The Simpsons season 36 gave Marge her darkest ending yet — and it points to a strange new pattern

For more than thirty years, The Simpsons has been known for using absurdist humor, satire and dark comedy. Season 36 did go to a pretty dark place, especially for Marge Simpson. Which brings us to Episode 13, titled The Last Man Expanding.

This was, arguably, one of the most unsettling and off-putting endings of all time. Marge ends up experimenting with a parody weight-loss drug called “Othinquic” and loses her eyesight. The episode goes black with no explanation, and, of course, no resolution.

The show has offered shocking moments throughout its history, but this one in particular stands out for its casual approach to something so monumental and life-changing. This draws focus to a strange new pattern where Marge, who once was the emotional heart of the show, is made to suffer in silence for the sake of one punchline after another in cold, unresolved narratives.

Marge goes blind, and The Simpsons just moves on

Emotion was a noticeable factor in the earlier seasons of The Simpsons. The aftermath of the death of Bleeding Gums Murphy lingered for a while. Homer had his ups and downs with characters such as Mr. Burns. But the more recent seasons are different. In Season 36, events — even substantial ones like Marge going blind — tend to happen without any follow-up repercussions.

This illustrates what showrunner Matt Selman refers to as the show’s ‘elastic canon’, where the character’s backstory or outcome is fundamentally and freely altered whenever it needs to be for the comedic value.

In The Last Man Expanding, there is mockery surrounding the rise of drugs such as Ozempic. Marge exercises her influence on Homer by telling him to avoid Othinquic, while in fact, she does take it herself. She subsequently goes on to enjoy the benefits, only to suffer instant blindness. This is especially bad for her because she is the one who had issued the warning. Regardless, the show moves on without dwelling much on the tragedy. The very next episodes act like nothing ever happened.

Season 36 highlighted other peculiar, excessive conclusions — such as Bart and Lisa’s skirmish leading to an alien attack that annihilates Earth, or a climax depicting Marge’s brutal death. These moments focus on shock value and humor, but they illustrate why the show approaches continuity (if one even exists) with such care: it does not care anymore.

Is Marge becoming The Simpsons’ emotional punchline?

In The Simpsons season 36, Marge is increasingly made a part of the darkest and most hopeless situations, such as going blind or nonchalantly dying. Merely the aim of a surreal joke, she is not the family's soul anymore.

Marge's move could be an indication of the show's transformation from satire to something else. Marge now surprisingly appears as an emotional target, her inherent calmness replaced with emotional shock. Though it's a strategy for an ironic understatement, it could only lead to the conclusion that, after all, her character is nothing more than a source of laughter that comes again and again — a very bitter one for the fans who have been there for a long time!

Why Marge keeps suffering in silence

The peculiarity of this situation is that Marge was not always treated this way. In earlier seasons, she used to be reasonable and stayed composed amidst the madness of Springfield. But these days, she is being put into one dark scenario after another without any emotional resolution.

Whether it is losing her vision, dying off-screen, or being completely sidelined in subsequent episodes, it appears that Marge’s once-prominent character is now merely left as debris caught in the crossfire of absurd storylines.

This is not to imply that The Simpsons has completely lost its edge. There were still sharp references, nostalgic call backs, and clever parodies in Season 36. However, with a character like Marge, it feels as if the show is now more willing than ever to play with her story for the sake of a cheap joke.

In a setting where nothing lasts and everything is a joke, Marge’s pain might just be the newest gag in the series. But for longtime supporters, it also serves to show how much The Simpsons has evolved — and how some characters are treated with a simple fade to black when a character deserves so much more.

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