A.A. Opinions and Analysis

Wildcat

Retired Moderator
Pretty good episode. A couple of points worth noting to begin with: We got confirmation of Dewey’s age (12) for the first time. Most of us knew that, but at least it’s official now. And the question was answered about whether or not Francis and Piama are still together that many have wondered about. It was nice seeing Francis, but whatever happened to storyline of him going to Europe to manage his friends’ band from College Recruiters? I guess it fell through, or was quietly cast aside. MITM isn’t exactly known for having the greatest continuity. :D

It’s great that Francis is trying to get help and get his life back on track (even though he’s not even an alcoholic after all), but it really bugs me that he continues to blame Lois for all of his problems. I know that’s been an ongoing theme with him from day 1, but I have a hard time seeing what she’s done that he feels is so awful. Sure, she’s tried to tell him what to do and punished him for doing things that he shouldn’t have been doing, but most any mother would do that to protect their son. I’m sure he feels spiteful because they sent him to military school, but again, she only did it for his own good. He’s nearly 22 so he should be enough of an adult to understand the reasons why she did the things that she did. I’m sure he realizes how much trouble got into when he was younger and that he probably ended up in jail if something wasn’t done about his behavior.

He should be thanking Lois for trying to keep him on the right track, not blaming her. But as we saw at the end of the episode, the whole problem with Francis is that he needs someone to blame. When he realized that maybe Lois wasn’t the problem after all, he decided to shift his blame onto Piama. He refuses to accept any responsibly for the things that he’s brought on himself. He’ll never be able to really change until he realizes that.

On a lighter note, I enjoyed the Malcolm/Reese/Dewey storyline. It’s nice to see them all have a plot together again. It reminded me of the earlier, classic episodes. It got a bit…uh…graphic for my tastes at the end, but overall it was still really funny. :D
 

NeCoHo

Retired Mod
I think it was a classic episode, back to the roots of MITM. That knife made me think of something a little less appropriate then cutting some ham (or bologna, I don't know) Of course the FCC would hammer them, and I'll leave it at that. ;)

Great episode in my opinion, Francis complaining, Maloclm and Reese being, well, themselves, and Dewey trying to outsmart them(which he does) :D One of the seasons best.
 

yardgames

Retired Administrator
You're both missing the true point of the episode. To completely understand it, we have to make the connections to several previuos episodes.

I wish to begin by arguing that one of MITM's strong points is indeed continuity. In No Motorcycles, it's Francis' 21st birthday, and we're told that he's been "sober" for about six months now, which would put AA about six months after that. At that point, Francis is becoming a much more responsible adult. During the immediate episode, we see him relapse a bit so he can relax on his birthday. But we also see that Francis has indeed changed somehow even since the ranch, on which we generally agree that he greatly matured. In later season six episodes, specifically Buseys Take a Hostage, we see a side of Francis that we've seldom seen before. For once, Francis is trying to take control of his own destiny and change his own life.

Yet, he's always needed to blame his problems on someone else. In No Motorcycles, he accepted his responsibilty for his drinking problem, but he blamed the crappy trip on Hal. In Buseys Take a Hostage, Francis was squarely setting up Dewey.

Another important episode to examine is Ida Loses a Leg. Here, we see Lois actually accept that indeed she is the cause of some of the things that happened to Francis. She acknowledges that in some respects she was a poor mother; mainly, however, she apologizes for doing the non-motherly things she did; sending him to live with Ida, sending him to military school, etc. She generally tends to hold back on apologizing for the torturous events Francis seemed to remember even back in season two, when the upper classmen at Marlin Academy were terrorizing him.

This episode is extremely important leading up to AA because Lois acknowledges that Francis is messed up--at least in part--due to her. Yet Francis fails to forgive her. He can't understand why, but he can't bring himself to release the hatred for his mother. In AA, he isn't forgiving her for torturing him, like Lois and even Francis himself think he is doing. Rather, he is finally accepting the apology Lois issued to him so long ago for being a poor mother; for sending him to live with the woman everyone has accepted as evil when he was an infant, for sending him to military school, and for treating him unfairly.

