TL;DR – While it had some truly wild moments, it always felt that this was a show that had its predecessor dragging behind it like an anchor, and it likely would have worked better if they had cut that cord free more than they ended up doing.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ service that viewed this series.

Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair Review Introduction

I’m going to come out right from the start and say that I am old enough to have enjoyed the show when it originally aired, but beyond the odd episode here and there, I have not seen the show since its original run. I remember enjoying it when it was on, but then I never found the drive, nor was it easily accessible to rewatch it where I live. Coming into this, I had a lot of nostalgia, but also significant distance from the show, and I’m not sure whether that helped or hurt my viewing experience.

So, to set the scene, A lot has happened to Malcolm (Frankie Muniz) in the years since the show aired. He went off to college, had a daughter, Leah (Keeley Karsten), founded a charity, and has gone mostly non-contact with his family. He keeps up the presence, but then always has a reason as to why he is busy. Well, try as he might to avoid it, his parents, Hal (Bryan Cranston) and Lois (Jane Kaczmarek), are about to have their 40^th Wedding Anniversary, and they want all the kids back to celebrate it, come hell or high water. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.