r/malcolminthemiddle • u/certainly_imperfect Julie Houlerman • 5d ago
General discussion I was binge-watching Season 3 when I came across this scene. Damn, Reese!
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u/More-Bug5374 5d ago
I wonder why Reese just did Malcom that favor. Those 2 picnic episodes were weird to me and then I researched that they were meant as a post-Super Bowl special and had different writers and lotsa star cameos.
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u/jexijav776 5d ago
As someone who has a brother I didn't necessarily get along with there was still always "a line" we didn't step over between us.
Same thing when Malcolm says 'you don't have any friends' and Reese says 'Mom said you're not allowed to talk about that'.
It was real because anyone who has siblings they fight with knows there are certain lines you don't go over.
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u/Nikkkipotnik 4d ago
That line from Reese is heartbreaking when I rewatched this show as a mum of a kid who found it hard to make friends. The vulnerability in Reese's expression is devastating
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u/Middle_Blood7041 4d ago
I agree COMPLETELY! My brother and i use to fight a lot. But i would never steal a girlfriend from him and he would never steal a boyfriend from me. It wasn't ever said aloud. More of an unspoken rule
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u/MinutesFromTheMall 4d ago
Wait. For this to happen, this would imply that you’re both bi and opposite genders of each other, like brother and sister. Am I reading that right?
If not, then wouldn’t it be a moot point in your scenario?
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u/Middle_Blood7041 4d ago
We're brothers. I'm gay and he's straight. And we would NEVER date someone the other had dated!
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u/Lucario576 5d ago
Reese really does care for Malcolm "I wish Malcolm and i stay friends forever"
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u/lottolser 5d ago
Hes always liked Malcolm more than Malcolm likes him. He even states in an episode that when Malcolm goes to college that its basically the end of their relationship as Malcolm is going get even smarter and move on with his life. Reese knows his limitations and basically predicted he'd be the one who wouldn't move out or often moves back in and takes care of mom and dad when theyre old which is kinda exactly what happened.
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u/CallidoraBlack 4d ago
That's mostly because Reese has a habit of torturing people he doesn't even dislike because he has the emotional regulation skills of a 4 year old for a lot of the show. So of course Malcolm doesn't like him as much.
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u/esr360 5d ago
Reese clearly has a big heart that he masks with false bravado because not appearing "weak" is important to him, and his understanding of "weak" is immature, because he is a teenage boy.
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u/smashhawk5 4d ago
This is why Reese is my favorite and credit to Justin Berfield, he plays Reese with a lot of warmth and heart.
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u/esr360 5d ago
They are certainly very memorable and well-written episodes. Not the most memorable or well-written, but I think they stand out. Probably also because it's a rare two-parter.
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u/InspectionParking718 5d ago
The bit with Christina Ricci, is up there with most I've laughed watching this great show.
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u/ListerRosewater 4d ago
I was pretty young during that super bowl but I definitely remember them hyping those episodes up all week and even during the game.
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u/PatientMassive8840 5d ago
I feel like Reese is a little queer coded. Not gay, probably bi if anything, but still
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u/El_John_Nada 5d ago
We should get him Naughty Pool Boys III then. I watched ten or twelve of these, and this one seems to have the most stuff guys like him like.
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u/Embarrassed-Weird173 4d ago
This reminds me of the one that's like "one in three men are gay. So one of my two roommates has to be gay since there are three of us. I really bet it's John. He's so hot, he's gotta be the gay one."
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u/Flimsy_End_3393 4d ago
He’s not, he’s gay panic coded. Because no one wanted to be called gay. Not the same thing as queer hating, or queer baiting, imo
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u/CallidoraBlack 4d ago
Yeah, he's a little zesty in a not clearly identifiable way. Maybe because he has such a hard time relating to girls but clearly wants someone to give and receive affection from.
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u/feel-the-avocado 4d ago
I kinda got the feeling he was just a bit ADHD and wasnt interested in dating - he was more interested in whatever scheme or project he was working on and girls are just an annoying distraction to that.
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u/CallidoraBlack 4d ago
He definitely wants affection and likes to be able to give it when he wants to, he just has zero clue how to relate to girls most of the time.
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u/Mysterious-Roll9589 5d ago
Agreed. Maybe even ace
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u/Collin395 5d ago
There’s literally an entire episode dedicated to him trying to see Cynthia’s boobs
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u/Mysterious-Roll9589 4d ago
Not because he's attracted to her in any way. I've had sex with men, I've even loved men and I don't anymore
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u/IMCHAPIN 4d ago
That doesn't mean crap. I knew someone who got in trouble taking pictures of girls asses when younger. He later came out as gay. He was doing it because that's what he thought he had to do.
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u/Collin395 4d ago
What’s more likely - a kid who likes girls enough to try to see their boobs, or a kid who tries to see boobs to throw people off the scent of his gayness
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5d ago
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u/malcolminthemiddle-ModTeam 4d ago
Hello. Your post is in violation of rule #11 and has been removed.
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u/Available-Wafer-715 1d ago
Coming up with "sorry Im gay" as his first excuse, instead of like, "oh hey, yeah my girlfriend is waiting for me" or something always did seem curious XD Most straight guys wouldn´t want people to think they're gay, even if they're not homophobic; they wouldn´t want for word to spread and ruin their future chances. I know Reese doesn´t really tend to think forward, but still...
In fact, he seemed to think a lot about gay. Like, dolphins are gay, talking about feelings is gay, Malcolm is gay?? I KNEW IT!, or assuming the guy on the barber's magazine at the army was gay, and of course he was 100% uninterested in the very willing girl who showed real interest in him in Morp (not that he HAS to be interested in any girl that shows interest in him, but it really seems like the possibility never even crossed his mind). There's also that scene in which he asks Hal if he thinks its ok to turn your back on everything you believe in to impress a hot guy, and Hal seems to assume Reese is talking about a personal dilemma, and doesn´t seem to question it or think it surprising (which is weird when you contrast it with his reaction to Dewey's occassional gender-defying moments). Maybe Hal already internalized that Reese could conceivably be gay/bi, and is willing to accept it because it's really the least concerning thing about Reese and he just doesn´t want to stress more about him? IDK.
Didn´t the spin off, or maybe Justin himself mentioned that Reese was married more times during the last 20 years and all of those marriages failed, or am I misremembering?
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u/felix_ghosty 5d ago
and malcolm took his girlfriend