Yet, there is a huge schism between what Francis believes are the injustices of his mother and what Lois believes are her own injustices. Lois doesn't accept responsibility for torturing Francis and screwing up his life. As a result, Francis becomes convinced that Lois is indeed an alcoholic, although she drinks no alcohol. It exposes a much deeper vault between the two of them. Both of them think they are actually concerned for one another, but by the end of the episode, both return to their usual bickering hatred that they so seldomly drop.

In response to the episode, I would ask whether one can have the disease known as alcoholism, even if they never consume alcohol.


There are two ironies that resulted from the storyline with the boys. The first requires us to return to the days of Bride of Ida. During this episode, we're led to believe that Lois didn't have a problem with trusting the boys; we're led to believe that she finally got over her feelings of insecurity, and now she was just simply trying to punish them for missing their curfew one evening. So it AA, Lois decides that maybe the boys are trustworthy...maybe, if she just breaks that one last item she's worried about. :D But once that's already broken, what is the worst that can happen? Ironically, the worst that could happen, does. The boys find free reign of the car. But ironically, but the time they figured out what they wanted to do with their treasure trove--what they had time to do--they were practically out of time. Their sibling antics returned us to an earlier time of MITM, yet at the same time somehow retaining the vibe that the boys are grown up now and their intentions are different. They no longer want to turture Dewey--their goal is no longer one of destruction. Rather, they have a positive goal of acquisition for themselves. Yet the youngster Dewey still manages to outsmart the older boys.

And in order, Francis (in the Pilot) had a run-in with the police in a car; Reese had more than a few issues without his license in Traffic Jam; and Malcolm tried out joyriding in Old Mrs. Old. 12-year-old Dewey also tried driving underage now; it seems to be a rite of passage in the Wilkerson home.

In conclusion, I've provided lengthy explanations to back up my arguments, but I fear it discourages others from posting. Maybe you feel it's because your post will look bad in front of mine, or maybe it's because you don't want to write that much, or maybe you don't want to read that much. I would urge you to skim and scan the interesting parts, and do not fail to post a reply. It can be a short sentence, or a long and complex argument, but please share your thoughts about the episode as well!
 

tony_montana

Semper Fidelis
Dont know about you guys but this was one great episode!:D All storylines were extremely strong and not to mention very funny! This episode just shows us the Francis of old(deadbeat, no money) before the final episode(something tells me near the end of the show he is going to get an awesome job and make a buttload of money). It was hilarious how Lois was his "hell". Plus, one of the funniest parts of the episode was when she twisted Hal's..umm, you know...in the bathroom!:D
The boy's storyline was a highlight to me. Malcolm and Reese both got what they deserved since Dewey found the key to the car but they wouldn't take him where he wanted to go. I love how they tortured him and he wouldn't talk! Dewey is one tough son-of-a-b****, son!:D Then he takes the car for himself! That was hot, yo!(my petty attempt at gangster slang). Anyway, great episode!

Hal/Lois/Francis:****
Boys:****
 

Wildcat

Retired Moderator
yardgames said:
You're both missing the true point of the episode. To completely understand it, we have to make the connections to several previuos episodes.

I wish to begin by arguing that one of MITM's strong points is indeed continuity. In No Motorcycles, it's Francis' 21st birthday, and we're told that he's been "sober" for about six months now, which would put AA about six months after that....

