Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for The Simpsons season 36, episode 4, “Shoddy Heat”
AlthoughThe Simpsonshas never been clear about the ages of the titular family, season 36 just made this enduring mystery even more confusing.The Simpsonsis filled with many mysteries that the show has never solved. Characters like Dr. Nick and Dr. Marvin Monroe returned from the dead without any explanation, while other characters like Troy McClure and Apu vanished without a trace of in-universe explanation. It might be easy to discover the real-life reasons why these characters were retired but, within the show’s reality, they simply ceased to exist. Surprisingly, season 36 has actively embraced this canon inconsistency.
The Simpsons Season 36 Finally Explains A Decades-Old Homer Mystery
The Simpsons season 36 episode 4 finally offers an answer to one mystery that has surrounded Homer since the iconic series began over 35 years ago.
The Simpsonsseason 36, episode 1, “Bart’s Birthday,” presented itself as an in-universe “Series finale” that finally explainedwhy the Simpsons never age. Of course, the episode’s wild events were inevitably retconned by the end of the episode and everything reverted to the status quo. However, the next episode, “The Yellow Lotus,”killed off a returningSimpsonscharacterto prove that the long-running series has some stakes and its storylines don’t take place entirely in stasis. While this was a welcome surprise, season 36, episode 4, “Shoddy Heat,” went on to complicateThe Simpsonscanon further.
The Simpsons Season 36 Episode 4 Changed Homer’s Age (Again)
Homer Was Around 8 Or 10 In 1982 in “Shoddy Heat”
Homer’s age remains a complete mystery inThe Simpsonsseason 36, and “Shoddy Heat” only makes this issue more obvious. In the flashbacks featured throughout “Shoddy Heat,” Homer is portrayed as a young boy of around 8 or 10 in 1982. This would mean that he was born in the early to mid-’70s. This would be fair enough if the show never alluded to Homer’s age before, but it instead contradicts almost everything viewers know about this ever-shifting subject. As recently as season 34, episode 16, “Hostile Kirk Place,” Homer recalled being “Two… Or was it 30?” in 1986.
“Shoddy Heat” portrays Homer as much younger than he was implied to be in the show’s Golden Age, but simultaneously much younger than he was in recent seasons.
In contrast, “Shoddy Heat” portrays Homer as much younger than he was implied to be in the show’s Golden Age, but simultaneously much younger than he was in recent seasons. In season 4, episode 16, “Duffless,” Homer’s driving license revealed that he was canonically born in 1956. This aligned with the events of season 2, episode 12, “The Way We Was,” wherein Homer was depicted as a high school student in the early ‘70s. However, in season 33, episode 1, “The Star of the Backstage,” Homer was portrayed as a teenage high school student in 2000.
The Simpsons Season 36’s Grampa Plot Complicates Numerous Other Stories
Agnes Skinner’s Age Was Also Internally Contradictory
Homer’s age was further complicated by outings like season 19, episode 11, “That ’90s Show,” wherein he was depicted as a twenty-something in the ‘90s. Interestingly, this does align with the events of “Shoddy Heat” and the episode was written by currentSimpsonsshowrunner Matt Selman. OnX(formerlyTwitter), Selman explained that Homer’s age changes along with the rest of the cast’s personal details from episode to episode, as this facilitates the show’s ever-changing “Elastic canon.”The Simpsonsseason 36’s Lisa-centric episodeproves that this adventurous, experimental approach to storytelling often pays off.
However, this doesn’t make the events of “Shoddy Heat” any less confusing for long-time viewers. In the outing,Agnes Skinner is portrayed in her 30s during the early ‘80s, but viewers of the show know that she would become an elderly woman and mother to a man in his ‘40s only ten years later. This is complicated somewhat by the events of season 9, episode 2, “The Principal and the Pauper,” wherein Agnes learns Principal Skinner isn’t her real son, but rather an impostor who stole his identity. However,the real Seymour Skinnerlooks even older than Armin Tanzarian.
The Simpsons Season 36’s Changing Ages Make Sense (Sort Of)
The Simpsons Openly Acknowledges Its Changing Chronology
Thanks to Selman’s view of canon,the changing ages of the characters inThe Simpsonsdo sort of make sense. The season 36 premiere mocked the idea of Bart aging on his birthday, tacitly admitting that the show’s characters have never aged normally and most likely never will be able to due to the show’s style. LikeFamily Guy,Bob’s Burgers,South Park,American Dad, and a plethora of other hit shows inspired by the series,The Simpsonsneeds its characters to maintain a static age so their dynamic doesn’t substantially change.
Episodes like “Shoddy Heat” allow The Simpsons to alter the ages of the show’s characters without really impacting its fictional reality.
If the Simpsons aged normally, Bart would have gone from around 10 years old in season 5, episode 2, “Cape Feare,” to around forty by the timeThe Simpsonsseason 36’s Martin Scorsese parodyaired. The show would be a fundamentally different series without this approach and the creators know it. As such, episodes like “Shoddy Heat” allowThe Simpsonsto alter the ages of the show’s characters without meaningfully impacting its fictional reality.
