Victor's Other Family is the twentieth episode of Season 5 and the 105th episode overall of Malcolm in the Middle.
Synopsis[]
Lois learns that her father, Victor, had been cheating on her mother before she was even born, which was taken to the point where he had a second family. She receives a phone call from her half-sister, inviting them over to meet them for the first time. Meanwhile, Dewey dreads racing with Hal due to previous disappointments he and Lois caused him over the years.
Plot[]
In the cold opening, Francis visits the stall at the Grotto Ranch to confront an amorous horse named Thunder, who has been sharing a stall with Betsy the Cow and having an intimate relationship. He tells them that while he has no problems with them being together in one stall, both Thunder and Betsy need to take in account how Otto, the ranchers and the guests would feel if they saw the two in one stall. Francis orders Thunder back in his own stall, much to Betsy's dismay.
Lois has just found out that she has a half-sister named Roberta, and they learn how much they have in common. She brings Reese, Jamie and Malcolm with her to meet their aunt and cousins in Manitoba. As they are packing, Lois is annoyed when she gets a call from Ida, who is furious over her loss in her lawsuit against Sylvia. Despite evidence she has shown to prove that Victor had been married to her, the judge ruled against Ida. On top of it, she is given a restraining order. Not wanting Ida to visit the family and ruin their trip, Lois uses Malcolm's lie about wanting her to come over to celebrate Jamie's birthday with the neighborhood kids. She quickly refuses, pointing out that she has an appointment to get her back waxed.
Meanwhile, Hal discovers that Dewey's school is having a father-son race day in the upcoming weeks, though he is confused as to why Dewey threw the notice for it out. Dewey reveals that he wanted to spare Hal agreeing to do it and then missing it on purpose (as he always does). He also wanted to spare himself from the grief of Hal coming up with lame excuses afterward to why he missed it, and even this applies to Lois as well. Dewey then says that even though he expects it, it is still disappointing to him. An arrogant Hal laughs this off, claiming he is not that bad (despite missing an award ceremony for Dewey the previous week) and claims that he will be at that race.
In Manitoba, Lois meets Roberta at her home and asks for her mother. Her stepmother, Sylvia, comes into the living room, mentioning the guests shouldn't have come until later because she was finishing up with the cookies and her hair is a mess. She sees Lois and compliments her that she looks exactly like Victor and gives her a warm welcome. Sylvia's warm motherly is new and completely unfamiliar to Lois.
Malcolm bonds with Jerome very well. With Malcolm telling the audience how strange genetics are, "Reese and I are Brothers. But We're barely the same species!" yet Jerome and Malcolm act so alike and are both geniuses. However, as Malcolm observes, despite them both being geniuses, Jerome's popular, relaxed, very active in extracurriculars, and has a girlfriend, and most of all, happy. Unlike Malcolm who all he really has is Stevie (which is Barely at this point) girls are nauseated and repulsed by him, and above all else, uptight and miserable. Which causes Malcolm to ask the audience "If we're so much alike, why is he so much happier than I am?" At this point Roberta asks whose Jerome talking to on the phone, but cheerfully says none of her business. Then Malcolm snidely goes to the audience "oh that's why!" Unlike Lois who completely tries to control and micromanage his life, Roberta respect Jerome's happiness and space.
Despite some nervous moments between them, they're getting along great. While going through photos, Lois notices Victor appears happy in all his photos with Sylvia and this family while Sylvia notices picture of Lois and Susan looking sad but also thinking they're a bunch of kidders. Sylvia mentions that Victor wasn't perfect and was often times very grumpy after a hard day from work, but after sitting him down and relaxing him, he's gets all affectionate and friendly. To which Lois always remembered how awful and malevolent Victor was as her and Susan's father. Malcolm and Lois look at the family deep closely and think to each other how different things could be if they changed one person. Malcolm agrees, both of them seeing if they had different mothers. Malcolm then asks Lois if she's heard any birds or crickets for the last two minutes, which Lois notices as strange and replies that everything has been quiet for so long like a graveyard. He and Lois turns around and scream in terror to see a furious Ida right in front of the door, screaming JUDAS!
