Life’s still unfair for the Wilkerson family.
Earlier this month, Hulu released “Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair,” a four-part reunion special follow-up to the original series which ran on Fox for seven seasons in the early 2000s. The show followed a fictional suburban family of five.
Hal and Lois, portrayed by Bryan Cranston (“Breaking Bad”) and Jane Kaczmarek (“The Heavenly Kid,” “Raising the Bar”) work monotonous blue collar jobs while trying to keep the reins on their four rowdy boys.
At the beginning of the series, Francis (Christopher Kennedy Masterson), the eldest son, has been recently sent to military school as an attempt to get him to take life more seriously. Reese (Justin Berfield) is the ruthless middle-school bully with a heart of gold. Malcolm (Frankie Muniz, “Agent Cody Banks”) is an average middle schooler who is revealed to have an IQ of 165, forcing him to move from remedial classes to special classes for gifted students. The youngest Wilkerson brother, Dewey (Eric Per Sullivan) is an overlooked musical prodigy who is often pulled into his older brother’s shenanigans.
Over the course of the seven seasons, Francis learns that he can’t always blame others for his problems, Reese discovers what he’s passionate about and Malcolm makes many (unsuccessful) attempts to become less of a self-centered egomaniac. Hal and Lois evolve as parents, welcoming two more children into the family, and Dewey acts as a protector to his friends and younger brother, Jamie, to make up for his own neglected childhood.
The new season consists of four episodes that are each approximately 25 minutes, like the original show. For the most part, I thought the reboot was written very well. It felt like a natural progression from the original series to the new one.
The show manages to remain faithful to its predecessor, bringing back beloved characters, staying true to character dynamics and bringing in new characters that feel like they maneuver well within the world of the show without becoming fanservice.
The reboot does fall into the hellscape that is modern television lighting, losing the nostalgia of classic warm sitcom lighting.
While viewers found the queer and non-binary representation with characters like Stevie and Kelly to be “woke,” I think it made sense for a modern “Malcolm” to continue the inclusive spirit of the original toward topics that are now more culturally normalized.
The character progression for Francis was really nice to see, especially since he spent most of the original series going through life aimlessly, but Reece sadly didn’t receive the same treatment.
I think the backstory of his multiple divorces and continued antics was well developed, but his apparent joblessness didn’t make sense for a man who’d spent a large part of his youth learning to become a great chef and leader.
I think most of the show’s negatives stem from its inconsistent pacing, which isn’t helped by the constraint of four episodes totaling less than two hours.
And while it’s entertaining and well executed, we spend far too much of the third episode—when things should be coming to a head—on Hal’s tripping on drugs and his subsequent self-exploration.
“Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair” may not have been perfect, but it stayed true to the original sitcom by showing that life doesn’t always go as you might plan.
Hopefully the success of the limited run and the open schedules of many of the cast members act as a launchpad for an official revival.
