The Simpsons Season 36 failed to keep its character death promise

Although The Simpsons It was set to start a promising trend when it came to shaking the status quo of the show, season 36, episode 2 proves that the series is still not very fond of disrupting its reliable formula. 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 huge twists of season 36 episode 1 were all undone at the end, but this twist was so cleverly set up that the ending didn’t feel like a letdown.

The end of the episode reset the reality of the show in a way that felt pointed. yet The Simpsons Season 36 Episode 1’s “Series Finale” was an elaborate joke, the show has 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-shocking events were part of the reality of the show, and everything was returned to normal by the closing credits. Unfortunately, season 36, episode 2, “The Yellow Lotus,” proved that the show’s commitment to maintaining its status quo wasn’t entirely ironic.

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

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

As the title said, “The Yellow Lotus” was a parody of HBO’s hit murder mystery The White Lotus. Like the show, the episode was set in an idyllic, exclusive and extremely expensive resort that was host to Springfield’s surprisingly dysfunctional wealthy elites. Among them were memorable supporting characters like Dr. Hibbert, his wife Bernice, Sideshow Mel, and even Sideshow Bob. As such, if The Simpsons If you were ever going to follow through on his promise of upending the show’s status quo with permanent character deaths, this would be the perfect setting. This expectation may seem contradictory, but season 35 disproves this.

Although “Bart’s Birthday” was a winking celebration of ​​the show’s unchanged status quo, season 35, episode 15, “Cremains of the Day,” The Simpsons Break with tradition by killing off a recurring character. Although “The Yellow Lotus” did kill off The Simpsons Character Nick the Realtor, this is not a fair death for many reasons. Nick was not a main character or even technically a recurring character, unlike Larry the Barfly. Clearly, Larry’s death didn’t start a trend, because even in an episode parodying 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

The death of Larry D. Barfly was unexpectedly moving

“The Yellow Lotus” opens with Marge and Homer encountering a dead body while swimmingAnd the episode implies that it could have been any of the characters they met at the eponymous resort. Theoretically, the body could have belonged to Sideshow Mel, Smithers, Lindsay Naegle, Dr. Hibbert, his wife Bernice, or another resort attendee. Instead, the victim glimpsed in the opening was a character who was only Once before, 27 years ago, producer Al Jin even noticed Screenrant That Nick the Realtor was “Someone who is okay to lose– pointing to his unique appearance.

Since The Simpsons Has a massive 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 really changed the setup of the whole series if The Simpsons Killed off Mr. Burns. The previous episode even parodied this with a flashback scene where Burns is killed. however, The Simpsons Didn’t need to kill 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 the characters

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

instead, The Simpsons Show took the safe option of killing Nick the RealtorWhich has never appeared since he had a few lines in season 9, episode 9, “Reality Bites.” To put the character’s insubstantial legacy in context, it’s important to note that the same episode introduced two other associates for Marge Cookie Kwan and Gil Gunderson both appeared in dozens of other episodes, with Gil even getting a Christmas special. In contrast, Nick never appeared, even as a background character. The Simpsons Didn’t want to lose any character with even a small inheritance.

From the real Seymour Skinner in the season 36 premiere to Mr. Bergstrom appearing in season 25, The Simpsons Is never in a hurry to withdraw any letters. In theory, killing off characters deprives the series of potential comebacks without providing much payoff. The largely positive response to “Cremains of the Day,” an episode whose best moments praised Larry the Barfly, may have proven that the series can benefit from occasional recurring character deaths. however, The Simpsons Season 36 instead returned to business as usual.

Source: Screenrant