The Simpsons fans are reacting after an episode featuring the death of one of the show’s main characters, Marge Simpson – although that doesn’t mean Marge will be leaving our screens.
In an episode titled Estranger Things, the finale of the just-concluded 36th season of the animated series, it is revealed that the Simpsons matriarch is dead.
However, the catch is that the episode is set 35 years in the future.
In the flash-forward episode, the Simpsons family is fractured; Lisa has become the commissioner of the NBA, while Bart runs an unlicensed retirement home, where Homer lives, seemingly abandoned.
Based on the time frame, it would place Homer in his seventies, with the children in their early forties.
It is then revealed that Marge has passed away, as Homer is seen kneeling at her grave, with a tombstone reading, “Beloved wife, mother, pork‑chop seasoner,” as Sarah McLachlan sings “Marge passed before Homer, if you can believe it.”
Later, in a pre-recorded message Lisa finds, Marge urges the two siblings to reconcile, which they eventually do.
The 36th season of The Simpsons just ended with Marge sharing a kiss with Ringo Starr. 🥹 pic.twitter.com/jia4ZCdh9b
— peter lane (@peterlanee) May 19, 2025
The episode then ends with Marge watching her children reunite from heaven, now married to Ringo Starr.
“I’m just so happy my kids are close again,” Marge says. “I’m just so glad we’re allowed to marry different people in heaven,” she tells Starr, as the two kiss and leave for the “Heaven Buffet”.
“Omg now why would they kill Marge off?” asked one fan. “I haven’t even watched The Simpsons in 10+ years but they really killed MARGE?!” said another.
Damn! So they just gonna kill off Marge Simpson after 36 seasons😪😪 pic.twitter.com/vSnb2iQuK9
— Goddess Yemoja (@DeeplyLovedSoul) June 26, 2025
Marge Simpson was shown to have died in a flash-forward scene in the season 36 finale of The Simpsons, titled "Estranger Things". @TheSimpsons :( pic.twitter.com/Iz58txopc9
— Emily Renee Hill (@EmilyReneeHill1) June 26, 2025
Another fan wrote on Threads: “I’ve just heard the news about who died at the end of season 36 of The Simpsons and I am absolutely howling. I cannot. I won’t say the name in case you guys don’t know but this has ruined me.”
The Simpsons has already been renewed for four more seasons, and some fans are concerned about how the writers will maintain the quality of stories in the show as it looks likely to exceed 800 episodes.
“OK – Simpsons going till Season 40. The movie came out closer to when the show began than the present day. End it on a milestone year, I beg of you, before we lose more cast members,” said one fan.
A second wrote: “It’s like watching both your grandparents die a slow and painful death.”
The Simpsons can be watched on Disney+.
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