Stevie in the Hospital: Opinions and Analysis

rzombie1988

New member
This was a decent episode.

I really like Hal's plot and Reese's as well. Hal's plot was a perfect fit and so was Reese's. I didn't really understand the Lois plot, so I can't comment much on that. I'm somewhat surpised that they didn't say what Stevie's illness was, but then again I'm not because I expected something like this from MITM.

I give it a 6.5/10.
 

reese35

New member
Yeah, I liked Hal's plot, getting into a beef with a child. But even so, a funny time. And Reese as a telemarketer > motivator > telemarketer. Nice, despite it was moved a couple weeks earlier than planned. Lois' plot is this - Lois forgets Dewey's baking soda, and Dewey keeps doing all those things as retribution. Of course, I can't speak for the tree branch. ;) As for Malcolm's plot, pretty decent. Malcolm bitching on Stevie when he finally gathers the nerve to visit is pretty unexpected. But then again, it's Malcolm. I guess that's his way of really giving a damn about Stevie. And so what if you don't get the dirt on Stevie's illness. That's MitM for ya.

Reese - ****3/4
Lois-Dewey - ***
Hal - ****99/100
Malcolm - ***
Eppy - ****5/6

And the countdown continues....
 

PBUNDY

New member
It was a good episode. The only problem I had was that it felt to me like they didn't finish the Lois/Dewey storyline. Did anyone else feel this way?
 

tony_montana

Semper Fidelis
Once again we are struck by the season seven lightining bolt!:D
Another great entry was made by this episode! Not trying to be one sided toward a certain character, but once again Hal gets my vote for funniest plot in the episode(that's like 4 in a row)!:) It's just when you begin to think of how ridiculous it is that Hal gets into a battle with a 10 year old, it really makes you crack up, like I did plenty of times in this episode. Malcolm's plot was, to me, very funny, and it looks like we are getting back to the old, ridiculous Malcolm who, even though a genius, still acts like a tee-total dumbass sometimes.:D I loved how when he finally sees Stevie, he YELLS at him at throws a cookie at him. BUT anyone should have noticed that Stevie was still happy to see Malcolm. That's a great friend, if you ask me. If any of my friends did that to me, Id kick their asses as soon as I got better.:D The Lois/Dewey plot was okay, but they seriously could have expanded it and made it alot better. I wish there would have been more of an outward battle between the two instead of this little sneaking around stuff. And the award for second best plot goes to Reese! His whole plot was so friggen funny and one of his best of the whole season! My question is why did he leave the meat place where he was making tons of money to become a telemarketer(?). But still, when Reese saved the guy who was taking the pills and then got the guy to buy a dozen air filters....classic Reese!:D
Now the verdict-
Hal-10/10 One of his best!
Malcolm-9.5/10 Classic stupid Malcolm of old!
Lois/Dewey-8/10 Could have been better, but still.
Reese-10/10 One of Reese's best plots!
OVERALL-9.5/10 Yet another fantastic season seven episode!:)
 

yardgames

Retired Administrator
This episode was extraordinarily well done because it was funny, relatable, cute, entertaining, and full of love all at the same time.

Malcolm's condition certainly isn't a rare one--certainly how he ultimately handled it might have been, but the entire storyline proved to us just how important the Malcolm-Stevie friendship had become over the last seven years. As nervous as Malcolm was, he wanted to support his friend--he just wasn't sure about the right way to go about it. And as Tony pointed out, it was touching to see Stevie just thrilled to see Malcolm, even after he pretty much blamed the operation on Stevie.