Ida yells at Lois for lying to her and knew of the trip because she's been able to spot lies coming out of her since she was little. Lois orders Malcolm to lock the door at once. Before he could do anything, Ida busts in as Roberta tells Sylvia and Jerome to lock themselves in the den and call the police. Lois demands that Ida leave at once because the police are on their way to arrest her for violating the restraining order. She refuses and even argues that the stuff that the other family got were stolen from her (such as Sylvia's couch being her trip to Paris). Ida points out that Victor made them live like dogs in order for Sylvia and her family to live like royalty. She tries to remind Lois about Victor's terrible treatment over them, including how Lois and Susan were only fed cans of beans while Sylvia's children got ballet lessons. Sylvia calls out to Ida and reminds her besides having the cops coming, she is also armed with a knitting needle to defend herself. Ida calls Sylvia's bluff and tells her that she knows about Victor's other pension from his previous job as at Paragon Brush from 1960 to 1964. Under Manitoba law as common-law wife, she is entitled to the pension. Sylvia denies this, admitting that she and her family never knew about his job or any pension that he has. She also admits that the family only recently found out about Victor's affair with Ida and the children he has with her. She is confident that once the truth is out, it will continue to haunt Sylvia's family for the rest of their lives. The annoyed Lois immediately diffuses the situation by mentioning to Ida that they will discuss this later in her apartment when they're alone. She also tells Ida off that unless she wants to have her wig removed exposing her tick scars, she will quietly leave this house. Enraged and begrudgingly, Ida agrees to leave but not before telling Sylvia that she will be back for revenge as Reese comes in with Scott from their hunting trip. Scott was visibly traumatized by Reese's hunting, describing he had a horrid laugh and was a monster.
Back at home, Hal is prepping for the race, however, found a hidden fire extinguisher and "accidentally" blinds himself with it, being left with burnt corneas for two weeks. Dewey informs Lois of this incident. After ending his call with Lois, Dewey views this as having been done on purpose so Hal could skip the race though he denies it. However, he knows better due to his personal experience with disappointment and reveals why Lois never told Hal about the fire extinguisher. She knew he'd try anything to get out of going to any class events that Dewey has and hid it underneath the sink's cabinet. He just walks out of the room as Hal feigns remorse for breaking his promise to Dewey. It's clear that he knows better than to believe Hal and his lies.
At a lawyer's office, Ida and Lois learn that there really is a pension. The attorney, Mr. Dietrich, informs them that the only way Ida could win the case against the family in not only collecting the pension and proving that she is Victor's common-law wife, is a paternity DNA test, along with mailing addresses and documents signed in both their names. He mentions that he needs both Lois's and Susan's DNA to see if they match Victor's DNA. Mr. Deitrich, however, disappoints them in revealing the pension is only $43.50 a month, Canadian and that she won't break even for 20-30 years, questioning if she'll even live that long. As he leaves to set them up with free coupons as compensation, Ida declares she will pursue the lawsuit, Lois trying to talk sense into her as it's not worth it, as she'd be losing money going after the pension. She doesn't care, showing not only that she hates Sylvia and her family so much but because she loves Victor and wants something to know he was her husband. Lois is still concerned over Ida's behavior and decides to talk to Sylvia, hoping she could avoid a potential lawsuit.
Later on, Lois visits Sylvia, informing her about the pension and Ida's plans to sue them again. Lois mentions that her mother is willing to lose money going after it and asks Sylvia to sign a legal document to give the pension to Ida, so the lawsuit can be avoided. Sylvia refuses and Lois reasons with her that Victor already gave them everything and the pension will be all Ida will have, and that Ida wants something to feel connected to her husband. Sylvia responds that Victor was her husband and closes the door and blasts the radio to ignore her. Lois, unable to reason with Sylvia, shouts and calls her out and declares this conversation is not over.
At Roberta's house, Malcolm continues to spend time with Jerome. Despite being a genius, Jerome is still popular and able to get people to listen and understand him during a student body meeting. He also observed Jerome laughing off having an embarrassing moment and everyone laughs with him, and not at him. The rest of his classmates leave with Jerome announcing he is having a karaoke night and encourages Malcolm to participate. Malcolm says he cannot sing while Jerome is probably good. Jerome says he can't and Malcolm wonders if he is afraid that he's going to look like an idiot. Jerome tells Malcolm, "If you're afraid to look stupid, you not going to have any fun." Malcolm looks to the camera saying Jerome forgot to mention "have fun other's expense" then laments how much better Jerome is than him.
