Did The Simpsons Just Kill Off Marge?

If you’ve grown up with The Simpsons, then you know Marge Simpson isn’t just a blue-haired cartoon mom. She’s the glue. The one who holds Homer’s chaos, Bart’s antics, Lisa’s brilliance, and Maggie’s silence together. So imagine the collective gasp when the Season 36 finale hinted that Marge may actually be… gone.

Yep. That just happened. Kind of.

The episode, titled Estranger Things, took a time-jump approach. The plot? A rift between Bart and Lisa. Classic setup, but with a twist. In a touching moment early in the episode, Marge delivers one of those lines that sticks with you.

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“Your father and I won’t be around forever. When you get older, you’ll need to lean on each other. Whatever you do, don’t drift apart.”

The camera lingers. The music softens. You feel it coming. And then the kids do exactly what she warned against. They grow up and drift apart.

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Lisa ends up as a commissioner for a pro basketball league. Bart? Well… he’s still Bart. That part felt intentional. A jab. A joke. Maybe both. The gap between them only widens over time. And then comes the emotional punch.

We find out Marge passed away before Homer. Yeah. Marge. Gone. It’s revealed in this surreal, soft moment where she’s in heaven and, of all people, she’s reunited with Ringo Starr. It’s sweet. It’s strange. It’s Simpsons.

Is it canon? Hard to say. The Simpsons writers have always played with reality. Earlier this same season, they aired an episode called Bart’s Birthday, pitched as the show’s “final episode.” But that turned out to be just a creative kickoff for the season.

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So when Marge appears in heaven, is it really goodbye? Or just another playful dip into alternate timelines?

What’s clear is this: even 36 seasons in, The Simpsons still knows how to pull on the heartstrings. And if this is how Marge goes out, it’s weird, funny, touching, and somehow… totally fitting.