1.8 "Malcolm in the Middle" - "Krelboyne Picnic" Quiz

Answer: Pretend to be asleep

The first thing we see in this episode is Hal and Lois peacefully sleeping, only to be woken up by yelling and broken glass noises. Their three children, Reese, Malcolm, and Dewey, were fighting and apparently dealing with a situation that required to "leave the squirrel alone and get the fire extinguisher". Since neither of the parents wants to get out of bed to deal with this, they both pretend to be asleep. Lois closes her eyes as soon as she notices Hal looking at her, while Hal fakes a snoring sound to trick Lois. Eventually, Hal gets up and tells his wife: "you better be naked when I get back".

Answer: Vegetable soup

Reese wakes Malcolm by punching him in the face and complaining that he didn't want to go to Malcolm's Krelboyne picnic. The Krelboyne class is a special group for gifted children who are given more advanced coursework, but are somewhat ostracized at school. Malcolm was placed in this class earlier in the season but doesn't enjoy being there. He is even more embarrassed because they are going to the picnic on the same weekend his older brother Francis is visiting.

Malcolm makes it look like he is vomiting into the toilet to try to get out of the picnic, but Lois doesn't buy it. She instead scolds him for wasting "perfectly good vegetable soup" as she grabs the empty soup can from a shelf. Though we can't clearly see the brand, the can looks like it was a Campbell's product. The company began selling canned soups and other processed products in the U.S. in 1869.

Answer: Throws them away

When the Wilkersons arrive at the picnic, they are greeted by Malcolm's teacher, who is fully in character as a member of the circus. She asks Dewey if he is "ready to join the circus", which makes a terrified Dewey cling to his dad's leg. Malcolm insists that the Krelboynes are not his friends, though they greet him by chanting his name and dancing around him. Francis is initially on board to help Malcolm escape but is soon distracted when he sees a pretty girl.

Lois introduces herself to the other moms. One of them, Doreen, tells Lois that bringing brownies was thoughtful but that they have to be thrown away because they have walnuts. This is odd because none of the children in the picnic were allergic, but Doreen still thought "you can never be too careful". Doreen then smashes the baking dish until the brownies are completely destroyed and in the trashcan.

Answer: Eraserhead's older brother shows up

Reese is treating the Krelboyne picnic as if it was a hunting event. He even hides in the bushes, calls them an "easy target for nearby predators", and roars before chasing after the Krelboynes. Three of them escape but Eraserhead is cornered between Reese and a steel gate. Just as Reese is about to "attack", a much taller man puts his hand on Reese's shoulder.

It turns out to be Alphonse, Eraserhead's older brother. Eraserhead calls the situation "Kafkaesque" though Reese has no idea what he means. Reese manages to escape and Alphonse chases after him.

Answer: True

Hal is surprised to learn that the parents at the picnic were only eating vegetarian foods like tofu. He shocks all of them by showing them all the red meat he brought with him in a cooler, mostly hot dogs and burger patties. The Krelboyne parents seem to get over their shock quickly because Hal gets busy at the grill cooking the meat for everyone. Dewey is helping out his dad with the barbecue, but unfortunately, is also eating the raw meat! Hal tells Dewey: "what have I told you about raw meat, son?" to which Dewey simply replies: "I'm not!" while visibly chewing something.

Answer: Nixon

The picnic attendees are quite bored with the children's presentations since many of them involve complicated math and science concepts. Lloyd presents his "Nixon electromagnet" (a fictional name) which appears to be a big metallic ball. When Lloyd turns it on, he is pulled into the magnet face-first because it attracted his braces. It looked quite painful and embarrassing! The teacher, Caroline, is not pleased with the way the event is going. She is very much looking forward to Malcolm's act, hoping that it will bring the crowd back.

Richard Nixon was the 37th President of the United States. He was a Republican who served between 1969 and 1974, having previously served in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate, as well as holding the Vice President's office under President Eisenhower. Nixon's presidency dealt with many important foreign policy issues, most notably the Vietnam War. Nixon was then overwhelmingly reelected in 1972 (winning in every state except for Massachusetts and D.C.) but resigned in 1974 following the Watergate scandal. In a 1973 speech, Nixon said "I am not a crook" as the Watergate investigation was in progress.

Answer: No

Stevie, who was annoyed by how Caroline was paying so much attention to Malcolm, was planning to present a chemistry experiment and had plenty of chemicals ready. He left Malcolm in charge of the chemicals while he was gone, which proved to be a bad idea. Malcolm said that, in the wrong hands, those chemicals could be used to create a stink bomb.

Unfortunately, Malcolm's experiment goes wrong and he instead causes an explosion, which itself creates a toxic biohazard.

Answer: Depeche Mode

The picnic attendees had to be examined by medical professionals. Jody, a girl that Francis met at the picnic and quickly became his "girlfriend", got jealous after seeing the paramedic touching Francis. This triggers a fight between the new couple and they apparently break up. They give back all the objects they gave each other (incredibly, all of them in the course of a single day). Jody gives back a ring, a shirt, and a book, while Francis returns a teddy bear keychain, two poems, a Depeche Mode tape, and the chewing gum he had in his mouth.

Depeche Mode is an English rock band that became active in 1980. Originally founded as Composition of Sound, the band has primarily consisted of Martin Gore, Dave Gahan, and Andy Fletcher, with several other musicians having joined and left throughout the band's long history. In 2022, two years after Depeche Mode was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Andy Fletcher passed away in England. The band has released more than twelve studio albums and have been nominated for many different awards. In 1991, their song "Enjoy the Silence" won a Brit Award for Best British Single.

Answer: Math

Malcolm feels bad for Caroline after the circus turns out to be a debacle. Angry parents complain about how the academic circus went, and Caroline even thinks she will get fired. In an attempt to fix this, Malcolm decides to perform the act he had been dreading.

While all the previous acts involved some sort of display to help explain complex math and science concepts, all Malcolm had to do was stand on the stage and ask to see two credit cards. He glanced at them for a few seconds and then perfectly recited every single number.

His memory skills were already impressive, but then, he went even further by (correctly) solving a variety of complex mathematical operations without a calculator, based on the numbers from the credit cards.

Answer: Is Malcolm a robot?

Malcolm's impressive skills turn the circus around into an enjoyable event for the attendees. It also seemed to make Doreen jealous, as she asks her son why he can't do what Malcolm did. When Malcolm gets into his car, he is expecting a bad reaction from his family.

Instead, Dewey asks if his brother is a robot, to which Hal responds: "no son, he's just smart. Very, very, very, very, very, very smart". Francis then jokingly asks Malcolm to figure out how many fingers he's holding and the whole family laughs, ending the episode on a happy note.