The Hal plot was typical of that character--beginning quite sanely, but quickly accelerating to a degree that is surreal, yet believable. It's reminiscient of such plots at Pearl Harbor and Dewey's Special Class, in which Hal becomes so entwined in completing a task that everything else takes a backseat. But what separates plots like these from plots like Bomb Shelter or Lois Strikes Back is that they're realistic. I'm not saying they happen every single day; I'm just saying that someone with Hal's personality can quite easily find himself intertwined in a boat battle. The point is that this seemingly rare and impossible stunt was made to seem realistic by the talented writers. Furthermore, they were able to make the plot even better by extending some heart into the episode and putting some additional affection between Hal and Malcolm. It's not exactly news to anyone that the boys are more important to Hal than to Lois. Sure, Lois loves them and sure they'd both be happy to go away to Mexico and never see them again, but the latter would be much harder on Hal--being separated from Francis always bothered him. Hal shares a special bond with his boys that's been shown numerous times throughout the series; in this episode, his development with Malcolm was furthered with this one simple line:

"Malcolm, sometimes all you need to say is hello."

Changing gears, unlike Tony, I found the Lois/Dewey plot to be sheer genius. We've seen physical battles plenty of times--probably the best recent example is Reese vs. Stevie. But this time, we saw a much more kniving side of each; both thought they were outsmarting each other, but really neither was outsmarting the other one. Brilliantly well written indeed!
 

Amigo22

Super Moderator
yardgames said:
Sure, Lois loves them and sure they'd both be happy to go away to Mexico and never see them again

Not after the way they reacted over Francis going to Alaska. Hal chased him furiously down the road and up a tree and tried to pull down his pants. Lois refused to speak to him or let him into the house.

Yet it was Hal and Lois's decision to send Francis to Military School in the first place. They chose to send him away where they would only see him occasionally on weekends and for Spring Break. So why did they act that way when he was moving to Alaska? Yes, it is a lot further away, but what about how Francis felt being eight hours away from his family and his friends?

And what about many of the times he called home to speak to Hal and Lois? In "Red Dress" Lois gave him a lecture on how he was "undermining her authority long distance". In "Malcolm Babysits" they were more interested in an evening of sex (having the house to themselves) than talking to Francis. In "Funeral" they didn't even tell him Aunt Helen had died, and when he asked for information Lois didn't have time to talk. In "Bowling" Francis wanted to buy a share in the old car the cadets were buying and Hal and Lois wouldn't let him, even though it was only 1/7 of the cost. These are just the examples I can think of.
 

kerryoke

New member
I am so bummed I missed this episode. My son Zach plays Matt (the kid in the park). We filmed in LA but since we are in Canada working on a film, we had to do looping (voice work) for Malcolm at a local studio here in Toronto. It was pretty neat because we were live with Los Angeles via a high tech sound computer.
The thing is, the Malcolm production office told us the episode would air April 16th. I asked twice. Darn.
Oh well, I'll have to wait until we get the DVD copy.

The Malcolm in the Middle cast and crew were SO nice to us. Zach had a great time. We filmed at Balboa park. There are some pics up in the photo gallery at www.zachmills.net

Glad everyone liked it.
 

yardgames

Retired Administrator
That's neat--it's always cool to meet people that have a part in the show! :) Zach's emotions were awesome!

See, you ought to watch MITM every week. :D Originally, it was scheduled to air April 16. For whatever reason, they cut out Cattle Court last week and moved other eps up a week, and we haven't heard a thing about Cattle Court since. Maybe it will end up being the Lost MITM Episode. :D
 

Wildcat

Retired Moderator
I enjoyed this episode. I could really relate to how Malcolm was feeling because I've often done the same thing myself. Not necessarily avoiding visiting someone in the hospital, but finding any silly excuse possible to put off doing unpleasant as long as possible. It's easy to see why he would want to avoid Stevie--even though they're best friends. No one wants to see someone that they care about in that type of situation. The ending was great! It was totally unexpected after we saw Malcolm struggling with his lack of courage to visit Stevie throughout the episode. When he finally finds the nerve, he screams at Stevie like it's his fault that he's in the hospital. Typical Malcolm! I especially liked the "glad you didn't die...here's your cookie." line. :D As we've seen in the past, Malcolm has a very hard time expressing his emotions so turning his anxiety into anger made the situation easier for him to deal with. As yardgames and Tony mentioned, it was touching that Stevie was still happy that Malcolm showed up even though Malcolm only yelled at him and left. From his reaction, we're led to believe that this scene has happened before when Stevie has been in the hospital. Stevie realizes that Malcolm does care even though he has a strange way of showing it. My only complaint is that Stevie didn't have a bigger part in the episode since we've seen so little of him this season.

