Reese vs. Stevie Reaction and Analysis

alleyboy

New member
Re: Spoilers: 703 Reese vs. Stevie

Halarious Reese vs. RoboStevie!!! I choked laughing. Excellent close! Great episode.:D
 

samboo1

New member
Re: Spoilers: 703 Reese vs. Stevie

hmmmmmmmm. I dont know. I didnt feel it was brilliant. It's called Reese vs Stevie but i personally thought it was more about Dewey and Hal. Good fight in the end though. Hilarious Reese numbing his legs!
But sadly...still no Francis:(
 

CJman327

New member
Re: Spoilers: 703 Reese vs. Stevie

Yeah! I personally think it deserves a spot in the top 20 in my case! But yeah, I thought the exact same thing. It never really showed the Reese/Stevie thing until the end. And we never got to see the fight! :( I personally don't really care when Francis will come back because he disspaeared off the face of the earth and nobody ahs no idea what he's doing now. Did he get fired from the Grotto? So many questions! And yet not related to this thread!:D . So, anyway. I do like Francis(along with this episode!:) )and thought the ending was funny. And the Hal/Dewey plotline was brilliant! And the surprise to me was that Jamie's first words were:"Shut up!". And guess what I noticed? In Clip Show 2 Hal said that Francis's first words were "You shut up!". :D . Anyway, I don't think this episode deserves much criticizm. Give it some good rating, Admin, please!:D
--CJman327
 

Dewey

Minimalistic
Re: Spoilers: 703 Reese vs. Stevie

@Samboo1 - Thats exactly what i thought. hmmmm is my exact remark after the episode ended. I kind of have mixed feelings about it, but in my opinion, it is probably the best episode of the season so far.

Full review coming soon.

More follows.....
 

yardgames

Retired Administrator
Re: Spoilers: 703 Reese vs. Stevie

I really enjoyed the randomness of this episode. Everything seemed so scatterbrain-ish, it was funny. I found myself unable to stop laughing during the scene where Hal and Dewey were playing catch in their pajamas in the middle of the night. It was so random that it was funny. Dewey drinking coffee while Hal smoked was hilarious also!

There were a couple of items that I wasn't so happy about, though. First, Hal's reaction to Dewey smoking seemed, while funny, sort of awkward and unnatural. Did anyone else get the feeling that Cranston didn't act surprised enough there? As far as Reese facing off against Stevie, the beginning seemed rather rushed, just like Burning Man. Like the writers tried to get past the explanation quickly so we had more time for the rest of the plot. It's not that that's bad, just that I'm going to have to get used to this new style of writing, because I'm not used to things happening so quickly. In the past, the ep would be half done before it starting having anything to do with the title. I guess it's more or less your personal preference.

I didn't understand Malcolm's explanation of Reese near the end; I think he said "Reese isn't allowed out of bed until he stops eating four of everything." Did I hear that right? What in the world does that mean??
 

CJman327

New member
eating four of everything
Ha ha! I'm not making fun of what you wrote. It's just funny!:D . No, YG, he said SEEing four of everything. And yeah, the episode was kind of random. But the promo really gave away the Robo-Stevie thing.:(
 

yardgames

Retired Administrator
CJman327 said:
Ha ha! I'm not making fun of what you wrote. It's just funny!:D . No, YG, he said SEEing four of everything. And yeah, the episode was kind of random. But the promo really gave away the Robo-Stevie thing.:(
Ok, so it's physically impossible for Reese to get out of bed? Is it because he sat in ice for an hour?
 

Wildcat

Retired Moderator
I guess he would be able to walk again as soon as his legs warmed up again, unless he got frostbite in his legs/feet--Ouch!

This was definitely my fav. episode so far this season, but I agree it was more about Dewey and Hal than Reese and Stevie. I loved the little brotherly exchange between Malcolm and Reese at the end. It was sweet and it showed us that real reason Reese wanted to fight Stevie was because he was jealous about all the time Malcolm spends with Stevie instead of him. I have to give Reese credit for trying to make it a fair fight though.

