The Simpsons continues an exhausting trend with its latest baffling decision

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Occasionally, The Simpsons issues a sort of desperate plea to remind viewers it’s still running, even though it’s clearly struggling – and the most recent example of this was in the season 37 premiere, Thrifty Ways to Thieve Your Mother.

I have to say, this episode didn’t really grab anyone’s attention, and honestly, it’s easy to see why. The story is just… unremarkable. It centers around Lisa befriending a group of very trendy students, and it quickly spirals into them becoming obsessed – almost criminally so – with collecting vintage fashion. It’s a strange premise, and it didn’t spark much discussion, unfortunately.

The most talked-about moment, however, came from a casual comment made by Devin (guest star Cole Escola), a student at Springfield Elementary. He briefly and lightly suggested that Mr. Largo might have passed away.

If you’re scratching your head, don’t worry: that’s an appropriate response.

I probably watched too much The Simpsons when I was growing up, but I still had to do a quick Google search to remember who that character was. It just goes to show how many people are in the show’s town!

The answer: Lisa’s music teacher, who is losing his hair and is most recognizable from the show’s opening sequence-he’s the one protesting a spontaneous solo played by a talented young saxophone player.

It’s surprising that the news of Mr. Largo’s potential death even registered in today’s fast-moving online news, but even more shocking is the fact that – according to the show’s writers – they view him as too vital to simply remove from the storyline.

The Simpsons executive producer and writer Jessica Conrad later explained to TVLine that she was surprised anyone would “actually believe we would kill him off off-camera,” especially considering how well Mr. Largo merchandise is selling.

And so, everyone’s favourite background-filler will live to, um, fill another background.

To be perfectly honest: I don’t want anything bad to happen to Mr. Largo (even though I really doubt he’s essential, or that the show’s decreasing fanbase would even notice if he were gone).

My main concern is that The Simpsons often uses death simply to get attention, instead of truly exploring the emotional and narrative possibilities it presents. They have a lot of potential as storytellers, but rarely fully realize it when dealing with such a sensitive topic.

I can’t say for sure if Conrad put in the joke about the sickly Mr. Largo just to get news coverage, but the writers of The Simpsons should realize by now that this is a very effective way to attract media attention.

Just a few months ago, the internet was filled with talk about what happened to Marge Simpson. This started after a scene in The Simpsons showed a possible future where the mother of the family seemingly passed away. (It was later explained that this future wasn’t considered official, or “canon“.)

Back in 2013, The Simpsons executive producer Al Jean famously announced to the media that a character from Springfield would be killed off in the next season. This sparked a lot of speculation and guessing about who it would be.

The suggestion, intentional or not, that this character facing death would be truly important created a feeling of letdown when it turned out to be Hyman Krustofsky – the father of Krusty the Clown, who rarely appeared in the show.

During the same interview with TVLine, current executive producer Cesar Mazariegos surprisingly revealed that even the decision to kill off “Larry the Barfly” – a somewhat messy and frequent patron of Moe’s Tavern – led to a “big discussion” among the show’s writers.

Generally, we prefer not to eliminate characters,” he said, conveniently overlooking the fact that Larry and Mr. Largo are hardly more than background elements.

Taken separately, these incidents aren’t terribly bad, but they show a strong tendency to avoid risks, which is typical of the Simpsons’ current, somewhat stagnant period. They point to a larger issue with the show’s approach.

Honestly, while a bunch of character deaths wouldn’t magically fix The Simpsons, the fact that the writers seem unwilling to even consider letting go of minor characters tells me they’re not planning any big, bold moves anytime soon. It just doesn’t seem like they’re willing to take risks.

A significant change to the show’s usual situation – perhaps through important character deaths, a jump forward in time, or the arrival of new people – would show the creators were at least trying something new, even if the attempt wasn’t entirely successful. It would be an admirable effort, regardless of the outcome.

It would generate truly newsworthy stories, instead of the trivial and sensationalized clickbait we often see surrounding minor events or misleading information – and Mr. Largo’s situation is just the most recent example of this.

Look, as a critic, I’m calling on both the fans and the press to just… stop rewarding these predictable antics. And I’m going to start by not giving them any praise myself. Honestly, wake me up when this show genuinely surprises me, and – crucially – follows through with it. Don’t even try to tell me the death of Otto the bus driver was a shock; it simply doesn’t count.

The Simpsons season 37 is coming soon to Disney Plus UK.

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2025-09-30 19:35