Red Dress
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There is also an article on Red Dress, the Sugababes song.
Red Dress is Episode 102 of the FOX Network Series Malcolm in the Middle. It originally aired on January 16, 2000.
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[edit] Plot
It's Lois and Hal's anniversary. Lois had a nice red dress prepared, just to find it burned and stuffed in the toilet. She targets the boys and starts to interrogate them to find out who "almost burned down the house". While interrogated, the boys have the chance to call Francis for guidance, as he has been through the most trouble of them all and knows how to deal with an angry Lois the best. He helps them to navigate through severe torture methods as crushing toys, corner standing, single interrogation and loud children's songs.
Meanwhile Hal is waiting in the restaurant and gets bored while drinking Martinis. When visiting the toilet, he chums up with the restaurant staff and after Lois didn't show up for several hours, even eating the lobster together. At home, Lois finds out that Francis was helping the boys and starts a fight, but Francis tries to convince her to let something go for once. She decides to do that and takes the boys out for dinner.
The episode closes with a drunk Hal coming home, starting to smoke his pipe. He accidentally sets the couch on fire, and as we close, we learn the truth about the dress.
[edit] Malcolm's overview
"I think something is wrong with Mom. One minute, she was furious at us, and the next minute, she actually let it drop. She just gave up. No confession. No punishment. Nothing. And then she took us out to dinner. It must be a trick. Tonight was Mom and Dad’s anniversary. They had this big fancy evening out planned, but Mom never made it to the restaurant. She found her new, red dress burnt and shoved in the toilet. She went into full interrogation mode – separate interviews, dizzy izzies, standing in the corner — but no one would confess. We still don’t know who did it, though fire is a Reese staple. Then again, only Dewey is stupid enough to leave evidence somewhere Mom can find it. Anyway, the point is we weren’t getting anywhere and we needed help. Only one person had ever made Mom that angry before: Francis. We managed to secretly call him. He told us it didn’t matter who burned the dress; we all had to hang together. And it was actually working, until Mom caught us on the phone. We thought we were dead, but then Mom had mercy on us. I think she must be sick. While we were in lockup, Reese asked me if I’m just going to get smarter and smarter and weirder and weirder. I don’t know. Am I?"
[edit] Music used
- “Ooh, La La” by The Wiseguys (start of the interrogation)
- “Nice Is Good, Mean Is Bad” by They Might Be Giants (interrogation part 2)
- “Reprehensible” by They Might Be Giants (when Hal comes home)
[edit] Quotes
- (Lois coming out with her charred red dress)
- Lois: Fire? FIRE?! FIRE?!
- Malcolm: Mom, what —
- Lois: This is the most stupid, irresponsible, dangerous thing you have ever done! Is this what you want?! Will we have to identify your charred little bodies through their dental records?! I want a straight answer—WHO DID THIS?
- Reese: Malcolm did it!
- Malcolm: Reese did it!
- Reese: I didn’t do it!
- Malcolm: I didn’t do it!
- Dewey (quietly): We’re going to the dentist?
- Dewey: Why does she have to ruin everything I love?!
- Lois: In your room... [evil voice] NOW!
[edit] Guest Cast
- Karim Prince - Stanley
- Joel McCrary - Bathroom Attendant
- Adam Hendershott - Cadet #2
- Robert Cesario - Maitre d'
- Daniel R. Escobar - Franklin
- Drew Powell - Cadet #1
- Paul Willson - Ed
[edit] Trivia
- The children song the boys forcefully have to listen to seems to be inspired by Raffi.
- This is the first time we go inside Lois’ workplace – Lucky Aide.
- A crew member is seen handing Lois (Jane Kaczmarek) the red dress out of a bucket of water.
- First appearance of Craig Feldspar.
