List of Punishments

A recurring theme in Malcolm in the Middle is for characters, mainly The Wilkerson boys to be punished by someone, mainly Lois. The following is a list of instances where a character has been punished in any way.

List of Punishments

Season 1

Episode	Punisher	Victim(s)	Reason	Punishment	Notes
Red Dress	Lois	Malcolm, Reese and Dewey	Allegedly burning Lois' dress.	Being locked into their rooms and being interrogated until one of them comes clean.	It was actually Hal who had burned her dress.
Shame	Various people	Malcolm	Beating up a 7 year old.	None, just suffering from the guilt and being negatively judged by everyone else.
Malcolm Babysits	Lois	Malcolm, Reese, and Dewey	Fighting.	Being sent straight to bed.
Malcolm Babysits	Lois	Hal	Revealing to have dated Lois' sister in the past.	Being kicked out of the trailer.
Sleepover	Abe and Kitty Kenarban	Stevie	Sneaking out of the house after curfew.	Abe and Kitty called the police over to report lost children, but it's unknown what happened when they found him.	Malcolm was also responsible for this, but he ran off and supposedly put all the blame on Stevie.
Francis Escapes	Commandant Spangler	Francis	Overusing the phone at Marlin Academy.	Losing his phone rights.
Francis Escapes	Lois	Malcolm and Reese	Scaring Dewey.	Being banned from Nintendo, and also losing their pillows for the night.	They had already been banned from Nintendo. Reese tried telling Lois that, thinking it would annoy her, but it only gave her the idea to take away their pillows.
Francis Escapes	Lois	Francis	Escaping military school.	Lois never caught him, but she said "We'll just see what fate has in store for Francis."	He probably never did get punished.
Krelboyne Picnic	Lois	Malcolm	Pouring perfectly good vegetable soup in the toilet.	Grounded
Lois VS Evil	Lois	Malcolm and Reese	Messing up with the steam cleaner and getting all foamed	Kneeling in front of a wall, their hands behind their head, fingers interlocked, chin and elbows against the wall, for 2 hours	Reese propose to his mom this punishment for his little brother Dewey who stole a bottle of cognac. Ignoring Reese, Lois ordered Dewey to get his jacket so they could return the bottle and apologize
Lois VS Evil	Mr. Pinter	Lois	Dewey stealing cologne from the Lucky Aide.	Getting fired from her job.	Pinter fired Lois out of spite because she was originally up for promotion at Lucky Aide.
Lois VS Evil	Lois	Mr. Pinter	Pinter tried to get Lois to sign a contract agreement, but she refused.	Lois berates Pinter for past behavior and reveals dirty secrets about him that no one else except her knows: including his secret stash of marijuana and his affair with the district manager's wife.	Pinter quit his job after Craig and the other coworkers found out about his affair and intended to tell their boss about it.
Stock Car Races	Lois	Reese	"Punching Dewey" (Dewey really just punched himself and got him blamed)	Unknown	Malcolm says he taught Dewey how to blame Reese for things he didn't do.
Stock Car Races	Lois	Reese	Swearing at the table.	Getting his mouth washed out with soap.
Stock Car Races	Commandant Spangler	Francis	Smoking.	Losing hot water for his floor for a month and being "thanked" by the other cadets.
Stock Car Races	Officer Carl	Malcolm and Reese	Going into a room they weren't allowed into.	Getting caught by the security guard.	This would soon be relieved before they were actually punished.
Stock Car Races	Officer Carl	Malcolm and Reese	Reese punching a security guard in the groin, when being set free.	Being ratted out to their father.	Hal didn't punish the kids and actually punched the guard as well and ran off before anything could happen.
Stock Car Races	Commandant Spangler	Francis	Letting a snake loose so that it could eat Commandant Spangler's dog.	Extending the loss of hot water period to two months.	Francis was actually congratulated by the other cadets this time as they hated Spangler's dog.
Stock Car Races	Lois	Malcolm, Reese, Dewey, Francis, and Hal	Lois found a whole bunch of evidence of multiple wrong-doings of theirs, while cleaning the house.	Unknown
Funeral	Hal and Lois	Reese	Destroying Dewey's toy and attempting to bury it in Aunt Helen's coffin.	Having to apologize to her dead body and stand in the corner at her funeral.	Lois forced Reese in compliance by yelling at him when he attempted to turn away from the corner.
Smunday	Lois	Malcolm, Reese, and Dewey	Giving a bike away to Francis and his friends	Grounded for 2 Months
Smunday	Francis	Malcolm, Reese and Dewey	To force his brothers to comply and give Richie the letter	None, as Francis' lowlife pals took the false letter.
Smunday	Lois	Francis	She found out about Francis' prank to Marlin Academy involving a swimming pool from a prestige college in Alabama.	Planned to ship Francis off to a work farm in Arizona.	She never followed through with her threat, due to the boys' prank.
Smunday	Lois	Malcolm, Reese and Dewey	Destroying family prized possessions and a car	Unknown	Malcolm, Reese and Dewey are locked in a stalemate with Lois
Water Park	Commandant Spangler	Francis	Found out Francis has been hustling pool at local bars by the Alabama State Sheriff	Forced Francis to play a fair game of pool	Francis won, but the cadets didn't care to punish him as they wanted him to win.
Water Park	Lois	Reese and Malcolm	Ruined Hal and Lois' attempt at a tropical vacation at the water park with their fighting.	Dragged down the Liquidator with Lois who berates them for humiliating her and Hal again with their fighting.	In Traffic Jam, the Wilkersons earned another lifetime ban from another public place due to violations incurred on them(including boys' fight and Hal sneaking alcohol in hiding underneath suntan lotion)

