Malcolm in the Middle – Season 3 Review
It can often be said that the third season of a long running show is usually when it hits its peak and this is certainly true of Malcolm in the Middle. And when you have an award winning episode starring Susan Sarandon, Bradley Whitford, Christina Ricci and Heidi Klum you know you are in the hay day years of a show.
We’re back with the same familiarity of characters, who have come into their own and the writing is just spot on. Whilst the show has become comfortable in what it is, it has not yet become complacent.
In this season Malcolm and Reese are that step further into adolescence and the ensuing situations that entails (girls’ boobs) Dewey remains just superb as a character and as a child comedic actor, and no, it’s not just his ears. This season particularly seems to explore Dewey’s utter rage about the bullying he has endured from his brothers over the years and despite being weird and potentially very stupid you can see the foreshadowing of Dewey becoming the most powerful of them all! If you want to actually start analysing human behaviour in what is a light hearted comedy you could applaud the writers for their development of Dewey as he grows to realise the abuse he has faced whilst we know that next season he becomes a big brother himself.
A major highlight for me in season 3 is what has been increasing from the beginning, Malcolm’s parents Lois (Jane Kaczmarek) and Hal (Bryan Cranston). They have hilarious dialogue and scenes to play with and any episode which focuses more on them is a joy to watch. What I came to realise of this season is that I am envious of the marriage they have, they are just so beautifully made for each other and despite having the horror of four boys are still madly in love (with a lot of sex!). Who wouldn’t want that for themselves.
An unfortunate low point for me is Francis’ (Christopher Masterson) plot lines. The eldest son has never been my favourite but this season he abandons military school and runs away to some northern state to end up trapped in more or less the same situation. These scenes generally just left me cold. We’ll see how it goes next season but I get the feeling it is the part of the show that will always just be a bit blurgh.
My favourite moment in the entire season though has to be when Bradley Whitford is talking about his porn addiction.
If you enjoyed the first two seasons there is no question that you should add this to your collection. If you haven’t bothered with the first two this is definitely worth purchasing as a stand alone season.
Lauren Cracknell