College Recruiters: Opinion and Analysis

yardgames

Retired Administrator
I enjoyed the College Recruiters episode as a stand-alone 22-minute block, but found it lackluster as a follow-up to Ida's Bride. Ida's Bride was a substantial episode for MITM because it saw a potentially big break for Dewey and a huge life change for Reese. The episode created a huge chance for a follow-up that no one anticipated because the producers managed to keep the fact that it was indeed a two-part episode under wraps quite well.

Like the Houseboat/Emancipation series, however, it made for a quality second episode, but a poor follow-up to the first part. It's implied that Dewey lost in the piano contest, but we don't really know for sure. We're not shown any of Lois' first impressions of Raduca, and for some reason, Malcolm is suddenly inundated with calls from college recruiters. If all of this happened as quickly as it should have, Malcolm should have been on the phone through all of Ida's Bride.

Putting my concerns with the lack of continuity aside, I thought College Recruiters was a decent episode. Raducca is yet another stab at an impersonation of Lois. Sometimes these have worked in the past, and sometimes they haven't. This season, I feel they're getting rather old, since we've already seen Abby back in Army Buddy. I fully expected some other sort of twist, and was rather disappointed that it was never delivered. Raducca seemed so eager to please in Ida's Brides, but exceedingly bossy in College Recruiters. I still don't understand what Reese likes about her so much, but I guess that is his perogative. At one point, it was pretty much confirmed, as some of us had speculated, that indeed since Reese was now 18, there was nothing Lois could legally do to overturn the marriage. And as powerful as Lois is, Reese Comes Home revealed that she can not face the federal government, which means Reese's marriage should have come to an end by the next episode. And with the lack of continuity from the new writers, (which I've been pointing out since the beginning of the season :D) we'll probably never hear from her again.

Turning now to Francis and Dewey, we've had quite a few ideas about what may have become of the eldest Wilkerson sibling since his last lengthy performance in Reese Joins the Army. We've seen him appear in a few episodes since then, but very few have given any clue as to what he's done with his life since it was revealed in Hal's Christmas Gift that he was fired from the ranch. From what we know, we can infer that he started enthusiastically looking for a job (Buseys Take a Hostage) but never was hired or found anything worthwhile, and eventually lost interest and grew depressed, now living in a shanty, probably buying the few things they have off of Piama. One wonders why his wife allows this. One could raise the question of whether Piama is indeed still his wife, but I believe that was confirmed in Blackout. She has never been a working sort of person, however, and even on the ranch her duties were limited, so I doubt she has been able to attain a high-paying job. I found it good to see Francis again, but the storyline grew rather boring by the end of it. It was a bit too predictable; in fact, I think it would have been more entertaining if Dewey didn't visit.

The title storyline of this episode was, of course, Malcolm's choice of colleges. I know it can be tough--there's just so many. And I can imagine that when you have an IQ of 165 and am the smartest kid in your school by, to quote Malcolm's girlfriend from Malcolm Dates a Family, "like, a lot," it's even more difficult. I wonder whether it even crosses Malcolm's--or Hal's mind--as to how they are going to pay for such a prestigious school. Harvard is about $25,000 a year, which is probably 75-85% of what Hal and Lois make in a year. Malcolm is probably smart enough to win a few scholarships, but does he have the patience, pride, or common sense he needs? Back on track, I think that this storyline was classic for two reasons. First and most obvious, it was Bryan Cranston at his best. He always manages to play Hal's obsessions in a weird, but believable, way that have become such a hallmark of the show. Second, it, like some of the earlier episodes conceived by Linwood, represents, in an exaggerated manner, what really goes on in homes across the United States. I'll bet 95% of parents want to choose--or at least do what they feel is helping--a college for their kid. I know my parents are. And it can become annoying and old. Hell, I think it's one of the biggest decisions a person makes in their life. It's a decision that's reversible, sometimes, with a lot of work, and a lot of money. But more often than not, where you choose to go to college will decide where you live for the next four or more years, who you hang out with, what jobs you'll be able to do, etc. I saw a statistic somewhere that 85% of people live within 100 miles of where they go to college following their graduation. So you're choosing where you're going to spend the rest of your life and the sorts of people you're going to spend it with. And that's a big choice that a person really has to make for themselves.

