Francis and Piama visit the family to celebrate Francis' 21st birthday, day in which Francis reminds Hal of his promise of a motorcycle trip with him, despite Lois hating them. Meanwhile, Reese, Malcolm and Dewey find out that a big bully is waiting for one of them outside the house.
This work contains examples of:
- All for Nothing: Malcolm is determined to find a way out without getting beaten up, while Reese and Dewey just tell him to let it happen already. When the bully finds out that he got the wrong house and leaves without beating up Malcolm, Reese and Dewey make sure that he doesn't get away intact.
- Armor-Piercing Response: After Lois spends most of the day berating Piama, she finally has enough and tells Lois to stop being condescending to her. Lois realizes that she is right and both start to bond after that point.Piama: No one is as useless as you think I am! My focus should be on hating my husband and planning revenge, not worrying about whether I belong here.
- Berserk Button: Lois HATES motorcycles, even the slight mention of them.Hal: Hey... remember before [Francis] was born, and I had that Harley Da—
Lois: No motorcycles ever!! You do not talk about motorcycles. You do not think, you do not wish, you do not even reminisce about those stupid, idiotic death traps! They do not exist!! MOTORCYCLES DO NOT EXIST!! Say it!!
Hal: Motorcycles do not exist.
Lois: What does not exist?
Hal: I don't know...
Lois: Good. - Birthday Episode: It's Francis' 21st birthday, and he wants to celebrate it with a motorcycle trip with Hal.
- Delayed Reaction: Lois tells Piama that Hal and Francis usually realize how much they screwed up in the remaining five minutes before having to return home. Just when the maid at the spa tells them the time, they start to panic for what they did.
- Everyone Has Standards: Discussed by Piama and Lois about how much one can tolerate from their husbands.Piama: So no matter how low I set the bar, he'll still find a way to crawl under it?
Lois: You still think there's a bar. That's so cute. - From Bad to Worse: When Reese suggests telling Lois about the bully harassing them, Malcolm points out if they do that, the bully will tell Lois about whatever it was they did to him, and then they'll have the bully and Lois after them.Reese: Let's just tell Mom.Malcolm: We can't. If we send Mom out there, Randy will just tell her what we did and they'll both be after us. Did you see the movie where Freddy teamed up with Jason? Is that what you want for us?
- Here We Go Again!: The plot happens because Hal promised Francis a bike road-trip to make up for missing his play. When Dewey sees him with the motorcycles, Hal panics and promises Dewey a rocket trip in his 21st birthday... without Dewey asking for it.
- Internal Reveal: Francis questions why he is 21 years old if Hal and Lois have been married for 20 years.
- My God, What Have I Done?: A less serious example, but after Piama calls her out over her obnoxious behaviour, Lois realises she has been treating her daughter-in-law unfairly.Lois: You're right. I'm sorry, you deserve better.
- No Holds Barred Beat Down: Randy, the bully, issues these to Dewey and Reese, and is set to deliver one to Malcolm before realizing he came to the wrong house.
- Noodle Incident: Malcolm, Reese and Dewey each mention a reason why the bully pursuing them might be after them individually.Dewey: God, he looks mad. Which one of us do you think he wants?Malcolm: Reese, it's obviously you. That must have been his bike you super-glued to the train tracks!Reese: We don't know that! You were pretty fast and loose with that dog-crap slingshot the other day! How do you know you didn't hit him?Malcolm: [looks at Dewey] What about you? How many people did you convince to buy those algebra pills?
- Lois mentions to Piama a time when one of the boys got acquitted from court on their birthday.
- Obnoxious In-Laws: Ever since Piama arrived to the house, Lois has been throwing her a lot of condescending remarks. It's only after Piama stands up to her and reminds her that they both are upset at their husbands, that Lois apologizes to her and genuinely starts bonding with her.
- Tranquil Fury: After burying the hatchet, Lois and Piama share some drinks while happily destroying their husbands' things. Lois tells her that they're still in the brainstorming stage of their revenge.
