There are a lot of interesting fan theories out there, but some of them definitely take the proverbial cake from time to time since they bring up ideas that might be feasible in some parallel dimension where things can rest adjacent to each other and be implied as being the same thing. But the idea of Malcolm from Malcolm in the Middle becoming Walter White is something that a lot of people would probably laugh at since it is kind of ridiculous in a few ways. But if one stops long enough to consider what the two characters have in common they might actually see something that works with this theory, even if it’s not entirely perfect. That’s the great thing about a lot of fan theories though, they don’t necessarily have to be perfect since they’re usually just made for fun in order to try and develop a link between one thing and another. In this instance, comparing Malcolm to Walter White might feel a little severe, especially since Malcolm in the Middle was a comedy whereas Breaking Bad is a dramatic thriller that involved very little obvious humor.
But where the similarities are drawn are between Malcolm and Walter, since they’re the smartest individuals in their respective shows, they’re both great at chemistry, and while they’re both decent human beings at their core, they’re capable of a great deal of mischief as well, be it malicious or simply for self-preservation. Both are fully capable of being snarky, but this could have been a quality that was experienced and embraced in childhood as a survival tactic, since it’s well known that Malcolm’s life has never been a bed of roses or even close to being easy, no matter what’s been done that might have eased things along. As far as Walter’s past goes, we don’t really know much apart from the fact that he doesn’t get along with his mother, which would fit perfectly with MitM since Malcolm and his mother Lois rarely ever see eye to eye given that she’s a bit of a control freak, even if her motives are good.
As for his name, it’s been explained that Walter is Malcolm’s middle name, so perhaps once he grew up he would start going by Walter, and perhaps he would even move to a location where his family couldn’t find him. Who knows, maybe he had a falling out with his family and simply needed to get away, and ended up changing his name entirely in order to remain as anonymous as possible. But this would be a seriously changed character since Malcolm had a serious issue that left him needing to be the smartest person in the room most times, even if he did have a bit of compassion now and then. Turning him into Walter White would require a seriously messed-up split with his family, which could come about if his father passed away, leaving only his mother to communicate with, and brothers that would likely be there for him, but would ignore him entirely and go on with their own lives if he didn’t care to be a part of the family any longer.
That’s kind of sad to think of really, that anything could split a family in that manner, especially since Malcolm’s family, dysfunctional as it was from start to finish, did manage to stick together most times since their shared misery was what bound them together on more than one occasion. But Walt is definitely the type that appears to want what he wants but on his terms. Malcolm often wanted things to happen on his terms as well, but being a kid it was kind of tough to make such a life happen when he was constantly held under the thumb of a very domineering mother. So seeing Malcolm become Walt isn’t too tough really, so long as everything can be seen to line up, especially since Walt would be easy to describe as the dark side of Malcolm, who was also a skilled chemist since his concoctions were known to be volatile or at least inconvenient to the rest of the family at times. There are a lot of holes to shore up to really connect Malcolm and Walt, but the fun thing about this theory is that it does make sense in a way.
As far as being realistic, it’s not bound to hold water with a lot of people largely due to the fact that the shows are so different, and so are the individuals that are being compared. But once again, the fun of entertaining such a theory is that it gives people something to think about. If nothing else, it’s always the ‘what if’ factor that gets people to consider what might happen in any given situation and how one character or another could in fact have something to do with another when logic and reason say ‘no way’.
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