704 Halloween: Opinions and Analysis

Wildcat

Retired Moderator
This was a fun episode. It wasn't nearly as good as last week's in my opinion, but still good. It started off kinda slow, but all the little twists at the end made up for it. Hal was hilarious throughout the whole thing. Of course, I'd be really freaked out too if I found out that my house was the site of a mass murder and mutilation! It was funny how he kept cowering behind Malcolm for "protection," but Malcolm's the one who got the crap scared outta him in the end while Hal remained calm. :D

The Reese/Dewey plot was boring. It was funny to see them get what they deserved though. They made another reference to Reese going back to being a bully again. He said something like "The candy taste better when you steal it from kids. It's the fear" (not an exact quote). And isn't he a little old for trick or treating? He's 17!!! But that's Reese for you. :rolleyes:

Lois's plot was pretty good, but I found the whole "Party at Lucky Aid" thing to be unbelivable. I'm sure the customers would have reported it to the police if they went in a drug store and all the employees were running around drunk! Nice twist at the end though with her being the one to get arrested after she was the only one who was trying to "uphold the law."
 

ReMoss85

New member
They didn't resolve Lois' story at all, so we're left wondering what happened. But other than that, I enjoyed it thoroughly.
 

CJman327

New member
I did like the ending with Jamie coming out with the "headless bloody costume":D. Very funny when Malcolm jumped out the window!!!!! "It's Jamie, isn't it." I personally think that THAT was a classic. As well as the twist at the end with Lois being taken by the police for taking that little girl!Stupid Reese and Dewey! As well as the old man splattering eggs all over them at the end. And Hal being scared to death and donig all those stupid things! Another classic! That's Hal for you!:D. But in my second opinion it was a bit slow and I'm a little dissapointed of it and what it could've been. I pictured it being incredibly awesome!:). But don't get me wrong it was pretty awesome. I just personally think it was only 3 and a half stars. Sorry!:(
 

samboo1

New member
I couldnt tell either.
I really liked this ep! Yeah, the ending could of explained things more but i liked it! Hehe. Malcolm seems a lot 'nicer' in this ep as well.
 

Wildcat

Retired Moderator
ReMoss85 said:
They didn't resolve Lois' story at all, so we're left wondering what happened. But other than that, I enjoyed it thoroughly.

I know! A lot of MITM episodes end like that. They're leaving it up to us to decide what happens. It's fun that way sometimes, but it would still be nice to see it with our own eyes. They could breifly mention what happened on the next episode or something, but they never do. I'm sure Reese and Dewey are going to pay dearly whe she gets out of jail though! :D

MITM18--Thanks for clearing up what they were stuck in. I thought it was cement too.
 

Niels

New member
Did anybody else notice Malcolm was wearing a "Marlin Academy" sweatshirt in the end ? Look at the logo, I checked some season 1 episodes with Francis at military school, cadets wear t-shirts with this logo too.
 

yardgames

Retired Administrator
I think that besides being an excellent overall episode, it also showed the idea of Halloween very well too. We saw the conflicting interests of kids who like to trick-or-treat and those who prefer the tricks. Seeing Reese and Dewey take part in both in a sort of brotherly engagement was neat, as well. The elderly man chasing the two of them with a walker was absolutely priceless--a classic MITM moment!

Furthermore, we see MITM attack yet another real-life topic: ghosts. I think I can safely say most of us don't believe in ghosts, per se (or as Hal described them, little white sheets with faces floating around) but the question of spirits might be different for each of us. Even if you knew the murderer would never come back and the crime was twenty years ago, how comfortable would you feel living in a house in which the state's biggest murder/suicide ever occured? And can we not relate to Hal that just as he was beginning to think this, little Jamie comes in the house secretly and begin making noises that, to Hal, resemble ghosts? Have you ever been home alone and swore you heard a sound only another human could make? You look around and try to justify to yourself it was just the wind or something, and maybe in your case it was. We've learned a lot about Hal in the past seven years, not the least of which is what he's afraid of. (Malcom Babysits: Hal is afraid of cartoon characters!)

The small Lois storyline was also just the right length to work with the rest of the plot and provide us with that reinforcement of Lois' rigid opinion that one should always do the right thing, even if they technically don't have to. That was good as well. I agree, this episode was pretty darn near perfect, and it is going to be hard to top it. Is MITM new next Friday, or when is the next new eppy? I believe it is Secret Girlfriend, right?
 

alleyboy

New member
Great episode. It's not that this MITM ep was the most funniest but everything they do always seem brand new. Non believer Malcolm nose diving out of the window has been done before but never ever like that. Hilarious! Reese and Dewey running a few feet? to get away from the old guy was funny. The whole Lois thing felt like filler to me.
 

