Army Buddy Thoughts and Analysis

yardgames

Retired Administrator
"Army Buddy" is another great MITM episode. It broke new ground for the show in that it was the first to ever have parental discretion advised, but my reaction was that it wasn't really that bad. Many members believe that Malcolm actually did it in Burning Man, but here, Reese didn't. I mean, it was suggestive and all, but in today's society, that was hardly that bad. If they tag that episode with a parental discretion sticker, how come they don't have to tag all of them where Hal and Lois are doing it? (which is almost the entire series :D)

So I found the actual plot very interesting; I always like the allusions to earlier episodes and flashing back to one of teh most ingenious eps in MITM's history, Reese Joins the Army, worked out well. I think all the twists and turns were very entertaining. When we finally found out for sure that it was Lois, not Reese, that Abby was after, I couldn't help but feel bad for Reese, since had had just come to accept that it was him. Surprisingly, Lois didn't seem real disturbed by Abby being gay. More or less, Lois seemed to be just fine with it; just that she wasn'r the right woman. That seems slightly out of Lois' character because she's never really been portrayed as being that accepting before. Not that she's a member of the Ku Klux Klan, just that she felt everyone thought like her.

Before the gay scene, I wanted to emphasize the point that Lois made during Reese Joins the Army: being a seargant in the army is very similar to being a mom. The connections that I thought were being made was extremely fascinating, but ultimately we found out that was building up to Abby being gay, so that didn't work out so well.

I thought the Malcolm/Dewey plot was a bit weak in depth, albeit the funniest portion of the episode. It seems unlikely that Dewey would hound Malcolm for longer than a month about $10. I mean, he would certainly want his $10 back, but it seems like such a small amount to go to such extremes for. Malcolm's study in psychology was fascinating. Malcolm doesn't even know how much money there is, but he wears a huge hat to school and becomes a human sundae; even offers to walk through the mall in goggles and flippers, and apparently dress up like a coconut dancer. The things that people are willing to do for money is amazing.

At first, I thought that Hal was just plain being mean to Lois by destroying her orthodics, but the ending scene turned out to be very touching, and hammered home the point of how strong Hal and Lois' relationship is, but maybe for the first time, exposed one of the reasons: the fact that Lois is stressed out all the time apparently makes her more willing to "work" with Hal, which we know from previous episodes is a very strong glue in the marriage.

In conclusion, I liked the allusions to Reese Joins the Army, and the many twists were enough to keep me watching. Nonetheless, this one was nothing special, and Blackout retains the top spot for me so far this season.
 

Wildcat

Retired Moderator
Excellent review, Sam. I agree, this was a great episode. It doesn’t quite measure up to Blackout, but then again, that’s a pretty tough act to follow. I didn’t really see what was so bad that the episode needed a parental discretion warning either. If anything, I’d say it was the suggestive “sounds” in the massage scene, but I’ve seen shampoo commercials that are worse than that. :D

Reese/Abby: I enjoyed seeing Reese interact with Abby when he thought they were just buddies. We’ve gone through the whole series with Reese never having a real friend so it sweet to see him so happy around “his best friend in the whole world.” I knew that Abby wasn’t going to be attracted to him, but it was it was a shocking twist to learn that she was gay AND attracted to his mother. I felt really bad for him at the end when he was going on about giving her his innocence and all that, only to realize that she isn’t attracted to him in the least. I guess this answers the question of whether he’s a virgin or not that we were discussing in another thread a few weeks ago. At least he didn’t find out who she was really attracted that. That would have been the ultimate slap in the face.

Malcolm/Dewey: This plot was pretty good. It was funny to see Dewey control Malcolm like that. Malcolm is supposed to be a genius and he couldn’t figure out the psychology that Dewey was using to exploit him. I always enjoy seeing Dewey’s quiet schemes to gain the upper hand over people. He comes off as so innocent, but he’s really the most conniving and manipulative of all of them. I really liked the end when Malcolm was gloating about having all the money, then Dewey said “I have my self respect, but I guess you can’t put a price on that. Oh, maybe you can.”