Season 2

Episode	Punisher	Victim(s)	Reason	Punishment	Notes
Reese Cooks	Lois	Reese	Unknown destructive prank	Grounded for a month	Reese was not phased by this so Hal attempted a different angle.
Reese Cooks	Hal	Reese	Messing up other people's dishes in a cooking contest	Grounded for a month and banned from cooking meals inside the kitchen	Reese complained and cried over his lost privilege. Hal and Lois were happy because they found a punishment that would hurt him.
Bowling	Hal and Lois	Dewey	Killing a neighbor's parakeet	Grounded for the night
Bowling	Hal	Malcolm	Ruined Hal's perfect game	Unknown
Bowling	The Large Man	Reese	Reese tossed a bowling ball at him that was meant for Malcolm.	The large man forced Reese back in the booth and took pictures of himself beating Reese up	This was when Hal ordered Reese out of the out of the auto-picture booth
Evacuation	Lois	Malcolm	Coming home late from school	Grounded for 2 Weeks	Lois, Reese, Hal and Dewey were forced to spend the night outside the school
Therapy	Lois	Reese	Stealing from the school	Kneeling in front of the bookcase, hands behind his head
The Grandparents	Hal	Victor and Ida	Victor gave Reese a live hand grenade	Force the two to reimburse him and Lois for a new refrigerator or face jail.	Ida mentioned that Hal reminded her of Victor's cousin.
Malcolm vs. Reese	Malcolm and Reese	Francis	Stood both Reese and Malcolm up to go to a wrestling match with a girl	Framed Francis for driving without a license, stealing a car and kidnapping a tied up and gagged Reese and Malcolm in the trunk	Francis was arrested by the police officer and humiliated in front of his date
Malcolm vs. Reese	Lois	Malcolm and Reese	Unhappy to have to bail Francis, Reese and Malcolm out of jail	Forces Malcolm and Reese to serve Craig as their house guest.	Reese and Malcolm regretted getting Francis arrested right away after realizing how more demanding Craig is with his and Jellybean's needs.
Carnival	Security Guard	Stevie	Caught him in the carnival after closing	Used a bike rack to secure Stevie's wheelchair to ensure he doesn't escape. The guard tried to force Stevie to talk in order for him to hunt the other boys down.	Gorak and the other carnival freaks were able to convince the guard to let Stevie go
Carnival	Hal, Lois, Abe and Kitty	Malcolm, Reese, Dewey and Stevie	Sneaking out to the Tri-County fair and lying about having a sleepover	Forced the boys to walk all the way home.	Reese and Malcolm blamed Francis for telling on them to Hal and Lois as well as the Kenarbans
Traffic Jam	Lois	Malcolm and Reese	Getting the family banned from another public place	Yelling at the boys and possible grounding	Picked up from Water Park
Traffic Jam	Cop	Hal	Touching an officer inappropriately	Administered a DUI test	This was when he was feeling guilty for his actions
Mini-Bike	Lois	Malcolm, Reese and Dewey	Caught them fighting over a mini bike	Banned the boys from riding the mini bike	Reese defied the ban and rode it. He later regrets it afterwards
Mini-Bike	Lois	Craig	Miscounted his pickles slices	Reminded him of the slices on his hand	Although irritated, Lois reminded herself that she burned Craig's house down
Mini-Bike	Commandant Spangler	Francis	Stood up for a cadet whose shirt was untucked.	Unknown	Hal was actually proud of Francis for once in standing up to Spangler
Mini-Bike	Lois	Malcolm, Reese and Dewey	Found out that Reese ride the mini bike against her wishes	None	Lois actually let the boys get away with this one because they helped guilt trip Craig enough to move out of the house

