| “ | Happy thoughts, happy thoughts, puppies, ice cream, fat people falling over. | ” |
— Reese
| ||
Reese (born 1986) is the second oldest and most despised of Lois and Hal's children. He is played by Justin Berfield.
Biography
A born delinquent and proud of it, Reese isn't afraid to do whatever springs to mind at the drop of a hat regardless of how a bad idea it is, something which he credits to the crazy voice he and all his brothers share. He gets into more trouble than either Dewey or Malcolm and was the biggest bully during middle school—something which the students were actually grateful for since his being a bully stopped an uprising of hundreds of others trying to take his place. (Bully)
Though his grades don't show it, Reese is just as much a genius as his two younger brothers. He purposely got a perfect zero on every one of his final school exams, a feat which is just as difficult to accomplish as a perfect one hundred. However, in Dewey's special class, Reese, realizing that both Malcolm and Dewey are geniuses, decides to find out what kind of a genius he is. At the end of the episode, he says to Dewey, "I finally figured out what kind of genius I am. It's been staring us in the face. come on Dewey, I've got so much to show you." He has also proven to be a very skilled cook, (Reese Cooks) shown when he prepares an elaborate Thanksgiving dinner for the entire family. (Thanksgiving) He also seems to be quite good at coming up with plans. An example is when he wanted to see Cynthia's boobs, so he came up with a 3-month plan that almost worked (Cynthia almost fell for him). (Cynthia's Back)
In the series finale, he becomes the head janitor for his old high school, after the previous one was fired when the school found peepholes in the girls' shower. As soon as he got the job he left home on his mother's demands and now lives with Craig.
Personality and Traits
Reese appears to be the least intelligent of the brothers and most destructive, although at some times, he shows even more intelligence than Malcolm when devising fiendish plans. He's also shown to be the most despised of Lois and Hal's children. He also has scored high on tests, when he set his mind to it, and had nothing to do but study, as shown in the episode in which he is kicked out and is alone, in which he is referred to as the "most improved student ever seen" by his teacher. Reese is often too tied up in violence and laziness do so much as to try to learn, and appears to have immense problems focusing, a direct result of ADD. He even appears to have had a mean streak in the womb; while Lois was in labor, he kicked her so hard that she delivered him prematurely; immediately following which he kicked the doctor in the nose. His obsession with violence horrifies the family and leaves him with few (if any) friends, partly as he is a bully at school. He bullies the "Krelboynes" in Malcolm's class, (except Stevie who, because of being paraplegic, is "off limits" except in certain situations), as well as his younger brothers, especially Dewey. Reese is often seen exercising to build his muscles, and, in one incident, almost killed himself when a barbell proved to heavy for him to lift, causing it to fall down towards his neck and practically choke him to death. Reese has saved the family on some occasions. Like when he beat up a thug who came in their house, or when he saved Malcolm and Dewey in the tiger cage by throwing a goat in it.
Though not exactly a model brother, Reese, in his own twisted way proves to care, or at least enjoy the company of Dewey and Malcolm. He beat up several students who called Malcolm a freak when he joined the Krelboynes however when his brother thanked Reese he simply shrugged it off, meaning he couldn't tell the difference between protecting his brothers and being Reese. As well when he destroyed Dewey's favorite toy and he pretended his brother didn't exist. To make amends, Reese buys Dewey a game so he would admit that he still existed (however it could be that Reese misses the reaction whenever he torments Dewey). He also has a childish side. It's revealed he calls clouds "sky kittens" and has a wish hole which is actually a tree stump that he revealed to Malcolm.
Reese has extremely little to no empathy, with virtually no sense of right and wrong and basically enjoys doing bad things for the fun of it, despite the trouble he gets into. When it was first shown he had a talent for culinary and entered a contest, he was clearly overjoyed and enjoyed his cooking talents. But despite being a clear winner, he joyfully sabotaged all the other contestants dishes. Reese has even been shown willing to sell out his own family to save himself, especially if the situation benefits himself or for his own mischievous advances. When Hal was trapped under the roof while the boys were grounded, Reese was all for ditching him and making a break for it. Despite his violent nature and bravado, Reese is actually extremely cowardly and quick to run when the situation turns against him. Reese's cruelty knows no bounds as when Dewey bought a new toy and smashed it right in front of him. When Dewey called him the worst brother ever, Reese joyfully says "I KNOW!"
When he was 14 he and his brothers performed the worst act they ever did. Reese got bad results on his report card. Both Malcolm and Dewey got bad results too. This is surprising, as Malcolm is a genius (though the report card may have indicated bad behavior as well). Malcolm and Dewey helped Reese to create fake forms from the doctor saying that Lois had cancer. Lois was so worried about her cancer that she didn't care about the report cards.
When he was 15, Reese took driving lessons. A 16 year old girl took up most of the time and Reese wasn't able to drive until the next day. When the driving instructor had to do an errand, Reese kidnapped the girl (portrayed by Rheagan Wallace) and drove around town. When the police chased Reese, he took his driving test and performed it perfectly. When he got out of the car got out of the car however he was attacked by police, sent to prison and fined. When Reese got out of prison, he was given his drivers license.