Lois/Hal: While it was wrong for Hal to destroy Lois’s inserts, it was understandable why he did it. He felt that Lois didn’t need him anymore and he missed how she relied on him to pamper her after a long days work. That’s so sweet and thoughtful how he has everything ready to give her the royal treatment very single day as soon as she comes home from work. All I can say is--Hal may have his flaws, but he’s a great husband. :)
 

wando

New member
i liked this episode, it started a little slow for me with the dewey/malcolm story line about the 10bucks, but in the end it worked out well. on another note, hal has a crap life, i believe he hates his job, he mencioned in this episode that his kids "made them happy" implying that they are just "there" now and they have to be accepted, and lois is really the only thing in his life and without her, he has no life. i have probibly got the wrong end of the stick here, so please correct me. cheers,
chris
 

MITM18

New member
I enjoyed it alot, really liked the schemes. Macolm has turned into like an anti-hero or something, in the begining seasons you could see glimmer of hope and change for the better, but things havent really changed. How he approaches life, handles situations. Its interesting why the writers have chosen this route for the main character instead of allowing him to change into a better person.

Anyways, the Hal/Lois story I really liked. For me, it shows the devotion to Lois, how he feels that he should be the only person/thing in her life to solve problems. That there cant be any alternatives. As you saw back when Hal/Lois is doing a will, he stated that, he would kill himself if Lois died. His life is bound to hers.

This season starting from this episode and more episodes in future will show Reese's development, how he can change and become better.

PS: Yes I know I have said in the past not too examine the show like if it was non-fiction, but whatever :)
 

Dabney

Deutscher Moderator
[FONT=&quot]In the beginning I found the episode rather weak and not very original, but luckily it changed after some time.
I didn't like the Abby/Reese plot at all in the beginning, although ican't tell why. I suppose it was too much constructed for me. [/FONT][FONT=&quot]But the scene at the end was really amazing, when Reese told Abby that he had saved his innocence for her. The Hal/Lois plot was okay, but nothing more. I have to admit that I really loved to see Malcolm doing simply ANYTHING for money, although I didn't like him being shown as a loser before.
Army buddy could have been a very good episode, but because of the weak first 10 minutes it's just average for me.[/FONT]
 

reese35

New member
In a nutshell -
**** = I Llkey!
*** = pretty good
** = I'll adjust
* = Writers, why?!

Reese's plot - *** 1/2
Hal/Lois' plot - ***1/2
Malcolm/Dewey's plot - **1/2

You might see this system more often from me.

Plus, this is my 199th post - I could hit 200 today!
 

Malcoholic

New member
I found this an extremely dramatic episode. The comic aspects are almost incidental to what ends up being a very deep probe into Reese's and Hal's character. The episode revolves around the theme of gender identity and assumes that a person's gender identity is a different thing from his/her biological sex. The episode is full of instances where reversal of gender identity is stated outright or implied, starting with the very first line, where Hal greets Lois with the line that in traditional family sitcoms the wife uses to greet the husband when he comes home from work: "Hi Hon, how was your day?"

Reese obviously thinks of Abby as a guy, and they play rough with each other exactly as guys, without any thought that the physical contact can arouse erotic feelings. When Malcolm suggests that Abby is erotically attracted to him, Reese reacts with the same disgust as if Malcolm had said a male friend was sexually attracted to Reese. Abby herself is clearly shown as being, not just gay, but psychologically male, which is by no means the same thing. To reinforce this, she is improperly shown as wearing combat fatigues throughout the episode, so that she is dressed like a male; in reality, a soldier on leave should wear either civilian clothes or her dress uniform, but that would make her look female, which won't work in this story.

When Reese wrongly assumes she's attracted to him sexually, he faces a dilemma that literally makes him feel ill. Is she a guy, or is she a girl? If Abby is a guy, that means she is and really has been all along his friend--in fact, the only friend he's ever had. If he accepts her as a girl, he gains a girl friend, but loses not just his only friend, but the boost to his low self-esteem that came from feeling that Abby cared for him as a person, not as an object of sexual desire.

