Malcolm's Money: Opinions and Analysis

Wildcat

Retired Moderator
Overall, not a bad episode. For some reason, I wasn’t really expecting much from it so it actually turned out better than I expected. I enjoyed the Lois/Hal/Dewey plot the most. Dewey was especially funny. I love it when he goes into “manipulation” mode, which seems to be quite often these days. He was quite a little snot in this episode too, more so than usual. I guess all those hormones are kicking in. :D It figures that Lois would be the one who ended up spending all the money (on something totally ridiculous, I might add) after she was so adamant about how wrong it was to use it. After tonight’s episode, I can see the show going on even after Malcolm and Reese leave the house. Dewey, Hal and Lois are great together.

I liked Reese’s plot also, but not much to say about it. Poor guy, every time he tries to do something good it ends up backfiring on him. :(

Malcolm’s plot wasn’t bad. That photographer was a jack@ss though. Does anyone else think that the picture of him in the suit was sort of a play on his real-life acne problems? He actually didn’t look like that in the scene, only in the picture. It was funny at the end when he was so happy about getting the $3,000+ dollars. If he only knew…
That’s about it; this is a short review (for me anyway).

Favorite quote:
Dewey: “The roof leaks, the clothes are hand-me-downs and the food stinks!”
Lois: “Room!”
Dewey: "Dirty!"
 

MITM18

New member
I really enjoyed the episode until the end. It was hard to watch the scenes with Malcolm getting his photo shoot, really strange he would use soo much money on that. Lol, I just thought it was really strange. Just goes to show what he treasures in life, hmmm.....
 

yardgames

Retired Administrator
What did you think was wrong with her? You mean, Lois' actions or did Jane seem different somehow? What don't you like about her?

I'm still trying to figure out exactly what I thought about this episode. :D I'm really not sure yet.
 

alleyboy

New member
Yeah! This episode really creeped me out. Especially Lois, Dewey, and Hal stealing, schemeing on and depriving Malcolm of his cash. I think it struck a real life nerve with me. Really brutal to watch that. That's why I laughed the hardest when he blew the 3 G's on those hilarious class photos. Malcolm in leather pants, eyeliner and tank top shirt going freakin' nuts!:DIt's funny and sad to listen to how brutal Reese can be to old people. I know it's all good but this episode really was weird or maybe I'm getting waayyy to envolved in the Wilkerson's life. I do watch repeats twice a day. OMG!:eek:
 

tjpeople

Site Administrator
Staff member
Well it was quirky, and interesting, malcolms plot was strange. But im sure he didnt spend all the money on the photo shoot, just some. I thought it was bad that when they took the pic of him in the suit it was clearly not just taken, it looked alot different. I dunno what wildcat means about the acne? he didnt realy have anything wrong with him in the pic, or did i miss something? I felt it was werid that he reacted so badly to the picture - ok it was wooden and boring but still not a bad picture.

I loved the end with malcolm in leather pants and see throught top, it was a clear example of malcolm taking things too far, (he sure looked hot in it tho :D)
 

Wildcat

Retired Moderator
tjpeople said:
I dunno what wildcat means about the acne? he didnt realy have anything wrong with him in the pic, or did i miss something?

To me, it looked like his face was all red and blotchy in the photo. Especially on his forehead. He didn't look like that in the scene, only in the picture. I don't know, maybe I'm just seeing things, or going crazy. Or both. :D

MITM18 said:
It was hard to watch the scenes with Malcolm getting his photo shoot, really strange he would use soo much money on that

Yeah, I agree. That was kinda freaky. If he wasted all the money on that, he's definitely not as smart as he's supposed to be.
 
J

JonAnd85

Guest
I think that this episode was good! This really show us once more how money can turn people into monsters.
I mean just look at them! They stealing (borrow?!) money from thier own child.
Malcolm should give Hal & Lois some of his money so that they can for example repair the pipes in the house.
But i think that he is just too selfish and don't care about what other people needs.
Of course you never know this day's, we have seen better sides of Malcolm lately.

About the Malcolm picture, my first reaction about the "perfect picture" was: finally what a great picture of him :).
And then Malcolm's reaction: -What did you do to me?! I look like a freak!! :confused:
The photographer: - Kid, that's you! That's what you look like.

And then i understand why he react like he did; it must be that he doesn't like to look freakish, he wan't to be and look like a "normal" person.
Ever since the pilot episode, and from that moment when he understands (and everyone in his surroundings) how really smart he is,
he have tried to act like a "normal" person (what that suppose to be?). And of course that has cause many of his troubles in life.
If he just can accept the person he is, everything will go well for him.:rolleyes:

Reese plot was ok (and funny sometimes) but i felt sorry for Reese. Ever time when he want's to do a great thing,
he always somehow fail and twist it to an awful mess.