Despite his injury, Hal and Dewey end up at the race by having Dewey on a backpack leash to be Hal's eyes, much to Dewey's annoyance and humiliation. A man is seen next to them and uses a service dog as a guide. However, when the race starts, Hal grabs the wrong leash, and the dog ran in the wrong direction. Thus, leaving Dewey at the starting line and why he wanted to avoid another disappointment. Hal, not realizing he is following the dog has been sent running around various places, not even realizing the passage of time. Hours later, with Hal getting exhausted, he grabs a yellow "do not cross" line, thinking it is the finish line, which was a perimeter around a murder scene. Thinking he has completed the race shouts "I DID IT!" repeatedly and laughs hysterically as police investigators are present and approaching him.
Lois helps Ida with the case at her apartment, finding evidence of mailing addresses proving Victor was living with them and found a cancelled check signed with Victor and Ida's signatures. Mail was received under Ida's door and Lois opens it to find it contains the DNA test results. She learns that her DNA does not match Victor's. Ida claims she was 80% sure she was Victor's daughter. Lois soon learns that Ida had an affair with a man named Radu Gogorsky while Victor was away at business. Lois gets angry, questioning her mother's actions. Ida responds that she was lonely as Victor had tons of business trips, then realizing what these "businesses" really were. Ida attempts to change Lois's blood type from A to a B so she would be able to match his. Disillusioned, Lois willingly told Ida off and abandons her case.
At Sylvia's house, the kids are having the karaoke party, Malcolm feels hope, initially believing he has a genetic curse to be unhappy, believes since Jerome is also his blood and is happy, Malcolm can be too. Lois informs Roberta and Sylvia that she's not related to Victor and learned that Ida lied to her the whole time. She also mentions it does not change anything because despite being another man's child, Victor was still her father because he raised her (though poorly and with abuse). She also says she knows Ida was also Victor's wife, even though not legally or technically, but she knows and so does Sylvia, and that's why Sylvia hates Ida. Sylvia denies it, because she's Canadian. Lois then calls it being angry with Ida, however she is at the wrong person. Lois tells Sylvia it is Victor she should be angry at, as he betrayed her and Ida both, manipulated them, and made them both feel they were not worth being his only wife. Lois calls out Sylvia truly hates Victor because of this, but that he deserves it. Lois then expresses that she came to visit because she thought her and Roberta were alike, but learns it is actually Ida and Sylvia that are really alike. Sylvia agrees to sign the rights to the pension as long as she never mentions her and Ida being alike ever again. Lois then tells Malcolm they're leaving, but Malcolm wants to stay with his cousins and is getting ready to sing karaoke. Lois, however, reveals they are not his cousins which makes Malcolm freeze in shock as he is disappointed to hear this. He walks away in the middle of the song, crushed, and going back to believing he is genetically cursed to misery. Reese rushes the family to cross the border while he is covered in mud refusing to explain what trouble he got in.
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[]
- Maura Soden as Roberta
- Andrew James Allen as Jerome
- Adam Wylie as Scott
- Tom Virtue as Mr. Dietrich
Recurring[]
- Cloris Leachman as Ida
Special Guest Star[]
- Betty White as Sylvia
Cameos[]
- Megan Hubble as Jerome's Girlfriend
Trivia[]
- Much about the backstory of Lois's family is revealed in this episode. It is revealed that Victor isn't her biological father or even the legal husband of Ida. Her true father was a man named Radu Gogorsky. Susan's true father is still ambiguous, but it's possible that Victor is her father, though even Ida is not sure. Meanwhile, Victor had been cheating on Ida long before Lois was even born, with a woman named Sylvia. In turn when Ida found out, she had an affair with Radu Gogorsky to spite him, that lead to Lois's birth. Victor would always claim to be going on business trips throughout his fatherhood of Lois, when he was really visiting Sylvia. He had even started a biological family with Sylvia and was the exact opposite of what he was to Lois, being a nice, caring, and idyllic father to them. It is also revealed that Victor was a bad father to Lois and mistreated her throughout her childhood and that he locked her in the closet when she was two and got her drunk when she was eight.
- It's possible that Ida was lying to Lois about Susan's paternity. She may have read the DNA test results that confirmed that Susan is Victor's daughter.
- It's also implied that unlike Lois, Victor treated Susan very well and was an idyllic and caring father to her
- It's unknown how Victor suspected that Lois wasn't his daughter from the beginning. It may have to do with the fact that he suspected Ida had an affair with another man.
- Although she never reveals what it actually is, Lois reveals that she has five letters in her middle name.
- Although unseen, Ida's wig hides tick scars. It was first shown she is wearing a wig in Grandma Sues.
- It is even revealed that Lois and the boys are part Ukrainian due to Radu Gogorsky being a Ukrainian name.
