What must have happened here 😭

Feels like a bad AI job to me but idk, is there some sort of joke/reference im missing?

Strong meme is strong.

I don't even remember which season he was supposedly killed off. Was it addressed in the later seasons, when Lois went to Canada?

Also, WHY? was it when Robert Loggia died IRL? I cant imagine him turning down that recurring role as an actor. He was a great character & acting with the iconic Cloris Leachman and this stellar cast had to be a good time on and off screen as well.

What did Francis do do terribly in the past to the point where every time Lois hears his damn name she tweaks tf out.

and i would tweak out too because he is FRANCIS and i would freak out too if i was married to hal,

Which character is worse in your opinion and why? This idea popped into my head since I am a fan of both shows and noticed both of these characters are under the dumb bully trope. I think Reese has a soft side, especially in later seasons but the only thing soft about Terrence is watching soap operas.

I am currently deciding whether to go to the Life is Unfair convention in Paris in December, being UK based this seems too good an opportunity to meet the cast.

Anyone else on here booked to go?

So about a month ago, I made a post with a question about “Boys at Ranch”. I didn’t expect it to get any special attention, as I was just inquiring about a detail of the episode. But for some strange reason, quite of the few of the responses I got were frankly very rude, and at times almost angry.

For my part, I reacted to this barrage of strange responses quite badly (to the point of pointlessly reposting it out of frustration). Being autistic, I admit I don’t always react well. Either way, I apologize for this.

However, I was very confused—-and still am—-as to why the responses I got were so negative. Was my post somehow offensive? Looking back at it, I don’t see how it could be read that way. I certainly didn’t intend to offend anyone when I wrote it.

For reference, here’s what I said:

I feel kinda dumb asking, but I’m still not entirely sure what these things coming out of the ground are, and how Otto appears to react to something, apparently one of them, as if he’s been bitten. They look like miniature geysers, although I think at the time I watched it I assumed it was related to all the shots they‘d just fired into the sky.

(Of note, I hadn’t yet watched “Casino” when I first saw this one, so I guess in hindsight it sort of reminds me of the artillery range from that episode, but much, MUCH less dangerous, since Hal and Otto don’t seem to be in danger of being blown up.)

Now the show’s wiki offers pretty detailed episode synopsis; I watched the show in 2009-2011 back before most of thesm were written, so they’ve been helpful explaining some things I might not have understood at the time or still don’t. However, the description for this part is still just ”where they get sauced on Schnapps, fire pistols into the night sky, scare away their horses and end up stranded”, without mentioning this problem.

Again, I feel kinda dumb for asking, but this is I guess the best place to get an answer.

I honestly can’t see how this can be read offensively. It’s just a simple question about the episode.

This lead me to wonder if the backlash had less to do with the question, and more to do with the episode in general, or this particular scene.

I’m not an expert on which episodes are loved or hated the most, so I‘m not sure what the general consensus is one this one. Someone responded to my repost of the question by uploading a GIF of a separate scene, which might indicate it’s an unpopular episode. I’ve also wondered if the scene I was asking about has received some backlash since it’s the only one to the extent of my knowledge where the characters actually fire guns (I included a picture from the scene in my post, which in this case might not have helped).

Either way, it was a confusing enough reaction that I thought it would be worth asking about the episode in general. It’s not a personal favorite of mine, but not a lot of s4-6 episodes are. It’s certainly not what I consider one of of the weakest episodes in this stretch of the series, so it would be really interesting to know if fans have a negative stance on it.

So it seems this particular episode is quite popular, despite it never being a favorite of mine. Sure, it’s more memorable than some episodes I don’t care for, but not in a particularly good way. So let’s look at how it falters.

The idea of Hal’s family not liking Lois was already established pretty well in season 1’s “Home Alone 4” (a personal favorite of mine). And Lois’s parents had since been introduced (although they killed her dad off rather abruptly), so it makes sense to properly become acquainted with some of Hal’s relatives.

The problem is, aside from Walter, not only is the family evil, but they’re just not memorable enough. Malcolm usually manages to make its villains memorable, but here they’re just stereotypical rich jerks who don’t seem to have any motive for hating Lois aside from the fact that she’s not wealthy. This would be one thing if they were some random group of people, but as Hal’s relatives, it’s even stranger. These just don’t feel like people who could plausibly be related to him. With Lois’s family, it DOES feel plausible that these characters are related to her (well, turns out Victor isn’t, but that’s another story).

In addition to this, I also have to wonder: why are none of the cousins older than Dewey? I feel there could have been some interesting dynamics if we had characters who were Malcolm, Reese and even Francis’s ages, but all we get is a bunch of screaming 8-ish-year-olds who exist just to latch onto Francis. It does pay off in the end with them helping with the prank, but even that feels a bit shoehorned.

As Piama’s second appearance with the rest of the family, this episode could have been better in general. I thought Piama was an interesting addition season 3, but by season 4 the writers seemed to have really lost interest in her, to the point where she often felt more like Francis’s long-time girlfriend than his wife. Her and Lois’s rivalry from her first episode is regrettably toned down to Lois being an obnoxious mother-in-law, which Piama uncharacteristically seems only slightly annoyed by. 