The ending was so funny! I didn't expect that Malcolm would spend some (i hope :eek:) money to get a great picture of him.
Overall it was once more a good episode for this season.
 

Dabney

Deutscher Moderator
In my opinion this episode wasn't as good as the other ones of season 7. Actually only the Reese plot was interesting to me, and it was very funny, too.
The Malcolm-plot was a bit boring, i think, and not very original. And it shows him in a negative way again, as a guy to whom the most important thing is, what other people think about him. But in the end he has the funniest scene, when he has this foto shooting. I really laughed my butt off, especially when he wore these leather pants. :D
The Dewey plot was rather predictable, there were some good jokes, but there have been way better storylines lately.
This doesn't mean that I didn't like the episode, it was good, but concerning the high standard of the 7th season I somehow expected more...

(I bet I'll love this episode when I'm gonna rewatch it some time later, though :))
 

samboo1

New member
I loved this ep! A close 2nd of my favourite season 7 eps, that is with Blackout in lead.
Hal/Lois/Dewey plot; Was cool, and i liked Dewey being in on the secret money plan thing. 9/10
Reese plot; This was my favourite one! Really funny.;) 10/10
Malcolm plot; Was OK, just average i think. Funny photo shoot at the end though!7/10

Overall great ep, loved every bit.:)

Fav quote...
Lois: There will be no voting!
Dewey: I vote there's voting!
Hal: Me too!
 

yardgames

Retired Administrator
I think I've finally figured out my opinions of this episode. I can agree that the depressed Malcolm has sort of gotten old over the last year and a half or two years, but I also think that he couldn't just be magically cured with the new writers come season seven. We've seen some excellent episodes with Malcolm being portrayed in a positive light, and it's certainly possible for a depressed teen to have enjoyable days, but I think this episode showed us the more "normal" Malcolm if you will, the more routine Malcolm. This episode allowed us to see that even as a senior in high school with relatively good things happening all around him, he's still able to find things to be depressed about. Sad? Certainly. Out of character? Not at all. That's who Malcolm is. That's all Malcolm's ever wanted. He doesn't want to be a genius; a freak; obsessed; he just wants to fit in. As a whole, the series has showed--and has revolved around--Malcolm's quest for normality. His rather abnormal (but, I daresay, functional) family has simply been an obstacle in that quest. We've seen that in many--perhaps most--episodes, and I think this one more or less solidifies Malcolm is still going through these tough times and despite being a senior in high school, he still hasn't gained the common sense on the value of money.
 

wando

New member
i really enjoyed this episode, there were a few parts where i really laughed out loud, something i havnt really done in a while watching malcolm. i especially liked hals london accent, that cracked me up! all in all, a good episode.:)
 

Amigo22

Super Moderator
I have not seen this ep but I think it's really horrible that Hal and Lois kept Malcolm's money for themselves. It's their own fault they're in financial trouble. And whoever said Malcolm was selfish about the money, no he wasn't - it's his money, and how he spends it is his decision - even if it's not the right decision. It would have been fine had Hal and Lois BORROWED the money, but actually TELL him about it first, then ASK if they can borrow it, then actually pay the FULL AMOUNT back to him!
 

Wildcat

Retired Moderator
Amigo22 said:
I have not seen this ep but I think it's really horrible that Hal and Lois kept Malcolm's money for themselves. It's their own fault they're in financial trouble. And whoever said Malcolm was selfish about the money, no he wasn't - it's his money, and how he spends it is his decision - even if it's not the right decision. It would have been fine had Hal and Lois BORROWED the money, but actually TELL him about it first, then ASK if they can borrow it, then actually pay the FULL AMOUNT back to him!

I agree Amigo. It was totally wrong of them to just take the money without asking him first. Lois's intentions were good (fixing the pipes on the house) and I'm sure that Malcolm would've understood and let them borrow some of it for something like that if they really needed it as long as they promised to pay him back (I would hope so anyway). Wanting to buy the boat and the rolex and the dollhouse was just selfish on thier part though. Then to only pay him back 1/4 of what he was entitled to was really messed up! Come to think of it, I wonder if they ever paid him back for that ski vacation that Hal put on his credit card. That's one think I wish MITM did differently sometimes. There's so many storylines that we never learn the outcome to. (Yeah, I know, we're supposed to decide for ourselves! :) )

