"The Simpsons" concluded its 36th season with a stunning revelation: the tragic demise of a beloved Simpson family member. In the season finale, which aired on May 18th, the animated series bid farewell to Marge Simpson (voiced by Julie Kavner) in a heart-wrenching twist. However, this shocking development unfolded in a flash-forward sequence set 35 years into the future, where Marge's children, Bart, Lisa, and baby Maggie, have grown into adults.
Titled "Estranger Things," the episode saw Marge's deepest fear materialize as her eldest children drifted apart after outgrowing their cherished children's show, "The Itchy & Scratchy Show," which once bonded them. Their lives diverged onto separate paths, with Lisa ascending to the position of NBA commissioner and Bart operating an unlicensed retirement home where their father, Homer Simpson, resides — without Marge.
While the episode refrained from elaborating on the circumstances of Marge's passing, it did feature a poignant funeral scene at her gravesite. Later, Lisa referred to her "late mother" and read a letter Marge had penned, intended to be opened "after I pass." In the letter, a youthful-looking Marge deemed it "very unlikely" she would precede her husband in death. Despite a brief dispute over Homer's living arrangements, Bart and Lisa reunited to bring him home, where they revisited their beloved "Itchy & Scratchy Show." The scene culminated with a heartwarming, yet bittersweet, vision of Marge watching over them from heaven's skies.
"I'm so happy my kids are close again," Marge murmured, just before The Beatles' drummer, Ringo Starr, emerged from behind her, jesting, "Love, we’ll be late for the Heaven buffet. There’s a shrimp tower waiting." The episode then delivered another bombshell: Marge had remarried in heaven — to none other than the rock legend himself.
"Okay Ringo," she said, planting a kiss on the musician. "I'm just so glad that we're allowed to marry different people in Heaven."
The episode's unexpected twists left fans of the long-running series up in arms.
"They freaking killed off Marge Simpson. That’s insanity," one fan fumed on X. "Might as well kill off Randy Marsh from 'South Park' and Stewie from 'Family Guy' while you're at it."
Another echoed, "Justice for Marge, killed off in the season 36 finale through a flash-forward scene. She's been one of my favorite characters on 'The Simpsons' for years."
While many were incensed by the development, a few saw Marge's death as a refreshing change for "The Simpsons," television's longest-running scripted primetime series in American history.
"Marge Simpson was the glue that held the family together," one observer noted. "It shows how, for so many years, she had to endure Homer's antics. Perhaps this will make 'The Simpsons' even more intriguing."
Fortunately for die-hard fans, the series has been renewed for four more seasons, promising to delve further into the aftermath of Marge's shocking demise when season 37 premieres this fall.
