1.11 "Malcolm in the Middle" - "Funeral" Quiz

Answer: Romeo and Juliet

The episode opens with Malcolm reading lines from the Shakespeare play "Romeo and Juliet", as all the girls in the class look at him enamoured. When he's done, the entire class (as well as his teacher) clap for him, lauding him for being so "sensitive and full of passion". Malcolm is visibly uncomfortable with this kind of attention.

The part he was reading is from Act 3, Scene 5 of "Romeo and Juliet". A common interpretation of these lines is that "pale" refers to the moon, because Cynthia (an epithet of Artemis) is the goddess of the moon. These are the full lines that Malcolm read in his class: "I'll say yon grey is not the morning's eye, 'Tis but the pale reflex of Cynthia's brow, Nor that is not the lark, whose notes do beat, The vaulty heaven so high above our heads, I have more care to stay than will to go, Come, death, and welcome!"

Answer: Raisin

Lois tells Dewey that nothing happens when you die, other than "you're dead". Hal disagrees and goes on a rant about the physical processes that happen to the body upon death, which include bloating like a balloon, shrivelling like a raisin, and being eaten by microbes. They appear to be having this conversation because they are about to leave for the funeral of their aunt Helen.

Hal's comparison to a raisin is likely because of the texture of this dry fruit. Essentially, the raisin is a dried grape that exists in several different colors.

Answer: Football

Malcolm apologizes for not being able to go to the concert because he has to go to his aunt's funeral, even though they were not close. Julie is not worried about having an extra ticket, since she can just ask football player Jimmy Westcott. The news annoys Malcolm, who then sarcastically says "Oh yeah, life's fair". Maybe a nod to the show's theme song, which ends with "life is unfair"?

Answer: Egg

Neither Lois, Hal, nor Reese know where the boy came from. Dewey doesn't know who the boy is either, but calls him "Egg" and says that he invited him over. Lois says that he needs to go home, to which Dewey replies "okay" and then leaves the kitchen with Egg.

Besides being a common breakfast food, an egg is also an important component in reproductive science. A female egg or sex cell is called an "ovum".

Answer: No

Lois gets a call from her son Francis, who is at a military academy in Alabama. She explains that Aunt Helen died and they're going to her funeral. Francis can't believe it and is concerned about how his Uncle Fred is doing. Quickly, Lois would reveal that Fred died two months ago. Francis seems upset that no one told him about the deaths of these family members.

Answer: Out of many, one

Reese wants to make sure this in an open-casket funeral because he wants a Mighty Man toy to be buried with Aunt Helen. Reese explains that he stomped on the toy, which was supposed to be Dewey's birthday present. Reese wants to get rid of the toy because he knows Lois will suspect he was responsible, but won't be able to prove it. He supports that statement by claiming "it's in the Constitution. No evidence, no conviction. E Pluribus Unum." Malcolm rolls his eyes because, of course, that's not what the Latin phrase means.

"E pluribus unum" means "out of many, one" and has been used as a national motto for the United States for decades. The phrase appears in American currency and emblems. Reese was perhaps alluding to the Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which deals with the rights of defendants in criminal proceedings.

Answer: A Tale of Two Cities

When Malcolm realizes Lois is manipulating him (she didn't really like Aunt Helen either), he decides he is going to the concert with Julie after all. He lies to Lois about remembering he had to do a big book report due the next day. Malcolm has all the details together to respond to Lois's questions: it's about "A Tale of Two Cities", it's 750 words long, and it was an addendum to the standard assignment sheet. Lois outsmarts her son by pretending to be confused about the plots of "Les Miserables" and the Dickens book, tricking Malcolm into admitting his lie.

"A Tale of Two Cities" is one of Charles Dickens's most famous books. The novel takes place during the French Revolution and the two cities referred to in the title are London and Paris.

Answer: Stuck in the Middle with You

Hal had been upset all day because he couldn't focus on his records collection. Since Lois decided that one should care about anything anymore, the house turns even more chaotic than usual. Lois prepares herself a bubble bath, Reese knocks over a full trash can, and Malcolm doesn't have a clean shirt to wear to the concert.

In the midst of all this, Hal plays "Stuck in the Middle with You" on his old record player. The song was one of the most successful hits of Scottish band Stealers Wheel, making it to the top ten of both the UK Singles Chart and the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Answer: Reese covers Hal's car in paint

Though all of those options sound reasonably possible, Reese does not cover Hal's car with paint (something similar does happen in another episode). Instead, Lois surrendering control of the house turns into an out-of-control nightmare: Dewey wants to give Egg juice but is not allowed to do it by himself. Lois then lets Dewey pour juice, which results in him spilling it all over the floor. To clean it up, he pours a lot of soap on the floor and scrubs, creating a very slippery surface. When Julie arrives, "Stuck in the Middle with You" is playing loudly while Hal dances. Malcolm, meanwhile, was blow-drying his clothes that got wet when Lois "washed" them in her bubble bath.

Both Malcolm and Julie are horrified when the latter sees him in his underwear, and while trying to leave the room, Julie slips with the soap and falls face-first on the pile of trash from earlier. Julie tells Malcolm that she was warned by other people not to go to the Wilkerson's house but she was trying to be nice. It was a chaotic chain of events, but not too far away from the status quo for this family!

Answer: Yes

Upset about the situation, Malcolm realizes the family needs a scapegoat to blame for their problems so they can get back to normal. He apologizes for tearing the family apart, leading us to believe he will take the blame. However, he then reveals what Reese did to Dewey's birthday present, infuriating both Lois and Hal.

They finally decide to go to the funeral (including Egg!) so Reese can apologize for trying to bury the toy with Aunt Helen. The episode ends with Malcolm kindly helping his Uncle Louie drink water, since "he needs someone to put in a good word for him", presumably with God.