As the same time, it seems like such a waste to spend all that money on a photo shoot to impress his classmates who likely won't even care anyway. If that's how he wanted to spend it, then fine, but it looks like he'd be more interested in spending it on something useful like a car (he still doesn't have one, does he?) I guess seeing him buy buy a car wouldn't have been as bizzare and unexpected, and thus not as entertaining. :D
 

tony_montana

Semper Fidelis
Great episode, if you ask me. Even though Malcolm is a bit too worried about his picture. Im in high school right now and every time it is photo day or something, I could really care less. I look at it as"Who the **** cares what I look like?"
Anyway, Hal was once again hilarious(I got that phrase in my head now:"Clothsline".I shall say that whenever I am trying to be sneaky). Reese had one of his best plots, if you ask me. I just really liked the episode.
EXCEPT for that DAMNED WRETCHED SONG that played when Malcolm was doing his photoshoots at the end..."Beverly Hills"....DAMN, I CANT STAND THAT PIECE OF WRETCHED, PISSY ASS, STUPID, CRAP OF A SONG!
All in all, great episode, though.
 

ajpp16

New member
tony_montana said:
Great episode, if you ask me. Even though Malcolm is a bit too worried about his picture. Im in high school right now and every time it is photo day or something, I could really care less. I look at it as"Who the **** cares what I look like?"
Anyway, Hal was once again hilarious(I got that phrase in my head now:"Clothsline".I shall say that whenever I am trying to be sneaky). Reese had one of his best plots, if you ask me. I just really liked the episode.
EXCEPT for that DAMNED WRETCHED SONG that played when Malcolm was doing his photoshoots at the end..."Beverly Hills"....DAMN, I CANT STAND THAT PIECE OF WRETCHED, PISSY ASS, STUPID, CRAP OF A SONG!
All in all, great episode, though.
i agree with u there, the hal and the "clothesline" phrase, and when malcolm walks in on hal tryin to get the money out of deweys trousers - hilarious as was reeses getting those old people together ;) and then finding out he helped the man have an affair lol :eek: was better than i expected. if malcolm did all those photo shoots with around $3000 then just imagine wot he would have done with the full $10000!
 

Amigo22

Super Moderator
Wildcat said:
wonder if they ever paid him back for that ski vacation that Hal put on his credit card. That's one think I wish MITM did differently sometimes. There's so many storylines that we never learn the outcome to. (Yeah, I know, we're supposed to decide for ourselves! :) )

I think it's stupid that there have been so many "incomplete" storylines. When I was watching Pearl Harbor the other night, it would have been interesting to have seen what happened after the neighbour saw his display being destroyed - because it was clearly obvious it was Hal who destroyed it.

Red Dress is another, where we don't get to see what happened when the boys found out about Hal burning the dress after all the torture Lois put them through - and what happened within the next few days after the therapy session in Clip Show #1, where it was Hal's fault the whole time but they got punished. Someone who has seen all the episodes to date should start a thread with a list, there have been so many.

Wildcat said:
As the same time, it seems like such a waste to spend all that money on a photo shoot to impress his classmates who likely won't even care anyway. If that's how he wanted to spend it, then fine, but it looks like he'd be more interested in spending it on something useful like a car (he still doesn't have one, does he?) I guess seeing him buy buy a car wouldn't have been as bizzare and unexpected, and thus not as entertaining. :D

It was definitely a waste to spend all the money on a photo shoot - it was unfortunate that the money arrived at the same time.

A car would have been a great thing to spend it on - a newer one that doesn't need a lot of work done to it like the one he bought in "Malcolm's Car".
 

yardgames

Retired Administrator
Red Dress is another, where we don't get to see what happened when the boys found out about Hal burning the dress after all the torture Lois put them through - and what happened within the next few days after the therapy session in Clip Show #1, where it was Hal's fault the whole time but they got punished. Someone who has seen all the episodes to date should start a thread with a list, there have been so many.
Actually, no one discovered that was Hal until he confessed five years later in Stilts. Everyone else left the house, remember?
 

Malcoholic

New member
This episode shows that the Wilkersons' extreme sense of deprivation has them in a rut when it comes to money. They're financially in a deep hole, but when they do get their hands on some cash they overcompensate for their deprivation by splurging on frivolities. Hal turns out to be right--Malcolm can't handle money; trouble is, neither can Hal or Lois. By the end of the episode, they're even poorer than they started out.

With anything less than brilliant actors, the story of parents stealing from their son would be too offensive to be funny. But Bryan and Jane have such marvellously expressive faces that in the scene where they're seduced by the cash, they manage to come across as not guilty by reason of temporary insanity. Lois seems ravished by the feel and smell of the cash, and Hal seems totally duped by his own specious rationalizations.

The yearbook photo story seems to be going nowhere until it surprisingly provides the punchline to the episode; it's all worth it just to see Malcolm posing as a punk rocker--one of the comic high points of the season, in my opinion.

A delivery of meat to a nursing home doesn't seem to have much comic potential. But the delivery guy is Reese, and, with his typical misguided ingenuity, he turns the nursing home into his own personal Club Med. The story is pure goofy fun. Arranging amourous hookups for the wheelchair-bound is one "good deed" where Reese has shown some skill; he did the same for Stevie with his pity-sex scheme in "Poker 2."
 
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