- 2nd and last appearance of Betsy the Cow.
- This episode is Cloris Leachman and Betty White's first appearance together since the Mary Tyler Moore show. White's character, Sue Ann Nivens, is a snobbish, greedy and judgmental housewife to her rich husband. She often criticizes about Mary being single at 30. Leachman's character, Phyllis Lindstrom, is her landlady. She is a wealthy, sweet, and supportive friend of Mary. She doesn't appreciate Sue Ann's cruel judgment of her and often came to her defense.
- Ironically, this was the opposite in Malcolm in the Middle. Leachman portrays Ida, a greedy, manipulative, racist and chain-smoking grandmother who finds everything negative in her life. Unlike Phyllis, she hates her entire family except Reese and Susan. White portrays Sylvia who is similar to Rose (from The Golden Girls): sweet, good-natured, and supportive.
- Betty White is also the 2nd actress from the Golden Girls to appear on the show. The first being her costar Bea Arthur in Water Park back in the season 1 finale.
- This episode marked the only time that Dewey avoided telling his parents of his upcoming class event to avoid disappointment. This is because previous times he had told them about it, Hal and Lois always have some poor excuse to avoid going there.
- This is supported in season 7's Morp, when Lois proudly admitted why she and Hal never went to his class events and forgotten about him.
- The only time that they did regret missing Dewey's class event was back in Forwards Backwards due to them having to deal with Malcolm and Reese's latest misbehavior and grounding them.
- The song Sylvia listens to while trying to ignore Lois is Snowbird sung by Anne Murray
- Songs being heard in Jerome's karaoke party are:
- Brick House by The Commodores being sung by Scott.
- YMCA by Village People to which Malcolm almost sang along too.
- Francis only appears in the cold open, which also marks the final appearance of the Grotto, although in Hal’s Christmas Gift Francis’ room if briefly seen when Francis calls Hal.
- There were several scenes that were written in but was cut for airing time.
- Sylvia and Roberta noticed how truly sad Lois and Susan were in their photos as children. They become convinced that Ida wasn't a good parent to them.
- Sylvia brings Lois back in her home and asks why she's willing to help Ida. She explains that she's not doing this for Ida, but to protect Sylvia and their families. Lois wished she had been her mom instead because she would've benefitted from the loving nature of a good and caring mother. She tells Sylvia that no matter how hard she tries to break away from Ida, she will always be hopelessly bound to her control and manipulations. Malcolm overhears this, starts understanding how much he and his brothers were terrible to her upon seeing a new side to her and realizes why she is the way she is. He shows empathy for the first time and feels bad over how he and his brothers treated Lois.
- Malcolm talks to Jerome about this and is seen regretting his behavior. He helps advise Malcolm in opening up to her and being a good son. Jerome admitted that Roberta wasn't perfect as well as a parent and was an overt control freak after his and Scott's father, Galen, died. However, with Sylvia's help, she became calmer and happier. Malcolm realizes this and thanks him for his advice.
- Originally after learning about the truth in why Victor never accepted her, Lois orders Ida to drop her case and stop pursuing the money. It's there she admits that Hal was right all along. Lois mentions that she should've cut ties with her awful family a long time ago. That way, Hal and Lois could've spared the boys from a lifetime of having to deal with how horrible their relatives on both parents' sides really are. The only good thing that came from it was meeting Sylvia and Roberta, the family that she should've had instead of a greedy mother, an abusive absentee father and an entitled sister. After turning the evidence over so the police (mainly the black cops) can deal with Ida and taking advantage of her bigotry, Lois returns to Sylvia's home heartbroken and shaken from all of this. She and Roberta comfort Lois through all this. Despite everything that happened, she realizes she has a loving family in them and doesn't tell them the results of her not being related to them. Lois assures Sylvia and Roberta that Ida won't be a problem anymore. That Victor is still her father despite the cruelty he inflicted on her.
- Instead of singing, Malcolm rushes outside the house to comfort Lois and Jerome understand how much she needs her family. Lois appreciates Malcolm's empathy.
- As the family is leaving, Lois bids farewell to Sylvia and Roberta. Malcolm thanks Jerome for helping him out. He helps Scott get away from Reese and drags him to the van.
- In the episode's original ending, Lois finds Dewey home and asks what happened. She later gets a call from the cops concerning Hal and rushes over to bail him out.
- The first episode to be filmed in 2004 in production order.
- Reese's knowledge in using a gun is referenced in Reese Comes Home.