Malcolm in the Middle

Overview

The series revolves around an 11-year-old boy named Malcolm, who is revealed in the first episode to be a genius with an IQ of 165, which places him in a class for gifted students. He is the third-born child in a comically dysfunctional family of four (later five) boys, of Lois and Hal.

As of the first season, their delinquent oldest child, 15-year-old Francis, has been sent away to military school, while his brothers 12-year-old Reese, Malcolm and 6-year-old Dewey remain at home with their parents. With Francis away, Malcolm becomes the middle child of the family. In season four, the character Jamie was added to the show as the fifth son of Hal and Lois.

The show’s early seasons centered on Malcolm dealing with the rigors of being an intellectual and enduring the eccentricities of family life. Later seasons expanded the show’s scope by exploring the family’s interactions with their extended family, friends and colleagues in more depth, as well as a series of continuing subplots detailing Francis’ misadventures at the military academy, from which he subsequently disenrolls to work in an Alaskan logging camp, before finally landing a job on a dude ranch run by an eccentric German couple.

Notable Queer-Centric Episodes

Season 5, Episode 9 “Dirty Magazine” – The boys speculate that Ronnie is a lesbian, however this is never confirmed.
Season 7, Episode 8 “Army Buddy” – A former female army buddy of Reese’s comes to their house for a visit.