Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for The Simpsons season 36’s special “O C’Mon All Ye Faithful."
Although it has been 24 years since the episode originally aired,The Simpsonsseason 36’s Christmas special managed to fix one of the show’s biggest mistakes ever with its Flanders storyline.The Simpsonsrarely kills off characters, as the show usually only does so when there is a behind-the-scenes justification for this. One ofThe Simpsonsseason 36’s big changes to the show’s status quo is its increasingly high body count but, even then, the show has only killed off two minor characters in its first 11 episodes. This still represents a huge change from its usual approach.
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In the show’s 770 episodes,The Simpsonshas permanently killed off little more than a dozen characters. This seems staggering, but sincethe Simpsons never age, frequently killing off characters runs the risk of altering the show’s unchanging status quo too radically. One exception to this rule was the instantly infamous death of Maude Flanders in season 11, episode 14, “Alone Again, Natura-Diddily.” Ned Flanders’ wife was killed when a stray t-shirt from a t-shirt cannon knocked her off the bleachers at an auto race. This was a reaction to actor Maggie Roswell’s pay negations with the network breaking down.
The Simpsons Season 36’s Christmas Special Finally Justifies Maude’s Death
Ned’s Crisis Of Faith Is Rooted In The Deaths of His Wives
Ironically, Roswell was rehired only a year later and has since repeatedly reprised the role of Maude Flanders inThe Simpsons’ Treehouse of Horror segments, as well as some episodes set in parallel timelines or alternate realities. However, Maude’s death itself has never been retconned. This is somewhat surprising, asthe death of Maude Flanders never felt justified in narrative terms.The death of Ned’s wife could theoretically have made the perpetually cheery religious zealot a more complicated character, but this never happened. Luckily, season 36’s “O C’Mon All Ye Faithful” fixes this with Ned’s best story in years.
Ned leaves Maude love notes every day over a decade after her death, illustrating previously unseen depths of grief.
When Homer is hypnotized by British mentalist Derren Brown, he becomes convinced that he is Santa Claus. Eventually, Brown snaps Homer out of his delusion, but Ned’s faith in God has been irrevocably shook by the idea that an imaginary authority figure could so easily be debunked. Ned stops believing in God and becomes despondent. In one devastating scene, he reveals to Marge that he still texts his second wife, the late Edna Krabbapel, on her old phone number daily. Ned also leaves Maude love notes every day over a decade after her death, illustrating previously unseen depths of grief.
The Simpsons’ Maude Flanders Death Never Made Sense
Actor Maggie Roswell’s Exit Shaped The Dark Story
The death of Maude Flanders was an infamously weird, unpleasant plot that was clearly designed to drop the character, rather than to organically grow Ned’s character arc.The Simpsonsseason 36’s Christmas specialsalvaged this storyline 24 years later with a plot that felt emotionally resonant and truly focused on Ned’s internal world. Everything from the morbidly funny nature of Maude’s death by t-shirt cannon to the episode swiftly sending Ned on some doomed dates proved that “Alone Again, Natura-Diddily” wasn’t taking the widower’s grief seriously. Even his later relationship with Edna Krabappel struggled to fix this issue.
Ned’s tragic love life has been the subject of some offhand jokes, but few focused storylines.
In season 22, episode 22, “The Ned-Liest Catch,” Ned began dating Bart’s teacher after saving her from falling off a ladder. After this episode aired, viewers could vote on a real-life poll to decide whether Ned and Edna should remain a couple or break up. ThisSimpsonsWorldpoll kept the duo together, and they married in season 23, episode 1, “Ned ‘n’ Edna’s Blend Agenda,” but the character of Ms. Krabappel was killed off when her real-life actor Marcia Wallace passed away in 2013. Since then, Ned’s tragic love life has been the subject of some offhand jokes, but few focused storylines.
The Simpsons’ Season 36’s “O C’mon All Ye Faithful” Fixes Ned’s Biggest Problem
Ned Flanders Famously Epitomized The Term “Flanderization”
For all ofThe Simpsonsseason 36’s big changes,it took the series years to contend with the emotional impact Maude and Edna’s deaths had on Ned. The main reason for this is an issue thatTVTropesusers dubbed “Flanderization” which made the storyline a tough one to tackle. A phenomenon when one part of a character’s personality (such as Ned’s religiosity) becomes their defining trait, “Flanderization” is often blamed for sitcom characters becoming increasingly unrelatable and unrealistic. There is a reason Flanders became a poster child for the trope, and his increasingly cartoony persona hurt the character’s personal journey.
Writing Ned as little more than a close-minded religious zealot sapped him of his humanity and made Maude and Edna’s deaths harder for the series. Ned’s exaggerated persona didn’t lend itself to real human emotion, as his years as a zany fundamentalist and a cartoonishly peppy do-gooder made Flanders feel less real. WhileThe Simpsonsseason 36’s sad revelationsabout Marge’s family were moving, a similar revelation about Ned wouldn’t have the same impact, since he is a fundamentally absurd figure of fun. Fortunately, “O C’mon All Ye Faithful” managed to change this when Ned lost his faith.
The Simpsons Season 36’s Ned Story Makes Maude’s Death Necessary
Ned’s Tragic Loss of Faith Is Genuinely Moving Due To His Losses
The Simpsonsseason 36 did what Maude’s death should have done for Ned 24 years ago, making an increasingly one-dimensional character feel real through believable hardship. Lisa’s attempts to share her Buddhist faith with Ned were genuinely sweet, and Marge lending an ear as he described his one-sided relationship with his two former wives was quietly devastating. Considering how often Ned’s role inThe Simpsonsis reduced to him spouting catchphrases or bashing a Bible, seeing him texting everyday thoughts to Edna’s inactive phone number was a well-observed, tragic character detail that wouldn’t be out of place in a drama series.
The unexpected reveal that Ned was saved by an ox’s yoke like in Lisa’s parable was a touch of life-affirming sweetness.
Similarly, seeing Ned regain his faith after losing his belief in God was unexpectedly moving.The Simpsonsseason 36’s guest starshave been used as more than just attention-grabbing window dressing and the revelation that Derren Brown somehow manipulated the events of Ned’s entire epiphany was comically silly. However, the unexpected reveal that Ned was saved by an ox’s yoke like in Lisa’s parable was a touch of life-affirming sweetness that made Ned’s entire ordeal feel fated. Although the show took a while to get around to it,The Simpsonsfinally found meaning in the sadness of Ned Flanders.
