These are the consequences of a fragmented media ecosystem. In the season-36 finale of The Simpsons, Marge dies. Well … kinda. Titled “Estranger Things,” the May 18 episode follows the show’s classic fast-forward format à la “Lisa’s Wedding.” After Marge gets Maggie an Itchy & Scratchy onesie, Bart and Lisa turn against the show “for babies,” losing the sole thing that unites them. Marge warns the kids, “Your father and I won’t be around forever. When you get older, you’ll need to lean on each other.” The kids, of course, ignore this and grow apart in a montage set to a parody of “When She Loved Me” from Toy Story 2 actually sung by Sarah McLachlan. Marge dies an early death in the montage, which includes a brief scene at her funeral. Homer sobs over a tombstone that reads “Beloved wife, mother, pork-chop seasoner.” “Marge passed before Homer, if you can believe it,” McLachlan sings.
The rest of the episode focuses on Bart, Lisa, and Homer slowly coming back together as a family 35 years later. At one point, Lisa finds a video in which Marge urges Bart and Lisa to remain friends (and reveals that Maggie’s lifelong goal was to become an “auctioneer for farm equipment”). Marge is seen one last time in the afterlife, making out with now-dead Ringo Starr. “I’m just so glad we’re allowed to marry different people in Heaven,” she says, ending the episode.
So is Marge actually dead? Until next time. Previous episodes of The Simpsons have also featured flashes forward in time, and some contradict one another. “The Marge-ian Chronicles,” a season-27 episode from 2016, for example, similarly goes 35 years into the future and shows both Lisa and Marge alive and living on Mars. Plus, the animated series was renewed through season 40 in April. Marge’s big blue mane shall persist, complementing her yellow visage for years to come.
Correction: A previous version of this post misstated the episode release date.