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.
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.
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.