Kelly is one of the main characters in Malcolm in the Middle: Life's Still Unfair. They are the youngest and final child of Hal and Lois. They are Francis, Reese, Malcolm, Dewey, and Jamie's youngest sibling. They are portrayed by Vaughan Murrae.
Biography
Three months after Malcolm and Reese graduated high school and moved out (around August 2006), Hal and Lois were enjoying more peace and quiet at home. However, one day Lois took a pregnancy test, and to her and Hal's horror, it came back positive. [2] Some time later, Lois gave birth to Kelly.
After their birth, Kelly was raised alongside their older brothers, Dewey and Jamie, until they too moved out.
At five years old, Kelly began to feel different about themself and believed they were hiding their feelings until they had a very bad day in fifth grade. They would often go to Hal for support, and at some point afterward, they came out as non-binary to their family and asked Hal if it was wrong, but they saw in his eyes that he already knew.[3]
By the time Hal and Lois celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary, Kelly was the only one of her siblings still living with them. Knowing that Lois was shaving Hal, Kelly arrived at breakfast covering their eyes and demanding that Hal put on a towel to avoid seeing him naked. They then greeted Dewey, who was on a video call. When Hal asked if they wanted to join them shopping for their anniversary party, he accidentally called Kelly "she," prompting them to tell him they were busy with their correct pronouns. Lois told them to appreciate that Hal was trying to adjust to their pronouns, but Kelly took it as a threat and emphasized that they were untouchable because of their good grades in school, their help around the house, and the fact that they are her only child without a criminal record. Lois agreed with Kelly but said it wouldn't hurt to tell Hal they loved him, which Kelly could barely manage without sarcasm.
Later, seeing how much their parents wanted Malcolm to be at their anniversary party, Kelly, knowing perfectly well that Malcolm would avoid going, wrote him a lie to get him to answer the phone and asked him to attend. However, Malcolm evaded their questions and said he had to get back to work to finish the call, which Kelly correctly interpreted as Malcolm not wanting to attend. So, when they heard their parents, Francis, Reese, and Piama, talking about him, Kelly told them that she had spoken with him and that he wouldn't be coming. This led Hal and Lois to go to Malcolm's house in person to demand that he come. However, when they returned, Kelly learned that Malcolm, besides hiding from the family, had a teenage daughter and kept her existence a secret from everyone.
Seeing Reese badmouthing Malcolm to a depressed Hal for personal gain, Kelly dragged him to their room to confront him about profiting from Hal's online humiliation. They declared their firm intention to report him because they felt good about exposing them and wanted to see Hal suffer when she did. However, it wasn't necessary because Hal witnessed everything and broke down emotionally, requiring everyone to drag him to bed.
Later, Kelly joined a group video call with the rest of the family to meet Leah, Malcolm's daughter. However, most quickly left, seeing that Leah had no friends and struggled with her social life. Feeling uncomfortable discussing it, Kelly disconnected from the call without saying anything.
Then Hal cried all night, keeping Kelly, Francis, and Piama awake.
Wanting revenge on Kelly for exposing him, Reese revealed that he had destroyed the principal's office at his school and planted evidence to frame them. However, Kelly later found a way to turn the tables by threatening to report him to the IRS for unreported video income. Seeing that Kelly had won, Reese admitted defeat but declared that it wasn't over because, despite how destructive revenge was, he still desperately wanted to beat them. That night, Kelly, Francis, and Piama saw Lois frantically preparing for the party and unable to find Hal. They were forced to redo their party tasks so Lois would let them go to sleep.
The next day, Francis helped Kelly get ready for the party, and Kelly admitted they were afraid of what Reese might do to get revenge. Francis reassured them, saying there was nothing they could do about him and that they had to accept it. At the party, Kelly held a laptop to connect Dewey to the event and spent time with Jamie, Francis, and Piama until Malcolm arrived with Leah and his girlfriend, Tristan. Annoyed with him for his lies, everyone pulled out their phones to ignore him, but Malcolm asked for forgiveness, saying he was just trying to make things right. Kelly and the others weren't sure they believed him, and when Lois came to ask for their help, Malcolm slipped away when they weren't looking. Later, Lois showed a video for Hal in which she interviewed all of his children and friends about what Hal meant to each of them. In the video, Kelly talked about their coming-out experience and how whenever they had problems, they turned to Hal, who always made them feel better with his jokes, and how they loved him. After seeing Malcolm apologize to Hal, Kelly was invited by Leah and Hubert to talk to them, and Kelly accepted. Leah then asked them an awkward question.
