In The Simpsons Season 36 finale, Marge seemingly dies in a future-set episode—but is it real or just another alternate timeline twist?
In the Season 36 finale of The Simpsons, cheekily titled “Estranger Things,” the long-running animated sitcom ventures once more into the future—and delivers one of its most surprising twists yet: Marge Simpson appears to die young.
Framed in the series’ familiar “fast-forward” style (think “Lisa’s Wedding”), the episode opens with Marge gifting baby Maggie an Itchy & Scratchy onesie.
When Bart and Lisa mock the show as “for babies,” they suddenly lose their mutual bond—and the only thing holding the Simpson siblings together.
Marge, ever the voice of reason, warns them: “Your father and I won’t be around forever. When you get older, you’ll need to lean on each other.” Unsurprisingly, the kids ignore her advice.
A poignant montage—set to a parody of Sarah McLachlan’s “When She Loved Me”—traces Bart and Lisa’s drifting lives. Midway, we glimpse Marge’s early passing: a somber funeral where Homer breaks down beside a tombstone inscribed “Beloved wife, mother, pork-chop seasoner.”
Over the scene, McLachlan’s mournful vocals lament, “Marge passed before Homer, if you can believe it.”
Fast-forward 35 years, and the Simpson clan is fractured. Bart and Lisa, now adults, barely speak; Homer, stooped and grey, clings to childhood memories.
It’s Lisa who sparks the healing: she discovers an old video recording in which Marge—ever the planner—pleads for her children’s unity and casually mentions Maggie’s lifelong dream “to become an auctioneer for farm equipment.”
This rediscovered message reignites their sibling bond and pulls the family back together.
In the final sequence, we revisit Marge one last time—in Heaven—locked in a playful smooch with the late Ringo Starr. “I’m just so glad we’re allowed to marry different people in Heaven,” she quips, leaving viewers with a bittersweet chuckle.
Of course, in the elastic continuity of The Simpsons, nothing’s ever set in stone. Previous flash-forwards—like the Season 27 Mars-bound “Marge-ian Chronicles”—depicted Marge alive and well decades later.
And with the show already renewed through Season 40, it’s safe to bet Marge’s signature blue beehive and yellow complexion will buzz on.
So while “Estranger Things” offers a touching look at family bonds—and a poignant “what if?” for Marge—it’s likely just another one of Springfield’s many alternate realities.