I also really enjoyed the Reese plot simply because it's a side of Reese that we rarely get to see. He finally has a chance to put his bullying "skills" to good use. :D Also, it was nice to finally see him excel at something. I was a little surprised at how he reacted to the suicide call. I expected him to crack under pressure or say something totally inappropriate that would make the situation worse, but he pulled it off beautifully and managed to sell the guy some air purifiers to top it off! :D

The Hal plot was pretty good, but nothing really special for me aside from pure comedy. As others have mentioned, it was typical Hal trying to do something completely normal only to have it end up being an insane obsession before it was over with. I felt bad for him in the beginning when none of the boys wanted to spend time with him though.

Lois and Dewey's plot showed us typical, sneaky Dewey once again. As yardgames already mentioned, it was interesting how each of them thought they were outsmarting one another, but neither of them were outsmarted. While it was good, I also got the feeling that it was somewhat incomplete. I would like to have seen them expand on it a little bit more. But overall, great episode! I think season 7 has proven to be one of the best ones. If it continues, I’m sure the last few episodes won’t disappoint! :)

Welcolme to the forum Kerryoke! I'm sorry that you missed the episode. That's awesome that your son got a part on the show. He did a great job!
 

tony_montana

Semper Fidelis
@wildcat-Is there anything wrong with pure comedy? That's what more shows need, instead of these complex stories that are SUPPOSED to be funny. That's what makes MITM one of the greatest shows ever...it blends complex/slapstick/pure comedy together and does a damn fine job of presenting it.:)
 

Wildcat

Retired Moderator
tony_montana said:
@wildcat-Is there anything wrong with pure comedy? That's what more shows need, instead of these complex stories that are SUPPOSED to be funny. That's what makes MITM one of the greatest shows ever...it blends complex/slapstick/pure comedy together and does a damn fine job of presenting it.:)

Nothing is wrong with pure comedy. I just meant there isn't a whole lot to say about Hal's plot in this episode. His whole plot consisted of him trying to one-up a 10 year old kid. It was quite funny and entertaining--not saying it was bad or anything--I suppose that I just prefer deeper plots. Take Malcolm's plot for instance--while it wasn't as slapstick as Hal's, it still had its funny moments, but someone would also need to understand Malcolm's personality to truly appreciate it. It was more complex, but still maintained comedic value. To each his own, I guess. :)
 

Kratos

New member
kerryoke said:
I am so bummed I missed this episode. My son Zach plays Matt (the kid in the park). We filmed in LA but since we are in Canada working on a film, we had to do looping (voice work) for Malcolm at a local studio here in Toronto. It was pretty neat because we were live with Los Angeles via a high tech sound computer.
The thing is, the Malcolm production office told us the episode would air April 16th. I asked twice. Darn.
Oh well, I'll have to wait until we get the DVD copy.

The Malcolm in the Middle cast and crew were SO nice to us. Zach had a great time. We filmed at Balboa park. There are some pics up in the photo gallery at www.zachmills.net

Glad everyone liked it.


Thanks for the picture link... I never knew "Jamie" was a twin!


I liked the whole eppy, felt like some of the others said that Lois and Dewey plot was just "left", also why was Reese working and not at school? Holidays maybe.

Hal rocks again; "He started it"


The only think I'm going to pick at is the Reese/"gabby" talk, it was the same as a Friends plot when Pheobe is trying to sell toner.
 

yardgames

Retired Administrator
And didn't she have a guy who was going to commit suicide too? You're right, toner is a much more original idea than air purifiers. :D
 

ReMoss85

New member
Amigo22 said:
So why did they act that way when he was moving to Alaska? Yes, it is a lot further away, but what about how Francis felt being eight hours away from his family and his friends?
Well he did have himself (illegally) legally emancipated and dropped out of high school.
 

