# Malcolm in the Middle season 2

The second season of Malcolm in the Middle premiered on November 5, 2000, on Fox, and ended on May 20, 2001, with a total of 25 episodes. Frankie Muniz stars as the title character Malcolm, and he is joined by Jane Kaczmarek, Bryan Cranston, Christopher Kennedy Masterson, Justin Berfield and Erik Per Sullivan.

## Episodes

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | Prod. code | U.S. viewers (millions) |
| 17 | 1 | "Traffic Jam (Part 2)" | Todd Holland | Dan Kopelman | November 5, 2000 (2000-11-05) | 06-00-204 | 15.52 |
| The family is thrown out of the water park and banned for life after the violations they have incurred. On the drive back, Hal lets a car overtake them, only for it to be hit by a truck, causing a massive traffic jam. Lois harasses everyone to clear the accident so they can get back on the road and cannot accept that things are beyond her control. Hal has an existential crisis when he realizes how easily it could have happened to them. Reese and some kids battle a man in an ice cream truck who refuses to sell to them. Malcolm spends the time with a smart, funny and cute girl named Jessica (Hallee Hirsh) and is devastated to find out she lives in Canada. She tries to give him her phone number, but a vicious dog that Lois freed eats it. At the military academy, Francis tries to eat 100 candy quacks to settle a silly argument and prove a skeptical cadet wrong. Meanwhile, Dewey ends up lost in the middle of a corn field and is escorted home by a variety of people, arriving just before the family returns. ||||||||
| 18 | 2 | "Halloween Approximately" | Todd Holland | Dan Kopelman | November 8, 2000 (2000-11-08) | 06-00-207 | 9.18 |
| When Francis comes home for a post-Halloween visit, he helps his brothers get back into the spirit by building a giant slingshot on the roof of their house to terrorize the neighborhood, but they are defeated when Krelboynes turn the tables on them. Hal and Lois track down a joyrider in a blue 1972 Chevrolet Chevelle who is always speeding down their street and taunting Lois, and they end up stealing his car. They think about leaving the kids and escaping to Mexico, but they come back to their senses, drown the car in a lake and return home. ||||||||
| 19 | 3 | "Lois' Birthday" | Ken Kwapis | Alex Reid | November 12, 2000 (2000-11-12) | 06-00-205 | 16.43 |
| Lois gives Reese, Malcolm, and Dewey money to buy her specific birthday presents, only for them to spend most of it on candy and give her cheap gifts instead. When Hal also forgets Lois' birthday, she runs away from home and goes to a batting cage. Francis, who had come home for Lois' birthday, convinces an African woman to ditch her bus tour and see America with him instead. When he learns what Reese, Malcolm and Dewey have done, he disciplines them for their selfishness. At the batting cage, Hal and the boys throw together a makeshift party for her, but Lois isn't impressed. However, when the lead clown hired sexually harasses her, Lois witnesses first hand just how much her family really care for her when they defend her honor by fighting the clowns. ||||||||
| 20 | 4 | "Dinner Out" | Jeff Melman | Michael Glouberman & Andrew Orenstein | November 15, 2000 (2000-11-15) | 06-00-206 | 9.73 |
| The family has a dinner date with the Kenarbans, who start to pick up the bad habits of Malcolm and his family: Abe gets drunk with Hal, Stevie punches Reese, and Kitty makes a scene by yelling at Stevie in front of everyone. While Spangler is busy spending a romantic evening with a woman, the academy is free for the cadets, and so Francis invites a group of local girls to a party at Marlin Academy, which they promptly destroy. Francis goes to Spangler to tell him about the party, and together they try to contain the damage. ||||||||
| 21 | 5 | "Casino" | Todd Holland | Gary Murphy & Neil Thompson | November 19, 2000 (2000-11-19) | 06-00-209 | 14.21 |
| Malcolm and his family vacation at a casino on an Indian reservation. Hal is banned from the gambling area after using Malcolm to count cards for him at a blackjack table. Unable to gamble, Hal looks for another form of recreation and takes Malcolm and Reese on a hike through the desert, where they accidentally wander onto a US Army artillery range. Lois wins a day at the spa and shares it with Dewey since Hal is gone. Francis ditches school thinking he will have the house to himself while his family is gone, only to run into Craig, who also sneaked in the house uninvited. ||||||||
| 22 | 6 | "Convention" | Jeff Melman | Bob Stevens | November 22, 2000 (2000-11-22) | 06-00-208 | 9.87 |
| Hal and Lois go out of town to a convention, where Hal keeps picking fights with a coworker who stole his idea. Lois tells Hal that he has a choice: either he can fight with the man and they will both be arrested or he can take his anger out on her with sex. Malcolm and Reese compete for the attention of their babysitter Patty (Melody Perkins), Francis' friend from grade school who does not know that she is now gorgeous. She finds Dewey adorable and barely notices them. ||||||||