I disagree that one of MITM’s strong points is continuity. You’re right to an extent though. Some things they do keep in perspective quite well like the example that you just mentioned about Francis being sober for a year based on the comment from No Motorcycles. However, you also have to take into consideration all the storylines that are just “dropped” from one episode to the next like they never existed. Last we heard from Francis in College Recruiters, he was off to tour Europe with his friends’ band and now he’s going in business for himself making etched crystals. Not even a mention of why he decided not to go for whatever reason. Another good example is with Reese. They said he was 18 last year in Lois vs Jaime, then they changed it to 17 in Health Insurance, only to change it back to 18 in Secret Boyfriend. And why doesn’t Jaime talk anymore? They made a big deal about him speaking his first words in Reese vs Stevie (a full six months ago), but he’s only uttered maybe two words since. He should be talking up a storm by now. And what the hell happened to the Buseys? Last season they were in about ¼ of the eps, but we haven’t heard a single word about them since Buseys Take a Hostage. Has Dewey been moved out of the class, or what? The girl that he liked from his class in Malcolm Defends Reese seemed pretty “normal,” so that leads us to believe that he’s in a “normal” classes now, yet we’ve heard nothing about him being moved. Those are just the things I can think of off the top of my head, I’m sure there’s more. I realize that many of the stories are stand alone and the events probably wouldn’t be worth mentioning again (plus much of it is supposed to be left up to the viewer as we’ve discussed in the past) but some of the bigger things like the ones I just described should stay constant from one ep to the next (or at least explained why they’re not.)

yardgames said:
This episode is extremely important leading up to AA because Lois acknowledges that Francis is messed up--at least in part--due to her. Yet Francis fails to forgive her. He can't understand why, but he can't bring himself to release the hatred for his mother. In AA, he isn't forgiving her for torturing him, like Lois and even Francis himself think he is doing. Rather, he is finally accepting the apology Lois issued to him so long ago for being a poor mother; for sending him to live with the woman everyone has accepted as evil when he was an infant, for sending him to military school, and for treating him unfairly....

I realize that the episode was about Francis maturing and taking control of his life, while at the same time finally being able to forgive Lois for all the bad things that he feels she’s done to him. My point was that I just fail to see what that Lois has done that’s so bad in his eyes. Although she did agree that his problems are partly her fault, she likely admitted to this because he’s made her feel so guilty over the years for all the things that he believes she did “wrong” as a mother. It's kind of like people who admit to committing a crime after hours of interrogation. After being told over and over that they're guilty, they eventually become convinced that they're guilty themselves. He wants Lois to admit that she’s an “alcoholic” because she won’t accept that she “has a problem” but she really doesn’t have a problem at all. I agree that sending him to live with Ida as a child was completely wrong (knowing the kind of person Ida is), but everything else she’s done to him, he totally brought on himself. I don’t see how he feels that he was treated so unfairly when all she was trying to do was look out for his best interest. I’m sure the things she did seemed unfair and un-motherly at the time when he was younger, but my point was that he should be able to understand her reasoning now that he’s older and more mature. I would argue that he should even be apologizing to her for treating her unfairly all these years, rather than accepting an apology from her. Especially since he’s showing growth and taking control of his life by admitting that he has a problem (whether it be true alcoholism or something else psychological.)
 

yardgames

Retired Administrator
@Tony, actually Lois was Francis' "L" not his "hell." :D In support groups like that you refer to people by the first initial of their name to preserve their identity.
 

Malcoholic

New member
The AA story equates maturity with accepting responsibility for one's own life, and it uses the co-signing of the $20,000 business loan as an indicator of whether Hal and Lois believe Francis has matured. Hal thinks that Francis beating alcoholism is a sign he has matured, and co-signs the loan; Lois thinks the AA thing was just the same old Francis blaming her for everything, and rejects the loan. She briefly changes her mind when Francis willingly gives up the business loan, but then comes the really original twist in the story: Francis is not at all an alcoholic. He fell in love with the idea of being a reformed alcoholic because it gave him an opportunity for assigning responsibility for his woes to something outside of himself. Everyone in his AA group has some demon outside himself that drove him to drink; this provides a phony validation for Francis' self-deceiving trick of assigning to Lois all responsibility for the way he has turned out.

To address some of the points raised:

Alcoholism means actual addiction to alcohol, so Francis isn't really an alcoholic. But in real life it often happens that people want to believe they have a problem they don't have, because they don't want to face their real problems. Sometimes people make themselves believe they have problems that require professional help, simply to avoid making painful choices themselves--it's a way of escaping personal responsibility, which is the theme of this story.