Both Hal and Lois have absolutely no hope for Reese and simply want him gone. This was made extremely clear when an infuriated Lois told him the second he was graduated he was out of the house and into Craig's. This indicated both Lois and Hal's extreme contempt for their second born son and their long awaited chance to be rid of him due to the years of misery he has caused them. Reese is well aware of their animosity towards him and is, quite frankly, proud of it. Lois and Hal also seem to care very little for Reese's safety and general well-being. Lois and Hal also seem to enjoy seeing Reese being tortured to a degree as they allow Dewey to torture him for another week with the sound of butterfly's following a traumatic encounter he had with them and Lois allows Dewey to continue torturing Reese as he is locked in a crate he believes is on it's way to China.
Now age 16, Reese found a group of kids who he had bullied, went into a garage, blindfolded himself, and let any kid who paid him $20 beat him. However, the plan backfired when Dewey locked all of the other children out, and beat Reese himself, as a revenge for bullying him. It was revealed that the person in the blindfold was Thomas, a teenager who looked exactly like Reese. Reese, angry at Dewey, chased him, before he was caught by a string which gave him a wedgie. Dewey opened the garage door, and the children, Thomas and Dewey beat Reese. After the incident, Thomas and Reese found out that they had a lot in common, and became great friends.
Aged 17, Reese ran off to join the US military under a faked name and forged age (he was underage at the time) without telling his family where he had gone, possibly heartbroken when Beth (portrayed by Molly Orr) cheated on him with Malcolm. He was successful in completing basic training and was praised as one of the most brilliant soldiers in his platoon after he learned to "turn his brain off" and surrender his will to his superiors. After being sent to Afghanistan, Reese struggles to stay alive and in the process, winds up unwillingly marrying an Arab man. They get a divorce after the wedding, when the Arab man discovers that Reese is male. Reese sees a statue of the god of an unnamed religion, unaware it is a god, he calls it a monkey man, and put in prison. When his mother, Lois, catches wind of what Reese has done, she tracks him down in Afghanistan and personally brings him home without objection from the military since Reese was now found to be underage. However, despite the hardships Reese endured, Lois would show him no mercy when he returned home.
Like Malcolm, Reese is extremely unpopular with girls. But he has had a number of girlfriends throughout the series. However, they all end unhappily when the girls realize Reese's true idiotic and despicable nature. But the one girl he ever truly loved cheated on him with Malcolm.
Despite Reese's outwardly unintelligent facade, he discovered a gift for cooking in his early teen years. He is a gifted culinary prodigy and enjoys it; the only effective way his parents can find to punish him is banning him from the kitchen (which hurts them just as much since they love his cooking). He finds success in a meat-packing job, but is fired after setting all the cows free (trying to impress a girl).
Aged 18, Reese marries an attractive immigrant girl who requires the marriage to stay in the U.S. Reese truly cares for her, and she claims to care about him, despite her dominating personality and refusal to have sex. Lois greatly approves of the marriage (Unlike Francis and Piama's) but only because the girl has completely broken Reese. However, the marriage falls apart when Reese and Lois discover her sleeping with another man inside the couple's "garage apartment" (Which is Reese's parent's garage). Added to the fact that Reese miserably failed the immigration test to keep his wife in the country (going as far as writing that she had a tail), the character is never heard from again and presumably deported. Reese is very much poor, because his parents have no plan's for his future just as Francis, who as far as they know is already living in it.
Reese is depicted as a virgin with limited sexual experience. In the penultimate episode, "Morp", a girl named Jeanie offers to pay Reese to take her to the senior prom because she had been too focused on getting into college to cultivate a social life and find a date by normal means. Jeanie says that she initially selected Reese because he is not "completely hideous" and she knew he would not have a date. However, Reese turns out to be a gentleman and sweeps her off her feet by being charming and considerate. Although Jeanie did not initially plan to do anything with Reese after the prom itself, she invites him to go to the beach with her and tells him that, "I really want you". Before Reese can accept the invitation, his watch alarm goes off, indicating that he is "off the clock", and he leaves, revealing that he was only nice to "satisfy his customer" and thereby passing up a chance to finally have sex.
After graduating high school, Reese first burns the forms he had made aged 14, than moves in with Craig Feldspar and finds success as a janitor at his former high school. In a telephone conversation with Malcolm in the season finale, Reese says that when the principal found the peepholes in the bathroom, the head janitor was fired, and his job was given to Reese. Despite it being a bottom of the barrel job, Reese takes great pride in it.
Trivia
- In the first season, he was in the 7th grade, and 13 years old.
- Reese is the only member of the Wilkerson family who isn't entirely despised by Lois' parents. Ida and Victor admire Reese for being strong and more assertive than everyone else and think that he has the potential to thrive on his own in the real world. Reese barely shows any hatred for them, if not, none and actually shares a small, friendly bond with the two of them.