The 36th season of The Simpsons failed to fulfill the promise of the character’s death

Although The Simpsons seemed poised to start a promising trend when it came to shaking up the series’ status quo, season 36 episode 2 proves that the series isn’t too interested in upsetting its reliable formula just yet. The Simpsons season 36 started off very strong. The season premiere, “Bart’s Birthday,” featured a series of twists that shook up the entire premise of the long-running series and seemed to change it forever. The Simpsons The big twists from Season 36 Episode 1 were all undone by the end, but this twist was so cleverly planned that the ending didn’t feel like a letdown.

That said, the episode’s ending redefined the show’s reality in a way that felt pointed. After The Simpsons The “Series Finale” of episode 1 of season 36 turned out to be an elaborate joke, the show made a point of highlighting its consistency. Despite the promises of the title, Bart Simpson’s age did not change in “Bart’s Birthday”, none of the canon-shaking events were part of the show’s reality and everything returned to normal in the final credits. Unfortunately, Season 36 Episode 2, “The Yellow Lotus,” proved that the series’ commitment to maintaining its status quo was not entirely ironic.

The Yellow Lotus Doesn’t Kill a Recurring Simpsons Character (But It Should Have)

Simpsons Season 36 Episode 2 Victim Only Appeared in One Previous Episode

As the title suggested, “The Yellow Lotus” Was a Parody of HBO’s Hit Murder Mystery The White Lotus. Like that show, the episode was set at an idyllic, exclusive, and extremely expensive resort that hosted Springfield’s surprisingly dysfunctional wealthy elites. Among them were such memorable supporting characters as Dr. Hibbert, his wife Bernice, Sideshow Mel, and even Sideshow Bob. As such, if The Simpsons If it ever made good on its promise to upend the show’s status quo with permanent character deaths, this would be the perfect scenario. This expectation may seem contradictory, but season 35 disproves it.

While “Bart’s Birthday” was a celebration of the show’s unchanging status quo, season 35 episode 15, “Cremains of the Day,” saw The Simpsons break with tradition by killing a recurring character. Although “The Yellow Lotus” killed The Simpsons character Nick the real estate agent, this was not a comparable death for several reasons. Nick wasn’t a major character or even technically a recurring character, unlike Larry the Barfly. Clearly, Larry’s death didn’t start a trend, as even in an episode that parodied a murder mystery show, the show couldn’t kill off a recurring guest star like Bernice or Sideshow Mel.

The Simpsons Season 35 Finally Killed Off a Recurring Character

Larry the Barfly’s Death Was Unexpectedly Heartbreaking

“The Yellow Lotus” begins with Marge and Homer finding a dead body while swimmingand the episode implies that this could have been any of the characters they met at the resort of the same name. Theoretically, the body could have belonged to Sideshow Mel, Smithers, Lindsey Naegle, Dr. Hibbert, his wife Bernice, or another attendee at the resort. Instead, the victim glimpsed in the opening turns out to be a character who had only appeared once before, 27 years ago. Producer Al Jean even commented Screenrant that Nick, the real estate agent, was “Someone who’s okay with losing”, pointing to his lonely appearance.

Since The Simpsons has a huge cast, killing off another recurring character like Larry the Barfly would have made sense in a murder mystery parody. Although Homer’s boss was present at the resort, it would have actually changed the setup of the entire series if The Simpsons killed Mr. Burns. The previous episode even parodied this with a quickly reconfigured scene in which Burns was killed. However, The Simpsons it didn’t need to kill off a figure as central as Burns to make an impact. The series would have made headlines by killing off Dr. Hibbert or even Lindsay Naegle.

Why The Simpsons Almost Never Kills Off Characters

The Simpsons canon allows the series to bring back forgotten guest stars

Instead of, The Simpsons show took the safe option of killing off Nick the real estate agentwho has never appeared since he had a few lines in Season 9 Episode 9, “Realty Bites.” To contextualize the character’s insubstantial legacy, it’s important to note that the same episode introduced two other co-workers to Marge Kwan and Gil Gunderson, who appeared in dozens of other episodes, with Gil even receiving a dedicated Christmas special. for him, in contrast, Nick never appeared again, even as a background character. The Simpsons I didn’t want to lose any characters, even with a small legacy.

From the real Seymour Skinner in the season 36 premiere to Mr. Bergstrom appearing in season 25, The Simpsons is never in a rush to retire any character. In theory, killing off characters deprives the series of potential twists without providing much payoff. The largely positive response to “Cremains of the Day,” an episode whose best moments praised Larry the Barfly, could have proven that the series can benefit from occasional and recurring character deaths. However, The Simpsons season 36 is back to business as usual.

Source: Screenrant