Season 3

Episode	Punisher	Victim(s)	Reason	Punishment	Notes
Houseboat	Lois	Malcolm	Refused to help Hal	Unknown, as Lois had a heated phone conversation with Francis for his plans to quit school
Houseboat	Commandant Spangler	Francis	Breaking Marlin Academy's prized trophy case	Given a hammer to fix the case	Francis got back at Spangler by going to a cheap lawyer to get himself emancipated.
Houseboat	Lois	Malcolm and Reese	Leaving Hal and Dewey on the buoy to visit the cheerleaders' camp	Grounded for three weeks and adding housework.	Malcolm noted his abandoning Hal was worth it because he couldn't stop smiling at the cheerleaders.
Book Club	Lois	Malcolm, Reese and Dewey	Caught the boys with fireworks	Grounded for a month	Lois was grounding them while the police came to arrest her.
Health Scare	Hal and Lois	Malcolm and Reese	Tracking mud in the house and for Reese telling his parents "I wish you were dead."	Grounded for a week
Health Scare	Hal and Lois	Malcolm and Reese	Sneaking out at night while grounded	Grounded for the rest of school year
Christmas	Lois	Malcolm, Reese and Dewey	Breaking Christmas ornaments(another demonstration of the boys' bad behavior at Christmastime)	Cancelled Christmas intentionally until the boys are well behaved	Lois later took back the punishment, but then she and Hal caught the boys opening their presents. Rather than punish them, she thanks Hal for waking them up to open presents.
Christmas	Francis	Ida	Making his Christmas miserable along with hiding gifts in a secret room that she bought for the family for minor infractions	Tormented Ida by making her look for the hidden musical Christmas cards in her apartment
Reese's Job	Malcolm and Reese	Richie and his girlfriend	His girlfriend was caught stealing from a fast food restaurant that she, Reese and Richie worked at.	Richie had to give up his house for school parties if he wanted to avoid jail.
Hal Coaches	Reese	Ed	Found out about Ed's affair with the women in their neighborhood, thanks to some undeleted emails Malcolm found.	Forced Ed to do things for him as his slave if he wanted Reese to keep his mouth shut about his affairs to his wife
Hal Coaches	Piama	Lavernia	Francis' mistreatment at work	Stole Lavernia's pet parakeet and demanded better treatment of Francis or else she will kill the bird.	Francis tried to make things right with Lavernia by returning the bird only to discover that it had died due to exposure of the cold.
Hal Coaches	Ed	Reese	Found out about Reese's unnamed infractions at school	Forced Reese to return the favor by being Ed's slave if he wants to avoid having Lois discover his infractions
Monkey	Francis	Eric	Suggesting to find work in Alaska	Left to hitchhike home, while Francis and Piama drives away for a cross country road trip.
Monkey	Lois	Reese	He broke Lois' window when she refused to heed to a simple traffic rule to move her car further in the driveway for safety of the pedestrians	Grounded for a month

