"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 )
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.
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.