Malcoholic

New member
There was some very funny and clever writing in Hal's naval war and in Reese's stint as a high-pressure telemarketer. The kid at the lake was petty, obsessed with trivialities, and whiny--a 10-year old version of Hal himself. The kid went psycho over Hal sitting on his bench, just the kind of petty nonsense that always triggers Hal's own obsessiveness. It's all a very funny re-working of Hal being just a silly kid himself.

Reese's talk-down of the suicidal guy highlights two conflicting sides of Reese's character: he has absolutely no moral scruples, and he is capable of very kind feelings--as if the Reese of "Evacuation" and the Reese of "Butterflies" were compressed into one 60-second scene. He is genuinely caring in giving the depressed guy the will to live; then the ruthless predator instinct kicks in: this guy owes me his life, he can't say no to me, I'll squeeze him for all he's got! What makes Reese such a special character is that these contradictory behaviors both seem equally Reese-like.

For most of the episode, Malcolm's avoidance of seeing Stevie seemed like squeamishness, but then at the lake Malcolm says that he and Stevie have an unspoken understanding not to take note of Stevie's disability. The final scene appears to confirm that Stevie appreciates Malcolm not pitying him; this makes sense, because at home Stevie's parents have always made Stevie feel overly frail and have overprotected him (the theme of "Sleepover" in Season One).

The theme of Lois neglecting Dewey pops up once again--this time it's failure to supply baking soda for a school-project volcano. The story is told skimpily and has the feel of being there just to give the two characters something to do.
 

yardgames

Retired Administrator
You've made some amazing connections in this analysis. It never really dawned on me that the 10-year-old could represent a young Hal himself. We've only seen a few shots of Hal when he was young, but from what I remember, he even looked fairly similar to the 10-year-old--I keep wanting to call him Zach now. :D

As far as the Malcolm/Hal scene where Malcolm finally opens up to his father, I found it to be one of the most touching scenes in quite awhile. Hal's able to spend some quality time with one of his boys--but is able also to pass some wisdom onto his boys, which is obviously hugely important to him. And as Malcoholic said, it really showed the true extent of Malcolm's friendship with Stevie in a funny, yet heartfelt way. Well done.
 

simon_4420

New member
That connection that has been made to Matt being a younger Hal is pretty good. From what we have seen of Hal when he was younger you could easily see the similarities to Matt's character.

Anyway this episode was another great episode of MITM. I think that its great that this season, in particular the last few episode have been able to re-illustrate the characters personalities, as I personally felt that quite afew episodes from earlier in the season and previous episodes from season 6, we started to loose some of the personalities of the charactors (hope that makes sense).

It was classic Reese!!! I just loved how just when you thought that maybe he was learning and growing up he went and ruined it again:D. Malcolm's storyline was typical Malcolm, shying away from something and then in the end dealing with it in the only way he knew how.... Stevie's face at the end though made the storyline funnier, as you could see that he understood that Malcolm really did care.

I wish we could of seen abit more of Dewey and Lois's storyline as it could of been alot more funny, it felt alittle rushed, but there was alot going on in this episode.

Anyways yet again this season shows us why MITM is the show we love:D

@ Kerryoke, that's really cool about your son Zach, he was really great in that episode, sorry you missed it:( . He is a child star to watch out for in the future!

Does anyone else want one of those cool chairs with MITM on the back of them (pictured on Zach's website), I really want one!!!:D
 

Amigo22

Super Moderator
ReMoss85 said:
Well he did have himself (illegally) legally emancipated and dropped out of high school.

Yeah, he did, but Hal and Lois would not have let him come home had he not; they wanted him to stay until he got his diploma. Lois told him if he didn't get the diploma he'd be stuck there for another year, making it his 4th year there, when in the Pilot she told him he would only be there until the summer that year.
 
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