2.5 "Malcolm in the Middle" - "Casino" Quiz

Answer: Dewey

The episode opens in Hal's and Lois' bedroom. Hal can't sleep because he has a feeling that he forgot something, but after going through a list of tasks he did (such as turning off the lights and taking out the trash), he soon disregards it and goes back to sleep.

The next morning, they find Dewey standing up, asleep while leaning on a kitchen wall. Hal and Lois instantly realize they grounded him the prior day and forgot to end the punishment, so Dewey just stayed there all night. They agree they have to stop doing this, though knowing this family, they likely had no plans to stop punishing their children this way.

Answer: They're in jail

The family is headed on a weekend vacation to a resort with a casino. While Dewey vomits in the car, Hal explains to Reese that while he doesn't know why Indian reservations have casinos, he is thankful they do (one of the reasons is that Native American reservations are exempt from some U.S. laws). Lois tells the boys they'll have a good time as well, and that Francis couldn't be with them because he was placed on academic probation at school.

Unsurprisingly, Francis tricked his parents into thinking he was on probation so he could have the house to himself while the family was away. He calls Richie to share the good news and invites him and his friends to a party. Richie apologizes and explains they are in jail for trying to steal an inflatable panda outside a car lot. Richie doesn't think he can make it either, mainly because he is in the middle of an intervention.

Answer: Pork rinds

As he hangs up with Richie, Francis opens a container that is filled with bags of pork rinds and salsa packages. He then tells himself that he clearly overbought pork rinds given that no one is now showing up to his party.

Pork rinds are a delicious snack made with fried pork skin. In the U.S. they are typically eaten just with salt. In Mexico, where pork rinds are known as "chicharron", the snack is often accompanied by hot sauce and lime, or prepared in a spicy green sauce to create "chicharron en salsa verde".

Answer: Salisbury steak and creamed spinach

Away from the military academy and without friends to join him for his party, Francis is getting more and more bored as he runs out of things to do. He is building a sombrero with pork rinds and glue as he talks to a friend on the phone. He tells Francis that they had Salisbury steak for dinner, and Francis guesses that it came with creamed spinach. He even tries to go deeper into the ingredients that make up the dish, but the cadet wants to hang up because he wants to go back to playing pool.

Salisbury steak is an American dish prepared with ground beef and served with gravy. It was named after chemist and physician James H. Salisbury.

Answer: Foosball

When the family arrives at their room, the boys start fighting over who gets what bed. Lois however quickly determines each child's place. Before anything else happens, Hal has already gone to gamble at the casino. The boys want to go to the pool but are denied access because they're not accompanied by an adult. They can't go get their dad at the casino either because minors are also prohibited from entering. The boys tell their mom that they weren't allowed into the pool, but Lois tells them they can entertain themselves with the rocks, lizards, and old tires they may find outside. She also tells them to appreciate that there are kids in the world that can't even play with those things.

Then, Dewey and Reese are playing foosball or table football in what appears to be a neglected video arcade room. Hal comes out after losing all his money gambling, but his mood quickly changes when he realizes Malcolm has been paying attention to his cards and can make mathematical calculations to improve Hal's chances.

Answer: Blackjack

Hal is excited when he finds out Malcolm can make complex math calculations in his head to help his father win at blackjack. Unfortunately, Hal and Malcolm soon get in trouble with the casino's security personnel when the casino discovers they were card counting. The practice is a controversial strategy used by some blackjack players to get an advantage, though many casinos dislike them and may even ban players if they are suspected card counters.

Hal then tries to bribe the security officer, who takes his money but still refuses to lift Hal's ban. The next morning, the family eats excessively at the all-you-can-eat buffet. Lois wants to go gambling but Hal tries to make excuses to stay away from the casino. Though she suspects her husband is lying about something, she ignores it in exchange for Hal taking care of the kids for the whole day.

Answer: Robe

While Francis is still trying to find something to do, Craig walks into the house, presumably to drop off Lois's paycheck and mail. Thinking he's alone, Craig fantasizes about being in a picture with Lois, prepares some toast, goes inside the bedroom, and puts on Hal's robe. Also unaware that anyone else is in the house, Francis eats the toast without thinking about where it came from.

Then, they both hilariously realize that they are both in the house when they're not supposed to. Craig threatens to tell on Francis, but they then reach a compromise and even share the toast.

Answer: Getting massages and manicure

Hal takes Reese and Malcolm on a hike to "El Diablo Ghost Town", something he saw in a brochure. Predictably, Hal gets lost in the middle of nowhere. Meanwhile, Dewey meets Lois at the casino because he was scared of ghosts and didn't want to go to a ghost town. Before leaving the casino, Lois decides to take advantage of her "free spin" at a wheel of prizes. She wins a Champagne Dreams Package for two. Since Hal isn't around to enjoy it with her, Dewey ends up enjoying the prize with his mom.

Back at their guestroom, Lois and her son Dewey are getting relaxing manicure service while getting massages. The masseuse tells Dewey he carries a lot of tension in his shoulders. He replies: "tell me about it".

Answer: In a U.S. Army artillery range

Malcolm is getting increasingly worried that they are lost. Even worse, Reese used up all their water to make an SOS sign, so now they are both lost and thirsty. Hal is trying to keep his composure but is not doing a very good job at it. Then they are scared by a cougar, a situation that gets worse when the soil below the cougar explodes.

They run away from the explosion as they try to figure out why there was a sudden explosion; Reese proposes he did it through mind control. They then run to what looks like a house and go in. Malcolm then realizes that there are no people in there but dummies (marked as property of the U.S. Army) and that they should run away because they are in a U.S. Army artillery range. Sure enough, the house explodes seconds later.

Answer: No

We see two different stories unfolding at the end of the episode: Lois and Dewey being pampered back at the resort and Hal, Malcolm, and Reese trying to navigate the artillery range as anything they come into contact with keeps exploding. Then, we see the three sitting at a table with an army official, similar to when Hal was speaking to the casino security officers. Reese defiantly tells them he's not impressed by the fact that the "best army in the world" couldn't even kill the three of them.

Dewey is very happy because his mom is uncharacteristically letting him eat as much ice cream as he wants during this "special night". Hal uses his one call from the military facility to ask Lois to pick them up. This of course doesn't happen because Dewey hangs up immediately and doesn't convey the message to Lois. Therefore, Hal, Malcolm, and Reese have to walk in the scorching heat all the way back to the resort.