The Simpsons originally aired on December 17th in 1989 and has focused entirely on the core cast members of the family for all 36 seasons so far. Last night the season 36 finale aired and it has stirred a fair amount of controversy. Whilst the show has never shied away from killing off characters (looking at you Maude Flanders) last night saw an episode that centred around the death of one of the main family members.
In an episode set in the future, the episode depicted Bart and Lisa’s relationship as the decades went on, and half way through the episode we discover that Marge Simpson dies before Homer. The show thankfully doesn’t make a joke of this, as it has done in the past with character deaths, but allows the event to feel impactful and hits hard. Whilst the show has flashed forward countless times and even featured deaths of core characters before in “what if’s” or “Halloween specials”, this is the first time The Simpsons has offered a canonical death to a core family member and it’s caused quite a stir.
In the last few years The Simpsons has begun to get more and more daring with its episodes and its writers have grown comfortable doing episodes that handle more serious content. In a previous season the show has dealt with Bart finally turning 11 and the meta commentary around him supposedly always remaining 10-years old the existential crisis it entailed. The season before this one even depicted Bart’s death in a throwaway gag where he died of boredom from a story Lisa told him. Whilst viewership may have dropped with each passing season as the show goes on, it’s critical acclaim for the last few seasons has begun to see a steady incline as the show appears to be re-finding it’s form with episodes like this.
Don’t worry though, despite the episodes content depicting the passing of Marge Simpson the show isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, and neither is Marge. The show has been renewed until season 40 so at least 4 more seasons are on the way and Marge is still set to appear in them for the time being as the show of course will return to it’s usual time period where Bart is always 10, Lisa is always 8, and Homer is still an idiot.
If you’ve not tuned in to The Simpsons in a while you may be surprised to see what the show is like these days and it’s worth revisiting it in its current form.
You can stream The Simpsons on Disney+.