For someone so smart, Malcolm is an idiot when it comes to social grace. That was so rude how he told Stevie that he would be a cripple for ever and his dad's attempts for him to walk were a waste of time! :mad:

I'm kinda surprised that they did an episode that focused on Reese being a bully/thug again. It seems like they've kind of gotten away from that role for him in the past two seasons or so. I don't think he beat up anybody in season 6. I guess he hasn't changed much, even though we haven't actually seen it. :) Anyway, great episode! I do hope Francis shows up soon though.
 

CJman327

New member
Malcolm is a social wreck!:D . And during the fight, YG, Reese couldn't run away from Stevie and yelled, "This isn't fair! I can't walk! AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!". And then Stevie started pounding him to death so basically he had numb legs and a completely beaten up head, leaving Malcolm to say, "He's not allowed to get out of bed until he stops seeing four or everything.":)
 

p3simpson

New member
I thought Reese had said Stevie is off limits to be picked on. But then again in that other episode Stevie started punching the stuffing out of Reese. I find it terrible for someone to fight another person in a wheel chair, who can barely talk, who wears giant glass, and looks to very ill or dying. But I like the part of Jamie's first words were shut up. Very great, funny, yet very common.
 

alleyboy

New member
Wildcat said:
For someone so smart, Malcolm is an idiot when it comes to social grace. That was so rude how he told Stevie that he would be a cripple for ever and his dad's attempts for him to walk were a waste of time! :mad:
Yeah that was horrible!:Ouch: But that's what makes Malcolm, Malcolm. That reminds me of one episode in season #1 when Malcolm unintentionally insults Stevie on his first day in Krelboyne class and says,"You're going to take that the wrong way aren't you?" Classic!
 

tjpeople

Site Administrator
Staff member
Well most of what i would say has been said, but i think the robo stevie thing was a little far fetched, but the hal/dewy storyline was brilliant, i liked the bit where hal opened the vent and hundreds of fags spilt out as malcolm watched. :D
 

alleyboy

New member
tjpeople said:
Well most of what i would say has been said, but i think the robo stevie thing was a little far fetched, but the hal/dewy storyline was brilliant, i liked the bit where hal opened the vent and hundreds of fags spilt out as malcolm watched. :D

Yes, Reese & RoboStevie was goofball comedy and Hal & Dewey was great phychological comedy. That's what I really loved about the episode. The balance. Sorry I had a laugh at the post because I forgot Fags=Cigarettes. Caught me off guard.:)
 

Emrysgirl

New member
I missed the first 5 mins or so of this ep b/c I didn't realize it'd be on. Could someone tell me how it started and what happened before the "one free pass" scene? I know from the discussion we had earlier on the forums and the rest of the ep that Hal caught Dewey smoking. But it was so abrupt that I think I missed some sort of explanation.

My comments on the ep:


In general, I thought it was a mediocre to good ep by MitM standards. I felt that while the basic concepts behind the plots were good, the execution could have been much better. I kept watching scenes and thinking they had missed an oppurtunity to make it an excellent ep.

Another general thought: I was surprised at the number of ideas/concerns that we've discussed in this forum that were present in the ep: Jamie talking, Reese as a bully again, no Buseys, Dewey isn't perfect anymore, toned down Hal, Malcolm being considerate again, a happy ending for Malcolm, Malcolm narrating. Perhaps we have a spy among us:D.

Hal/Dewey Plot:
This was my least favourite plot. Before the ep aired, we were talking about how smoking didn't match Dewey's character in the least. Instead of making the plot more credible, watching the ep made it all the more absurd.

Even for a normal teenager, this plot would be ridiculous. "B/c I found cigarettes lying around" is not a good excuse to start smoking. Kids generally start either b/c of peer pressure or b/c their parents smoke regularly and consider it 'normal'. Added to that is what we know about Dewey. He's always been the responsible one - 'the snitch'. And even if we believe this slip up on his part, we can hardly be expected to believe that he'd be stupid enough to smoke 1 cigarette (much less 2 packs a day) at home with a mother as strict and as anti-smoking (she made Francis eat a lit cigarette) as Lois.

