Reese



Reese, played by Justin Berfield, is the second oldest of the children, and also appears to be the least intelligent and most destructive, although at some times has appeared as the main antagonist in a couple of episodes he shows even more intelligence than Malcolm when devising fiendish plans. 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. His birthday is sometime near Reese Drives as he turns 15. Reese is often too tied up in violence and laziness to try to learn, and appears to have immense problems focusing. He even had a mean streak in the womb; while Lois was inlabor, he kicked her so hard and so often that she forced herself to deliver him several hours ahead of schedule. Immediately following his delivery he kicked the doctor in the nose. His obsession with violence horrifies the family and leaves him with few 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. He is apparently the favorite grandson of both Ida and Victor, and in "Hal Sleepwalks", is implied to be Hal's favorite as well, Though most episodes show that both Lois and Hal have very little to no hope for Reese and just want him gone.

Reese has very little (if any) empathy, and seems to enjoy doing bad things for the fun of it, despite the trouble he gets into. When he first showed a talent for cooking, he entered a cooking contest and despite being a clear winner sabotaged all of the other contestants. Reese has also been shown willing to sell out his own family to save himself. When Hal was trapped under a collapsed room while they were grounded, he was all for abandoning him and making a break for it. When Malcolm was doing badly at bowling, Reese led the whole bowling alley in making fun of him. Reese bought Dewey a new toy plane but then smashed it in front of him just to see the look on his face. Dewey said he was the worst brother ever, Reese said (excitedly), "I know, isn't it great?!".

It is very rare that his family is ever proud of him, When he was on the school wrestling team Malcolm states "We're still getting used to this whole proud of Reese thing".

Because of his bullying and destructive nature he gains all lot of contempt from everyone around him, including his own family (especially Malcolm and Dewey). Both Malcolm and Dewey take great pleasure from whatever befalls Reese knowing full well he deserves it. Reese has been outsmarted and manipulated by Dewey many times.

Reese takes great pride in what victories come his way no matter how petty or meaningless, He was inadvertantly an integral part in an experiment with a new enzyme Malcolm and Stevie were working on for a contest a local company was working on. But while the enzyme won and would go on to make millions of dollars, The company kept all the patent rights and cut the boys off completely, and because they were minors there was nothing they could do about it and all they won was a pencil case, while Malcolm put on a happy face for the audience he was actually infuriated, but Reese was delighted at the prize.

Reese seems to find life easier the lower he keeps everyone's expectations.

During his teen years, Reese ran off to join the US military (after sneaking out to see his girlfriend, only to see Malcolm under her bed) under a faked name and forged age (he was underage at the time) without telling his family where he had gone. 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. He "turned his brain back on" during a war game and utilized his past experiences with his family to allow his side to win. After being sent to Afghanistan in combat conditions, Reese immediately deserts and starts trying to make his way home, unwittingly marrying an Arab man in the process. When Lois discovers what he has done, she informs the recruiter that he is underage, gets implicit permission to bring him back, then flies halfway around the world to do just that. Late in Season 6, he deliberately fails all of his final exams so that he will have to repeat his entire senior year of high school, thus making sure that he can live at home for one more year.

Despite Reese's outwardly unintelligent facade, he discovered a gift for cooking in his early teen years. He is gifted at gourmet cooking and enjoys it; the only effective way his parents can find to punish him is banning him from the kitchen. He finds success in a meat-packing job, but is fired after setting all the cows free (trying to impress a girl).

Reese is depicted as a virgin with limited sexual experience, although he manages to go several dates with girls. In the episode "Morp", a girl named Jeanie pays Reese to take her to the senior prom because she had been too focused on getting into college and can't find a date by normal means. Reese turns out to be a gentleman and sweeps her off her feet. 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, "I really want you." Before Reese can accept, his watch alarm goes off, indicating that he is "off the clock" and leaves, revealing that he was only nice to "satisfy his customer". At one point, Reese's grandmother Ida makes Malcolm and Reese fight over a teenage girl named Raduca, who comes from the same village as Ida. The winner is supposed to marry Raduca. Reese ends up being together with her and subsequently moves into the family's garage with her. Raduca immediately cheats on Reese and ends up getting deported, because Reese wasn't able to answer simple questions about her, even claiming that she has a tail. He starts dating a girl named Alison in the episode "Forbidden Girlfriend", who is as intelligent as he is, although he considers her to be smarter than he is. They keep dating until the prom, since Reese originally planned to have a fight with her before it and make up with her afterward, so he wouldn't have to pay the expenses for going to the prom. She makes him go anyway, but announces that she will break up with him immediately after the prom.

After graduating high school, Reese moves in with Craig Feldspar and finds success as a janitor in 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.