The Malcolm in the Middle revival, Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair, is coming to Disney+ in December. As fans revisit the series to prepare for the revival, one thing that jumps out is how the show came in strong right away. Even the best network sitcoms often need a couple of seasons to really get going, but the first season of Malcolm in the Middle is a treasure. In fact, one of its best episodes is the first season finale, “Water Park.” Every plotline in the episode is strong, but the Dewey (Erik Per Sullivan) story is the highlight, thanks to sitcom veteran Bea Arthur (The Golden Girls) in a guest role that earned her an Emmy nomination. It was Arthur’s tenth and final nomination. The episode has the rare honor of being one of only four Bea Arthur performances from the 2000s (the others being a guest episode of Futurama, a role in the feature film Enemies of Laughter, and her final role where she plays Larry’s mother on Curb Your Enthusiasm). The excellent late performance from such a legend feels like a real gift to the audience and the sitcom, whose Season 1 finale greatly benefited from her presence.
‘Water Park’ Is a Hilarious Season Finale for ‘Malcolm in the Middle’
As the name suggests, “Water Park” follows the family as they visit a water park. While there, Malcolm (Frankie Muniz) and Reese (Justin Berfield) get into a prank war, which escalates throughout the episode until Malcolm pushes their mom down a water slide, a feat so brave that it not only ends the war but makes it so that Reese can’t stay mad at him. Meanwhile, Hal (Bryan Cranston) sneaks rum into the park in a bottle of suntan lotion so he and Lois (Jane Kaczmarek) can forget their troubles and feel like they’re having a sexy, romantic getaway despite the less-than-ideal setting. The episode also has an excellent subplot where, back at the military academy, Francis (Christopher Masterson) plays pool against Commandant Edwin Spangler (Daniel van Bargen), but they’re both determined to lose. The montage of their intentionally terrible pool moves is a hilarious and dynamic sequence that lets the usually uptight Commandant Spangler show a more playful side. All of these plotlines contribute to making “Water Park” one of the best episodes of the series, but Arthur’s guest role is what pushes it over the edge.
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Bea Arthur Was Perfectly Cast on ‘Malcolm in the Middle’
Arthur isn’t seen at the water park itself. Instead, while his family is away at the waterpark, Dewey, always the unlucky child, has to stay behind while recovering from an ear infection. The storyline includes a hilarious montage showing all the incidents that have made it difficult for this family to get babysitters, which is a highlight itself, but fortunately, after Hal assures an agency that it’s just going to be Dewey and “the other two” won’t be anywhere nearby, he’s able to book Mrs. White (Arthur), who arrives to watch Dewey. Mrs. White is a stern babysitter who responds with a simple “no” every time Dewey asks if he can watch TV or play video games. Even when he tries to play with a toy car, she tells him to play more quietly.
The way Mrs. White gradually warms up to Dewey is played beautifully by Arthur. It starts as she and Dewey are sorting buttons. They finally bond when they discover they have the same taste. Arthur’s signature deadpan style is perfect for moments like when she agrees with Dewey that a certain button is ugly, injecting her voice with an intense passion even while speaking quietly and evenly. Arthur gets to be more openly goofy the more Mrs. White opens up, and their relationship reaches a height in the charming scene where she and Dewey dance around to “Fernando” by ABBA. It’s a simple scene that works because of the strength of the actors. The joy of the scene is hilariously undercut when there’s a sudden cut to an ambulance, implying Mrs. White got so worked up she had a heart attack because, of course, no babysitter can have a positive experience with the Wilkersons.
This Shocking ‘Malcolm in the Middle’ Plot Could Have Been Even Darker
It’s not exactly a light story to begin with, as Mrs. White, now a lovable character, suffers a heart attack, but her abrupt exit led to the most memorable promotional campaign Fox ever did for the series. With Dewey left unsupervised, he starts chasing a balloon and wanders far away from the house. He’s last seen in an area of town far from his suburb, where everyone is speaking Mandarin, and he, mostly unbothered, starts chasing a paper bag after the balloon pops. After the episode aired, Fox launched the “Where’s Dewey?” promo campaign that kept up interest in the show during the summer hiatus. Fans could follow along on a website (wheresdewey.com, which no longer exists, unfortunately). This provided videos with clues about where Dewey was, and then they could submit their guesses to win a contest.
While Mrs. White’s fate might seem brutal, it actually could have been worse because the original episode concept was actually even darker. Series creator Linwood Boomer told Entertainment Weekly that the original idea was to have Mrs. White kidnap Dewey, turning Bea Arthur into a villain. But Fox was too nervous about a plotline about kidnapping, especially when they wanted to build a major promotional event around it. Boomer said, “Even for us, it’s probably not in the best taste to make light of child kidnapping. So, we killed Bea Arthur instead.” It’s definitely a shock, but the “Where’s Dewey?” campaign was worth the ending.
Malcolm in the Middle created some amazing guest roles for sitcom legends of the past. Christopher Lloyd (from Taxi) played Hal’s father, and Arthur’s The Golden Girls co-star Betty White appeared as the secret second wife of Lois’s father. Most notably, Cloris Leachman (known for The Mary Tyler Moore Show) had an all-timer recurring role as Lois’s mom, which resulted in five Emmy nominations and one win for Leachman. Yet of all the sitcom legends who’ve appeared on Malcolm in the Middle, Arthur had one of the funniest, most surprising roles.
Malcolm in the Middle is streaming on Hulu in the U.S.