Softball is the twelfth episode of season five of Malcolm in the Middle.
Plot[]
Malcolm joins the Lucky Aide softball team to get away from Lois's wrath on the job, only to discover that Lois is the recent team's coach. He also discovers Craig's amazing talent for playing softball. Francis drives cross-country on his pick-up truck to prove to Lois that he is not lazy, while Dewey dares Reese to outdo one of Francis' old stunts, which he actually does. Meanwhile Hal attempted to applied for a better job upon hearing a co-worker, which might be something he regret doing
Summary[]
In the cold opening, Hal comes into the kitchen and informs the boys that he found the 6 pack of beer they hid in the garage and is exasperated that after the talk they had they still think drinking is cool. Hal forces them to sit down at the table and watch as he drinks the beer as a demonstration. However, he soon becomes intoxicated and overly emotional on how much he loves the boys while hugging them. Eventually he becomes so drunk he stands on a chair singing karaoke using his tie as a microphone. Reese claims it took Hal long enough to find that beer revealing that they intentionally hid the beer so their dad would find it. Malcolm claims that Hal's intoxication is hilarious and was well worth the wait.
Malcolm joins the Lucky Aide softball team to get away from Lois's wrath on the job--but she has recently become the coach. A better discovery he makes is that Craig is an amazing softball player.
Francis drives cross-country on his pick-up truck back to the house (missing his anniversary with Piama). He scopes through his past to prove to Lois that he is not lazy, but Lois refuses to say that she wrong and apologize. When he finds out she is forcing Malcolm to play on the softball team, he demands that she let him go. Lois refuses and points out he's going to play regardless. Malcolm and Francis protests, but Lois is adamant that she is right. That is until Hal shows up and calls her out again. He mentions that every time Lois acts like this, she continues proving she is wrong and is the one at fault. When she yells at Hal for not defending, he refuses to back down. He points out that Lois deserves it for her behavior and proving that he's not going to tolerate it anymore. If she continues her current behavior, she will have no family left to turn to.
Meanwhile Dewey dares Reese to outdo one of Francis' old stunts (collecting the biggest number of toilet seats in a junkyard full of wild dogs with a bacon in his pocket, which he actually does, breaking his record. Francis arrives and confronts Reese. He points out that Lois was right about both of them being similar. They like to be troublemakers by pulling very dangerous and reckless stunts like this. He then manages to get his record back. When Francis calls Piama in New Mexico about it, she lectures him for doing such a crazy and reckless stunt. She is also angry at him for missing out on their anniversary. Francis yells at Piama, pointing out he expected her to behave similar to Lois in being mad at him,
As for Hal, when he overheard a co-worker about his appointment for a Job Interview, he attempted to apply there to. However, upon arriving at the building, Hal is taken in where he was subjected to numerous tests, including one where there were three cameras (two in his eyes and one in a private area), Afterward Hal is escorted out of the building by a man who looks like him, resulted in Hal running away from what he was subject too. Later when he arrived back to declare the job, he discovered that the whole building had disappeared, resulted in Hal to once again run away.
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[]
- David Anthony Higgins as Craig
Cameos[]
- Michael Gaston as Mel
- Kaitlin Cullum as Stephanie
- Ingo Neuhaus as Nick
- Brooke Radding as Girl
- Tom Simmons as Mr. Snow
- Kerry David as Dark Suited Man
- James Martin Kelly as Umpire
- Brandon Mauro as Jeremy
Trivia[]
- This is basically the last time Lois was called out for her controlling ways by Hal. The first time was in Funeral, followed by Traffic Ticket, Clip Show 2 and Thanksgiving.
- Francis's friend, Donnie, was mentioned as Francis presents Lois with the tricycle he rode out in the rain when he was a child for 2 miles when Lois was too sick to take Francis to Donnie's birthday party for Francis to prove to her that he was not lazy.