All the Lonely People

We can all relate to Reese from Malcolm in the Middle.

When I heard about the upcoming Malcolm in the Middle revival, I decided to embark on a rewatch of the original series. I had never watched the whole thing from start to finish, just dipping in and out of whatever they showed on tv when I was a child. I remembered the series as a fun family comedy that highlighted the struggles of working class families. I even remembered some fairly dark storylines that showcased generational trauma. So I was prepared for this going in. What I was not prepared for was that the character of Reese was going to be so deeply heartbreaking that I could barely get through certain episodes.

For those of you that haven’t seen the series in a while, or at all, Reese is the second oldest brother of the four, and the closest in age to Malcolm. He’s mischievous, aggressive, rowdy, and often the ringleader in the antics the three younger boys get up to. He’s also, as is made clear many times throughout the series, incredibly isolated and lonely. In a season two episode, during a fight, Malcolm comments to Reese; ‘You don’t have any friends.’ to which a clearly hurt Reese replies ‘Mom told you you’re never allowed to talk about that.’ It’s a genuinely upsetting moment and it sets up a precedent for the rest of the series.

During the middle school seasons Reese is the school bully, he terrorises his fellow students and there’s even an episode where when he stops, the entire school ecosystem falls apart. On another show they might show Reese as a popular because of this, stupid and popular while Malcolm is smart and a loser. But Malcolm in the Middle doesn’t fall into this stereotype. Instead, it shows us how much of the family’s dynamic has left all the boys, but particularly Reese, emotionally stunted, and unable to make friends.

What I found myself wondering more and more as I watched the series was; why do I find this teenage boy so relatable? My childhood was nothing like Reese’s, I grew up middle class with only one sibling, I had friends and I never struggled in school. But there is something so fundamentally human about the isolation Reese feels that it forces us (at least I hope it’s not just me) to confront a certain fear. Reese cannot win, no matter how hard he tries. Anytime it seems like things might go well for him, something (often Malcolm) comes along to ruin it. When he discovers his talent for cooking, he self-destructs with his antics. When he cooks a beautiful Thanksgiving meal and is praised by his family, Malcolm pukes all over it. When he shows an aptitude for the military, he’s sent into war too quickly and underage and has to fight his way out. When he moves out and seems to be turning his life around out, it turns out he’s been living off of credit cards and has to return home. And through it all he is alone. He’s never shown with a single friend in seven seasons, and all his romantic relationships fail.

In one of the saddest monologue of the series, and honestly one of the saddest I’ve ever seen. Reese confesses to Malcolm and Stevie how an interaction with his crush went.

“Because anything's better than the way things are now! Look, I've had this cute lab partner in science for eight weeks now. Her name is Cheryl. I finally left Cheryl a note on her desk asking her out. And when she read it, she turned to me and said: "Do you know who Reese is?". So then she goes, "Does ANYBODY know who Reese is?", and everybody shrugged. So then I said, "Probably some nobody". And you know what? I was right.”

And despite all his recklessness and brutality, Reese is shown time and again with a deep capacity to love. Being so close in age, he and Malcolm have a very close bond and this is clearly of great importance to Reese. Early on he tells Malcolm that he beats up the kids that make fun of him for being in the gifted class. And in the final season when Malcolm is trying to figure out why Reese has started hating his best friend Stevie, Reese admits it’s because he’s worried that when Malcolm goes to college he won’t see him anymore, while he and Stevie will stay in eachother’s lives forever. Though Malcolm is constantly given advantages that Reese is not, he rarely resents him for it. He clearly has the emotional intelligence to know that he values his relationship with his brother, and wants it to be a long lasting one, but he lacks the ability to show this to Malcolm, and can only express how he feels through violence.

There’s also many episodes that show us how similar Reese is to their mother, Lois. In one episode Reese stumbles upon Lois’ diary, thinking it belongs to a girl from school, and finds himself heavily relating to her and even falling for her. Obviously the premise is a bit gross, but it really showcases how the way Lois treats her children drives a barrier between them. Reese doesn’t know any of the things about his mother that she writes in the diary. And if she were able to just talk to her son instead of constantly disciplining him, often before he’s actually done anything wrong, they might be able to form the bond that Reese clearly so deeply needs.

All the characters in the family are lonely, but Reese is the most affected by his loneliness. And the one most willing to express a desire for more. He often goes out of his way to spend time with his family members. And the few times he’s given a love interest he’s a dedicated and thoughtful partner. This should be an optimistic take on boys being in touch with their emotions but it really just adds to the heartbreak. He constantly tries to forge and strengthen connections and almost always falls short. It only strengthens his relatability, why should we try and form meaningful relationships if we’re just going to end up alone?

I’m not sure that the writers of Malcolm in the Middle intended or expected for Reese to resonate so deeply with a twenty something woman, but he does. Throughout my rewatch he was the character I most found myself rooting for and relating to. He represents the concept that loneliness could be just around the corner for any of us. The fact that we may always be average. That our dreams may be out of reach. The fear that people don’t like us. The fear that we can be too much for people, but also somehow never be enough. The fear that the Malcolms of the world will always come out on top while we will always fall short. I found myself near tears several times over Reese’s shortcomings. And with the upcoming revival all I can hope for is that he has caught some sort of break, any break. Despite all his flaws it’s clear Reese is a gifted chef and a passionate person, and in other circumstances things could have gone differently for him. At the end of the day all he needs is proof that he’s not alone. And can’t the same be said for all of us?