Later, everyone watched Hal and Lois dance. However, the party ended abruptly when Francis fell on Hal with a large sack of glitter, which exploded, scattering glitter everywhere and choking everyone. Seeing Jamie trying to fight off the glitter instead of taking cover, Kelly tackled him to the ground and hid under the table. The whole family then sat down at the ruined party, and Kelly made a joke about the incident, but Jamie was the only one who laughed.
Personality
Kelly is self-sufficient and is very adapted to the immaturity of their family. Unlike their older brothers, Kelly was very different and is the only child of Hal and Lois who has no history of crime, which is why they are considered untouchable in family conflicts. While they are a good student, and receive excellent grades, they seem a little unchallenged with school. Kelly is very close to their family and although they show some annoyance or indifference with their parents and some of their siblings, it is shown that they love them deeply.
Relationships
Family
Lois
Lois is Kelly's mother. When she found out she was pregnant again, Lois was horrified because she didn't want any more children.
However, the two seem to have a good relationship, albeit one marked by distance and discomfort. Lois appears to appreciate that Kelly isn't like their brothers, but Kelly seems to dislike Lois's controlling nature and often considers her overbearing. They also seem to have trouble showing genuine affection to their mother, limiting themselves to hugging her only on her birthday.
Hal
Hal is Kelly's father. When he found out Lois was pregnant again, he screamed in horror because he didn't want any more children.
However, the two have a very good relationship, and Kelly cares deeply for him. Whenever they felt bad as a child, they would turn to him, and his jokes and silliness always made them feel better. Although Hal sometimes struggles to get used to their pronouns, and Kelly is a bit reserved about their feelings for him, it's clear that they love him deeply.
Francis
Francis is Kelly's oldest brother. Kelly has a very good relationship with Francis. There is a 25 year age gap between Francis and Kelly, and while Francis and Piama were childless until a recent positive pregnancy test revealed in “Life’s Still Unfair”, it appears the relationship between Francis and Kelly is slightly more paternal than a regular sibling dynamic.
Reese
Of all their brothers, Kelly has a very combative relationship with Reese. Kelly sees Reese as someone cruel and immature and they are often involved in intelligence wars, from which Kelly always comes out by beating him.
Malcolm
Kelly and Malcolm have a tense relationship, mainly because Malcolm has spent Kelly's entire life trying to get away from the family. It is shown that Kelly resents that Malcolm stays away from them and even goes so far as to invent a lie for him to answer the phone. Noticing how much their parents wanted Malcolm to attend the anniversary party, Kelly called Malcolm to ask him to go, but Malcolm deflected from answering, which Kelly correctly interpreted that Malcolm was indeed not planning on attending. Malcolm is aware that Kelly is more difficult to deceive than the rest of the family and sees they are similar to Lois in that aspect. When Kelly found out that Malcolm has a daughter and had hidden her existence from the family, they got upset with him and along with Francis, Jamie, Dewey and Piama, they were not interested in talking to him.
Dewey
Kelly and Dewey have a good relationship and greet each other cheerfully through phone calls. This interaction along with Kelly being the person to carry the laptop connecting Dewey to the party via video call, suggests that Dewey was mainly responsible for being by her side and supporting her as Kelly grew up, similar to how he decided to give Jamie the childhood that was denied to him.
Jamie
Not much is known about Kelly's relationship with Jamie. However, they seem to get along well, although Kelly seems to consider Jamie a strong and confident guy but not very intelligent, so he tends to protect them, as seen when Kelly threw Jamie to the ground to take shelter under the table from the glitter storm that Francis and Hal provoked, they were also seen hanging out together with Francis on their parents' anniversary.
Piama
Kelly gets along well with their sister-in-law. Piama is likely the go-to mature adult for Kelly when something cannot be solved by going to Hal or Lois.
Leah
When Kelly found out about Leah's existence, they joined the rest of the family in a video call behind Malcolm's back to meet her, however after Hal, Lois, Dewey and Jamie withdrew from the call, Kelly was left alone with Francis and Piama on the call with Leah. Seeing that Leah had problems socializing, Kelly quickly deduced that Leah had no friends, which made Kelly uncomfortable. They promptly withdrew from the call without a word. Later they met again at Hal and Lois' anniversary party. Hubert invited Kelly to join their new friend group with him and Leah. Kelly accepted. Although Leah is Kelly’s niece, due to their close age, the two seem to be developing a cousin-like relationship.
Appearances
Malcolm in the Middle
Season 7
- "Graduation" (mentioned)
Malcolm in the Middle: Life's Still Unfair
Gallery
Trivia
- Kelly and Dewey are the only children of Hal and Lois, who were never seen as babies, and Kelly is the only one whose birth was not seen.