Throughout season seven, we've seen Hal really struggling with seemingly bizarre and different things. But it seems like somehow Malcolm's always there to try and comfot and control him. As happy as Hal seems that his boys are all growing up, I'm inclined to think that really he's worried and scared and struggling with the fact of losing yet another, in this case, two of his sons. We know that he's very attached to his sons and loves them more than just about anything in the world. He's always just trying to do what's best for them. And for that he should be commended. He is a good, if slightly zany, father.

I apologize for writing such a long synopsis, but I really thought there was a lot to say about this episode. I look forward to hearing your thoughts as well.
 

tony_montana

Semper Fidelis
I thought the episode was very funny, to tell you the truth. Hal's use of the college recruiters to obtain free gifts was very enjoyable, something I myself would do:D ! The Francis/Dewey storyline was very funny! It's good to see the Francis of old(from season one).
Now for the part I didn't care for. I don't like how Raducca cheats on Reese and uses him for her own good. That kinda sucks as I was hoping that when this season ends, Reese would be happily married.(I still have my hopes up that maybe he will meet a different woman near the end and he will marry her:D ) I always question why the writers have to screw Reese at every turn(Reese35, back me up here:D )
Other than that, the episode was very good.
 

Wildcat

Retired Moderator
This episode was pretty good, but it was also somewhat of a letdown after Brides of Ida. There really wasn't much point in calling it a two part episode since the only thing that was continued was Reese's plot. And even that wasn't really a continuation since we didn't get to see the family's inital reaction to him bringing Raduca home and announcing that he was married, unfortunetly. And that's what I was most looking forward to seeing.

Choosing a college can be hard. Luckily, I had four large universities within 30 miles of my home to choose from so the decision wasn't too hard for me. :D However, for someone with Malcolm's intelligence and career goals (Nuclear Biologist!), I'm sure it can be quite a burden to make the right choice. I think that he made a good decision. I've always had an idea that he would wind up at one of the ivy league schools. I don't see how they're going to afford it though, as Sam pointed out, unless he manages to get a full ride through scholarships.

It's a relief to see that Reese isn't going to be married for the remainder of the season. It would be nice to see him get married to a nice girl in or near the last episode, but it's just too wierd seeing him in that type of situation. Especally the way she treated him and "broke his spirit" as Lois put it. It's obvious that the whole arrangement for marriage was made so that Raduca would be elligeable to become a US citizen. And knowing how Ida is, she probably knew how it would end up all along. As soon Raduca got her green card, she likely intended to leave him and run off with that other guy. So even though it sucks that Reese lost the thing that he thought finally made him happy, it worked out for the best in the long run before he got more attached to her (I don't see how that could happen the way she treated him, but this is Reese we're talking about here.)

I agree that Francis/Dewey plot got a little boring after awhile. It was nice seeing him again though. I'm thinking that this will probably be the last time we see him (except maybe the final episode) since he's going off to tour Europe now. All I can say is, thank goodness he shaved that hideous beard off his face. :D
 

NeCoHo

Retired Mod
One little note: Francis is still with Piama, Hal mentioned it with a conversaton with Lois;

Hal: "Francis has Piama, Reese has Raduca, and MAlcolm is going to college"

Lois: "We still have Dewey and Jamie..."

Hal: "Oh yeah... Well, Dewey is going to Francis' house."

Being only the second Season 7 episode I saw, I must say that so far, it was the best. :D

At the end,Dewey mentions "Rock on" to Hal and Lois while saying thatthings will work out by themselves, does this mean that Dewey has changed into a mini-Francis? Carefree and unwilling to do stuff for himself?

I might write more later, but I must finish some homework...
 

rzombie1988

New member
I liked this episode, even if it wasn't the best. I'm appreciating the newer MITM episodes more, since there will not be too many more. It was also great to see MITM back in its original time slot.

I missed the first 4 minutes, so hopefully I didn't miss too much. I taped it, so hopefully I'll get to watch it again.

I agree that it really shouldn't have been called a 2 part episode. Personally I think it should have been skipped altogether.

I thought it was nice to see Francis again, especially old Francis. Hal's plot was great, and seemed right up his alley. I think the Reduca story was dumb, because they wasted two episodes on it, and because Reese and her are pretty much done. I think they should have just skipped it altogether.

