The Simpsonscould address a common criticism by committing to the time-jump from season 36’s finale, but it would come at some serious costs to the show’s best qualities.The Simpsonshas visited potential futures in the past, showcasing possible endings for the titular family and Springfield at large. However,season 36’s finale “Estranger Things"has generated extra attention by introducing a timeline where Marge passes away and the family splinters apart. It’s a radical change that will inevitably be undone by a return to the purposefully static continuity of the show.
The ageless quality is a big component ofThe Simpsonsbecoming such an enduring fixture of the television landscape. The latest hop to the future presents an interesting possibility, however. Given the time-skip that takes place, more or less treating Bart and Lisa as their realistic ages,The Simpsonspresents a version of itself that could generate fresh storytelling beats in a more painfully grounded and satirical setting. It’s an interesting hypothetical approach tothe future ofThe Simpsons, even if it never comes to be.
The Simpsons Season 37’s Time Jump Would Have Solved Its Age Problem
The Simpsons' newest timeline would present an interesting way to solve the show’s lack of specific canon, but it would cost the show a key element of its staying power.The Marge-less future of “Estranger Things” is the latest possible future for the Simpsons family, focusing on the splintered relationship between Bart and Lisa in their adult years after Marge has passed away.
Even just revisiting this setting for a follow-up episode (similar to how season 25’s “Days of Future Future” was a direct follow-up to season 23’s “Holidays of Future Passed”) would present plenty of story opportunities that the regular continuity could never tackle.The Simsponscould explore a version of their world with genuine grounded stakes.
Plots like Homer the widower have plenty of storytelling potential, but would fundamentally change the inflexible core of the show’s purposefully static but ever-expanding Springfield. By setting that plot in a possible future for one-off episodes,The Simpsonscan visit that concept but not be fundamentally attached to itlike other deaths that have irrevocably altered character continuity.
A full-time jump to this setting presents even more possibilities.Bart and Lisa in “Estranger Things” are portrayed around the same age they would be if the characters had aged in real time, presenting familiar characters in a fresh light. It tracks with the audience that has grown up withThe Simpsons, and would force everything in the exaggerated but emotionally grounded world to have stakes.
It could be a harsher satire, fully embracingThe Simpsons' sardonic and political worldview and pushing it in similar ways to “Estranger Things'” version of Florida as a death sentence for the elderly. It could also give the creatives room to update any number of characters or have an open field to introduce new faces to Springfield.
Even just as a possibility, a fully time-jumped version ofThe Simpsonsis an interesting proposition. The future seen in the season 36 finale would make for a satirically rich update of Springfield. However, it would come at some major costs to the way the show has always operated, and it might not be worth the price.
The Simpsons Season 37 Doing A Time Jump Means Marge Will Remain Dead
Marge Is The Bedrock Of The Simpsons, And Removing Her Would Radically Change The Show
A full-time skip to the future seen in “Estranger Things” would actually kill off Marge,which could be too big of a blow for the show’s regular continuity to handle. One of the big appeals of seeing one-off visits into possible futures forThe Simpsonsis the safe knowledge that the show will reset back for the next episode.
The show’s consistent base-setting and characters are a big part of what has allowed it to endure for so long and tackle so many stories. This is also what makes episodes like “Lisa’s Wedding,” “Future-Drama,” “Barthood,” and “Estranger Things” interesting in the first place, asthey give characters a sense of closure in a way the regular show never can.
Seeing a version of the family without the bedrock that Marge provides is an interesting “what if,” especially as it explores this new world in service of the core of Bart and Lisa’s sibling relationship.Moving the show fully to this timeline would suddenly limit whatThe Simpsonscould do, in a way no other previous story has.
A permanent time jump to a future like the one in “Estranger Things” (or any of the other teased futures, for that matter) would limit [The Simpsons] in a way it should never be.
While the main timeline can’t really use Maude Flanders as a character after her death (outside of flashbacks and supernatural gags), she wasn’t too much of a factor episode by episode.The loss of Marge in the show’s primary setting would radically alter the character dynamics, with such a loss likely hovering over every future storyline in some fashion.
Marge’s death as a permanent part of the show would be a big blow to what makesThe Simpsonsstill workso well after so long. A permanent time jump to a future like the one in “Estranger Things” (or any of the other teased futures, for that matter) would limit the show in a way it should never be.
Why The Simpsons' Elastic Canon Is A Double-Edged Sword
They’ll Never Stop The Simpsons
The creatives behind the scenes onThe Simpsonschose decades ago to keep the family in a static space, using the animated medium to ensure the characters didn’t age or change too much, even as the rest of the world around Springfield evolved. For some, that static setting has cost the show the natural stakes of canon that they could otherwise get invested in.
However, adhering to that approach would have preventedThe Simpsonsfrom developing the ability to tell any kind of story, whether that be time-hopping tales of grieving widowers alongside nature documentary parodies. At its best,The Simpsonsfinds ways to make every stand-alone future or fantasy episode feel consistent with the central charactersand their evolution.
The unique things about those episodes are that they can offer possibilities of closure, in a way the main show never can. As parodied in season 36’s “Bart’s Birthday,“abruptly tidy endings are antithetical toThe Simpsons' universe. It’s a silly world where anything can happen, so long as the characters feel true to themselves, closure be damned.
That’s what has keptThe Simpsonsgoing for 36 seasons, and willkeep it going until at least season 40. That’s why episodes like “Estranger Things” are interesting, because they offer the illusion of closure for a single story. The show can then reset and do something else, but it would lose that quality if Marge were gone all the time.
A return to the “Estranger Things” future would be interesting, especially if it pays offcertain teased elements of Lisa’s romantic future with Valeriebased on the natural developments of the character. However, it shouldn’t become the primary setting. While the show’s flexible canon might reduce the stakes, it ensuresThe Simpsonsalways has stories to tell.