Season 4

Episode	Punisher	Victim(s)	Reason	Punishment	Notes
Zoo	Lois	Matt(Lois' ex-boyfriend from college)	Humiliating Hal and letting a spider bite the right side of his face.	Berated Matt for humiliating her and Hal	Matt tried to defend his case, but Lois ordered him to relinquish his love for her and reaffirms her love for Hal.
Family Reunion	Hal	Walter	Lois' Mistreatment	Returned the Tickled Torture and forcing Walter's confession	Hal donned several layers of coats to protect himself.
Forwards Backwards	Lois	Malcolm and Reese	Pranking each other	Being grounded	Neither of the boys were able to enjoy their respective birthdays
Forwards Backwards	Craig	Dean	Attempted to sell Hal a mark-up of a bad comic book	Forced Dean in negotiations for a better comic book
Forbidden Girlfriend	Boyd	Nicki	Ditching school.	Being grounded
Forbidden Girlfriend	Dewey	Reese	Fed up with Reese's blackmail and using Billy to get back at his classmates in North High	Letting Ira(Billy's older brother and Reese's bully) beat Reese up for his actions	Reese tried to lie his way out of trouble, but Ira was smart enough not to believe him.
Malcolm Holds His Tongue	Alison	Craig	Attempted to make her miss the concert for his "date"	Spayed his eyes with a can of mace.	Reese attempted to leave with Alison, but she holds the can of mace in front of him implying she will spray him next if he doesn't let her go to he concert alone.
Kicked Out	Hal	Malcolm	Sneaking out and then rebelling against his dad.	Getting kicked out of the house.	Hal would regretfully revoke his punishment a day later.
Kicked Out	Boyd	Nicki	Hiding Malcolm in her attic And Kidnapping him.	Most likely arrested for kidnapping and sent to juvy.
Garage Sale	Lois	Reese	Destroyed an old computer which was worth thousands of dollars.	Yelling at Reese for wasting that money that the family needed to refurbish their home for the new baby by destroying the computer	Lamented how she regretted not heeding Malcolm's warning against Reese heading the garage sale
Garage Sale	FBI	Hal	Hal was making unacceptable speeches about the government on his pirated radio	Pursued and arrested Hal for his actions	Craig did the right thing to pull over, not wanting any involvement with Hal
Academic Octathalon	Lois	Reese	Picking a fight with Lois	Being grounded	Lois would not uphold his punishment unless he took Alison to the dance
Academic Octathalon	Hal and Lois	Dewey	Not loving Hal anymore	Being grounded
Reese's Party	Dewey	Donne and his gang	Hijacked Hal and Lois' garage and held Craig hostage	Calling Donnie and his gang's mothers	The mothers picked up Donnie and his gang and gave all of them a piece of their minds
If Boys Were Girls	Malory, Renee, Daisy and Frances	Lois	Fed up with Lois trying to make them lead her life.	The girls angrily blamed Lois for every one of their problems, especially Frances whom Lois never fully forgave for dropping out of college and marrying a trailer park husband.	Though this was non-canonical, Lois realizes the difficulties of raising girls. In spite of it, she secretly wished for a girl.

