7 Essential ‘Malcolm In the Middle’ Episodes To Watch Before The Revival

You might have had a chaotic home life as a child, but we assure you: it was nowhere near as anarchic as the Wilkerson household in Fox’s Malcolm in the Middle.

Among the most popular sitcoms of the early to mid 2000s, the Wilkersons single-handedly put the “fun” in dysfunctional, ushering in a memorably topsy-turvy comedy series unlike any other. Whether focusing on the comically strict mother Lois, her hopelessly immature husband Hal, or any one of their unruly five sons (Francis, Reese, Malcolm, Dewey, and Jaime), Malcolm in the Middle dominated American television from 2000 to 2006, redefining the sitcom format for the entire generation that followed.

More recently, nostalgic fans of the series have since learned that Malcolm in the Middle will be revived with a four-part miniseries at some point in the near future. As viewers wait to see the return of the bickering Wilkerson brood, we decided to put together a definitive ranking of our favorite Malcolm in the Middle episodes, each of which we’d heartily recommend watching before the revival debuts on Disney+.

Rollerskates

Every parent has their secrets, whether it’s embarrassing run-ins with the law from their teenage years or long-buried feuds with their extended family members. In the case of Hal, said secret takes the form of a highly decorated figure-skating career that he keeps hidden from his sons until he’s prompted to teach them how to skate. In no uncertain terms, “Rollerskates” is most worth seeing for Hal’s intricate roller-skating routines, from his happy-go-lucky dance to “Funky Town” to his soulful maneuvers to Queen’s “We Are the Champions.” As Bryan Cranston’s self-professed favorite episode of Malcolm in the Middle, it’s impossible to keep a straight face throughout “Rollerskate”’s laugh-out-loud narrative and Hal’s accompanying skating sequences.

Water Park

To give credit where credit’s due, the Wilkersons seldom confined their rambunctious behavior to the privacy of their own home. Instead, they were comfortable enough to spread their uncouth manners to surrounding areas and public spaces, be it traffic jams, bridal expos, dude ranches, Las Vegas casinos, bowling alleys, and – in the case of Malcolm in the Middle’s Season 1 finale – water parks. With Hal, Lois, Reese, and Malcolm enjoying a fun-filled day in the sun, what should be a peaceful vacation soon turns into a chaotic day of back-and-forth pranks between Reese and a vengeful Malcolm. As funny as it is watching Malcolm and Reese duke it out in an intense prank war with one another, “Water Park” also remains worth celebrating for Dewey’s genuinely heartwarming interactions with Bea Arthur’s outwardly cantankerous babysitter, Mrs. White. (Fair warning, upon watching this episode, there’s a very strong possibility you’ll be humming ABBA’s “Fernando” for the remainder of the day.)

If Boys Were Girls

Deep down, most parents have probably wondered what their lives might be like if their child had been born the opposite gender. Such is the ingenious premise behind Season 4’s “If Boys Were Girls,” a hilarious “what-if” that sees the pregnant Lois pondering how different her life would be if her sons had been born young women instead. Alternating back and forth between Lois’s idyllic daydreams and the family’s disorderly trip to the mall, “If Boys Were Girls” has nary a dull moment in its fast-moving 22-minute runtime. What’s more, it also offers several tantalizing hypothetical scenarios that sees the Wilkerson boys swapped out for girls. (Plot twist: the female counterparts to Malcolm and his brothers prove every bit as dangerous – if not more so – than Hal and Lois’s already hellish offspring.)

Graduation

All good things must come to an end, whether discussing something as momentous as Netflix’s Stranger Things or as relatively smaller-scale as Malcolm in the Middle. After six years on the air, Malcolm in the Middle officially concluded with their Season 6 finale, “Graduation,” bidding a fond farewell to the eccentric cast of characters viewers grew to love over half a decade on television. As Reese and Malcolm prepare for the end of high school, the various family members grapple with the anxiety-riddled uncertainties of their future, uncovering some hard truths about Hal and Lois’s ambitious plans for them following graduation. A bittersweet goodbye to the Wilkersons, “Graduation” ultimately shows that, for all their constant arguments, fights, and pranks on one another, at the end of the day, Malcolm and his family do indeed love and care for another, albeit in their own twisted, codependent, egregiously dysfunctional manner.

Lois Strikes Back

Many first-time Malcolm in the Middle viewers might puzzle over where Hal and Lois’s kids get their preternatural knack for mischief and mayhem from. Of course, an episode like “Lois Strikes Back” answers that question with hilarious gusto, as seen through Lois’s methodical take-down of Reese’s high school bullies. As Reese recovers from a cruel prank at the hands of several female classmates, Lois lives up to the Wilkerson name by maliciously ruining the lives of each student responsible. In a series marked by well thought-out pranks, tricks, and practical jokes, Lois effectively illustrates where her sons’ mean streaks come from, ushering in a revenge-fueled plot that might unnerve Kill Bill’s Beatrix Kiddo for its sheer complexity and terrifying scope.

Family Reunion

As most Malcolm in the Middle fans can attest, the Wilkerson family might fight amongst themselves like feral cats and dogs, but when there’s an outside threat to the group, they come together with the superhuman might of the Justice League (or, perhaps more accurately, the Legion of Doom). In “Family Reunion,” the Wilkersons reunite with Hal’s far estranged, financially successful family – including Hal’s emotionally distant father, played by Christopher Lloyd. With Hal’s extended family going out of their way to ostracize Lois, the Wilkerson boys take matters into their own hands in defending their mom and getting even with their upper-class in-laws, leaving behind a trail of shattered Civil War statues, broken picnic tables, and squashed birthday cakes in their wake.

Bowling

Whoever came up with the idea behind Season 2’s “Bowling” deserves a raise or promotion of some kind. Taking a simple premise and exploring it to its full narrative possibilities, “Bowling” humorously juxtaposes two trips to the local bowling alley: one chaperoned by Lois and the other by Hal. Taking place in two separate chronological timelines, “Bowling”’s loose linear progression allows for endless creative possibilities, emphasizing how the slightest differences can impact the course of a single night. What’s more, it also perfectly illustrates Hal and Lois’s wildly contrasting temperaments and parenting styles, as well as how each of the parents’ presence influences their children’s behavior at home or in a public setting.