WHILE YOU WERE FEEDING SHAMUUUUUUUUUUUU!
- Hal: It's Keiko II. He's smaller, but you will get just as wet in the front row. It's a good show. We should see it sometime!
- (Lois advances to Hal, intending to kill him for lying to her for not working on Fridays for the past 15 years.)
- Officer: Remember, pull the green cord before the light green cord!