On 8 Sep 2003 22:09:27 +0100,
spambox@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
(Eddie Bernard)
wrote:
>episode "Hal Coaches", Reese is referred to as "a fifteen year old boy."
>This episode comes after the episode where he learns to drive. Unless
>they've made a big mistake, I can only assume that he is 15 for this
>series... except what you said above is right. He started season 4 aged
>14, but his birthday is almost straight away.
I only know Indiana for sure. A learners permit is available as soon
as you are 15, but this is of fairly limited use. A full license is
available as soon as you hit 16. BUT, you must have had a learners
permit for a minimum three months. So you would be sure to get the
learners permit long before you hit 16.
I think there are some states (Utah?) where 15 years and 9 months is
the requirement. This would pretty much match with Reese being
described as 'old enough to get his permit' without it specifically
being his birthday, and why Malcolm doesn't drive throughout season 4
despite being 15 for half of it.
Ha, got it!
http://golocalnet.com/drivingage/
Which is all to say it is so different from one state to the next that
by deliberately not setting the show in any particualr state, they can
about get away with anything.
Going with the Utah model: Reese got his learners permit mid season,
the 'Hal Coaches' episode was very shortly afterwards (within two or
three episodes), so he would definitely still have been 15 then, with
his 16th birthday some time three to six months after that.
Unfortunately off-screen, so we never know for sure. But that could
just about be in the summer... which would make him borderline on the
right age for his high school class, and still maybe about 15 months
older than Malcolm.
Okay, I think that works. Sorted.
>there are specific mentions to him raising the money for the insurance.
>Unless I'm getting confused. In the 2nd episode as well, he actually
>drives Hal's car when he's attempting to smash it into Lois' car.
>
"You don't even have a license"
"I don't need one, all I'm going to do is crash this car into that
one!"
I loved that line, almost as much as the show-stopper 'If you do this,
I'll never have *** with you again' that followed.
And Malcolm already knows how to drive, just not legally... as far
back as season 2 he borrowed the car of some old lady he was forced to
look after and went joyriding around town until Lois spotted him.
The insurance stuff I thought was Reese, back in season 3. Just a
couple of episodes before 'Reese Drives' - if he wants to drive he has
to pay for his own insurance, so he has to get a job at the burger
bar, working for Richie. As Malcolm says, 'Reese gets to be bossed
around by the only person in the entire world dumber than he is.' And
Richie tries to frame him for a $400 theft.
>I think that's probably the best way of looking at it. Yes, they've tried
>hard and have usually been pretty good with the character ages and
>history, but some of that continuity is not following now, so they're
>making minor corrections. Their prerogative, I suppose :-)
As long as they stick with the corrections and don't keep changing on
a whim. I must admit I preferred the revised Francis origin story, it
explained the antagonism between him and Lois much better, and
dovetailed nicely into the partial reconcilliation at the end of the
season.
|