It will be interesting to see what happens with Malcolm and college, even though he will probably just get a scholarship. I also hope we can see a little bit of Francis in Europe.
 

Malcoholic

New member
Wildcat said:
It's a relief to see that Reese isn't going to be married for the remainder of the season. It would be nice to see him get married to a nice girl in or near the last episode, but it's just too wierd seeing him in that type of situation.
I think that's the key to why Reese's marriage couldn't be allowed to succeed. What makes Reese so messed up is also what makes him funny, so if Reese is going to get his life in order, it has to be near the end of the series. Poor guy!

As Yardgames' post pointed out, a lot of significant stuff happened to a lot of the characters in this episode. My initial reaction was that too much happened for one episode. But now I think it was interesting to see all the boys involved in a significant way, because it highlighted the difference between Malcolm and the rest of the family. For all his emotional turmoil, Malcolm is the only one who has lived his life according to a plan. He is now exactly where he planned to be all along, with elite universities vying for him. He played the system and he won. The others are all in one way or another at odds with the system. Reese is out of place in any post-Neolithic setting. Francis lives a catch-as-catch-can existence, relying on dumb luck to throw opportunities his way; and, for the second time, a fun job does drop on him out of the clear blue sky (he had gotten his job at the ranch from a chance encounter with Otto and Gretchen). Dewey has never placed much value in formal education. To excel academically requires learning whatever the teachers order you to learn (teachers don't word it quite that way!); Dewey by contrast learns whatever he wants--he learned music all on his own, and he stayed a long time in the Buseys' class, where the teachers teach nothing. He's not much bothered by the thought of getting an F.

I suppose we'll never find out whether Malcolm achieves brilliant success, or whether he's too emotionally unbalanced to achieve his potential. My view of his character is that there's not much basically wrong with him--a boy genius should be miserable, because he's too different from regular kids to be able to relate to them. Once he's at Harvard, he'll be surrounded by fellow brainiacs and will fit right in. The jocks, cool guys, and party girls who tormented his boyhood will be a thing of the past. As Stevie put it in "Experiment": "And then [gasp] everyone [gasp] will pay!"
 

Dabney

Deutscher Moderator
After Bride of Ida, this episode was rather weak, I think. There weren't many good gags, it was rather emotional. The episode made me very sad, because I started to realize that all the plots now start to lead to a nice ending.
It was good to see Francis back, though, and I pretty much liked his beard, he should keep that. Actually the whole Dewey-Francis-plot was amusing. And it's nice that Francis will finally have a job again.
The Hal-Malcolm-storyline wasn't very funny, nor interesting, i just didn'T care about that one. And i felt really really sorry for Reese, who again was disappointed with girls. I didn't like Raduca at all, and now I'm glad that she is gone again.
Well, at least now we know what some people will do in their future: Malcolm will go to Harvard and Francis will go to Europe. Not sure about Reese and Dewey, however. Maybe we'll get to know about their future next time.

One little note: Francis is still with Piama, Hal mentioned it with a conversaton with Lois;

Hal: "Francis has Piama, Reese has Raduca, and MAlcolm is going to college"

Lois: "We still have Dewey and Jamie..."

Hal: "Oh yeah... Well, Dewey is going to Francis' house."

I'm not sure about that one. Do you think Francis would tell his parents that he and Piama split up? I don't think so...
 

allison

New member
J. said:
One little note: Francis is still with Piama, Hal mentioned it with a conversaton with Lois;

Hal: "Francis has Piama, Reese has Raduca, and MAlcolm is going to college"

I´m not sure if this necessarily means that they are still together. Maybe Hal just doesn´t know. I think there are a lot of things that Francis doesn´t tell his family and I don´t think he would immidiately tell his parents that he and Piama split up.

EDIT:

Dabney had the same thought. Sorry, I didn´t read it before I posted my answer. :D

I found this episode quite good. Just like Christina I´m pretty glad that Reese and Raducca´s marriage didn´t last. I feel sorry for him, though, because I think he´s actually a really good guy. I guess I said in the "bride of Ida" thread that Reese finally found a woman who wouldn´t hurt him. Turns out I couldn´t have been more wrong.:eek: :D
I think it´s almost impossible to understand the reason why Reese liked Raducca so much, but maybe it´s again because he finally found a person who accepts him (at least he thinks so). While other girls don´t even talk to him (Billboard) Raducca even married him which made Reese feel like a likeable person and I think that´s really important to him. Reese just has a very low self-esteem which he tries to hide from most people by insulting them and treating them badly, but on the other hand he quickly becomes a friend of people who give him the impression that they like him.
(It´s interesting that Lois approves of a girl who bosses her son around like that. I guess Hal found it kind of weird, but he was busy with other stuff and didn´t really care).

