Malcolm and Reese is caught by the officer
Stock Car Races is the tenth episode of Season 1 of Malcolm in the Middle and the tenth episode overall of the show.
Summary
Hal takes the boys to see stock-car races on a school day. While she's looking for her paycheck, Lois cleans the house and finds enough evidence to ground the boys.
Francis sneaks a snake into the academy. Dewey constantly punches himself in order to get Reese in trouble so he can relax in front of the TV.
Plot
Malcolm is upset about having to dance in front of the school with the other Krelboynes, so he decides to ditch school. But when Hal convinces him that taking him to school will be the highlight of his day, so Malcolm is convinced into going.
The boys are shocked though when Hal tells them they aren't going to school. He takes them to the racetrack to see the last race of the best driver ever Rusty Malcolm. After two laps, the boys decide to get some cokes. While arguing over who should watch him though, the boys lose Dewey and enter a forbidden room instead of staying hooked on finding him, only to be caught by a security guard.
Meanwhile, Francis' disobedience affects the rest of the cadets' thanks to being caught smoking on campus. However when he secretly overhears how much the cadets hate Spangler's annoying dog, Patton, he secretly bought a snake whom he named Otis and stashed him in his foot locker. When he shows this to Stanley, he warns Francis to get rid of the snake before Spangler finds out. He refuses and intends to use Otis one day to attack the dog. This proves successful as Otis ate Patton alive before escaping into the wild.
After Hal leaves with the boys in the morning, he accidentally takes Lois' paycheck and puts in the trash (he finds it at the end of the episode). She begins searching for it, but can't find it. While tearing the house up, she starts finding objects and "dirt" on the boys and Hal. She starts making piles for evidence against each of the boys in her life when Malcolm's Krelboyne teacher stops by for a visit after noticing he has been skipping school all week.
Hal is later confronted by the security guard who explains the boys' rotten behavior. Rather than apologize for it, he punches the guard out and flees with the boys in tow.
When Spangler confronts Francis for the death of Patton since he was the owner of Otis, he tries to claim that he was set up by someone else for it. The angered Spangler punishes them with two months worth of having the hot water shut off and tells the cadets to thank Francis for not confessing to his latest infraction. Believing they're going to beat him up, he warns them to take a picture of him being beaten up and send it to Lois with a sign containing the words "I told you so!" Instead, the cadets congratulate Francis which confuses him. They revealed they hated Patton so much for his annoying barking and wanted to be rid of the dog. The cadets believe Francis did them favor by letting his pet snake, Otis, attack and eat Patton.
At home, Hal arrives with the boys and finds the paycheck in the trash. They are horrified to find the evidence of their crimes and Lois waiting for them with a sinister smile. She punishes Hal and the boys for their wrongdoings.
Trivia
- This episode reveals that Malcolm was named after Rusty Malcolm, and that Francis and Reese were originally going to be named Malcolm for the same reason.
- At the very end of the episode,when Hal and the boys come home,in Francis' basket are cigarettes called ''Morley''.It's a referance to the movie ''Pulp Fiction''