‘Malcolm in the Middle’ shines in the emotional scene of Malcolm and Lois

SPOILER ALERT: This article contains spoilers for “Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair”

“Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair” brings back one of television’s most beloved dysfunctional families, but this time they’re allowed to shed some of their emotional baggage.

In a pivotal scene in the final episode, Malcolm (Frankie Muniz) and his mother, Lois (Jane Kaczmarek), finally get into a serious conversation about how Malcolm grew up and the pressure he felt after being told his parents expected him to become President of the United States.

“I love that scene because Malcolm put so much pressure on himself and he avoided talking about it, kind of the elephant in the room,” Muniz says. Variety. “So when he’s confronted in the bathroom, he can really break away and say, ‘This hurt me. The way you raised me and the pressure you put on me really affected me as a person.'”

Of course, it wouldn’t be “Malcolm in the Middle” if the scene were played completely straight. Craig (David Higgins) bursts into the bathroom at one point while suffering from, shall we say, indigestion and locks himself in one of the stalls, making some very disturbing noises.

“It was probably one of the hardest things I did because Craig was in the next stall making those noises,” Kaczmarek says. “I said, ‘He’s not really going to do that, is he? Can’t you just put that in after we shoot the scene?’ They said, ‘No, that has to happen now because you have to know the timing of it. I thought it was impossible. You can’t possibly have a serious conversation with someone while it’s going on in the next stall. That was the genius of that scene, because it took away any sentimentality from this mother and son finally realizing what the score was and that they loved each other.

Muniz went on to say that Malcolm finally said his parents did what they did growing up out of love rather than malice.

“He realizes in that moment that because they did that, because they put that pressure on him, it made him the success that he is, as a father, as a friend, as a business owner,” Muniz says. “He’s having success, and it was because of that pressure.”

“Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair” is now streaming on Hulu.