Malcolm In The Middle: Life's Still Unfair
I feel people come at this with the wrong perspective. Life's Still Unfair is not depriving itself from the comedy that made it popular but its intent is less on its episodic roots and moreso interrogating its premise and conceit. But given its reception, I feel most watched this wanting to reconnect with the family but it ends up being a bit polarizing when its priorities aren't within the original realm of the series.
Most people who like this seem to enjoy it for maintaining its characterization but I would argue this is somewhat to its detriment. Malcolm is just as neurotic and immature as when he was a teen, and I feel that isn't serviceable to what his character is at this juncture. Malcolm's conceit; as in the character himself, is that he is a better person when he's not around his family. But we never see how he's changed having been away from them for decades or even on the general course of being an adult. He's barely different, and on the one hand, this gives credence to the idea that Malcolm is full of shit with the way he talks about his family. However, I think this is weak because Malcolm functionally never had issues succeeding professionally/academically as much as it is he's a social mess, and they want me to believe that he's somehow more tactful and assured of himself while he mostly acts the same way he's always been? Am I to believe he's somehow not messing up his own life due to his social anxieties like he usually does? Maybe there's a decent comedic angle that can be played with this but we really don't see Malcolm's character deal with any messy social situation beyond his personal family. There are some laughs attempted but I feel the new characters aren't outlandish or funny enough to make it land.
The new characters is something most will see as the weak point. Keeley having her father's neuroticism comes off more as a gimmick than a thoughtful decision. It's a means to justify being Malcolm's daughter but it comes off as arbitrary. It's supposed to reflect on Malcolm's negligence as a father but it just comes off like some very tacky signal that she adapted Malcolm's traits for simply being his daughter. Thing is I'm not opposed to this necessarily but what made Malcolm's neuroticism and anxiety funny was that he had a quirky family that plays off of it that never took it seriously and it lead his to comical extremes. Here, too much of the supporting cast around her is too straight to make that funny and it's the barest teen drama slop you can imagine in execution. She's probably okay insofar that he drives Malcolm back to his family and highlights Malcolm's flaws but the attempts to provide her own characterization and value ring hollow. MAYBE there might be something if they do another season and gets the main family to play with but otherwise she kinda sucks.
Malcolm's wife comes across as even more bland. Very conventional "girl boss" type of characterization you see in a lot of modern stuff these days and without any real quirk or hook to make us care about her. She's the only character that Keeley gets to have any real chemistry with outside of Malcolm. However, the dynamic mainly serves to lampshade Malcolm's faults and while there's a bit of comedy in mocking Malcolm, what does that give these characters individually? I'm not upset by her concept or premise; I just wish there was more to her than what she's supposed to reflect on Malcolm. Maybe there's a conceit that can land where she's made as an assertive outsider to the core family's eccentricities, but I feel she needs something more than her outline to be engaging.
Kelly is possibly the best addition to the cast. There's a great joke with them that Hal/Lois wanted a daughter and the one they get that was born female decides to become non-binary. There isn't much dwelling on this or their gender identity in general which is maybe a missed opportunity. But I think what makes them work is that they're hitting a strong contrast to the rest of the family. Whereas the cast feels divorced from each other, Kelly insists on the connection and holds a moral high ground that hits an amusing level of pettiness at times. Malcolm as a series never had a dedicated straight man, Malcolm and Lois hit that role sometimes but they were too eccentric to be strictly defined as that. Kelly hits that role well because they have the moral compass to go against the dumb schemes of the family but while not as eccentric as they are a lot of her actions feel like they come out of pettiness, even if she's right. That sort of angle hits a decent chemistry which I think adds to the core of the series. They're a very "millennial" character in terms of how they're written but it makes perfect sense for who they are.
The rest of the returning cast is suitably characterized. It's neat to see what everyone became in adulthood, even if most of its rather tangential for the narrative. I feel the only bummer is they couldn't get back Dewey's actor, which I suspect is why they severely limit his presence in the narrative, but I do respect them for making the best of that and some of the gags of him being forced to communicate through a computer gave me a chuckle sometimes.
What really lands with this series is Hal's characterization. Much of his arc is about the anxieties of the twilight years. Hal is content with his life, but he also lacks much self-purpose. He dedicated decades of his life to his family, but what state does that lead him to when his family has grown past him? I generally like how the plot explores this, because while there's a lot of comedic contextualization for it, I don't think it misses the mark on what Hal is or the conclusions he reaches about his inner conflict. This is elevated by just how much energy Cranston puts into the character, he's way more physical and animated in a way he usually wasn't in the original show and so much of the comedy here is just him doing emotional slapstick. It's also something to admire that he's able to play himself that way while being in his 70's, I fully love that!
The family gathering at the final episode, despite everything, is what made me embrace this series. An absolutely perfect cavalcade of emotional resonance and comedy, that provides incredible catharsis to not only Hal's narrative but also gives strong self-reflection to Malcolm's relation to his family. Frankly, the stuff we get from Malcolm here is a lot stronger than anything they've done with his personal family. I think the reason for that is Malcolm is actually confronted on what was driving him away from his family and realizing the context of that, and it ends up being a solid joke of "yeah, only Malcolm would react to this in that way." The video package for Hal is possibly one of the sweetest montages I've seen in a series.
The overall comedy of the show is hit and miss, but I feel as a return to an older series that it's cool to see how it recontextualizes itself in a modern setting without losing its essence. I mostly like what they've done to the characters and earnest comedy of this kind is something I think we need more of.