Wildcat

Retired Moderator
alleyboy said:
Non believer Malcolm nose diving out of the window has been done before but never ever like that.

What other episode did Malcolm nose dive out of a window? I don't remember that. :confused:
 

Malcoholic

New member
I found this episode consistently entertaining and full of witty writing. Some odds and ends:

--I thought this was the best use ever of Jamie. He was really the central character--by getting lost he got Lois arrested and he scared the hell out of Hal and Malcolm. Nice work, kid!

--The episode repeated so many jokes from old episodes, it seemed like a pattern:
--The cold opener repeated the "blame-for-sale" joke from the Season One opener where Hal pays Malcolm to take the rap. The going rate is 5 bucks per offence.
--The "performance art" joke from "Burning Man" was repeated literally: the trick-or-treaters thought Hal's warning them to run away was all an act.
--When Lois rattles off to Reese and Dewey her checklist of every conceivable mischief that they must not commit when trick-or-treating, she's repeating the joke from the scene at the Lucky Aide in "Lois vs Evil," where she forbids every conceivable thing the boys could mess with at the store. (These checklists don't mean much: here she forbids eggs, and they throw eggs anyway; in the original joke, she didn't mention "Don't mess with the steam cleaner," but she punished them anyway.)
--As in "Halloween Approximately," the boys end up stuck and helpless while pelted by their erstwhile victim.

--The Hal/Malcolm story is very ironic: Science is generally thought to refute superstition, but Hal uses string theory from advanced physics to make plausible his belief that there are spooks lurking in the house. Malcolm can't refute him, and from this point his confidence that everything has a rational explanation starts getting shaky--this sets the stage for a classic "conflicted Malcolm" scene. For anyone who loves great acting for its own sake, it doesn't get any better than the final scene in this episode. Frankie Muniz puts on a spectacular display of technical brilliance. He uses his amazing agility of facial expression to give a blow-by-blow account of his battle between confidence in reason and fear of the mysterious. With every word he shows which force is advancing and which is retreating--if you blink, you miss something. The story starts out as Hal vs Malcolm and ends up as Malcolm vs Malcolm. Great writing and great acting--you can't beat it!
 

Wildcat

Retired Moderator
I thought this was the best use ever of Jamie. He was really the central character--by getting lost he got Lois arrested and he scared the hell out of Hal and Malcolm. Nice work, kid!

I agree. This is the one of the few times that he's actually done something significant in an episode. Usually he just in the background. The only other time I can think of is Lois vs. Jamie, but we really didn't see Jamie do a lot of the stuff in that episode. It was just implied. We saw a lot of him in Reese vs. Stevie and Health Insurance, but he wasn't actually doing anything relevant...he was just there. I'm sure now that he's older we'll see him have a much larger part in future eps.

He's a smart kid too. He knew which way to go to get back home, recognized his house, then let himself in! And did it all by himself despite the distraction of people trick or treating and everything. That's a pretty big accomplishement for a 2-2 1/2 year old. Maybe there's another genius in the family. :D
 

yardgames

Retired Administrator
I agree, they had excellent use of Jamie, but I think that overall MITM's use of the baby, in general, is better than most other TV shows.

Also, I never would have thought of all the repeat instances that were brought up once again in the show, Malcoholic. I wonder how many were on purpose. Quite ironic, isn't it. LIfe is a constant cycle.
 

MITM18

New member
Back in August 11th, I got word of a major spoiler in this episode,

During the Halloween episode, Jamie is in a costume that covers his face and all, while Malcolm and Reese are going crazy doing pranks on anyone they see. They are also in costume so nobody knows who's doing the pranks. Malcolm and Reese set a huge prank for Jamie, after the prank is done, they take off Jamie's costume and to their shock and horror its a little girl which starts crying and which cries to her mom.

Thats how it was in the first drafts of the episode, there was changes as you know, but the premis stayed except that it ws Reese and Dewey and not Reese and Malcolm

Would you rather of had the original?
 

vickrules88

New member
^^
thats pretty cool! I dunno wich one I would prefer... plots with dewey and hal together are always funny, and from the looks of it, malcolm and reese would seem to do more pranks than what we saw with reese and dewey... If they'res ever a season 8, then I would love to see all the kids going out and playing pranks!


This episode was my favorite so far of the season! I watched it atleast 5 times so far and I never get tired of it, especially from the scene when reese and dewey throw eggs at the old man! Imo, this was the episode that the show needed to bring back all those great things from season 1 and 2, we should be expecting a really good season this year!
 
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