LOIS STRIKES BACK Air Date 3/19/06
Chapter 716

When Reese is the subject of a cruel prank with some girls at school, Lois decides to get revenge. After witnessing the whole incident, Lois visits the school principal and demands that the girls be punished. Yet the principal, who is not fond of Reese, finds the whole thing very amusing. He refuses to take action. Reese becomes a complete wreck and lies whimpering in bed. Lois brings out a yearbook and asks him to identify the culprits. Reese points to a girl named Kristin. Lois parks in front of the school and stalks Kristin.

Hal realizes that Lois is at that dangerous emotional place she sometimes goes to, so he decides to put some distance between them. He stumbles upon the idea for making his own pitching machine out of stuff in the garage. He improves it with several tries. Hal steps up to the plate and swings away, narrating his actions the whole time like a baseball announcer.

Later, Lois asks Malcolm how school was. He mentions that someone put gum in Kristin’s bike helmet. The janitor had to cut off most of her hair just to get it out. Lois seems to enjoy the story a bit too much, which causes Malcolm to become suspicious.

Malcolm is surprised to run into Lois at school. Lois explains that she’s picking up schoolwork for Reese. But Malcolm sees another Reese tormentor named Shannon open up her locker as dozens of dismembered doll heads fall from it. Shannon collapses in grief over what someone did to her toys. Malcolm realizes that Lois was behind the prank, but when he turns to her she’s gone.

Back at home, Malcolm confronts Lois. She denies having anything to do with what happened to Shannon and Kristin. She locks herself in the bathroom. When Malcolm busts in, he finds the window open and Lois gone. Onto her next victim, Lois creeps outside Brooke’s front window and calls the girl’s father from her cellphone. She makes it seem as though Brooke and her boyfriend Scott reserved a hotel room for the night.

Lois confesses her revenge plot to Reese, saying that she gave him the “dark, ugly place” in his soul. Reese convinces Lois to go finish off the last girl, Amber. Lois and Reese take Hal’s pitching machine and use it to hurl liquid-filled balloons at Amber and her winter formal date. Malcolm tries to stop them, but they tie him up in the back of the van and proceed with the pelting.