The garage scene is, in my view, the greatest example ever of Justin Berfield's gift for playing a scene that is both thoroughly ridiculous and emotionallly gripping. It takes a while to figure out that Abby and Reese know they are never going to see each other again:
Abby: "I may not be seeing you for a while, big dog."
Reese: "So this is really it then."
Abby: "You take care of yourself, Reese. You're a great guy, you know that?"
Reese: "You're more than that. You're the best friend I've ever had."
What clinches the fact that this means goodbye forever is that Abby now kisses Reese--and then punches him in the gut. Since Abby feels entirely male, she will only kiss another male under some extraordinary circumstance--a final parting. The kiss means "I really care for you." The punch means, "I really am a guy, so our friendship really is pure friendship."

In a wonderful mixture of irony and sentiment, Reese doubles up in pain and, smiling, says "I'll miss you too, buddy." He's in pain from the punch, he has just said goodbye forever to the only friend he's ever had, and yet he's happy. This is so because for someone with such a low sense of self-worth, the mere memory of having had a real friend is a source of comfort.

[Side note: In the other thread about "feeling sorry for Reese," there is a very thoughtful post by Wildcat that gives a different but also valid reading of Reese's feelings; it's based on the view that Reese's relief at finding out Abby is just a friend is due to fear of the emotional commitment required for a relationship with a girl friend. There's certainly plenty of precedent for Reese making a horrible mess of his relationship with girls, plus that dream scene in "Billboard" that make essentially the same point as Wildcat. My reading gives greater stress to the fact that Reese did offer a commitment to a girl, Beth in Army I; to the fact that Reese is tormented by a sense of worthlessness that Abby's friendship powerfully relieved; and by my sense of the feel of the garage scene, which I believe makes every effort to show Reese as attaching great emotional significance to Abby's guy-to-guy friendship. Take your pick!:D ]

This post is too long, so I'll say the bare minimum about the Hal/Lois story. Their marriage is based on the interaction of a wife who has to be the master and a husband who can't function without having a master. The very trait that makes Lois, in gender-identity terms, the "Alpha male," is the trait that makes Abby falsely think that Lois is "her type."
 

Wildcat

Retired Moderator
Malcoholic said:
The very trait that makes Lois, in gender-identity terms, the "Alpha male," is the trait that makes Abby falsely think that Lois is "her type."

Interesting point. I hadn't thought of it like that before, but you're right. Lois is the one who "wears the pants" in the family so to speak. Her domineering nature is likely what caused Abby to be attracted to her. Good observation! As always, excellent analysis and thanks for the mention.
 

yardgames

Retired Administrator
Malcoholic, it's an excellent analysis and you really seem to have a gift for doing stuff like this. I always enjoy reading them, so keep up the awesome analyses! When I first saw the episode, I took it for what it appeared to be: yet another stab by the MITM readers at the controversial issue of homosexuality. It's fascinating how the very same idea can be used in a completely different way in an episode like this. There was homosexuality in it, but that wasn't the main idea--or even the point--of the episode.
 

allison

New member
There are lots of great posts in this thread and I agree that Malcoholic´s analysis is excellent. I think it´s really true what you said about Reese. At first I didn´t like this episode too much, but now that I read your post I realized that this episode really goes in-depth. We learned a lot about Reese and the reason why he wanted Abby to be his buddy instead of his girlfriend is quite interesting. Once again we could see that Reese actually is a very sensitive person. While Malcolm just wants to be popular with people he actually doesn´t care for Reese looks for a true friend. It´s really interesting because in the beginning of the show Reese appeared like the shallow one, but now it´s obvious that he´s not.
I think Malcoholic also made an interesting point by saying that Reese was happy despite the fact that he knew he would never see Abby again. It´s the knowledge that there are people in the world who want to be his friend and make him feel like a lovable person that comforts him. Reese also doesn´t seem very "picky" as we could see in burning man. He quickly becomes a friend of people who like him, or even just accept him. And being accepted is probably the most important thing to him. In burning man he said "for the first time in my life I feel real, like I belong." I think this says a lot about Reese since we can see that bullying other people and playing the tough guy isn´t what makes him happy. I think Wildcat already pointed out that he probably does all this stuff in order to prevent other people from hurting him first. I think in one episode (as far as I remember it was Jury duty, in the scene where they walked through the sewer) he even said something along the lines "I guess I´m afraid of getting hurt, so I hurt them first."

