Malcolm in the Middle

Motivational Speaker

Season 6, Episode 19, Aired 4/24/05

Episode Summary

Hal is forced to go to a motivation seminar. When the motivator leaves after making everyone but Hal cry, Hal accidentally takes over. He gets rave reviews and is soon hired to do motivation seminars every weekend. Reese begins hanging out with a pack of dogs. Dewey gets in trouble with Lois, after Lois finds out that he is seeing another mom.moreless

8.4

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Cast & Crew

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Jane Kaczmarek

Lois Wilkerson
Bryan Cranston

Hal Wilkerson
Chris Masterson

Francis Wilkerson

Fan Episode Reviews (6)

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Reese loves dogs?

8.5

"Great"

By cactusjack39, Feb 03, 2009 Report Abuse

This was a funny episode. I thought that it would get a higher rating than other crap episodes but I guess I'll have to break the mold. I thought this had better writing and had some good acting. It was also very entertaining and I never was board. Reese with dogs was great to see. He is insanely stupid and I am surprised he didn't get eaten up. Malcolm was his normal whining self, Dewey was Dewey, Lois was Lois, and Hal was in over his head again. It was very funny to watch all the usual go down once again. Thank you.moreless

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1 0
It was pretty funny!

9.5

"Superb"

By VGFreak8, Apr 12, 2008 Report Abuse

Lois catches Dewey, who is seeing another mom. She is heartbroken and Dewey makes it up to her by getting a tattoo stating, "Lois is my mother." Reese starts hanging out with a pack of dogs. He inherits their characteristics, like yelling at a mailman, shaking his body to get dry and even barking, except with "What!" instead of "Woof!" Hal goes to a motivational seminar, but the leader is so pessimistic. Hal encourages everyone after he leaves and starts his own meetings.

This episode was pretty good! The dog parts with Reese were hilarious! The Dewey/Lois story was excellent as well! I just didn't like the Hal thing as much. This episode gets a 9.5 from me!moreless

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Reese running with a pack of wild dogs? The Oedipal storyline invovling Dewey? Hal as a leader? And where was Francis?

7.6

"Good"

By radrobd, Jun 19, 2007 Report Abuse

In the show's final season, there were some episodes that didn't hit the stride of earlier seasons - like this one. The storyline of Reese running with a pack of wild dogs was kind of farfetched - even for Reese. The storyline with Dewey "cheating" on Lois with another mother was a little too uncomfortable to watch. On paper, it might have sounded funny, but watching it play out, it was kind of weird. The best storyline in this episode was Hal inadvertently becoming a motivational speaker. The irony is that he really didn't have anything important to say, other than just spouting meaningless platitutdes. But notice how Hal's wardrobe improved as he found success- first from the office drone he always looks like to a sharp dressed fella. All in all, it wasn't a great episode, it was just okay.moreless

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Reese hanging out with dogs - a little unbelievable!

6.7

"Fair"

By count-chocula, Nov 29, 2006 Report Abuse

Okay let me start off talking about this episode in itself, no opinions given. The main A plot is where Hal has to go to a motivational seminar on Saturdays and ends up instructing them himself. The sub B plot is where Reese starts hanging out with a pack of dogs and acting like he is friends with them. The final, small C plot is where Dewey starts having an "affair" with another mother.

I'm going to review this episode in various sections. Going from the cold open to the A plot, then to the B and finally to C.

The cold open (Reese, Malcolm, Dewey): I really liked the cold open on this episode. For those of you who can't remember it involves Reese, Malcolm & Dewey fighting each other. Malcolm talks to the camera and says:

I have no idea whether a squid could beat a monkey or a kangaroo at a knife fight, but if I admitted that then we'd have nothing to do all day!

I really liked how at first it seems that they are just doing the usual fighting but then it turns out they are actually fighting OVER something not just for the sake of it! Even though it is trivial! It was a great way to make the audience laugh!

The A plot (Hal): The "A" plot involves Hal having to go to a motivational seminar on a Saturday. He doesn't pay any attention to what is being said but the instructor seems to leave everyone mentally broken down. Hal, because he wasn't listening, is not like this and attempts to comfort one person. When he does he automatically becomes promoted to motivational leader for the next month! Comedy ensues as he tries to keep up this new job!

I always love Hal-related episodes as Bryan Cranston is my favourite comedy actor. He is great with physical comedy. When he gets "Jerry" to stand up for himself and then, inadvertently, gets himself fired from motivational leader due to it was hilarious! I didn't see it coming actually!

This A plot was however a bit slow to get going. Up until Hal took over as leader the whole thing didn't really appeal to me. This is just one of the elements of this episode that I didn't care for.

The B plot (Reese): On to the "B" plot now! In this sub-plot Reese answers Lois back one too many times and ends up having to clean up garbage as a punishment. While he is doing this he befriends a pack of stray dogs that rule the neighbourhood and ends up becoming one of them!

This plot is completely 100% unbelievable! I thought it was incredibly fake and a bit too original and random. For Reese to befriend another living animal is one thing, but for a living animal to befriend Reese is another! I really hated this plot and felt it was very unnecessary. I didn't like it one bit.

The C plot (Dewey, Lois): Now comes the lesser important "C" plot. In this small side story Dewey starts to behave strangley and Lois believes, and is correct, that he is seeing another Mom!

Oh my God! Yet another unbelievable story in this episode! Once again this would never happen in the real world. If it did I'm fairly sure that the police would be involved. However, I did find it more entertaining than the Reese-related B plot. The part which liked the most was where Lois found out about him and it was all acted out like an affair! Dewey's line:

I don't love her. It's only snacks!

is absolutely laugh-out-loud hilarious!

Episode as a whole (Hal, Lois, Reese, Dewey): Not much screen time for Malcolm in this episode which is always a shame. I found many elements of this episode extremely un-realistic and they wouldn't happen in the real world. This isn't the greatest episode of Malcolm but if you're looking for a classic Hal episode then I would recommend it.moreless

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Not bad...

8.5

"Great"

By OeTvGreat, Jul 06, 2006 Report Abuse

Great! Reese begins to join out with a hound of dogs that apparently are his friends, but gets caught by the cops. Meanwhile, Dewey begins to see another mother, a mother that bakes him cookies, cleans his nails, and a lot of different things, until Dewey decides to put a tatoo on himself in order to compensate Lois, but she can't put her mind on herself. While, Hal begins a motivational speaker for his co workers and begins to give great advices that help anyone, at least until he tells an employee that he should take over his job, and also make others work for hours and hours. Cool!moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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Trivia
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- During his speech, Hal says that Michael Jordan didn't even see a basketball until he was 30. This is of course a made up fact. Edit
- When Hal is showing the man beside him the snowflake he cut out, you can see a tiny pair of Swiss Army Knife scissors in his other hand. These small scissors wouldn't have cut through a paper folded as many times as it took to get that detailed of a snowflake. Edit
- First time Hal's profession is mentioned since "Company Picnic," which is systems management. Edit
Notes
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- This episode was nominated for a WGA Award (TV) for Episodic Comedy. Edit
- Cold Open: Reese, Malcolm and Dewey argue over who would win: a monkey, a kangaroo, or a squid? Edit
- Francis (Christopher Masterson) does not appear in this episode. Edit
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Allusions
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