Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for The Simpsons season 36, “The Past and the Furious.”
WhileThe Simpsonsseason 36’s new special “The Past and the Furious” has its fun moments, I was still struck by how jarringly dark the entire affair felt.The dark side ofThe Simpsonshas been present since the series began. When the show started,The Simpsonswas a crude, cynical antidote to the saccharine, idealized family sitcoms of the 1980s. For viewers who foundThe Cosby ShowandFull Housetwee and cloying,The SimpsonsjoinedMarried… With ChildrenandRoseanneas a more risqué, bolder alternative.
However, I think it’s fair to say that theThe Simpsons' time as the vanguard of daring sitcom content has long since been and gone. By the late ‘90s, hits likeFamily GuyandSouth Parkwere makingThe Simpsonslook comparatively tame. As the decades passed,The Simpsonsonly gained a more family-friendly reputation. WhileThe Simpsonsseason 37may change this, season 36 feels more anodyne than its competitorsAmerican Dad,Rick and Morty, or evenFuturama. As such, I was surprised to findThe Simpsonsseason 36’s new specialstrikingly downbeat.
Lisa Fails To Change Mr. Burns In The Simpsons Season 36’s “The Past and the Furious”
Burns Still Becomes The Monstrous Tyrant He Was Destined To Be
In “The Past and the Furious,” Lisa is crestfallen when the corporate tyrant Mr. Burns won’t even allow a single daisy to bloom in the concrete jungle of contemporary Springfield. To be clear, the episode takes place in what “The Past and the Furious” dubs an “Alternate Reality,” but the only visible difference is that Springfield is even more of a post-industrial wasteland than usual. No plant life can be seen anywhere and this drives Lisa into a deep depression, prompting Homer and Marge to take radical action.
The story of “The Past and the Furious” starts in earnest with Lisa’s trip to a psychologist, where Lisa argues that her hopelessness is entirely justified by Springfield’s environmental degradation. I was surprised by just how grim this plot was and glad to see the storyline pick up once the psychologist recommended an innovative therapy technique that gave Lisa a peek into the past. While in a trance, Lisa imagines herself as her ancestor, a nightclub performer named Edith. Upon waking up, Lisa realizes she really has traveled back in time and temporarily possessed Edith.
The Springfield Mini Moose Is Eradicated In Every Version of Lisa’s Reality
Lisa’s Attempts To Preserve Springfield’s Ecosystem Always Fail
Soon,The Simpsonsseason 36’s special pairs upLisa and Burns as Lisa discovers that the corporate overlord was once a charismatic jazz performer who went by “Monty B.” Lisa and Monty work together to save the Springfield Mini Moose, a local pest that is secretly central to Springfield’s ecosystem. Although she knows that Springfield’s ecological future hinges on the survival of the species,Lisa can’t save the Springfield Mini Moose or Monty Burns in any version of the past.
Every time Lisa travels back in time, she makes matters worse for herself and Springfield. First, she accidentally accelerates the Mini Moose’s extinction, and then she inadvertently causes a Mini Moose stampede that destroys Monty’s greenhouse full of his beloved flowers. A heartbroken Monty vows to do all he can to eradicate Springfield’s wildlife, prompting Lisa to make one last desperate trip to the past. This time, the older Mr. Burns joins her. There, he possesses Monty’s body, successfully convincing his younger self to pursue a life of wealth accumulation through corporate crime and environmental catastrophe.
I was surprised to see just how dark the ending of its plot was.
I have never seen Mr. Burns as a misunderstood hero, and I admireThe Simpsonsfor keeping his character consistent. However, consideringThe Simpsonsseason 36’s new specialis set in an alternate reality, I was surprised to see just how dark the ending of its plot was. Lisa failed in her mission of saving the endangered species, failed in her attempts to save the soul of Monty Burns, and, worst of all, was content with a pretty pathetic consolation prize.
The Simpsons Season 36’s Special Makes Lisa’s Character Sadder
Lisa’s Lonely Fight Against Injustice Has Never Seemed More Hopeless
Before pursuing his life of crime, Monty left Lisa a pile of baseball cards that were priceless by the time she unearthed them in the present day. Lisa used this to fund a flower garden that, one year later, brought a small patch of plant life back to Springfield. Although Mr. Burns pretended to hate the garden, he clearly got a little joy from seeing this mother’s favorite flowers blooming once again. This could hve seemed sweet, butit was Lisa settling for crumbs that made this plot so uniquely bleak.
Lisa has always been an endearingly naive, idealistic character.
As far back as season 2, episode 13, “Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment,” and season 3, episode 2, “Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington,” Lisa has always been an endearingly naive, idealistic character. WhereBart’s stories inThe Simpsonsseason 36focus on his rebellious attitude and antihero persona, Lisa’s plots have always seen her strive to make the world a better place. In “The Past and the Furious,” I was crushed to see her not only accept but feel delighted with a meager flower garden while Springfield remained a concrete wasteland under a corporate overlord’s control.
“The Past and the Furious” Confirms Burns Is Even Worse Than He Seemed
Burns Admits To War Profiteering While Talking To His Younger Self
Lisa has always struggled to fight the powers that be, but the fact that she was content with her flower garden when Springfield’s ecosystem was still almost entirely decimated was brutally bleak. I’m not even sure if “The Past and the Furious” was intended to be so grim, since the ending seems to think Burns’ jaunty walk through the flower garden was somehow uplifting or sweet. However, only a few moments earlier, Burns makes a comment that cements him as a painfully realistic sort of monster.
Burns has always been a cartoonishly evil figure, from his friendship with Dracula to the trap doors installed in his office.The Simpsonsseason 36’s Treehouse of Horror sawhim get his comeuppance, but his villainy is typically over-the-top and outlandish in its absurdity. As such, the older Burns telling Monty that he would become rich through “War profiteering” was a discordantly dark, grounded revelation that reminded me just how odious the character really is.
The Simpsons Season 36’s Midseason Hiatus Could Signal The End Of An Era For TV’s Favorite Family
The Simpsons season 36 features its longest midseason hiatus yet with 12 consecutive weeks off the air, but what does this mean for the show’s future?
It is hard to see whyThe Simpsonsthinks viewers would care about a war criminal getting a moment of joy from seeing his mother’s favorite flowers, particularly after he actively eradicated an entire species and turned his hometown into a polluted wasteland.The Simpsonsseason 36 might have been aiming for intetional nihilism, but I get the distinct sense that the show’s latest special wasn’t supposed to be as utterly hopeless as it felt.
