It should be telling that the most memorable thing that happened on The Simpsons over the course of season 31 was something that never actually appeared on the series. Thanks to an uproar lead by Hari Kondabolu, the push to make the flagship comedy series to take a more nuanced approach to their Indian characters (notably Kwik-E-Mart employee Apu) was the overwhelming hot button issue of the show’s past few years. It was seen as a dated and racist caricature, which Kondabolu claimed wasn’t the biggest issue he had with the character. All that he wanted was for the character to be more realized and not produced by a room of white writers.
The Simpsons notoriously botched the response to this and hasn’t won over any favors. Their lack of willingness to hear Kondabolu out showed that the series wasn’t going to change. This is a detail that is only outdone by the fact that voice actor Hank Azaria hadn’t voiced the character in a few years at this point, meaning that he had already been swept under the rug, symbolic of an unfortunate stubbornness that the show was past its prime, unable to be as topical and relevant as it once was.
Then again, one has to wonder what the show still has to say after 30 seasons. Whereas last year would’ve marked a well-rounded place to end the series, someone at Fox (err… Disney) decided to keep on going, creating the delightful short Playdate with Destiny (2020) that played in front of Pixar’s latest Onward (2020). This is a juggernaut franchise, incapable of knowing defeat even when they make bad calls. As someone who has passionately watched the series for most of those years, I am equal parts defensive and critical about how the show has evolved, reflective of a business model that was sustainable in the 1990s, but in 2020 has to compete with the youngsters who not only have taken influence from The Simpsons but has found ways to reinvent the format with even more sustenance.
The Apu thing will always be a tragic oversight in the series’ history, but I have to admit something that should be obvious by now: this season wasn’t bad. It’s true that we’re not getting episodes that are as vibrant and exciting as we used to, but the show has found a perfect lull in making episodes that satirize the sitcom format from a modern perspective.
If there’s anything that feels compelling about this season, it’s how the show has expressed its own personal regret. When all taboo subjects have fallen away, the best of episodes have taken time to question the dynamics of a family, reflect on mortality, and give a heartwarming reminder of what the show’s potential is. Sure it sometimes plays like nostalgic pandering, but there are moments where the series makes a breakthrough and makes you see the franchise as something richer, constantly growing and adding these details that enrich loyal fans’ perspectives.
It was how this season decided to end things with “The Way of the Dog.” While some on Twitter called it the perfect end to the series, it was a premise that is familiar: feature an obscure older character as a central antagonist. In this case, we visit Santa’s Little Helper’s previous owner, exploring the concept of psychological abuse caused by him being ripped away from his mother.
The episode features flashbacks that find SLH as a pup, doing visual association of various things that remind him of his mother, like water drops that remind him of when she fed him. It ends with this reunion that ranks among the series’ best tearjerker moments of recent years, showing the power of love that’s so strong that it can last even through decades of absence. Of all characters who needed more depth, I would’ve never guessed that SLH would’ve been the most satisfying. There’s also a cliffhanger as to whether she’ll be around next season (though given that COVID-19 has stalled so much of the arts, it’s tough to tell if there will be a next season in the Fall).
The show has taken to be more thematic, wanting to understand who these characters are at their core. When they tackle taboo subjects, like legalized marijuana dispensaries in “Highway to Well,” it’s a bit of a mess showing how little edge they have compared to modern series that can get away with more adult ratings. The series has also seemed to exhaust all gimmick episodes this time around, producing the Treehouse of Horror knockoff “Thanksgiving of Horror” and two-parter “Warrin Priests,” which suggests that we’re either working on all c-level stories, or we’re finally back to where the show should be at this point: the family.
I think it’s telling that a lot of the best episodes of this season had to do with the feeling of disappointment. “The Way of the Dog” best exemplified this as gratification, but I’m personally drawn to whatever reason inspired “Todd, Todd, Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me?”
In the episode, Todd Flanders reflects on the sadness he has that he can’t recall his mother’s face. So much of the episode has this surreal touch where Todd’s dreams feature Maude with a blank face. This challenges his faith, making him wonder why he should have any affection for her. There has been enough separation in the show’s history to make this feel earned, and the idea that it threatens to remove Todd from his faith is a rather powerful move.
To me, this is how the show can be provocative and essential in the modern era. This isn’t like “Alone Again, Natura-Diddily” where we try to live a normal life after her passing. This is genuine questioning that anyone deeply invested in religion should face at some point. Considering that I have a friend who has a similar issue remembering their grandmother personally, this is territory that made for an emotionally resonant episode. Whether or not you took the interstitial sequences where choirs comically sang of his doubt is up to you, though the crux is pure.
Considering that The Simpsons returned to religion with the “Warrin’ Priests” episodes, it feels like the show recognizes its mortality and is taking a more mature reflection on issues that they normally just threw slapstick and wordplay at. In this case, it explores religion through the eyes of a new priest who comes from a mega-church with a problematic past. The catch is that the priest, voiced by Pete Holmes, tried to use vulgar satire to get his point across but was banned when his message was misconstrued. Given Holmes’ famous use of faith in his work (see the HBO series Crashing), it’s easy to see how he helped to shape the story and reflect this as something more complicated.