Hal's excuse for having the cigarettes around was also pretty flimsy. Having a safety pack and "just knowing that they're there" is understandable. But why did he have to fill the entire house with them. If anything, that'd ruin any chances he had of quitting.

I don't think either of the actors portrayed withdrawal very well either. It seemed to be more about getting the better of each other than about fulfilling a craving. They seemed angry rather than desperate or irritable.

Reese/Stevie Plot: This wasn't the main plot and I don't know why it was the title. As someone said earlier, the beginning was rather rushed, but other than that, I think it was a good plot. We got to see Reese as a bully again without losing the sensitive side that we learned about in season 5/6 i.e. he was a bully, but for touching reasons.

I was completely surprised by RoboStevie (as everyone seems to have dubbed him). I actually liked the idea a lot. I didn't like how he got kicked out of the program though - too sad. I would much rather have him destroy the machine so that the design had to be scrapped and the project put on hold for a while.

The plot also raises the question as to why Reese is suddenly jealous after all these years. Maybe, it has something to do with him being the only one left from his grade. Him being all alone (even more so than before) may make Malcolm and Stevie's friendship seem all the more like betrayal.

Malcolm's role: In any other ep, I would have been disappointed at the lack of a unique Malcolm plot line, but it somehow fit in this ep. In this ep, it sort of highlighted a quality of Malcolm's that we've been seeing less of in the recent seasons (even as far back as season3) - he's the normal one. While the rest of the family was going nuts, Malcolm was the sane calm narrator at the center (in the middle :D).

Lois/Jamie Plot: This was by far my favourite plot in the ep.

It was really interesting to see the contrast between Francis and Lois. While Francis blamed Lois for everything and seemed to actually block out the instances where she had shown him consideration, Lois suppressed all the bad things Ida had done to her, blaming herself instead.

Another interesting aspect of the plot, of course, was Jamie's first words.

Does the fact that Jamie only talked after Lois left the room imply that he's actually been talking for a while and only refuses to talk when the family is around? If so, is he doing so just to antagonize them (especially Lois)?

Does the simmilarity of his first words and those of Francis mean that Hal and Lois' parenting hasn't really changed that much? Is Jamie another Francis? Perhaps, since they're simmilar, Lois will be able to reconsile with Francis by bringning Jamie up well.
 

yardgames

Retired Administrator
I agree the smoking plot seemed a bit non-feasible, but come on! It led to the most random MTIM scene in a while: Hal and Dewey playing catch in their pajamas in the middle of the night! That was hilarious!

As far as what you missed, not much. Basically, Hal walked into the garage, planning to fix a picture frame when he saw a lit cigarette on the floor and told Reese he was caught red-handed and to come out from hiding. Of course, Dewey came out instead and Hal told Dewey Lois was going to be angry with him. Dewey begged him not to tell, and Hal said he could use his free pass. Other than that, you missed the cold open and commercials.

And about the title: Often the eps aren't titled by the most important storyline. Since it's still (sometimes) told in Malcolm's perspective, the title often reflects Malcolm's role in the ep. It probably also has to do with how clever a title they can come up with.
 

CJman327

New member
When will the episode be added to the actual episode guide homepage? I really think it brought up the current 4 star ratings! 4 and a half stars is my opinion!:D
 

Wildcat

Retired Moderator
Emrysgirl said:
And even if we believe this slip up on his part, we can hardly be expected to believe that he'd be stupid enough to smoke 1 cigarette (much less 2 packs a day) at home with a mother as strict and as anti-smoking (she made Francis eat a lit cigarette) as Lois.

Yeah, he must have been smoking for quite some time if he's already up to two packs a day. :eek: I know people who have smoked for years that don't smoke that much. That would mean that he's smoking a cigarette at least every 30 minutes--and no one ever noticed before now? You're right, that is pretty unbelievable. But hey, it's TV. :)
 
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