Most people who like this seem to enjoy it for maintaining its characterization but I would argue this is somewhat to its detriment. Malcolm is just as neurotic and immature as when he was a teen, and I feel that isn't serviceable to what his character is at this juncture. Malcolm's conceit; as in the character himself, is that he is a better person when he's not around his family. But we never see how he's changed having been away from them for decades or even on the general course of being an adult. He's barely different, and on the one hand, this gives credence to the idea that Malcolm is full of shit with the way he talks about his family. However, I think this is weak because Malcolm functionally never had issues succeeding professionally/academically as much as it is he's a social mess, and they want me to believe that he's somehow more tactful and assured of himself while he mostly acts the same way he's always been? Am I to believe he's somehow not messing up his own life due to his social anxieties like he usually does? Maybe there's a decent comedic angle that can be played with this but we really don't see Malcolm's character deal with any messy social situation beyond his personal family. There are some laughs attempted but I feel the new characters aren't outlandish or funny enough to make it land.
The new characters is something most will see as the weak point. Keeley having her father's neuroticism comes off more as a gimmick than a thoughtful decision. It's a means to justify being Malcolm's daughter but it comes off as arbitrary. It's supposed to reflect on Malcolm's negligence as a father but it just comes off like some very tacky signal that she adapted Malcolm's traits for simply being his daughter. Thing is I'm not opposed to this necessarily but what made Malcolm's neuroticism and anxiety funny was that he had a quirky family that plays off of it that never took it seriously and it lead his to comical extremes. Here, too much of the supporting cast around her is too straight to make that funny and it's the barest teen drama slop you can imagine in execution. She's probably okay insofar that he drives Malcolm back to his family and highlights Malcolm's flaws but the attempts to provide her own characterization and value ring hollow. MAYBE there might be something if they do another season and gets the main family to play with but otherwise she kinda sucks.
Malcolm's wife comes across as even more bland. Very conventional "girl boss" type of characterization you see in a lot of modern stuff these days and without any real quirk or hook to make us care about her. She's the only character that Keeley gets to have any real chemistry with outside of Malcolm. However, the dynamic mainly serves to lampshade Malcolm's faults and while there's a bit of comedy in mocking Malcolm, what does that give these characters individually? I'm not upset by her concept or premise; I just wish there was more to her than what she's supposed to reflect on Malcolm. Maybe there's a conceit that can land where she's made as an assertive outsider to the core family's eccentricities, but I feel she needs something more than her outline to be engaging.
Kelly is possibly the best addition to the cast. There's a great joke with them that Hal/Lois wanted a daughter and the one they get that was born female decides to become non-binary. There isn't much dwelling on this or their gender identity in general which is maybe a missed opportunity. But I think what makes them work is that they're hitting a strong contrast to the rest of the family. Whereas the cast feels divorced from each other, Kelly insists on the connection and holds a moral high ground that hits an amusing level of pettiness at times. Malcolm as a series never had a dedicated straight man, Malcolm and Lois hit that role sometimes but they were too eccentric to be strictly defined as that. Kelly hits that role well because they have the moral compass to go against the dumb schemes of the family but while not as eccentric as they are a lot of her actions feel like they come out of pettiness, even if she's right. That sort of angle hits a decent chemistry which I think adds to the core of the series. They're a very "millennial" character in terms of how they're written but it makes perfect sense for who they are.
The rest of the returning cast is suitably characterized. It's neat to see what everyone became in adulthood, even if most of its rather tangential for the narrative. I feel the only bummer is they couldn't get back Dewey's actor, which I suspect is why they severely limit his presence in the narrative, but I do respect them for making the best of that and some of the gags of him being forced to communicate through a computer gave me a chuckle sometimes.
What really lands with this series is Hal's characterization. Much of his arc is about the anxieties of the twilight years. Hal is content with his life, but he also lacks much self-purpose. He dedicated decades of his life to his family, but what state does that lead him to when his family has grown past him? I generally like how the plot explores this, because while there's a lot of comedic contextualization for it, I don't think it misses the mark on what Hal is or the conclusions he reaches about his inner conflict. This is elevated by just how much energy Cranston puts into the character, he's way more physical and animated in a way he usually wasn't in the original show and so much of the comedy here is just him doing emotional slapstick. It's also something to admire that he's able to play himself that way while being in his 70's, I fully love that!
The family gathering at the final episode, despite everything, is what made me embrace this series. An absolutely perfect cavalcade of emotional resonance and comedy, that provides incredible catharsis to not only Hal's narrative but also gives strong self-reflection to Malcolm's relation to his family. Frankly, the stuff we get from Malcolm here is a lot stronger than anything they've done with his personal family. I think the reason for that is Malcolm is actually confronted on what was driving him away from his family and realizing the context of that, and it ends up being a solid joke of "yeah, only Malcolm would react to this in that way." The video package for Hal is possibly one of the sweetest montages I've seen in a series.
The overall comedy of the show is hit and miss, but I feel as a return to an older series that it's cool to see how it recontextualizes itself in a modern setting without losing its essence. I mostly like what they've done to the characters and earnest comedy of this kind is something I think we need more of.
Mini Review: I feel people come at this with the wrong perspective. Life's Still Unfair is not depriving itself from the comedy that made it popular but its intent is less on its episodic roots and moreso interrogating its premise and conceit. But given its reception, I feel most watched this wanting to reconnect with the family but it ends up being a bit polarizing when its priorities aren't within the original realm of the series. Most people who like this...
Watch the Trailer