Is it just me or is Reese becoming stupider, though? I mean he was REALLY naive in this episode (even by his standards) which was funny, but I have the feeling that in earlier episodes Reese probably would have realized that Raducca is cheating on him and that the guy isn´t her brother. :rolleyes: :p
Never mind, I still liked this plot and as I said, I´m pretty glad that they won´t stay married as this would totally change the concept of the show. At least it´s too early now, I hope he´ll find a nice girlfriend in the last episode or so.

I also liked the Francis/Dewey plot. It was good to see Francis again (I´m also glad he shaved that beard off :D ) and it was funny that he seems to have become that season-one-Francis again. Maybe it was his marriage and his job at the ranch that made him become more responsible and now that he lost both his wife (probably) and his job he´s changing into his old self, again.
It´s just a shame that we probably won´t see him anymore. :(

The Malcolm/Hal plot was pretty good, too. Though I often don´t find it that funny when Hal gets obsessed with stuff I found it pretty entertaining in this episode. I liked the plot, though it kind of made me sad as you could see that the end is near.

Overall, this was a pretty good episode in my opinion. I kind of like "emotional" mitm episodes as they never get soppy. You just find out things about the characters which makes you even more able to relate to them.
 

Wildcat

Retired Moderator
Allison said:
Is it just me or is Reese becoming stupider, though? I mean he was REALLY naive in this episode (even by his standards) which was funny, but I have the feeling that in earlier episodes Reese probably would have realized that Raducca is cheating on him and that the guy isn´t her brother. :rolleyes: :p

I've felt all season that Reese is getting stupider by the episode. While he's always been stupid, it seems like they've been talking it a little to far lately. He's not a complete and total idiot with no brain at all! Like in Malcolm Defends Reese they made it seem like he was dumber than a rat. Come on!
 

samboo1

New member
This ep didnt do anything for me really. It was a really bad follow up to Bride Of Ida! All the plots were ok except for Reese's.
Francis' plot was good, with Dewey and the shabby apartment lol!
Hal and Malcolm's plot was really good as well. I could predict what was gonna happen by jsut seeing the beginning!

Anyway overall id say about 5/10 ish...didnt really appeal to me:cool:
 

yardgames

Retired Administrator
People, I completely disagree with you that Francis and Piama split up. The little they have come from Piama's working. She and Francis have faced hardships before, and we've seen that their marriage can withstand just about everything. There have been many a time when they've almost split up, but they've always come back together, and I think it's almost impossible to split them up on. In fact, the very idea seems preposterous. Piama was excited to be started out again after Francis left the ranch. it's pretty obvious Otto won his lawsuit and Francis and Piama lost everything, but they still had each other. In season six, we see that Francis is still relatively responsible and well-off. My bet is that the lawsuit was pending during this time, and Francis always figured everything would be ok during that time. He and Piama probably had a relatively decent apartment and I'm willing to bet Piama got a job pretty quickly, hwile Francis was a little more patient and tried to find something that offered a bit more money. When things like a counselor for, uh, dumb children fell through, he began to get frustrated. He did things like stealing a bus seat. Piama became frustrated, and maybe even temporarily left. But as of Blackout, I remind you, they were still together, and I don't think that's changed.
 

simon_4420

New member
I felt that this episode lacked any dominace from Lois. I thought that this episode need something to link all the story lines together, as there was little going on with the family inbetween their own story lines. This episode was kind of weird with no real presents of Lois being mad at the boys or Hal, and we didn't see much of Lois. The storys where all good but needed something to bring them all together to make the episode have some kind of meaning, if that makes sense. Overall I liked the episode but in some respects it didn't feel that Malcolm in the Middle-y to me. Maybe that is because this is probably one of the only episodes where we have not seen Lois be mad or make much of a present know in the episode. This to me shows just how important each of the characters are in supporting each other.
 
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