The Simpsons Season 36 just kicked off a new season on Sunday night, but it turns out the first episode of the season was also the series finale! Don’t panic (or sigh in relief, if you have wanted the series to end), as “The Simpson’s Series Finale” is just the name that flashes on the screen at the start of the episode. The episode plays largely into the concept held by man fans, that being “the series should’ve ended years ago”. Well, now the writers of the show are looking to grant our wish.
The episode starts with the cast of the fictional show and celebrities gathering in an “Awards Show” type ceremony, to reveal the “final episode” of the series. Conan O’Brien (who’s early career was spent as writer on The Simpsons) performs as host for the event. The ceremony features numerous cameos (with returning glimpses of celebrities featured in previous episodes, such as Ron Howard and Lady Gaga). O’Brien sets the stage by explaining to the audience that Fox has “cancelled” the series, and so they’ve used AI (pulling information from series finales of other shows) to construct a “final episode” for the show.
What follows it’s “Bart’s Birthday” (which is the actual title of the episode), an overly-indulgent (purposely sentimental, and thus hilarious) series finale showing Bart learning he’s going to turn 11 years old, but becoming somewhat self-aware this breaks the show’s continuity, and wanting to remain 10 years old (while continuously encountering “things change” metaphors, and the wrapping up of several plotlines and teasing as spinoffs). Several characters get to say “I’m going to miss this place” as they end a chapter in their lives.
The birthday party scene alone makes for a wonderful cameo-fest, with several characters from prior seasons showing up in the background of the party, even if most of them don’t speak (there’s Spider-Pig, Uncle Herbert, even a brief glimpse of Apu!). Without going in to spoilers, the conclusion of the birthday party itself is iconic.
Of course, this isn’t the end of the series. The next episode of the season will premiere this Sunday night on FOX, like normal. But there’s a growing sense among long-term fans of the show that the last couple of seasons have begun a semi-“Renaissance” (or revival) of actually GOOD Simpsons, worth watching. There’s not telling if it will last (or how much longer the series will truly last), but giving the fans of the series an ending – for a series that’s been running for 35 years! – certainly feels like an event of a lifetime.
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