Starring Frankie Muniz as the titular character,Malcolm in the Middlefollowed the daily adventures of teenage genius Malcolm and his dysfunctional, lower-middle-class family. From seemingly simple events like learning to roller-skate to bigger moments like graduation, every episode delivered laughs and touching scenes. However, many of the show’s most memorable episodes centered on horrible things happening to the characters—some of which were deserved, but many others that were completely unjust.
As the intro song said, “life is unfair,” but it was even more unfair to some of the characters in the show than others. These characters either did nothing karmically to deserve their fates or simply were dealt a worse hand than seemed reasonably possible.
In celebration of the upcoming revival, we’ve gone ahead and ranked the characters fromMalcolm in the Middlebased on who had the longest, worst, and least deserved unfair streak.
10Commandant Edwin Spangler
During Season 1 ofMalcolm in the Middle,Malcolm’s eldest brother, Francis (Christopher Masterson), was shipped away to military school, where he was forced to obey the no-nonsense Commandant Edwin Spangler (Daniel von Bargen). Spangler and Francis constantly butt heads, each becoming a major source of aggravation to the other, with Francis going so far as to accidentally kill Spangler’s dog and cut off the Commandant’s (remaining) hand. After Francis left the academy, Spangler viewed himself as a failure, and he spiraled into alcoholism and lost his job. Although an upsetting situation, Spangler ended the series doing what he loved best—bossing people around at a retirement home—and for that reason, we can’t put him too high on this list.
Other Contenders
For the bottom of our list, we considered a few characters, including Piama, Jessica, and Eric. We ultimately landed on Commandant Spangler because we know more about him than most of the other minor characters, and in spite of his “happy ending,” he went through many, many miserable experiences (usually due to Francis). Yes, he liked yelling at people, but he also seemed to truly want to help Francis improve, yet his actions were rewarded with embarrassment, mutilation, and countless other losses. We’re not saying he didn’t deserve any of his misfortune, but he certainly didn’t deserve all of it.
9Hal Wilkerson
One ofthe most beloved characters in the show, Hal Wilkerson (Bryan Cranston), was the patriarch ofMalcolm in the Middle. Born to a wealthy family, he became estranged due to their treatment of Lois, not to mention his father’s more general inability to take him seriously. While obsessed with his wife, he sometimes had a more contentious relationship with his sons, who seemed determined to drive him crazy. Worse, bad luck seemed to follow him everywhere, whether he was getting stung by bees, being scapegoated by his job, or causing a train to derail. However, he took every beat in stride, and we think he’d consider all the bad to be outweighed by the good: namely, Lois (Jane Kaczmarek).
Ultimately, Hal got what he wanted out of life—his wife—so it’s hard to see his circumstances as being too unfair, given the end result. Plus, it’s not like Lois was the only good thing to happen to him; he was able to follow his various passions, from racewalking to painting, all while skipping work every Friday. Additionally, a lot of the bad luck that befell Hal was at least partly the result ofhis more unseemly behaviors. In short, Hal certainly faced his fair share of unfairness, but he also had his fair share of goodness (and karmically-deserved bad luck) to even it out.
8Reese Wilkerson
The most vicious and least intelligent member of the Wilkerson family, Reese (Justin Berfield) experienced (and caused) several traumatic events throughout the series. All of his romantic relationships ended poorly, from his girlfriend Beth cheating on him with Malcolm to his marriage with Raduca also ending in cheating, not to mention that time he became an underage bride in Afghanistan. Plus, he struggled horribly at school, with his parents essentially giving up on him and assuming he wouldn’t amount to much. This all paints a picture of a kid who took an unfair beating from life—except, more often than not, Reese was the one giving the beating.
Fairly Deserved
While it’s undeniable that Reese went through some horrible events, it’s hard to say that life was unfair to him, since most of his lowest moments were largely his fault. In fact,he committed some truly heinous crimes, and in at least a few cases, like with the cats, he actually got off easy. Sure, it’s hard to watch him berate himself for being stupid or not having friends, but it’s also hard to ignore that, if he’d worked a bit harder, or acted a bit nicer, many of his greatest obstacles would have quickly disappeared.
7Francis Wilkerson
As previously mentioned, Francis started the series off at military school and ended it happily employed and married to Piama. He and Lois were constantly at odds, with Francis blaming her for everything wrong in his life. In truth, much of what happened in his life was his own fault, and his bad behavior is what landed him in military school in the first place. At the same time, it’s hard not to sympathize with some of what he’s been through, from being an indentured servant in Alaska to him revealing (accurate or otherwise) that he was an alcoholic.
Fairly Unfair
Francis is low on this list for one simple reason: like Reese, the majority of what happened to him was his own fault. Yes, he had a horrible time at military school and an even worse time when he moved to Alaska. But when he worked for Otto, he had every chance to turn things around, and for a while, he did—only to ultimately mess it all up. We do think life was more unfair to him than Reese, however, since Lois viewed Francis’s struggles as partially being her fault, going so far as to outright apologize to him and admit that she should have done more for him during his childhood.
6Otto Mannkusser
Otto Mannkusser (Kenneth Mars) became Francis’s boss during Season 4. The owner of a cattle ranch, he and his wife were very welcoming, almost too much so. Their kindness was constantly taken for granted, with employees half-heartedly doing their work, if at all. Even the employees who did work hard, such as Francis, ultimately failed Otto, with Francis accidentally losing him thousands of dollars after falling victim to a fake ATM.
