Key Highlights:
There’s a flash-forward 35 years into the future with Marge Simpson dead.
The episode is out-of-continuity, and Marge is alive and well in present and future episodes.
Key Background:
The Season 36 finale episode “Estranger Things” is a stark deviation from The Simpsons’ traditional episodic structure. This is an unusual episode, as opposed to much of the rest of the series’ reboots later on, in that it alludes to the future timeline and hypothesizes as to what the characters would be doing in decades to come. By having sped forward 35 years, the show then has liberty to investigate aging, loss, and the deep long-term relationship of the family with gravity never seen on the show before.
The emotional payoff of the scene is in its beginning, as Bart and Lisa’s childhood friendship erodes bit by bit. Defying the traditional cartoon trope is the subtle but profound changes that are capable of reimagining age-old habits. Seeing the gap widening between them, Marge encourages her children to keep each other close. That moment plants the seed emotionally that germinates much later in the flash-forward timeline.
Lisa as a commissioner someday is now and Bart has a seedy eldercare facility. Their dad Homer is forgotten by Bart. The show gets sorrowful only when Lisa listens to a voice message of Marge, deceased in the world. She sends them a message to take care of one another—to get together and rescue Homer from his filth-ridden environment.
The most effective moment in the episode may be when Marge appears in heaven sitting next to Beatles legend Ringo Starr. She gazes down at her family smiling because she can see her children reunited. Aside from affirming her fate in the flash-forward, it is also a poignant tribute to her as the family’s emotional north.
The show brought about an online binge of feelings as the fans cried, reminisced, and even flew off the handle. The reality of Marge’s death was severe enough to push mass hysteria into a frenzy. The showrunners quickly followed up to declare the episode non-canonical, i.e., within the universe of possibility speculation but not within canon events. Marge is not really dead in the present reality of the series and will live on as a living presence in future seasons.
This pilot episode shows The Simpsons’ experimentation in doing something new in being creative in its own tradition. With the evolution of its traditional comedy format, the show demonstrates that it’s still able to shock, make us think, and touch hearts of people even after 36 years.