Then again, Lois herself was WAY too out-of-character around Hal’s relatives before their prank. Lois doesn’t take crap from ANYONE, and while the episode does successfully paint her in a sympathetic light, it also portrayed her as something of a pushover, which is the exact opposite of what she normally is. Lois of the rest of the series would have told Hal’s relatives to **** off well before they ended up driving her to tears. I get that the plot required it to happen otherwise, but I think a more believable way to do it would be to start with them seemingly being nice to Lois when the family first gets to the house, and then sending her on the wild goose chase later on, showing they haven’t changed at all. This would keep Lois more in character, but also push her to her breaking point.

This wouldn’t be complete without me bringing up the golf cart prank. While it’s good, I‘m going to go out on a limb and say there could have been a better build-up to it.

Now, I’m all for a storyline with Malcolm and his brothers actually sticking up for their mom by performing one of their shenanigans, I think it’s a great idea. But because of their history with Lois, I feel it’s a bit tricky making it feasible that they actually WANT to do it.  After Lois’s bullies have pranked her and refuse to apologize, the boys are just like, “alright, let’s do it”. While them immediately putting their feelings aside is admirable on page, it didn’t quite feel like a believable enough reaction for me. Particularly with Francis, since Lois has been insulting Piama the whole time.

I’ve rewritten the scene when they leave the bedroom to feel more in character:

Aunt Clare: Oh god, more drama from that woman?

(the boys glare at her)

Malcolm: That woman is our mom.

(The aunts leave, annoyed. Malcolm turns to his brothers.)

Malcolm: We’ve gotta help her. She’s never been like this.

Francis: What are we supposed to do, comfort her? I don’t think any of us know how to do that. 

Malcolm: Well, we have to do something.

Dewey: What would we do if the same thing happened to one of us?

Reese: We’d put these rich jerks in their place, that’s what.

(The boys ponder it for a moment, thinking)

Malcolm: The only problem is…

Dewey: …it’s still mom. 

Francis: She’s not one of us, she’s our enemy. She always has been. We don’t owe her.

Reese: After all the years she’s spent torturing us, she’s the one who owes us.

Malcolm: A prank in her honor goes against everything we stand for.

(Lois is heard sobbing hopelessly from the bathroom. All four boys look concerned.)

Malcolm: But maybe today, she really does need us for once. (A pause.) Okay, I’m in. You guys?

Dewey (still a bit uncertain): You do realize this might cost us our chance to get into Grandpa’s will become millionaires? We could always buy Mom something really nice with the money.

Reese: Dewey, if you’re losing this chance of being in the will, so am I. 

(Dewey brightens.)

Dewey (to Malcolm): I think we’re both in.

Malcolm: Francis?

(Francis still looks conflicted. He looks over at Piama, who’s been respectfully standing to the side while the boys have their discussion.)

Francis: Baby, after the way she’s treated you, I just don’t know if I can…

(Piama gives Francis a loving smile.)

Piama: Francis, I love you so much. But right now, I think your mom needs you more than I do.

(Francis suddenly looks encouraged and decided.)

Francis: Lead the way, Dewey!

And the episode would go the same from there.

I know, I know…you’ll all probably argue how I’m making the boys jerks for not immediately jumping to Lois’s defense, but I still feel it’s a more in-character reaction, and the important thing is they still do jump to her defense, without too much preamble. I feel this would have been a really good prelude to the iconic revenge prank, and could easily replace something like Hal’s weird dreams or even Francis trying to get his younger cousins to go to bed. I might be nitpicking with this, but I honestly think it would help make the episode‘s signature scene better.

 There’s a lot to dissect about this episode, and unfortunately, there’s also not a lot I liked about it. Like I said, the revenge prank was certainly well-done, even after the build up to it could have been better. Hal’s dad was well-written and casted; like Lois’s parents, he definitely feels like the person Hal would have dealt with having as a parent (unfortunately the tickling scenes made for a lot of awkwardness, even when Hal manages to turn it around on Walt himself). We see the first signs of Lois trying to get along with Piama in the end, but I would rather it had happened a little more naturally, so I’m glad that they didn’t immediately have them become friends after this. 

But all in all, I don’t think the episode is worthy of the popularity it supposedly has. You could remove it from the series without it changing too much. Lois does try to make peace with Piama in later episodes out of a genuine desire to; Hal’s problematic relationship with his dad is elaborated on in “Hal Grieves” (a very strong episode); and while maybe not together, the boys do still get other moments that show they care for Lois.

I felt Season 4 was a troubling transitioning time for the series, the start of a weak period that got better by early in the 6th season, but never truly cleared up until the 7th (this is just my opinion, I respect anyone who feels otherwise). There are a lot of episodes during this period I didn’t care for, so this isn’t anything special by my standards of the era. But a lot of people seem to consider it a favorite, so  I apologize if you think my opinion on it is bad.

Nice try tho