And then in the finale Lois seemed almost overjoyed that Malcolm would have no money and would have to do menial work to pay for tuition.
This is the most ridiculous shit in the show. Malcom is a social luddite whose so wrapped up in himself that, even by some miracle he could convince enough people to elect him (let alone a single person), he would still be a terrible president. Not to mention he was basically given a pass to easy street without having to go to college, a place that he was already way too smart to benefit from and too much of a social retard to develop a network to make him a success afterward, and Lois just crapped all over that opportunity for her make believe fairy tale future for Malcolm.
I also flat out don't even know why he needed her permission. He was graduating from high school and was almost old enough to be a free adult to go do whatever the fuck he wanted. He could of just told the dude "yes, but only once I am 18 which is very soon" after his bitch of a mother said no on his behalf.
Its just an absurd plot point that was shoved into the finale to give the show some final big moment, which I always found to fall flat due to the absurdity of it.
Her motif of "hard life creates a good life" falls flat when they expected Dewey to have the easy life. I feel it was Lois' overbearing parenting approach that wanted to spite at least ONE of her children one last time before sending them off.
I feel like you guys are all misreading the ending. Despite what was said at the end, Lois's decision had little to do with work or college. It was more about who Malcolm was as a character.
Malcolm really wasn't a likable character throughout the series. He was portrayed as being a deeply miserable egomaniac whose only obsession was proving he was smarter and better than everyone. His schemes always bit him in the ass and he was often shown being worse off at the end of an episode than he would have been had he done nothing at all. Give him an internet presence and he would be the perfect candidate to have a thread on here.
His inability to be happy was a reoccurring theme throughout the series. Episodes like Cynthia's party, the one with the new mattress, the Sims parody or Lois having a half-sister all showed this side to him that he almost felt happiness was impossible for him to achieve.
We were also shown that for prodigies like Malcolm success isn't necessarily guaranteed. We saw it with Herkabe, whose one failure led to him lashing out at everyone because he couldn't handle it. We also it in that episode where Jason Alexander guest starred as prodigy who was similarly intelligent as Malcolm is but whose life was in ruin due to him not being able to get along with others.
Lois's speech was more about who Malcolm is and who he needs to become. He isn't a bad human being deep down, and he has the capability to do good with his gift. But he is terribly misguided, and that is only going to led him down a destructive path if left unchecked. Malcolm taking that job with have only driven him down that dark path much like it did with Herkabe.
It might sound a little harsh, but him struggling at Harvard is the right process for him to develop a sense of humility and learn what matters in life. Only then will he make the most of his skillsets and find the happiness he so desperately seeks. The Dewey comment about him living the easy life was reflection of this: they know where his skillsets and personality will lead him, along with what he needs to get there. Malcolm is completely different from Dewey and thus he'll need a different approach.
