Line #11 Recap/MalcolmInTheMiddleS4E03FamilyReunion


1	The entire family attends Hal's Father's birthday, and the extended family humiliates Lois at every chance available. Reese and Dewey try to suck up to their grandfather in hopes they are included in his will.
2
3	!Guest starring:
4	* Walter (Creator/ChristopherLloyd)
5	* Amelia (Creator/BrendaStrong)
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7	!This work contains examples of:
8	* BerserkButton: Seeing Lois cry makes all the men in their family draw the line. While Hal manages to gather courage and finally confront his father, the boys take revenge.
9	* BrawnHilda: Claire is big, butch and is always wearing suits. According to Malcolm, they had to drive three blocks for her to let go of the door handle as they flee the place.
10	* CharacterDevelopment: After all the humiliation she suffers from Hal's relatives, the episode ends with Lois taking the first steps by treating Piama better, to the shock of everyone else.
11	* EmbarrassingDampSheets: Hal wets the bed after having a dream about having a therapy session with Jesus. He interoperates it as his body telling him he needs to confront his father.
12	* FriendToAllChildren: For some reason, all the little kids of the extended family get attached to Francis and stick to him like glue. When the boys are destroying the party, they help Francis by loosening the screws of the table so they can run over the buffet.
13	* HeroicBSOD: Lois rarely cries, but Hal's relatives pushes her to her breaking point. When the in-laws send her on a wild goose chase for formal shoes to exclude her from the family photo, she shuts herself in a closet and cries, to the shock of her family.
14	* LaserGuidedKarma:
15	** The boys all help completely destroy and ruin the party by stealing the golf cart, taking down the table with help from their younger cousins, run over the cake, drag the tablecloth and food towards the swimming pool and sink everything on it, driving Claire's husband to very unmanly tears while every other relative can only watch in shock or helpless frustration.
16	** Hal confronts his father, calls him out on how he's treated Lois and does so by tickling him non-stop while wearing enough sweaters to keep his father from doing so in return.
17	* MasculineGirlFeminineBoy: Claire is built like a BrawnHilda and often wears suits, while her husband is more effeminate. Their final scenes show Claire being purely angry at the chaos caused by the boys while her husband cries in a very girly voice. Furthermore, according to Malcolm, [[OffscreenMomentOfAwesome Claire clung on to the car's door]] while the group made their getaway and only let go after going through three blocks.
18	* ObnoxiousInLaws:
19	** Until the end of the episode, Lois was constantly making snide comments at Piama. She starts to treat her better after everything Hal's relatives did to her.
20	** All of Hal's relatives are cruel and passive-aggressive to Lois. Hal's father does nothing because he doesn't like to confront people.
21	** {{Subverted}} with their little cousins, who greatly admire Francis and help the boys get revenge on their family by removing the table's supports while the boys begin their rampage.
22	* ParentalNeglect: Walter is bad at confrontation, and he resorts to making Hal laugh by tickling him to avoid hearing his problems. When Hal finally decides to confront him and all his tricks fail thanks to his son coming prepared with several layers of clothing, he is completely lost for words.
23	* PottyFailure: Hal makes a comeback by tickling his father and letting out all the problems from his childhood that he neglected to hear. The only thing that he can answer to Hal is requesting some towels.
24	* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Upon seeing Lois reduced to tears, Francis, Malcolm, Reese and Dewey take the golf kart, use it to destroy the buffet table, run over the cake, decapitate a statue and finish by sinking with the golf kart in the pool. Despite the subsequent obligatory scolding from Lois and Hal, it's clear from their faces that they are not really mad at them.
25	* SoProudOfYou: They don't say it outloud but Hal and Lois are beyond happy that their sons took a stand against Hal's family and ruined their party to avenge her honor, even very unconvincingly acting like they're upset to hide their amusement. Piama herself is greatly proud of her husband and her in-laws for taking steps to make the extended family members pay for hurting Lois.

Context Recap / MalcolmInTheMiddleS4E03FamilyReunion