The Simpsons just 'killed off' a member of the family, and we're not okay

One of the main five members of The Simpsons family just died, for real. Well not “for real”, because it’s an animated TV show, but “for real” in the sense that they’re actually, genuinely dead.

Obviously, this article will contain spoilers for Disney’s The Simpsons TV show, specifically the final episode of Season 36. Also, good lord– they’re on the 36th season?!

Thank you in advance to IGN’s Tom Phillips for the original source!

Alright, ready for the spoiler? Here we go: Marge is dead.

In the Season 36 finale, titled 'Estranger Things', there is a flashforward focusing on Bart and Lisa’s strained relationship as adults.

At some point between this flashforward and the current day, Marge has passed, and left behind a letter for Bart and Lisa in the event that she’s no longer with them. Also Homer is in prison, but that’s a whole other thing.

To clarify, although Marge isn’t dead yet in the the current day, the writers have been very clear about the fact that this is canon. At some point, Marge will die, signified by the fact that she’s watching them from heaven during the episode.

So, how does The Simpsons’ fan base feel about this? They hate it… because they hate modern day Simpsons. At least, that’s what the comments on r/Simpsons are saying.

“I know it’s a cliche to hate the newer episodes but MY GOD, this new season was trash, the stories are empty, it’s like they have a hat with random phrases and then give one to any character regardless if it makes sense,” commented user Euphoric-biscuit.

“The celebrity cameos are so forced. It’s very obvious when you watch an older episode and then a newer one back to back. I love the Simpsons but I really wish they would call it a day.”

“Yep, I totally get why people think it's old men yelling at clouds but the show just isn't as good. I get that I'm no longer a kid, I get that the old episodes have a nostalgia appeal to me, I get that it's always been just a stupid show with broad appeal and low brow and slapstick humour involved,” replied user Forever__Young.

“But even understanding all of those things, the show just isn't as good. I tried to give the new seasons a chance after hearing for a few years that it's good again and it's just absolute garbage.”

You know, the funniest part of this all, that kinda proves the commenter’s point, is that this is actually old news.

The season finale of Season 36 actually aired on 18 May, over a month ago at this point.

And yet, this news is trending across multiple different websites today. Why?

Because nobody watches The Simpsons anymore, and we all only just found out about this by accident. Maybe it really is time to throw in the towel.