| 23 | 7 | "Robbery" | Todd Holland | Alan J. Higgins | November 26, 2000 (2000-11-26) | 06-00-215 | 15.52 |
| Lois and Craig get caught up in a robbery at the Lucky Aide, where Craig finally admits his feelings for Lois. Hal brings home an old armoire to give Lois as an anniversary gift, but it turns out to be full of bats. He and the boys manage to get rid of all the bats, but not without trashing the house in the process. Francis tries to cheer up a recently dumped fellow cadet by taking him to a strip club, then an illegal cockfight, where they are arrested. ||||||||
| 24 | 8 | "Therapy" | Ken Kwapis | Ian Busch | November 29, 2000 (2000-11-29) | 06-00-210 | 9.53 |
| Malcolm fakes an emotional breakdown in order to get out of the Krelboyne class' Medieval Week. Hal and Lois clean out a packed closet and find that it is actually a second bathroom with a functional toilet. Dewey reveals a hidden talent for table skittles, but his talent disappears as soon as Hal tries to show it off. When Francis starts laundry duty at military school, he becomes greedy and starts a business and black market. The other cadets soon get revenge on Francis by ruining the detergent and allow him to be busted by Spangler. ||||||||
| 25 | 9 | "High School Play" | Jeff Melman | Maggie Bandur & Pang-Ni Landrum | December 10, 2000 (2000-12-10) | 06-00-211 | 16.92 |
| Malcolm gets a role in a high school play and starts blowing off his friends to spend more time with his new high school friends. Caroline gives birth in the school parking lot when the Krelboynes' model rocket launch goes awry. Hal and Dewey create a LEGO city. At the play, the constant exposure to high-school gossip causes Malcolm to forget his lines and allows the Krelboynes to get their revenge on him. ||||||||
| 26 | 10 | "The Bully" | Jeff Melman | Alex Reid | December 17, 2000 (2000-12-17) | 06-00-214 | 15.87 |
| After being beaten by a girl in a wrestling match, Reese relinquishes his role as the school bully, which allows other kids to pick on Malcolm. This also makes it open season for all of the up-and-coming bullies in school, who make everyone's lives even more miserable. However, Reese returns when they go too far by picking on Stevie. Francis tries to come home from military school for his birthday to avoid a birthday hazing ritual of having his whole body shaved. ||||||||
| 27 | 11 | "Old Mrs. Old" | Todd Holland | Alan J. Higgins | January 7, 2001 (2001-01-07) | 06-00-213 | 17.10 |
| Malcolm must help care for a cranky old woman, Mrs. Griffin (Florence Stanley), because he broke her arm. When Lois catches him on a joyride in her car, she covers for him — for a price. Francis' friend Richie is sent to the military academy, and falls prey to Commandant Spangler's manipulations. Francis has his cadet friends beat Richie up in an attempt to make him see Spangler for who he is. Reese tries to convince (and force) Dewey to use a regular backpack instead of a purse. ||||||||
| 28 | 12 | "Krelboyne Girl" | Arlene Sanford | Bob Stevens | January 14, 2001 (2001-01-14) | 06-00-212 | 14.86 |
| Malcolm's class has a new student named Cynthia (Tania Raymonde), and it quickly becomes clear that she has a crush on him. Malcolm is unsure how to react about this, panicking about a new love, and ends up throwing a brick through her window in the middle of the night. She is mad at first, but ends up forgiving him. ||||||||
| 29 | 13 | "New Neighbors" | Ken Kwapis | Maggie Bandur & Pang-Ni Landrum | January 21, 2001 (2001-01-21) | 06-00-219 | 14.89 |
| New neighbors move in next to Malcolm's family, and most members of the two families soon grow to hate each other. The father, however, quickly becomes best friends with Hal, and they keep their friendship a secret. One neighboring child makes the entire neighborhood think that Malcolm is a Peeping Tom, leading Malcolm and Reese to seek revenge by framing him for theft. However, during the execution of their plan, they catch the mother of the family in the hot tub cheating on her husband and accidentally draw the entire neighborhood to the scene. Publicly humiliated, the neighbors move out and the father divorces the mother. Commandant Spangler becomes so stressed about Oliver North visiting Marlin Academy and making sure everything goes right that he gets drunk and passes out on the day of the visit. When he regains consciousness, Francis cheers him up by lying and stating that his "meeting" with North went well. ||||||||
| 30 | 14 | "Hal Quits" | Ken Kwapis | Michael Glouberman & Andrew Orenstein | February 4, 2001 (2001-02-04) | 06-00-216 | 18.59 |
