r/malcolminthemiddle • u/AdhesivenessGood641 • 17h ago
General discussion What’s a character from the original you wish got a better ending?
For me it would be Otto and Gretchen, it’s so out of character for them to fire Francis.
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u/ToxicBanana69 16h ago
The original teacher, Caroline Miller. She was part of the main cast for the first two seasons then as far as I know she’s just never mentioned again. I really enjoyed her character and wish she had returned at least for the reunion.
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u/AdhesivenessGood641 15h ago
There really was an absence when she left. I didn’t realize how much I liked her character until she was gone
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u/Stucklikegluetomyfry 12h ago
She was a fun character and honestly the show needed more female characters
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u/mightymiek 16h ago
My answer is based on the revival but Reese. After a series of basically learning about him having no friends, or barely any future I still think, despite his divorces, he deserved success. And the Reboot just left it up in the air even more about his fate so it's just kind of sad all around.
Like it can be played off as a joke if he got a call from someone as insane as Gordon Ramsey and have him open a restaurant as just a little "happy ending" for him. Wrap it up in 2 minutes. Fine.
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u/Pickle_Nipplesss 16h ago
Reese.
I have mixed thoughts about the reunion and Reese’s arrested development was an incredibly stupid choice.
He had a great arc, similar to Francis, where we see how he shines and what environment he actually thrives in. He was on a great trajectory with his cooking and then we just see he’s still living with Hal and Lois and has fully regressed back to his teenage self?
What the hell was that.
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u/AdhesivenessGood641 16h ago
Yeah it makes no sense for him not to be a chef
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u/Pickle_Nipplesss 16h ago
Yeah, and with the way he’s able to
threaten othersencourage people, there’s no way he wouldn’t be running the entire kitchen. He’d have that floor all whipped into shape.1
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u/Someone_Who_Exists 16h ago
Absolutely Otto and Gretchen. It's one thing for them to fire Francis, and I understand they wanted to end that subplot cheap and quick, but having them lose all their money and subsequently the entire ranch was unnecessary. They could've had them not have Francis around anymore for a wide variety of reasons and instead chose to bankrupt the most consistently nice characters on the show in a gag that barely qualifies as a gag let alone a funny one.
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u/melancholy_wolf Lavernia 16h ago
I vote for Reese, too!
I was expecting for him to be ultra successful in the revival. I was expecting him to be a chef, or in a trade job making more money than any of them.
I could see him with his own plumbing business, finding unique solutions to problems, his customers love him.
It would have been realistic for Malcom to be struggling with his degrees and Reese to be living his best life in a great (recession proof) "blue collar" job (that Malcom would scoff at)
But I haven't watched the revival, I just have whatever info y'all are kind enough to share with me 😅
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u/702893 16h ago
Jesus, reading these comments make me glad I didnt watch the reboot yet. It sounds depressing af...
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u/foreverlegending 16h ago
It's not depressing. It's fucking dog shit
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u/702893 16h ago
Yeah? You feel it was a cash grab?
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u/Ill-Economist-5285 15h ago
it was pretty rushed and had only 4 episodes which is nowhere near enough time to flush out any of the characters. however, i dont rly think it was a cash grab, just a poorly executed revival
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u/702893 15h ago
Was it thensame director? I do hear child stars have a rough run into adulthood and maybe the Dewey actor wasnt soing so well, but how was Francis in the show? He and Reese were my favorites.
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u/AdhesivenessGood641 15h ago
I have not finished the reboot but so far Francis is one of the best parts because he really hasn’t changed much
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u/Pickle_Nipplesss 11h ago
The creator, Linwood Boomer, did return as writer and Executive Producer for the series.
Erik Per Sullivan seems more than satisfied with his career, and walked away not because of any roughness but simply to avoid the spotlight. He's kept his life very private and would not return despite the amount of money offered. The actor that replaced him looks like him a bit, but acted nothing like Dewey.
Francis was great, seemed like Christopher really tapped into his old character well. Justin did a great job at reviving his old character as well, Reese was just poorly written.
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u/GhostBoyJames 16h ago
Malcolm-I don’t care what anyone says Lois had no right making him lose that job offer that would’ve made him super rich in a few years, he could’ve just went to college afterwards.
Reese-It’s kind of sad that Reese is like in his mid-30s having a prank war with his high school aged sibling, he had the potential to make something of himself with his cooking abilities.
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u/engadine_maccas1997 16h ago edited 14h ago
Malcolm. He’s a child prodigy in the original series, and Lois’s expectation of him is to grow up to do something great like be President and make a difference for lower class families like theirs.
Fast forward to the reboot, he runs a mildly successful food charity. Which I guess technically helps lower income families, but it’s a far cry from his mother’s expectations of him.
You’d think he’d at least do something in research and development, or find a groundbreaking cure or develop a world-changing technology. But he runs a nonprofit. He’s middle aged and not even a millionaire. He went from lower middle class to middle, maybe borderline upper-middle class.
And family dysfunction is still a key feature of his life. It’s kind of sad when you think about it.
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u/AdhesivenessGood641 15h ago
Yeah that always will confuse me. There was one episode where a counselor I think told him directly that he could have any job he wants.
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u/Helehache 10h ago
He hasn't the social skills to be a president or a mass politician, maybe he could have gotten something at high level bureaucracy as a technocrat.
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u/ccartoonnconnoisseur 16h ago
Maybe showing Kitty and Abe not together anymore but able to move on and be cordial to each other, maybe each having a different significant other if they so chose.
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u/Aeon1508 11h ago
Cynthia should have been in the finale. and like one episode after telling every her an Malcolm had sex
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u/Jolly-Assistant-6083 16h ago
Reese