‘The Simpsons’ Kills Off Marge, and Proves There’s Still Life in the Series

“Estranger Things,” the Season 36 finale of The Simpsons, killed off Marge (Julie Kavner). She’s sleeping with the three-eyed fishes, cashed in her Mr. Burns’ Casino chips, went to meet her five-fingered maker. Now, before you start weeping in your Duff beer, if you watched the episode, you know it happens in a flash-forward timeline, and if you haven’t, well, you’re missing out on a season that has reinvigorated the series, now pushing 40. In fact, it’s the latter that are likely the ones that are creating an uproar over her death, fans who gave up long ago and only read the news without context, decrying a piece of their childhood that died with her. But in the future or not, it’s a daring move, and one that pays off creatively, with the season finale capping off one of ‘The Simpsons’ best seasons in years, another in a series of recent seasons that have not been afraid to take chances, refusing to play it safe, and, in doing so, proves it still has life.

The Death of ‘The Simpsons’ Marge in “Estranger Things” is the Latest Plot Device to Challenge the Status Quo

The cynical among us are likely to point at Marge’s death in “Estranger Things” as a gimmick, a shock tactic to bring attention back to a show past its expiration date. If it was, you’d have to admit it worked pretty well, with the news hitting media that haven’t talked about The Simpsons in years. If it was. The truth is, over the last few seasons, The Simpsons has made a number of bold, creative choices that have challenged the status quo, and killing off Marge is simply the latest in what has given the series new life.

Interestingly, those choices include two other deaths that are more significant than they appear on the surface. The first was the decision to kill off long-time background character Larry “The Barfly” Dalrymple in Season 35’s “Cremains of the Day.” It, too, caught the attention of the mainstream media in a way the series hadn’t in some time, impressive given what a non-factor the character has been throughout the series’ long run. That alone makes Larry’s death significant, but the fact that the entire episode was centered around that death, and that the death is one of the few to stick in The Simpsons liquid canon, makes it even more so. The other is the death of everyone on Earth in Season 36’s “Stew Lies.” It’s a throwaway gag at the end of the episode that shows a bickering Lisa (Yeardley Smith) and Bart (Nancy Cartwright) in the future, whose heated sibling rivalry has visiting aliens Kang (Harry Shearer) and Kodos (Dan Castellaneta) believing that all humans are warlike, leading them to blow up the Earth. It has no bearing on the show whatsoever, of course, but heralds back to the dark, cynical sarcasm that marks the show’s earliest years.

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Other bold moves include Season 36’s entry into the iconic “Treehouse of Horror” episodes, “Treehouse of Horror XXXV,” which offers up “The Fall of the House of Monty,” a segment that is genuinely eerie and arguably the closest to skewing towards horror since “The Raven” in “Treehouse of Horror I.” It’s a refreshing return to form, given how the “Treehouse of Horror” episodes have been used to parody films and other TV series of late. “The Man Who Flew Too Much” brought back Mona Simpson (Glenn Close) in Homer’s delirium-induced vision, showing that she’s in Hell, and, on a deeper level, suggests Homer has never dealt with the unresolved trauma surrounding his relationship with her. And, in “Convenience Airways,” in what is truly a game-changer, Maggie utters her first legible word, “mama,” since Season 4’s “Lisa’s First Word,” where Elizabeth Taylor said “Homer” when voicing Maggie.

Bold Moves, Like the Death of Marge, Bodes Well for the Future of ‘The Simpsons’

Recent seasons have also seen a willingness by The Simpsons writers to reference its past. Not in a hallowed, reverential way either, but in a way that puts a fresh spin on it. In some, that reference is an Easter egg of sorts, fan-pleasing callbacks like the Bart raven in the aforementioned “The Fall of the House of Monty,” or the reappearance of the Pin Pals, who first appeared in Season 7’s “Team Homer,” in “The Man Who Flew Too Much.” In others, the callback subverts expectations with new spins on old running gags, like Sideshow Bob’s (Kelsey Grammer) stepping on rakes, or Bart’s prank phone calls to Moe (Hank Azaria).

By taking these steps, the future of The Simpsons, renewed now through Season 40, looks better than it has for a long time. It’s an “anything goes” mentality that, thanks to The Simpsons‘ canon-fluidity, allows the writers to try things they haven’t before, and with those attempts being more hit than miss, it’s paying off in spades. For years, it was like no one wanted to be the one to ruin The Simpsons legacy by straying too far from the tried and true, which only succeeded in episodes that lacked the spark of the early seasons. Now, they’ve learned to honor that legacy by returning to that laissez-faire feel of the early years.

And moments like Maggie speaking as she did in “Convenience Airways,” especially when the reaction from Homer to it made it seem natural, like she had always been talking, or Bart turning 11, speaks to a future where the writers aren’t afraid to mix up the status quo when it comes to the characters themselves. Maggie speaking more often in the future would be a huge step, taking away a trait that had been hers from the start and giving her something new. And, again, that non-canon aspect of the series is the “Get Out of Jail Free” card if what they try goes sideways. But for all those that are up in arms over the death of Marge, remember that the one thing that has never been challenged, and never will, are those flash-forward moments. They’re “what if” episodes, so chill, and come back to The Simpsons. It’s earned your respect again.

All episodes of The Simpsons is available to stream on Disney+ in the U.S.