Likewise the question of how much Lois is really to blame for Francis' woes is secondary to the basic question of taking responsibilty for one's own life. No matter how good or bad a mother Lois was to Francis, the guy still has to take responsibility for his own life (exactly the point Lois made to Dewey at the end of "Bride of Ida.")

In contrast to the serious realism of the AA story, the boys' story was so wildly exaggerated, I assume it's meant to be taken as pure farce for comic relief. The themes are familiar: Malcolm and Reese sense the approach of adulthood and plan a final adolescent fling (shades of the diving board story in "Lois vs Jamie"). Dewey's youngest-sibling obsession with not being shut out by the big boys harks all the way back to "I get to do the bow!" in "Red Dress." The actual action is so exaggerated, the boys seem cartoonlike. The older boys' planned rampage is beyond belief; Dewey endures extreme tortures over a trivial matter and risks juvenile court by driving off in Hal's car. The humor is exceptionally grisly: "I have a much faster way to do this!" / "We're not cutting him open, Reese!"
 

yardgames

Retired Administrator
Wildcat said:
However, you also have to take into consideration all the storylines that are just “dropped” from one episode to the next like they never existed.
True, but I would argue that nothing has perfect continuity. You have to interpret between the lines. Even the Bible cannot be taken literally.

Also, the show is supposed to be told from the eyes of Malcolm. Although that's been dropped to some extent in the last couple of seasons, it still is a major idea behind the show and perhaps Malcolm simply doesn't know the outcome; hence the reason we do not.

As far as Reese's age, the only problem there was in Health Insurance. And as I pointed out in my analysis of that episode, that was a blunt mistake--probably by the new writers, who corrected themselves by the next time the question of age appeared.

Secondly, the point of the episode was not to show us that Francis had matured. Rather, it was to show us whether he had matured. In a surprising twist, as Malcoholic mentioned, he hasn't.

Francis has a history of mischief because he wants attention he feels he doesn't receive from his mother. That was true at the ranch. That was true in Alaska. He wasn't much of a problem on the ranch because Otto gave him the attention he desired. Unfortunately, that attention was lost when Otto lost his job. Piama had always just been there. The two had never really loved each other--they got married too fast for that. At this point, they're more like siblings than spouses. For a moment in this episode, Francis thinks he might get to get more attention from his mother by "helping" her recover from her "alcoholism." But instead, he abuses Piama. Perhaps he's looking for attention from some outside force--even he probably doesnt know.
 

tony_montana

Semper Fidelis
yardgames said:
@Tony, actually Lois was Francis' "L" not his "hell." :D In support groups like that you refer to people by the first initial of their name to preserve their identity.

Oh! Thanks for clearing that up!:D Also, you guys are griping about this episode. Don't you think you guys are taking it a little too far?
 

Wildcat

Retired Moderator
yardgames said:
True, but I would argue that nothing has perfect continuity. You have to interpret between the lines.

True, I can go along with that. Nothing is perfect. It just seems like they would continue the things they start—mainly the Francis, Dewey and Jamie storylines that I described in my last post. Those plots just seem too important to be just dropped and forgotten with the hopes that we maybe won’t notice. I agree that Reese’s age was probably just a simple mistake on the writers’ part (hard to believe no one caught it though. It seems that at least Justin would remember how old his character is! :D )That said, overall MITM has decent continuity. A good example is in Hal Grieves where they referenced the events that took place in Family Reunion. But I still wouldn’t say that continuity is a strong point of MITM.

yardgames said:
Francis has a history of mischief because he wants attention he feels he doesn't receive from his mother.

I agree with that too. Francis is definitely an attention seeker. That’s the reason he was always in so much trouble when he was younger, which in turn caused Lois to do the things that she did. We’ve seen examples of this at home numerous time and we saw it at Marlin Academy and Alaska where he always had to be the one to stand out from the crowd by blatantly defying the rules and doing things that he knew he shouldn’t. And even now, as Malcoholic mentioned, the whole point of him going to A.A. was to have something to blame his problems on as well as seek attention from people around him. He was in his glory at the A.A. meetings where he stood up week after week and described his overbearing mother and “horrible” childhood to those people. As we saw in the episode, all of his A.A. acquaintances totally bought his sob story and sympathized with him, further embedding the idea in his mind that Lois is the root of all his problems.