Fairness Within the Unfairness
Of course, there was a lot of good within Otto’s life, such as his wife, Gretchen, as well as ways in which his bad luck was deserved. For example, he tricked Gretchen into marrying him when she was engaged to his best friend, Manfred, and he had a bad relationship with his son, Rutger, suggesting that his kindness came with some thorns. At the same time, Otto was definitely one of the nicest characters in the show, and it’s a shame that he and Francis had a falling out that potentially led to him losing his ranch.
5Malcolm Wilkerson
Ostracized by his peers for his intelligence, cynicism, and condescension, Malcolm certainly viewed his life as unfair. He didn’t want to be smart, except when it suited him, and he didn’t understand why others rarely liked him. Plus, his family seemingly went out of their way to embarrass him in front of other kids, and they often took advantage of his intelligence, with Lois and Hal stealing money from him on more than one occasion. At the end of the series, Lois told Malcolm he needed to become president and make life more fair for lower-class people, bringing up the question of whether that was an unfair burden to place on him.
Could Have Been Fair
It’s no surprise that the middle-born Malcolm comes in the middle of our list. Although many ofthe show’s best momentsrevolved around him, he was constantly complaining about how unfair his life was, and to a degree, we get it. His family’s financial struggles were a major source of stress, and his intelligence made it difficult to fit in. When he tried to hold back his thoughts, he developed an ulcer, so it’s not like there was an easy solution there, either. At the same time, there were others on this list who simply had it harder, either because they faced extra obstacles or had less resources to withstand them.
4Stevie Kenarban
Malcolm’s best friend, who could match him in wit and outclass him in sass, Stevie (Craig Lamar Traylor), was a beloved addition toMalcolm in the Middle,but a profoundly unlucky one. Stevie’s mom, Kitty, was just as controlling as Lois, though in a different way. And unlike Lois, Stevie’s mom eventually left him, then came back, which must have been quite the emotional spiral. Plus, his asthma, inability to walk, and slow style of speaking made daily tasks harder, and just being Malcolm’s best friend came with its own hurdles.
The Best of an Unfair Situation
Stevie was put through the wringer again and again, and unlike most of the characters on this list, he didn’t really do anything to deserve it. Sure, he could match insults with the best of them, but that was usually in response to someone else starting something. Unlike Malcolm, he seemed to embrace his intelligence, viewing it as a means of improving his life as opposed to something to feel resentful about. He also had some real wins, with many girls expressing interest in him, as well as some mixed wins, such as Reese bullying him less because he was disabled. Hopefully, come the reboot, he’ll have foundthe happiness he deserves.
3Craig Feldspar
Portrayed by David Anthony Higgins, Craig worked with Lois at the Lucky Aide, and he fell for her, hard. He often went out of his way to help her and her family, usually without any thanks. He also suffered because of them, such as when his home was burned down or when he sustained broken bones due to Dewey’s dog. Add to this his horrible relationship with his parents and more general bad luck, such as being bit by a potentially rabid squirrel and nearly killed by his helper monkey, and life begins to seem pretty unfair.
A Mix of Fair and Unfair
To be fair, Craig didn’t need to go out of his way for Lois’s family. She made it clear that she wasn’t interested in him, so it wouldn’t be fair to blame her for his obsession. At the same time, the family certainly took advantage of him, as did many other characters. Fortunately, he realized early on that his life was going to be hard, and he came to accept that fact and tried to find the fun in it anyway. Plus, he ended the series living with Reese, and so far as we can tell, the arrangement was actually good for both of them.
2Lois Wilkerson
The matriarch of the Wilkerson family, Lois was raised in an abusive environment by her mother, Ida, and her apparent father, Victor. She would later learn that Victor had a secret second family, only to gain another shock upon hearing that Victor wasn’t actually her biological father. Her experience with the rest of her family wasn’t much better: from having her birthday money spent on candy to seeing her anniversary dress destroyed and being hated by Hal’s relatives, Lois was often disappointed, angry, or hurt. Plus, she and Hal were constantly struggling with money while trying to raise their four hellish sons.
Truly Unfair
Yes, Lois was loud and angry, but in her shoes (or red dress), wouldn’t we all be? She was the only woman in a house filled with some of the grossest, most violent, least empathetic boys in sitcom history, who went so far as to convince her she had cancer. At one point, she daydreamed about what life would be like with girls, envisioning them manipulating each other, insulting her, and coming home pregnant. In the end, she still hoped her next baby would be a girl, showing just how upsetting her current situation was.
1Dewey Wilkerson
Initially, the youngest child of the Wilkerson family,Dewey (Erik Per Sullivan), was overlooked as a child, with his parents often forgetting his birthday and not acknowledging the full extent of his brothers' abuse toward him. He wound up in the special needs Busey Class after Malcolm convinced him to fail his gifted test, and from there, he became their biggest supporter and advocate, sometimes at great personal expense. He tried to channel his trauma into art, but even then, his efforts were largely ignored by the family. And yet, Dewey stayed resilient in the face of adversity, and while his life was incredibly unfair as a child, we have hope that things will soon turn around.
Ending the Unfair Cycle
During the last episode of the original show, it’s revealed that Lois and Hal have set Dewey up for a fun life without responsibilities. If anyone deserves that sort of life, it’s certainly Dewey—he not only tried to help the Buseys and more generally stay out of trouble (at least, compared to his brothers), but he also realized he could make life fairer for his younger brother, Jamie, and went out of his way to try and give him an easier life. So, Dewey’s life may have been the most unfair in the show, but we have hope for a happier, more deserved endingonce the reboot comes around.
Malcolm in the Middle