| Hal quits his job after a disastrous career day at Dewey's school, and spends his free time to a huge painting in a garage (which is never shown on-screen). He drives himself crazy adding more and more layers to the painting until it collapses onto him. Francis reluctantly works at the Lucky Aide over spring break when they need extra people to take inventory. Malcolm questions his future profession after an aptitude test reveals that he could do any job on the planet. ||||||||
| 31 | 15 | "The Grandparents" | Todd Holland | Gary Murphy & Neil Thompson | February 11, 2001 (2001-02-11) | 06-00-217 | 14.33 |
| Lois' parents Victor (Robert Loggia) and Ida (Cloris Leachman) come for a visit and don't seem to approve of anyone in the family except Reese. Hal buys a new refrigerator as Victor has promised to reimburse him for it, but Victor changes his mind. Victor also gives Reese a case of his old weapons from World War II, but Reese pulls the pin and Victor breaks the handle off a live grenade, so Malcolm throws it in the new fridge to keep it from destroying the house. Hal gives Victor and Ida an ultimatum: if they do not compensate for the destroyed fridge, he will report them to the police for child endangerment. Meanwhile, Francis is sick from bad sushi while he and the cadets are in New Orleans for Mardi Gras. ||||||||
| 32 | 16 | "Traffic Ticket" | Jeff Melman | Larry Strawther | February 18, 2001 (2001-02-18) | 06-00-218 | 15.80 |
| Lois is cited for reckless driving, and arrested due to several outstanding parking tickets earned by Francis. She orders Francis to pay off the fines or else never come back home, which leads Francis to try a dangerous stunt for money, injuring himself in the process. Lois disputes the reckless driving citation, believing the officer has a personal grudge against her. When security camera footage shows that Lois was wrong,she has an emotional meltdown over being wrong for the first time in her life, but then becomes more easygoing, and tells Francis to use the money he earned to come home for a weekend. Craig finds a security camera from a different angle showing that Lois was not at fault after all, but Hal and the boys destroy the tape and warn Craig to remain silent. ||||||||
| 33 | 17 | "Surgery" | Jeff Melman | Maggie Bandur & Pang-Ni Landrum | February 25, 2001 (2001-02-25) | 06-00-222 | 17.55 |
| Malcolm is hospitalized with stomach pains and is diagnosed with appendicitis. He begins feeling better and struggles to prove the diagnosis wrong before the surgery can be performed. The rest of the family obsesses over a board game called March and Conquer (a fictional version of Risk), which they not usually play since Malcolm always beats them all in a few moves. Francis and the cadets go on a hunger strike after Commandant Spangler takes away their television, but due to their lack of clear thought when hungry, they finally agree to settle for the promise of negligible improvements. ||||||||
| 34 | 18 | "Reese Cooks" | Jeff Melman | Dan Kopelman | March 4, 2001 (2001-03-04) | 06-00-220 | 17.03 |
| After another destructive prank by Reese, Hal and Lois find themselves struggling to discipline him as he shrugs off at any attempts at punishment. Trying a different angle, Hal forces Reese to attend a culinary class, only for Reese to discover a remarkable talent for cooking. In the class' final cooking contest, Reese is found to have tampered with the other contestants' entries despite him being the favorite to win. Hal and Lois subsequently forbid him to cook for a month, which greatly upsets him, leaving them satisfied that they have finally found a punishment that works. Cynthia organizes a "Be My Friend" party for everyone at the school. Malcolm is worried that she's setting herself up for disappointment and tries to stop her. At Marlin Academy, Eric tries to force Francis to do his half of a major project, but Francis keeps getting distracted. ||||||||
| 35 | 19 | "Tutoring Reese" | Ken Kwapis | Ian Busch | March 11, 2001 (2001-03-11) | 06-00-221 | 14.90 |
| Malcolm tutors Reese to improve his poor grades and prevent him from getting sent to the school's remedial class by his teacher Mr. Woodward (Dave "Gruber" Allen), but he keeps getting Fs no matter how much he studies. Out of desperation, Malcolm secretly takes Reese's big test for him. When it earns yet another F, however, and Malcolm confronts Woodward over it, he discovers that Woodward has been deliberately failing Reese regardless of accuracy out of bias against Reese for his bullying. Meanwhile, Francis gets kicked out of the house for refusing to re-shingle the roof and lives in the basement of his friend Richie's house, but finds the conditions even worse than with his mother. When Mr. Woodward comes over to give Lois and Hal the paperwork to reassign Reese to the remedial class, Malcolm exposes him, but also accidentally reveals his and Reese's own cheating in the process. In the end, Francis caves to his mother's demands and returns home, and he, Reese, Malcolm and Woodward are all forced to re-shingle the roof together as punishment. ||||||||
| 36 | 20 | "Bowling" | Todd Holland | Alex Reid | April 1, 2001 (2001-04-01) | 06-00-223 | 13.71 |