It’s really a shame that even though he has matured to some extent he still can’t accept responsibility for his own actions and has to blame whoever is convenient at the time (who happens to be Piama after Lois doesn’t say what he wants to hear.) Like you said, even he doesn’t know what he’s really trying to gain from all this. He just knows that shifting the blame to others makes is own personal issues a little easier to deal with, but it’s only a temporary solution.

@Tony--Nobody's griping about the episode. It seems everyone liked it a lot. We're just discussing some of the issues that it brought up. I find it refreshing to have a good MITM-related discussion going on. ;)
 

Vinman0000

New member
Re: Spoilers: A.A.

Francis is such an idiot! Having a drinking problem without actually drinking?!?!? Wow, he's become really dumb this season. At least in seasons 4-6 he had seemed to grow up. It's like Eric in Boy Meets World all over again!
 

NeCoHo

Retired Mod
@Tony- When Dewey and Emrysgirl were here, It'd be like this every week. :D

Let me see if I can jump in here:

I can see that Francis is not gaining maturity, but he also may have become a hypochondriac, (I spelled it right without using Google Spell Check, yay for me!) and pretend that he has diseases that he doesn't have, alcoholism. In that way, he has become even less mature then before. As long as he has something to blames someone on, he will, It's even what Francis is known for almost. This is basically what I'm trying to point out (again):

Wildcat said:
It’s really a shame that even though he has matured to some extent he still can’t accept responsibility for his own actions and has to blame whoever is convenient at the time (who happens to be Piama after Lois doesn’t say what he wants to hear.) Like you said, even he doesn’t know what he’s really trying to gain from all this. He just knows that shifting the blame to others makes is own personal issues a little easier to deal with, but it’s only a temporary solution.

Francis doesn't need the rid of a non-existent alcohol addiction, he needs to get rid of his immaturity problem.
 

Wildcat

Retired Moderator
J. said:
Francis doesn't need the rid of a non-existent alcohol addiction, he needs to get rid of his immaturity problem.

Exactly. I didn't mean "personal issues" as in alcoholism. I meant all the other issues that he has that he wants to blame on everyone else.
 

rzombie1988

New member
I enjoyed this episode alot. It felt like the MITM episodes of old. I am also wondering what happened with Francis in the band, but I'm guessing I will be in the future too. It was good to see Piama back as well!
 

simon_4420

New member
Softball is a good episode to support alot of your arguements on Francis, where he leaves the ranch to "try" to prove to Lois that he isn't lazy and in the end doesn't even accept her apology....
 

Wildcat

Retired Moderator
simon_4420 said:
Softball is a good episode to support alot of your arguements on Francis, where he leaves the ranch to "try" to prove to Lois that he isn't lazy and in the end doesn't even accept her apology....

Yeah, that's right. I forgot about that one. It's been awhile since I watched that episode. Thanks for pointing it out Simon!
 

Amigo22

Super Moderator
I've just looked at the pics from this episode in the gallery, and I'm wondering what exactly Malcolm & Reese did to punish Dewey? It's hard to tell in some of the pics. But it looked like a re-enactment (sp?) of "Kitty's Back" where Francis puts Dewey through the "Brotherhood Initiation".

And Malcolm's got his license so it seems strange they didn't leave him the car keys. Which reminds me... why didn't Lois take the keys with her in Home Alone 4?

The writers aren't very good continuity-wise.
 

samboo1

New member
This ep was OK, wasnt a memorable one of the season for me really.

Stupid Francis, he had his money and then he blew it with the whole alcoholic thing!:cool: It was good to see bonding between Lois and Francis for the short time though!

Overall: 7.5/10
 
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