Even though i didn´t like the Malcolm/Dewey plot too much, I changed my mind and think it was a good episode.
 

Malcoholic

New member
allison said:
He quickly becomes a friend of people who like him, or even just accept him. And being accepted is probably the most important thing to him. In burning man he said "for the first time in my life I feel real, like I belong."
This is a great point, and a key to making sense of Reese's feelings.

Thanks, people, for the several nice comments on my post. Let me confess that after first viewing this episode, I was really confused, and I didn't think it was all that great. But I don't watch a lot of other shows besides Malcolm, so I have lots of time to view it over and over if needed to make sense. Not many viewers can be expected to take the time to do this, so let's hope we get mostly episodes that make sense the first time and don't need to be "studied."
 

AlexTheMartian

New member
why the heck did it seem that Reese's army buddy is his only friend he ever had? Didn't he had a girlfriend in Cheerleader? And it seems that there should be at least one other person in school who is just like him that he can be friends with. Life sucks without friends.

If I was in his school, it is possible I will end up being his friend, since many of my friends is like him, cool and simple on the outside but a complex and interesting personality. I am this way too.

man, it if this was real life he would have been depressed by now. :eek:

good god the writers better add something to help him out :mad:

and Malcolm is not that better off either, he has only one friend and every girl uses or manipulates him... but at least he had a better love life then Reese, which had almost none, or at least none successfully.. which is sad, because Reese's life is sounding like mine now and that's scary :(
 

Wildcat

Retired Moderator
AlexTheMartian said:
why the heck did it seem that Reese's army buddy is his only friend he ever had?

Because Abby IS the only real friend he's ever had. It's been mentioned several times that Reese has never had any friends. One example I can think of is in Fowards Backwards where Reese is pretending that he's socializing with a group of "jocks" at lunch and Malcolm asks if any of them know his name. Reese is really embarrased when they say that they don't and have never talked to him before. Another time Reese and Malcolm are arguing (don't remember which ep this is) and Malcolm says something like "You're the one who's never had any friends" and Reese says "Mom says you're not allowed to talk about that." I'm sure there are other references, but I can't think of anything else right now.

It's a shame cause it seems like Reese could make friends easily and get along with just about anybody when he wants to (like he did in Burning Man.) He he's a few girlfriends, but nothing that serious--with the exception of Beth in Army I, only she wasn't really serious about him. I guess he can't make friends at school because he's always acted like a bully/jerk around his peers so that's what people think of him. But like I said in another thread, he's really a caring person and I think he only acts that way to distance himself from people so he won't get hurt.
 

yardgames

Retired Administrator
AlexTheMartian said:
why the heck did it seem that Reese's army buddy is his only friend he ever had? Didn't he had a girlfriend in Cheerleader? And it seems that there should be at least one other person in school who is just like him that he can be friends with. Life sucks without friends.

If I was in his school, it is possible I will end up being his friend, since many of my friends is like him, cool and simple on the outside but a complex and interesting personality. I am this way too.

man, it if this was real life he would have been depressed by now. :eek:

good god the writers better add something to help him out :mad:

and Malcolm is not that better off either, he has only one friend and every girl uses or manipulates him... but at least he had a better love life then Reese, which had almost none, or at least none successfully.. which is sad, because Reese's life is sounding like mine now and that's scary :(
You're missing the point. Abby is the only "buddy" Reese has ever had. He's had girlfriends and he's had friends in his brothers. But he's never had anyone where he's just hanging out.
 
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