| One parent must drive Malcolm and Reese to the bowling alley, while Dewey (grounded for killing the neighbor's parakeet) stays at home, with the other parent watching him. Two alternate realities are simultaneously presented, showing what happens when the boys go bowling with Hal and when they go bowling with Lois. In both versions, the boys cause trouble at the alley while competing for the affections of a girl named Beth (Alex McKenna), and Dewey tries to fool the parent who stays with him into letting him stay up late. In the end in both versions, when the parent that went to the alley returns home with Malcolm and Reese, they ask their spouse to take the boys next time. ||||||||
| 37 | 21 | "Malcolm vs. Reese" | Todd Holland | Story by : Dan Danko & Tom Mason Teleplay by : Dan Kopelman | April 22, 2001 (2001-04-22) | 06-00-226 | 14.46 |
| Francis bribes Malcolm and Reese with just one extra ticket to a wrestling match, forcing them to humiliate themselves and do all his chores to win it. However, Francis betrays them both by taking a girl (Cerina Vincent). Reese and Malcolm exact revenge on him by stealing his driver's license, reporting the family car as stolen to the police, and tying themselves up in the trunk, getting Francis arrested. Dewey is hired to watch Craig's cat, Jellybean, but he loses the cat. Hal and Lois come to help but they make things worse, burning down Craig's house and forcing Craig to move in with the family. ||||||||
| 38 | 22 | "Mini-Bike" | Ken Kwapis | Michael Glouberman & Andrew Orenstein | April 29, 2001 (2001-04-29) | 06-00-227 | 14.59 |
| Craig drives the family insane while living with them. The boys buy a used moped and fix it up, only to have Lois confiscate it. Reese takes the bike out anyway and crashes it, twisting and breaking his leg. Malcolm tricks Craig into believing he ran over Reese. Even though Lois eventually finds out the truth, she does not punish them because they traumatized Craig into leaving the house. Hal visits Francis at Marlin Academy's father/son day and is disappointed to learn that Francis apparently has hardly changed, but is later proud when Francis is the only cadet who stands up to Spangler for the other cadets. ||||||||
| 39 | 23 | "Carnival" | Ken Kwapis | Alex Reid | May 6, 2001 (2001-05-06) | 06-00-225 | 13.61 |
| Reese and Malcolm plan with Stevie to sneak into the county fair that is in town. Dewey spies on them and blackmails them into taking him. They all sneak off to the fair together, but they arrive as the fair is closing and end up being locked in and chased by a drunken security guard. Hal and Lois intend to spend the evening having sex until Stevie's parents show up and they all discover that their sons lied. They search various places around town and eventually find them at the fair. The four are punished by having to walk back home. ||||||||
| 40 | 24 | "Evacuation" | Todd Holland | Gary Murphy & Neil Thompson | May 13, 2001 (2001-05-13) | 06-00-228 | 14.02 |
| As Hal and Dewey are driving an old couch to the city dump, the couch falls onto nearby railroad tracks. A train transporting toxic waste strikes the couch and derails, forcing the neighborhood to evacuate. Dewey convinces everyone that he is an orphan in order to get what he wants, and Reese starts running a black market. Overcome with guilt over causing the wreck, Hal tries to help other evacuees and collects donations for the "orphan", unaware that it is Dewey. Malcolm was late coming home from school, so Lois grounds him and forces him to stay on his designated cot in the gym. At the end, Malcolm stands up to Lois, Reese's black market is discovered, and Dewey calls Hal his dad and confesses to causing the wreck in front of the crowd, creating the impression that Hal is running a scam. The Army forces Hal, Dewey, Lois and Reese to spend the night on a bench outside, with Malcolm enjoying his freedom. Eric takes Francis out on a blind double date, but Francis' date turns out to be twelve. However, Francis has a better time with the girl than Eric has with his own date. ||||||||
| 41 | 25 | "Flashback" | Jeff Melman | Ian Busch | May 20, 2001 (2001-05-20) | 06-00-224 | 13.77 |
| While Hal and Lois fret over the possibility of Lois being pregnant again, they look back at the memories of their children's births. Francis was born during Hal and Lois' wedding. Reese was born prematurely because Lois pushed him out when he kicked too hard. Malcolm was born in the front yard because Hal had just driven away to calm down after an argument, and Francis, thinking Lois was taking him to get vaccinated, locked her out of her car. Dewey was born in the backyard in the rain because the family had to evacuate due to Malcolm accidentally filling the house with chlorine gas. Dewey, who has been listening to his parents, is happy that they are not arguing anymore, because he thought they would get a divorce. Lois is revealed not to be pregnant after all. ||||||||

