Marge's The Simpsons Season 36, Episode 14 Story Reveals Why The Long-Running Show Still Has Many Years Ahead Of It -

Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for The Simpsons season 36, episode 14, “P.S. I Hate You”

Although Marge has a hard time explaining herself in The Simpsons season 36, episode 14, the outing does a good job of explaining how the show has managed to last for so long. No one expects The Simpsons season 37 to feel as fresh, original, and daring as the show’s first outing. With over 780 episodes and a feature film to its name, The Simpsons is now the longest-running scripted primetime American TV show in history. Everything from Bob’s Burgers to Family Guy to South Park to Rick and Morty owes a creative debt to the series.

As such, it is fair for The Simpsons to occasionally feel tired or repetitive. The Simpsons season 36 even borrowed a plot from South Park’s 2024 special, The End of Obesity. However, from YouTube creator SuperEyepatchWolf to Vulture, cultural critics across the Internet are united in one surprising claim. Despite some outdated satire, some gags that don’t work, and occasional lazy writing, The Simpsons is good again. It might not live up to the heady days of the show’s Golden Age, but seasons 34, 35, and 36’s best outings rival anything from seasons 13–15.

The Simpsons Season 36, Episode 14 Shows A New Side of Marge

Marge’s Secret Hate Letters Voice A Previously Unseen Anger

A big part of what allows The Simpsons to thrive in its fourth decade is the show’s fresh approach to old stories. For some time, The Simpsons had mixed luck in devoting entire episodes to the backstory of Moe’s dishrag and other Springfield minutiae. However, the best episodes from recent seasons instead take classic plots and revisit them with fresh eyes, with The Simpsons season 36 proving Homer and Ned’s decades-long inability to see eye to eye came about because both men were secretly content with their passive-aggressive dynamic.

“P.S. I Hate You” is one of The Simpsons season 36’s best outings as its story centers on Marge who, until recently, rarely received her deserved share of the show’s spotlight.

In season 36, episode 14, “P.S. I Hate You,” The Simpsons season 36 once again proved it has more stories to tell with Marge’s letter-writing plot. Marge’s secret box of hate letters that she wrote to vent her anger was stolen, and she spent the episode trying to retrieve them, terrified of what the townspeople would think of her if they read her angry outbursts. “P.S. I Hate You” is one of The Simpsons season 36’s best outings as its story centers on Marge who, until recently, rarely received her deserved share of the show’s spotlight.

Putting Marge Back At The Center Of Its Storytelling Proves The Simpsons Still Has More Years Left

The Simpsons Star Was The Primary Focus Of Season 35’s Best Episodes

“P.S. I Hate You” focuses on Marge’s internal world, much like many of The Simpsons season 35’s standout episodes. Outings like season 35, episode 2, “A Mid-Childhood’s Night Dream,” episode 14, “Night of the Living Wage,” and episode 13, “Clan of the Cave Mom,” all succeeded in proving Marge contained multitudes under her cheery veneer. The Simpsons’ recent focus on Marge overcomes a late-season problem by proving that, despite its unprecedented longevity, the long-running series still has fresh stories to tell.

Officer Eddie looks suspicious in The Simpsons season 36 episode 13

The Simpsons Season 36, Episode 13 Seemingly Confirms A Dark Fan Theory

The Simpsons season 36 episode 13 seemingly proves that one dark fan theory is true, but it isn’t one that the series necessarily needed to verify.

Primarily because the show under-served characters like Marge for years, episodes like “P.S. I Hate You” can redress this balance while also keeping the series going. As BoJack Horseman creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg’s Twitter thread about Marge Simpson noted years earlier, it was hard to even tell who her best friends were until recent seasons. Thus, The Simpsons still has plenty more to explore in the internal lives of its main characters.

Sources: SuperEyepatchWolf (via YouTube)

Vulture

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