All 10 show-changing plot twists in season 36, episode 1 explained

Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Simpsons Season 36, Episode 1

Although his biggest twist suddenly re-framed all the events, The Simpsons Season 36 premiere included many series-shocking twists and revelations. The Simpsons The season 37 renewal hasn’t been announced yet, but it certainly looks like the series will remain a television staple for much longer. After hitting a critical nadir around 32-32 seasons, The Simpsons turned its fortunes with tighter, weirder seasons 34 and 35. The character-centric outings were hailed as a return to form for the series, prompting think pieces from everywhere from Youtube to Vulture About whether The Simpsons Was finally good again.

it was like, The Simpsons Season 36’s ratings problems aside, the show was poised for a comeback in 2024. As such, it was a major shock when season 36, episode 1, “Bart’s Birthday,” began with late-night host and former Simpsons Writer Conan O’Brien breaking the fourth wall to celebrate 35 years of the show and announcing that “Bart’s birthday” would be The Simpsons Series finale. The dramatic shock was heightened by the episode’s plot, which saw Springfield and its citizens completely changed by a string of shocking twists. However, the biggest shock was saved for the end.

10

Major Skinner retired in the Simpsons Season 36 premiere

Skinner’s New Job is clearly setting up a spinoff

Shortly after O’Brien introduced “Hack GPT,” the AI ​​technology that scripted “Bart’s Birthday” into the universe, the episode’s plot began in earnest. Bart delivers birthday party invitations at school, and discovers to his delight that Uther is still alive despite his prolonged absence for the past few seasons. However, things soon took a turn for the strangest Principal Skinner has announced that he is leaving his job and moving out of Springfield. The principal moved on with Groundskeeper Willy, a new adventure that sounded suspiciously like a hokey attempt to set up a spinoff series. It only got stranger from here.

9

The Simpsons Season 36 premiere killed off Mr. Burns

Mr. Burns fell into a vat of nuclear waste

In a gog straight from The Simpsons‘ Treehouse of Horror Halloween Specials, Mr. Burns died gruesomely in a nuclear power plant accident early in “Bart’s Birthday.” Smithers announced that Burns had died and left his fortune to be distributed among the workers of the power plant, an unexpected generosity that earned heaps of rapturous applause. Burns then came out to laugh at his gullible workers, and beat them for falling for his cruel trick. Seconds later, he fell into a vat of nuclear waste with Homer’s help, and his lawyer announced that Burns’ prank would stick after all.

8

Comic book guy and Kumiko has a baby

John Cena delivered the couple’s first child

After Homer’s co-workers learned their evil boss’s fortune would be divided between them, they heralded their obvious colleague as a hero. Bart was disturbed by this strange adventure but sought refuge in a place that never changed. Arriving at Comic Book Guy’s shop, the Android’s Dungeon, Bart was shocked to find his wife at work. Kumiko gave birth to her and Comic Book Guy’s child with the help of John Cenaresulting in Comic Book Guy closing his shop for good to become a full-time father. This latest obstacle drove Bart straight to his oldest and most trusted friend.

7

Milhouse is moving to Atlanta

Kirk got a recording contract

Unfortunately, the arrival in Millhouse did not help at all. in one of The Simpsons Season 36’s Weird Twists, Milhouse’s parents revealed that his father, Kirk, had received a recording contract And the family moved to Atlanta. As anyone who recalls Kirk’s demo tape from season 8, episode 6, “A Milkhouse Divided,” can tell, that hardly seemed like a likely turn of events. Nevertheless, the Van Houtens whisk Bart’s oldest friend and Bart was forced to face the fact that his life is changing faster than he ever imagined possible. This fear was soon confirmed.

6

Moe sold his tavern in the Simpsons Season 36 premiere

Moe’s subplan and future received no further explanation

When Bart passed through Springfield in “Bart’s Birthday,” many iconic businesses from the long-running show closed down and advertised their sale. the main thing Mao turned off the lights in his famous inn for the last time or hang a “Sold” sign on the door. Naturally, this would have been an event that would have disturbed Homer more than Bart. However, when he returned home, Bart discovered that his father had gotten to the root of his anger management issues and drinking problem in therapy and was now ready to embrace gentle parenting. Bart was less than happy with the twist.

Bart was so horrified by Homer’s sudden personality change that he didn’t even hang around long enough to hear Maggie utter her first words. They were the cringe-worthy one-liners.”Soo, that just happened“, but that’s not the only surprise the scene has in store. The Simpsons Season 36’s story tricks continued as Bart went through the weddings of Aunt Patty and her partner Evelyn, Ned Flanders and long-forgotten Simpson family friend Ruth Powers, Aunt Selma and the one-joke character Yo Guy, and Duffman and Ms. Hoover. At this point, it was clear that something strange was going on.