## Cast and characters
### Main

* Frankie Muniz as Malcolm
* Jane Kaczmarek as Lois
* Bryan Cranston as Hal
* Christopher Kennedy Masterson as Francis
* Justin Berfield as Reese
* Erik Per Sullivan as Dewey

### Recurring

* Craig Lamar Traylor as Stevie Kenarban
* Catherine Lloyd Burns as Caroline Miller
* David Anthony Higgins as Craig Feldspar
* Daniel von Bargen as Commandant Edwin Spangler
* Drew Powell as Cadet Drew
* Eric Nenninger as Eric Hanson
* Evan Matthew Cohen as Lloyd
* Kasan Butcher as Joe
* Kyle Sullivan as Dabney
* Merrin Dungey as Kitty Kenarban
* Tania Raymonde as Cynthia Sanders

## Production

Main cast members Frankie Muniz, Jane Kaczmarek, Bryan Cranston, Christopher Kennedy Masterson, Justin Berfield and Erik Per Sullivan return as Malcolm, Lois, Hal, Francis, Reese and Dewey respectively. Catherine Lloyd Burns, who portrayed Caroline Miller as a regular in season one, appeared in only two episodes of season two due to being pregnant, and left the series after giving birth. The episode "Bowling" alternates between two storylines with the same characters, taking inspiration from Sliding Doors, and uses several split screens.

## Release
### Broadcast history

The season premiered on November 5, 2000, on Fox, and ended on May 20, 2001, with a total of 25 episodes.

### Home media

The season was set to be released on Region 1 DVD in the fall of 2003, but was cancelled due to high costs of music clearances. It was released on Region 2 DVD on November 19, 2012, and Region 4 DVD on September 4, 2013.

## Reception

David Bianculli, writing for New York Daily News, said the season was "genuinely goofy right from the start". Steve Johnson of Chicago Tribune said it "is certainly a family program, and a first-rate one, but it's not at all traditional. Viewers accustomed to sitcom conventions will have a hard time with "Malcolm's" breakneck pace and lack of laugh track or theatrical stage." Mike Lipton of People wrote,"With parents as manic as these, how can Malcolm (Frankie Muniz) and his brothers possibly vie for attention? They can’t, but that’s okay. It’s the sight of adults behaving badly that fuels this show’s delightful anarchy." Alan Pergament of The Buffalo News said, "Muniz still is adorable as Malcolm. But, unlike Bart, he is growing up before our eyes and that charm probably only has a few more seasons to run."
The episode "Bowling" won two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Directing and Writing for a Comedy Series for Todd Holland and Alex Reid, respectively, in 2001. Leading on from this, Holland won the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Comedy Series in 2002. Frankie Muniz was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for this episode.