Warning : This article contains spoiler 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 gloomy side ofThe Simpsonshas been present since the serial began . When the show begin , The Simpsonswas a vulgar , cynical antidote to the saccharine , idealized family situation comedy of the 1980s . For viewer who foundThe Cosby ShowandFull Housetwee and cloy , 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 situation comedy message has long since been and gone . By the late ‘ 90 , hits likeFamily GuyandSouth Parkwere makingThe Simpsonslook comparatively meek . As the decades passed , The Simpsonsonly gained a more family - friendly reputation . WhileThe Simpsonsseason 37may convert this , time of year 36 feels more analgesic than its competitorsAmerican Dad , Rick and Morty , or evenFuturama . As such , I was surprised to findThe Simpsonsseason 36 ’s Modern 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 collective tyrant Mr. Burns wo n’t even admit a single daisy to bloom in the concrete hobo camp of contemporary Springfield . To be clear , the episode take blank space in what “ The Past and the Furious ” dub an “ alternative Reality , ” but the only seeable dispute is that Springfield is even more of a post - industrial wasteland than common . No plant life can be watch anywhere and this take Lisa into a deep natural depression , prompting Homer and Marge to take ultra action .
The story of “ The Past and the Furious ” starting time in sincere with Lisa ’s trip to a psychologist , where Lisa argues that her hopelessness is entirely apologize by Springfield ’s environmental degradation . I was surprised by just how gloomy this plot was and glad to see the storyline pick up once the psychologist commend an innovative therapy proficiency that gave Lisa a peek into the past . While in a spell , Lisa imagines herself as her ancestor , a nightspot performer named Edith . Upon waking up , Lisa realizes she really has travel back in clip 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 couplet upLisa and Burns as Lisa discovers that the bodied lord was once a magnetic wind 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 natural selection of the mintage , Lisa ca n’t save the Springfield Mini Moose or Monty Burns in any version of the yesteryear .
Every time Lisa move around back in time , she makes matters worse for herself and Springfield . First , she incidentally accelerates the Mini Moose ’s extinction , and then she inadvertently make a Mini Moose stampede that destroys Monty ’s glasshouse full of his dear flowers . A brokenhearted Monty vows to do all he can to eradicate Springfield ’s wildlife , prompting Lisa to make one last desperate trip to the past . This fourth dimension , the old Mr. Burns join her . There , he possesses Monty ’s physical structure , successfully win over his younger ego to pursue a liveliness of wealth accumulation through bodied crime and environmental catastrophe .
I was surprised to see just how saturnine the ending of its plot was .
I have never pick up Mr. Burns as a misunderstood submarine , and I admireThe Simpsonsfor observe his character consistent . However , consideringThe Simpsonsseason 36 ’s raw specialis lay in an alternate reality , I was surprised to see just how drear the conclusion of its secret plan was . Lisa failed in her mission of saving the endangered specie , failed in her effort to keep start the individual of Monty Burns , and , high-risk of all , was content with a jolly pathetic solacement 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 allow Lisa a pile of baseball cards that were priceless by the clock time she unearth them in the present daytime . Lisa used this to fund a flower garden that , one year afterwards , bring a small maculation of flora liveliness back to Springfield . Although Mr. Burns act to detest the garden , he distinctly come a short joy from watch this mother ’s favorite flowers bloom once again . This could hve seemed sweet , butit was Lisa go under for so-and-so that made this plot so uniquely dim .
Lisa has always been an endearingly naive , idealistic character .
As far back as time of year 2 , sequence 13 , “ Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment , ” and season 3 , episode 2 , “ Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington , ” Lisa has always been an endearingly unenlightened , idealistic character . WhereBart ’s stories inThe Simpsonsseason 36focus on his ill-affected 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 find entranced with a meager peak garden while Springfield remain 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 fight to struggle the powers that be , but the fact that she was content with her flush garden when Springfield ’s ecosystem was still almost entirely decimated was brutally bare . I ’m not even indisputable if “ The Past and the Furious ” was intended to be so dour , since the conclusion seems to think Burns ’ jaunty walk through the flower garden was somehow elate or mellisonant . However , only a few instant earlier , Burns makes a remark that cement him as a sorely realistic sorting of goliath .
Burns has always been a cartoonishly evil human body , from his friendship with Dracula to the trap doors put in in his position . The Simpsonsseason 36 ’s Treehouse of Horror sawhim get his comeuppance , but his villainy is typically over - the - top and flakey in its absurdity . As such , the old Burns telling Monty that he would become plentiful through “ War profiteering ” was a discordantly dark , ground divine revelation that cue me just how odious the character really is .
The Simpsons time of year 36 features its farsighted midseason hiatus yet with 12 consecutive calendar week off the air , but what does this entail for the show ’s future ?
It is heavy to see whyThe Simpsonsthinks TV audience would care about a war criminal have a moment of joy from image his mother ’s favorite flowers , particularly after he actively decimate an integral specie and turned his hometown into a contaminated wasteland . The Simpsonsseason 36 might have been purport for intetional nihilism , but I get the distinct sense that the show ’s latest special was n’t supposed to be as utterly hopeless as it felt .
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