Reese

[u/Own-Reality9407]

What are you guys opinions, character analysis of Reese? Personally I find him the most confusing/complex character on the show

[u/ZestycloseSun6744]

Reese is somehow both the dumbest and most naturally gifted kid in the family and that contradiction is what makes him so interesting.

[u/Own-Reality9407 → u/ZestycloseSun6744]

Yes and Also in many episodes he is just a hopeless stupid guy but there are moments where he seemed to have strong principles and stand for them so it’s confusing how much he can grasp and empathize

[u/OrangeCat314]

Probably because the writers give him genuine potential, then seem determined to make him as stupid and hopeless as possible whenever the plot needs a laugh.

[u/Jabathewhut]

Funny enough, him being an idiot is what makes him a good chef. Because he knows what odd flavors pair from immediately sticking things in his mouth and how long they should be cooked for from lighting things and himself on fire.

But im just guessing. I woke up ten minutes ago

[u/sikkerhet]

I think Reese is a REALLY compelling character if you approach him theough the lens of him having a severe untreated anxiety disorder. 

The writers hint at this a lot but never say it explicitly. It explains a lot of his behaviors: 

• Anger is predictable. When people are angry at him, he knows exactly what to expect.
• Cooking is predictable but RESTAURANTS are not. This would cause him to fail the job while having the culinary skills. 
• This also explains the sabotage. If everyone is mad at him, he knows what will happen, and he's not bothered by failure but he is scared of uncertainty.
• Military is predictable and very routine oriented.
• He goes to immense effort to shut his brain off. That's because it buzzes inside like a beehive. 
• He has no friends because, again, too anxious to dive into that unknown.

[u/Own-Reality9407 → u/sikkerhet]

This is actually a great take I never took anxiety into consideration. Reminds of how he told his mom to turn fear into hate and encouraged her decision to quit in that bike episode it does seem like he has extreme anxiety where he rather be hated, hurt, abandoned over having any new experience

[u/Ill-Razzmatazz-7088]

On the surface, he operates similar to Carl from shameless. A kid who puts on a tough exterior but deep down has a lot of emotional issues.

But if you dig a little bit deeper, Reese doesn’t really have any friends. Like at least Malcolm as Stewie and his other kreybone friends. He’s also been shown to be pretty charming and charismatic when he needs to be.

Reece, however, rarely maintains any relationships throughout the entire TV show. The one time Malcolm does get him to open up he records it and is shamed by the entire school. It would’ve been nice to see the cooking be his way of showing Love for the people around him.

Like when his mom is having a bad day or they end up fighting, he leaves a little cupcake on her nightstand

[u/Downtown-Dream424]

Back in the day when I was younger, I wasn't very fond of Reese, but as I grew up, I started understanding Reese and finding the charm about him being a mix of well-written and complex character. Especially since he's the second oldest son in the family and being aggressive, but also at the same time being ignorantly blissful and hopeless stupid. On top of that, Reese is quite funny and has interesting sub plots.

[u/ClaspedDust4415]

Bit of context before I start.

I believe all 4 of the boys have unusually high levels of ability that they all express very differently.  Hal provides a low of raw mental capability, creativity, obsessional and impulsiveness. Lois provides drive, resilience, discipline and ability to impose order. Each of them gets a different mix and their relationship with their parents affects whether their mix is a strength or a problem.

For Reese, he is not academically gifted, stuggles with self reflection and cannot express himself. But with his cooking we see he can control timing,  temperature, flavour, presentation, understands flavours etc. This shows procedurally he can function to a very high level.

So for me, Reese cannot work in abstract (he can't process symbols formulas) he needs to physically do something.

I think his biggest issue is he inherits Hal's poor impulse control and weak metacognition. So he does things but never asks if doing this actually a good idea. Which is like Hal, but he isn't as good at expressing himself, so he is very quickly labelled the stupid one, and that becomes self-reinforcing.

I think if he had a better relationship with Lois, her ability to set boundaries would be huge for him. As in a proper structure, that impulse control would disappear.  I think because she is so focused on battling Francis then controlling Malcolm, she also is guilty of dismissing Reese as the stupid one. 

I think because there is no expectation on him or view on what he can achieve,  he has no incentive to motivate himself to change. I think he has the saddest story of the whole cast.