Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for The Simpsons season 36’s special “O C’Mon All Ye Faithful."
WhileThe Simpsonsseason 36’s holiday special sees a pair of Springfield residents finally join forces for a shared mission, this plot will have viewers wondering how the show never relied on the duo until now.The Simpsonsseason 37’s renewalhas not yet been announced, but viewers hoping to see the show expand its horizons need not wait to tune in. FromVulturetoYouTubecreator SuperEyePatchWolf, critics across the Internet have spent 2023 and 2024 drawing attention to the long-running show’s creative renaissance. As surprising as it may sound,The Simpsonsis good again.
The Simpsons Season 36 Just Made A Sad Family Revelation About Marge
The Simpsons season 36 episode 8 was a lighthearted, cartoony outing, but the episode secretly referenced a tragic turn of events in Marge’s family.
Althoughthe Simpsons never age, the show’s style and tone have changed over the years. From its darker, more cynical early seasons, to its peerless Golden Age, to the show’s overbearingly zany later years,The Simpsonshas been through numerous distinct stages. While the show is now nowhere near as grounded asThe Simpsons’ first holiday episodes, season 36’s Christmas special “O C’Mon All Ye Faithful” provesThe Simpsonsis firing on all cylinders creatively. This ambitious double-sized holiday outing centers on British mentalist Derren Brown’s attempts to spread Christmas cheer throughout the dour populace of Springfield.
How The Simpsons Pairs Up Homer And Ralph For Their New Holiday Special
Ralph Is An Elf Helping Homer In His Work As Springfield’s Santa
Through convoluted plot mechanics, Brown ends up accidentally convincing Homer that he is secretly Santa Claus when he tries to prove that Homer isn’t a hopeless gift-giver.Homer’s adventures as Santa see him pair up with Ralph Wiggum, who tells him that he felt a calling to become Homer’s elf helper. In retrospect, it is hard to believe that earlier episodes ofThe Simpsonshaven’t relied on this duo more often. Ralph and Homer prove a match made in Heaven as Chief Wiggum’s impressionable son follows Homer’s dim-witted but well-meaning attempts to save Springfield’s Christmas.
Homer’s stupidity seems downright ingenious compared to Ralph’s haplessness, but the two characters are so sweet that it is hard not to root for them.
Although there are many callbacks to the show’s earlier Christmas episodes inThe Simpsonsseason 36’s holiday special, this pairing’s dynamic proves to be one of the best things about “O C’Mon All Ye Faithful.” Homer’s stupidity seems downright ingenious compared to Ralph’s haplessness, but the two characters are so sweet that it is hard not to root for them to succeed. Homer and Ralph truly want to reignite the town’s love of Christmas, although their attempts see them crash a sleigh full of presents into Moe’s Tavern and get Homer arrested for trespassing on Rainier Wolfcastle’s home.
Homer And Ralph Are A Perfect Pairing (That The Simpsons Rarely Uses
Homer And Ralph’s Shared Dim Wit Makes Them A Dynamic Duo
The pair complement each other perfectly, with Homer finally getting to play the smart straight man to someone else’s dull-witted funny man instead of vice versa. This makes their relative lack of team-ups over the years all the more surprising, as seeing Homer act as a comedic foil is always compelling.The Simpsonsseason 36’s big changesto the show’s status quo mean that this shouldn’t come as a complete surprise, but it is a fun reinvention of the show’s antihero and one that forces him to act as an authority for once.
Instead of Homer acting out and Marge reining him in, viewers see Homer attempt to curtail Ralph’s zany actions while his own plans prove scarcely less silly. Ralph stealing Homer’s car to escape the police and springing Homer from prison by sticking his head through the bars are the sort of goofy, cartoonish scrapes thatThe Simpsonsrarely indulges in.Ralph and Homer’s partnership allowsThe Simpsonsto focus on pure slapstick silliness during their subplot, which contrasts perfectly with the subdued, surprisingly emotional main storyline of the special concerning Ned Flander’s crisis of faith.
Ralph’s Role In The Simpsons Decreased After His First Starring Roles
More than anything,the lack of a significant Ralph/Homer team-up before this could be argued to stem from Ralph’s relative lack of importance in recent seasons ofThe Simpsons. Ralph headlined a few episodes of his own back in the show’s Golden Age, from season 4, episode 15, “I Love Lisa,” to season 9, episode 18, “This Little Wiggy.” These outings never changed Ralph’s worryingly dimness, but they did treat him as a fully rounded character with unique emotions and motivations.
The worst episodes of The Simpsons proved that the series stopped focusing as much on character and began to prioritize sheer zaniness.
Sadly, the series sidelined Ralph over the decades, and he became more of a punchline as the series entered its teen seasons. Some of theworst episodes ofThe Simpsonsproved that the series stopped focusing as much on character and began to prioritize sheer zaniness over emotion. This could explain how Ralph ended up drinking so much water that he exploded in season 30, episode 17, “E My Sports,” only forThe Simpsonsto never address this incident again. Fortunately,The Simpsonsseason 36 toned down this silliness and improved Ralph’s role as a result.
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