How The Simpsons Season 36 Brought Back A Golden Age Aspect Of Lisa’s Character

The following contains spoilers for The Simpsons Season 36 Episode 4, ‘Shoddy Heat,’ now streaming on HuluThe SimpsonsSeason 36 gives Lisa a chance to revive a previously unremarkable aspect of her character. For thirty-six seasons, Lisa has been the intelligent moral compass of the Simpsons family, seeking to improve her life and the lives of others (even when she occasionally falls into a childish impulse or faces the perpetual fate of a bittersweet world). These essential characteristics were filtered through many different directions, such as his exploration of faith, his struggles to live ethically, or his efforts to make Springfield a better place, even in the midst of The Simpsons‘various parodies and stories.

In the first episodes of The SimpsonsIt wasn’t uncommon to see her take on a different role that created many mysteries around Springfield and beyond. This element of the character became less pronounced over time, with Lisa moving into other roles as the episodes required. However, The Simpsons Season 36’s “Shoddy Heat” brings this aspect of the character back to the forefront in a really fun way.

The Simpsons Season 36 Brings Back a Classic Episode Template

The Simpsons Make Lisa a detective again

“Shoddy Heat” turns Lisa back into a young detectivewhich was a consistent element of the show’s previous Lisa-heavy storylines. “Shoddy Heat” focuses on an uncovered cold case that Abe Simpson investigated decades before the events of the main series. Curious about the situation, Lisa goes in search of the truth and discovers a secret between Mr. Burns and Abe that guaranteed the latter’s silence, explaining how Homer keeps his job at the Nuclear Power Plant. It’s a fun return for Lisa the Kid Detective, who was a more consistent character during the Golden Age of The Simpsons.

Episodes such as “Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington” from Season 3, “Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy” from Season 5, “Sideshow Bob Roberts” from Season 6, and “Who Shot Mr. Burns Part 2” from Season 7 highlighted Lisa’s potential as a mystery solver. Alongside Bart, the duo discovered many truths about Springfield. This was even ridiculed in The Simpsons itself, with Season 7’s “The Day the Violence Died” revealing a similar pair of siblings who steal Bart and Lisa’s thunder. Although her own investigation is no longer the main focus of the episode, it’s a fun callback to Lisa’s detective skills.

How The Simpsons Turned Lisa Into A Modern-day Nancy Drew

Lisa participated in dozens of mystery stories throughout the series

First seasons of The Simpsons played with Lisa in several different ways, with the character’s innocence and intelligence increasingly becoming a key component of the character. This intellect made her ideal for solving mysteries in Springfield.which became a recurring element in these first seasons. Over time, Lisa’s intellect applied to politics and academics became a much more predominant aspect of her stories, with police plots falling by the wayside. However, this element would occasionally be reintroduced, such as in season 20’s “Gone Maggie Gone” or season 35’s “Murder She Boat”.

Even though these plotlines have become less pronounced in modern seasons, Lisa has still embarked on enough mysteries over the years to place her firmly alongside other iconic “young detective” characters like Nancy Drew.. The show even pokes fun at this in ‘Who Shot Mr. Burns’, with Lisa telling herself she can follow in Nancy Drew’s footsteps as she helps prove her father wasn’t responsible for shooting her boss. Lisa’s natural charm and intellect make her an ideal modern answer to Nancy Drew, especially in a setting like The Simpsons that can happily subvert expectations in these mystery stories.

The Key to The Simpsons’ Longevity Helps Lisa Become a Pivotal Character

The Simpsons‘Flexibility is why it’s so long-lasting

The sheer adaptability and fluidity of The Simpsons It’s one of the big reasons why the show lasted so long. The characters are very consistent at their core, but benefit from the ability to be used in many different ways. Lisa’s intellect can make her a detective one episode, an entrepreneur the next, and a dark loner the next. All of these elements feel true to the character. Lisa, being a snoopy detective, plays with her intellect and capabilities while also feeling natural for the character.

This same idea applies to the rest of Springfield’s many residents, who have proven adaptable enough to be placed in different environments and genres as the episodes dictate. Lisa’s detective skills are one of the best examples of thisa character skill set that may have been largely left aside, but can easily be restated in an episode to motivate the plot and set different directions. The key to The Simpsons feeling so fresh even after 36 seasons is the ability to mold its characters into different shapes, like letting Lisa become a detective again.