Ricky Church with the top five moments from Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair…
Malcolm and his crazy family returned to TV over the weekend in the much anticipated reunion miniseriesMalcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair, showing fans that even after nearly 20 years the original cast still has the ability to charm and make us laugh with their character’s insane antics. Throughout the four episodes there were plenty of hilarious moments as audiences were re-introduced to Malcolm as an adult and father of an equally brilliant and eccentric teenaged girl, balancing his wok and personal life while doing everything he could to avoid his family. To further celebrate their return, let’s look at the top five moments from the reunion and why they stuck out…
Honourable Mention: Leah Breaks The Fourth Wall
The introduction of Leah, Malcolm’s teenaged daughter, is one of the miniseries’ most important beats since it gives us further insight into Malcolm’s adulthood as well as the secondary protagonist. Viewers are well familiar with Malcolm’s ability to break the fourth wall and engage with them directly, but the moment Leah does this herself is a great passing of the torch as we get to know her and realize she truly is Malcolm’s daughter. She’s inherited his intelligence, anxiety, overthinking and other eccentric traits. Keeley Karsten quickly makes Leah an endearing character through her fourth wall break that is worthy of an honourable mention.
5. Kelly’s Revenge on Reese
As the youngest sibling in the family, Kelly is the one with the blankest slate as the original series finale revealed Lois was pregnant with her sixth child in the closing moments of the show. Fans had to get to know and attached to Kelly in only four episodes which seems a tall feat when they’re surrounded by beloved legacy characters, butLife’s Still Unfairmade it work by exploring them and their unique traits.
Kelly quickly made their mark on the series as yet another sarcastic and quick-witted child of Lois and Hal’s, but unlike their brothers Kelly doesn’t seem to be as troublesome as they are. That doesn’t mean they’re a pushover either as they see right through Malcolm’s lies and go toe-to-toe with Reese in petty acts of vengeance. When he frames them for an act of vandalism, they prove they’re just as mischievous as Reese, but also just as ruthlessly cunning as their mother which is a terrifying combo when they threaten to reveal to the IRS all of Reese’s unreported income from making a fool out of Hal on the internet. Vaughan Murrae gives a terrific performance as Kelly, showing their blend of the kids’ desire for chaos and Lois’ tactical mind as one reason they are a standout character.
4. Hal’s Drug-Fueled Mind Trip
It is an understatement to say Bryan Cranston is an amazing and dedicated actor whether he’s playing Hal’s over-the-top goofiness or Walter White’s cold and prideful personality. The originalMalcolmseries had several moments showcasing Cranston’s comedic timing andLife’s Still Unfairgives him plenty to work with in an extended sequence that takes viewers into Hal’s deep subconscious in a drug-fueled trip.
After Hal discovers Malcolm not only wants nothing to do with the family but has kept his daughter a secret for over a decade and Reese has been humiliating him online for profit, Hal is in a huge depressive episode and Abe takes him to a clinic to microdose. However, Hal instead ingests much, much, MUCH more than he should, sending him crawling naked around the room as he reenacts his birth and speaks to a part of himself buried deep down, a version of Hal who is dapper, well-spoken and apparently heartless. It is a wildly hilarious set of scenes once again showing off Cranston’s range as he speaks with himself, finding new ways to both explore Hal’s character and make a complete fool of himself in the process just for laughs.
3. Malcolm and Lois Make Up
What is also an understatement – perhaps the biggest understatement in all ofMalcolm– is the complexity behind Lois’ character. She’s a devoted mother who loves all her children, but she is incredibly overbearing and overly strict, yet she also had to be with the type of children she was raising. After all, one pivotal episode in the original flashed back to Lois’ early days with baby Francis showed her as something of a pushover until she developed a fierce instinct to protect and discipline Francis out of doing dangerous stuff. It is no small wonder her and Malcolm have a strained relationship which came to a head in the finale for Life’s Still Unfair.
The reason Malcolm distanced himself from his family wasn’t just because of the intense arguments they tended to get into, but also because of the great amount of pressure he was seemingly under as the original finale revealed Lois’ all laid out roadmap for Malcolm’s life where he’d become President of the United States. It was something not just Lois believed, but Hal, his brothers and sister-in-law also expected. For Lois to then tell Malcolm that it was just a plan and not something set in stone, unravelling nearly two decades of choices for that path, was a lot to unpack.
The scene was very cathartic as Malcolm and Lois finally stood as equals with him being honest that distancing himself was not only out of resentment but a fear of disappointing his family. It doesn’t completely take Lois off the hook for placing those extreme expectations on him, but it is something any parent can understand for wanting to make their children a better person with a good life. Frankie Muniz and Jane Kaczmarek are great as they each become more vulnerable, even as Malcolm has his classic screaming crash outs before calming down. As a discussion that was built up over the four episodes (and technically 20 years for the audience), it was a well earned moment for Malcolm and Lois to, as Francis put it, find each other after all this time. The fact that this emotional scene was set against the backdrop of Craig having his own explosive meltdown in the stall next to them is just hilarious icing on the cake too.
2. Malcolm’s Crash Out
That said, Malcolm cutting himself out of his family’s lives is not entirely undeserved either. Those lofty expectations aside, there really are several toxic traits that run through every single member of that family that only multiplies whenever they are together. It does lead to hilarious shenanigans, but the amount of trauma Malcolm was left with leads him to be more than a little justified in his decision to mostly cut his family off.
It still doesn’t fully excuse some of his own choices like not even telling his parents about his daughter Leah and lying to her too that her grandparents died. It is a common theme with Malcolm himself that he doesn’t always think clearly and could be quite selfish outside of his family as evidenced in the original series and moments inLife’s Still Unfairwhere he attempts to manipulate and gaslight Kelly and Tristan. Credit where credit is due though, Malcolm does call himself out during his crash out to Lois and Hal as he explains he always becomes an asshole when they’re around.
His tantrum is hilarious for the reactions it brings out of everybody in the room, especially Tristan and Leah who have never seen Malcolm like this. Then there is Leah’s deadpan “Dad?”, causing Lois and Hal to react even more as they realize the length of Malcolm’s lies with Cranston delivering a great performance as a dumbfounded Hal and Kaczmarek getting even angrier. The real crowning moment though is Muniz during both his tantrum and its aftermath as Malcolm literally runs away from his problems to a whole other state on foot. The closing minute of the premiere is one of the funniest moments in the whole miniseries and perhaps in Malcolmas a whole.
1. Tribute to Hal
Given thatLife’s Still Unfair is about celebrating Hal and Lois’ anniversary as well as being a big reunion between this iconic cast, it should come as no surprise the best moment is Lois’ beautiful tribute to Hal in the finale. The entire cast, from the main to supporting members, express why Hal has had such a profound effect on all their lives. It is an incredibly moving sequence filled with fantastic performances and funny beats, most of all Lois’ editing of Stevie’s slow speech, and is made all the more poignant by the fact Hal is considered one of TV’s best dads as well as Lois and Hal being one of its best couples. The two of them compliment each other in so many ways with Cranston and Kaczmarek sharing such great chemistry throughout the years the tribute hits especially hard after all this time.
It is also significant because it highlights the reunion’s overall theme of family and Malcolm’s own problems that as crazy and dysfunctional as they all are, at the end of the day they still love and will go to bat for each other no matter what. The fact this beautiful tribute is followed by absolute chaos gives the miniseries a fitting end that brings them all fully back together while opening new doors now that Leah and Tristan are both brought into the family.
What were your favourite moments inMalcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair? Let us know what you think on our social channels at @FlickeringMyth, and read our review of the reunion special here…
Ricky Church