Season 5

Episode	Punisher	Victim(s)	Reason	Punishment	Notes
Watching The Baby	Hal and Lois	Jamie	Breaking into the secret extra house and wearing the forbidden pants.	Being grounded	This was in a fictional story, so it wasn't technically canon. Jamie was also framed by Dewey.
Thanksgiving	Lois	Malcolm	Coming home drunk on Thanksgiving from a party	Getting grounded and having to do a bunch of chores.
Malcolm Films Reese	Malcolm	Mr. Herkabe	Using Malcolm to film Reese's embarrassing moments	Exposed not only his own secret but also the other students who bribed Herkabe to help hide theirs' as well	Having to clean school campus in light of the exposure.
Victor's Other Family	Lois	Ida	Found out about Ida's affair with Radu Gogorsky	Willingly abandons Ida for lying to her
Reese Joins the Army: Part 1	Francis	Malcolm	Found out about Malcolm seeing Reese's former girlfriend, Beth, on the sly	Punishes him by forcing Malcolm to find Reese
Reese Joins the Army: Part 1	Sgt. Hendrix	Reese	Found out Reese sold his Government issued backpack and uniform for a game boy.	Forces Reese to do push up in the mud	Hendrix used a hose over Reese's body to prove his point
Reese Joins the Army: Part 2	Lois	Hal	Found out that Hal lied about working on Fridays for 15 years	Yelled at Hal

Season 6

Episode	Punisher	Victim(s)	Reason	Punishment	Notes
Buseys Run Away	Lois	Malcolm and Reese	Firework prank at the movie theater.	Lengthy grounding and three weeks worth of chores around the house.
Buseys Run Away	Lois	Malcolm and Reese	Overheard Malcolm and Reese talk badly about her in an attempt to trap Dewey	Forced the two to stand on their heads with pails over their heads.
Pearl Harbor	Lois	Jessica	Giving Malcolm a hickey	Berating and punishes Jessica	Lois decides that she likes having Jessica around and lets her stay in the house much to Reese and Malcolm's dismay.
Kitty's Back	Lois	Kitty	Blamed Kitty for abandoning Abe and Stevie	Banned her from seeing her family again	Abe confronted Lois, but she refused to yield. She then apologizes after hearing Wolston's speech about manners.
Kitty's Back	Reese	Malcolm and Stevie	Refused to help Reese with his snake suit	Tampering Stevie's acceptance speech	Malcolm found out and told Lois
Kitty's Back	Lois	Reese	Pranking Malcolm by tampering Stevie's acceptance speech	Three weeks of cleaning the bathroom and eating off the floors, along with removing his snake suit
Lois Battles Jamie	Lois	Reese	Feeding Jamie super energy sodas	Unknown, but possible grounding
Chad's Sleepover	Malcolm and Reese	Classmates	Not being informed about Ditch Day and their party	None	When Reese and Malcolm confronted them, the students revealed their resentment with the boys for getting them arrested from a previous get together in Lois' Sister.
Chad's Sleepover	Lois	Hal	Discovered Hal took a pornographic picture of her on New Years Eve	Unknown, as she went inside to confront Hal	This was when Hal gave Chad a dictionary with a highlighter.

Season 7

Episode	Punisher	Victim(s)	Reason	Punishment	Notes
Morp	Lois	Dewey	Stealing using his dad's credit card to give his brother Jamie a party at Chuck E. Cheese	Having all his food dipped in sardine juice "for a long time"	Despite this, Lois was actually grateful that Dewey is trying to get along with Jamie
Malcolm Defends Reese	Malcolm	Mr. Herkabe	Fed up with Herkabe tormenting Reese until he makes Malcolm agree to fail his classes, he tells the school principal, Mr. Hodges about Herkabe's secret in failing Gym	Herkabe's GPA award is revoked and given back to Edna Thornby	Reese was grateful in Malcolm heping him out and paid Herkabe back in full by tossing dodgeballs at him
Burning Man	Hal and Lois	Malcolm and Reese	Found out they were trying to hitchhike to Burning Man	None	With the exception of Lois and Reese, Malcolm, Dewey and Hal didn't enjoy themselves
Graduation	Lois	Hal	Caught Hal attempting to fix the T.V. again while the boys watched	Ordered Hal to stop being stubborn and call a TV repairman to properly do the repairs	Hal refused and got electrocuted, while the boys laughed.
Reese VS Stevie	Lois	Hal	Caught Hal smoking cigarettes	Forced Hal to find all his cigarette stashes	According to Malcolm, if Lois finds one cigarette laying around inside, she'll make Hal eat it and this motivated him to remove his stashes