They even made recurring characters bittersweet, such as in “Hail to the Teeth” where famous millionaire Artie Ziff invites Marge to his wedding. There’s genuine concern that Artie lost his mind, obsessing over Marge to the point that he’s made robotic versions of her. It’s haunting and strange but shows just how empty his life is. Still, there’s plenty of solid comedy from the robots rejecting Artie, proving that he couldn’t even program something to love him. Still, there is this inherent loneliness that informs the character.
For a show billed as a comedy, so much of this season was an intentional downer, taking moments to deal with tough subject matters. Sure, there were episodes like “Bart the Bad Guy” that took a broader look at subjects. In this instance, Bart takes on the cult around Marvel-like movies by accidentally seeing their version of Avengers: Endgame (2019) early. This leads to cameos by Kevin Feige as Thanos parody Chinnos (get it?) as well as Joe and Anthony Russo as film executives.
It’s good but is reminiscent of modern comedy trends of having guest actors play some fictionalized version of themselves. At least it’s more creative than in “The Miseducation of Lisa Simpson” where John Legend and Chrissy Teigen play themselves. This is all well-worn territory, and stuff that may play decently in syndication though is more reflective of what the show feels like to outside audiences. They’re hitting the Top 40 of topics in such a way that at best it’s Simpsonized, at worst it’s dated and will make you say “Oh yeah, that was a thing” in two years, like when “Brick Like Me” parodied The Hunger Games (2012) in 2014.
Speaking of, certain episodes like “Frinkcoin” feel out of time. It is understandable that animation takes longer to produce, but it not only feels like the bitcoin phenomenon has died down in the past few years (come to think of it, so has legal weed jokes) but The Simpsons tackling it feels like the umpteenth time this subject has been addressed. Sure we get a fun spin on things and having Professor Frink create his own cryptocurrency has its moments, but outside of syndication it feels baffling to think that anyone would think that episode was from this year.
That is quite possibly the bigger issue with shows like this. They’re not the only ones, but The Simpsons has a bad habit of picking topics that will become immediately dated. Whether it’s Avengers: Endgame parodies or cryptocurrency, these are subjects that feel so specific to a moment that they threaten to destroy any goodwill that the show still has. It’s true that in general trends have become more accelerated than a TikTok video, but that only means that the writing needs to be stronger.
With all of this said, one of the more baffling episodes of the season was “Marge the Lumberjill.” It’s true that we’ve had Homer flirt with his sexuality in “Three Gays of the Condo,” which makes this plot especially weird. While it’s your typical “Marge and Homer question their marriage” material, it evolves into a plot that finds Marge becoming a competitive lumberjack with her new friend Paula. Because of how Paula makes Marge feel seen, Homer thinks that she is taking Marge away from him.
It’s whatever of a plot, but there comes a point where Paula admits that she had no attraction to Marge in that way. It’s a superfluous detail that overwhelms the story and makes the typical exploration of Marge’s independence into something a bit patronizing. It does some things right, but considering that we must return to the status quo, it makes one wonder why this couldn’t be a more platonic narrative, reflective of Marge’s general love of finding someone who makes her feel accepted for being herself, and not because she needs a new romantic partner
Similarly, “Screenless” is the one episode that could’ve been a modern great, but settles for a decent execution of its premise. Due to an overuse of gadgetry, Marge wants to limit screen time only to realize that she needs it to get through a day. Everyone else can function normally, but she needs to figure out that recipe pronto. There’s an emotional honesty to the first half, showing something that is more timeless than other subjects they tackled. The issue is that the back half is especially wacky, turning a rehab center into its own scam and robbing the episode of any deeper catharsis.
That may be the biggest issue of the season. Like many seasons before, good episodes are undermined by a lack of focus. Sure some of it came from the passing of voice actor Russi Taylor but, unlike Apu, apparently she was replaceable. The show keeps moving on, and while I will always find even its weaker episode endearing, likely to grow as I catch them on FXX, judging any season on its highs feels difficult at times when your only recognition of them is that they already sound dated. That’s in part because of how often I’ve watched them since airing (which is often only once), but also questions how memorable they truly are.
Still, I think there’s reason to suggest that The Simpsons, for all its fault, is at its best right now when it’s taking a hard look at itself, raising questions that may not be so obvious or comfortable to answer. The comedy may not always land, but I find that the heart has kept beating, finding humanity in these plots that make you notice that the show has grown sincere in its old age. Sure we’ll look at “Frinkcoin” the way that we look at the Google Glass parody “Specs and the City.” Was it ever real, or did the show have this wonderful, fictional thingamajig? It doesn’t matter. I come here for the characters, and moments like seeing Santa’s Little Helper reunite with his mother may be unnecessary, but it expands the show in useful ways. In a time where they’d rather do their own thing than listen to reason, I’ll take any win that I can.
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