5

Nelson’s father came back

The absent Simpsons supporting stars finally returned

As Bart rushed to return home, he was faced with increasingly unlikely moments that paid off ancient setups. The Simpsons Established years and even decades earlier. Nelson’s father, who had left his family under the pretense of going out for a pack of cigarettes before the show began, returned and hugged his estranged son. Bart fled the event, growing increasingly unhinged as his world fell apart around him. Later, Bart discovers that the rest of Nelson’s gang of bullies are raising a baby together while living with Legendary. Simpsons One-off guest stars Hank Scorpio in an equally extraordinary twist.

4

Lisa won a Juilliard Scholarship and a MacArthur Genius Grant

Lisa’s future seemed bright in the “end” of the show

Bart begins to unravel the mystery of the episode’s events when he sabotages the taping of Krusty’s final show by mooning the audience. However, instead of breaking him out of this strange reality, this trick just got predictably arrested. From his prison cell, Bart asks his little sister to help him uncover the mysterious forces rewriting the reality around them. Lisa initially was forced by Bart’s claims that things are changing alarmingly fast and in increasingly unlikely ways, but, inevitably, the changes have already reached her and gave her a more important plan to focus on.

Lisa was awarded both a scholarship to Juilliard and a junior version of the MacArthur Genius GrantEffectively securing her whatever future she wanted. Although this seemed like great news to his sister, Bart was aware that this was just another case of The Simpsons Neatly wrapping up another main character’s arc before the show ended. He became even more desperate to escape this waking nightmare when Police Chief Wiggum informed him that he would typically punish Bart’s misbehavior by sending him to military school. But the main power had a change thanks to its own ambitious plans for the future.

3

Police Chief Wiggum has left the force

The Simpsons supporting stars moved to Chicago

In a twist that shocked everyone but the increasingly irritated Bart, Police Chief Wiggum has announced that he is leaving Springfield to join the Chicago Police Department.. His sidekicks Lou and Eddie were shocked to discover that he would be dealing with gruesome crimes in his new job, and Wiggum sheepishly admitted that his prospective spinoff would be more dramatic than comedic. It was one of the few meta moments in the episode that explicitly acknowledged what was going on in Springfield. The Simpsons was ending the show’s history by giving each supporting star an appropriate sendoff, much to Bart’s chagrin.

The audience was privy to more than just Bart, thanks to the framing device of “Bart’s Birthday,” a crude meta-gag that treats the outing as the show’s series. It was clear from the context that once Bart’s age changed in The Simpsons The premiere of season 36, the universe of the show would reset. Bart did everything he could to avoid going home and reuniting with his family, knowing that the result of accepting his aging and blowing out the candles on his birthday cake would be the end of the show. Still, the series came surprisingly close to this monumental twist.

2

The real Major Skinner finally returned

The Simpsons brought back Martin Sheen’s controversial character

On the subject of family reunions, Agnes Skinner welcomes the real Seymour Skinner with open arms. Despite Agnes and the rest of Springfield deciding never to address Seymour’s existence after his first appearance in the series, his mother seemed happy to have her son at home again in this outing. Martin Sheen’s character has not been seen in the series since season 9, episode 2, “The Principal and the Pauper,” a controversial Simpsons Episode whose events are quickly reconnected.

1

Bart finally turned 11 in “Bart’s Birthday”

Danny DeVito’s Herb Powell returned for the party

When the young hero of the show returned home, The Simpsons Season 36, Episode 1 revealed that Bart has finally turned 11 after spending 35 seasons of the series stuck at the age of 10. Homer’s long-forgotten brother Rabbi Powell even returned for the celebrations, as did many characters who had previously died, including Rabbi Krusofsky and Bleeding Gums Murphy. Fortunately, Bart manages to reset the reality of the series when Homer chokes him and the AI-generated episode’s story falls apart around them.

“Bart’s Birthday” ended with Conan O’Brien celebrating the fact The Simpsons It’s not over yet, as disgruntled celebrities have left the premiere in annoyance. Meanwhile, in the world of The SimpsonsBart’s age reverted to 10, his birthday party became a small gathering again, and all the absurd events of the episode were undone in an instant. While this self-referential outing could have been a surprisingly good series finale for the show, “Bart’s Birthday” ultimately proved that more things are changing in the world of The SimpsonsThe longer they stay the same.

Sources: Super EyePatch Wolf (via YouTube)

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