Malcolm In The Middle: Every Lead Character Ranked From Worst To Best

Of all the characters in the show, Dewey was the one who changed the most. Sadly, this wasn't down to a sense of development or organic progression. Rather, he grew out of his position, which resulted in the need to alter his character dramatically.

Initially, Dewey acted as the cute youngest brother, gaining humour from how adorable and seemingly innocent he was. Of course, he was secretly a master of mischief, and while watching this was entertaining, it often felt a little hollow. Child characters tend to feel shoehorned in for the cute factor, and while Dewey did that well, he still fell into the potholes of that cliché.

This couldn't last forever, and eventually, Dewey went into a slight crisis of character. He didn't have many characteristics outside of the cute factor, which Erik Per Sullivan's age didn't allow any more. The show worked around this by writing him into a musician angle, giving the Wilkerson family a sense of creativity that was lovely to see.

Sadly, while this was a good direction, it left him feeling far less consistent than the other characters in the series.