The Simpsons Season 35's Lisa Fix Drops The Most Annoying Part Of Her Character

Summary Lisa Simpson's moral fortitude has overshadowed her character, but season 35 has shown her flaws, making her more relatable.

Season 35 of The Simpsons allows Lisa to be more than just the family's moral advisor, showcasing a deeper, more complex character.

Lisa's innocence and naivete saved a weaker episode in season 35, proving that her sweet side has a place in the show.

Although Lisa Simpson can be predictable at times, The Simpsons season 35 has done a good job of downplaying her most overused trait. Lisa Simpson is an underappreciated character. As the voice of reason in the Simpson household, she can seem like the least explicitly outrageous, humorous, or over-the-top of the show’s title characters. Since the Simpsons never age, she has been trapped as a precocious child for decades. Thus, her moral fortitude, particularly when compared to Bart and Homer’s unthinking attitudes, can come across as smug and tiresome. Put simply, Lisa can be a bore compared to her family.

While The Simpsons season 36 may backslide and undo the show’s recent developments, season 35 has done an impressive job of avoiding this issue. In this outing, Lisa has only been the moral voice of reason for the rest of the family a few times, and this has allowed her to play a stronger role in the show. Lisa is at her best when she is a believably smart but flawed kid, rather than a jarringly erudite moral arbiter. This improvement shows that going forward, The Simpsons can keep Lisa’s role feeling relevant provided her characterization remains fresh.

Lisa Hasn't Been The Family Conscience In The Simpsons Season 35

Season 35 Allowed The Smartest Simpson To Be Flawed

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In season 35, episode 14, “Night of the Living Wage,” Lisa was the only member of the Simpson family who realized that the family using the food delivery app that Marge worked for was contributing to Marge’s burnout. However, even though she knew that the family shouldn’t use the app, Lisa did so anyway since she really wanted tofu. This made Marge’s best season 35 plot stronger, since it proved that the whole family valued convenience over respecting Marge’s labor. If Lisa alone had stopped the family’s questionable purchasing, this would have been unreasonably unimpeachable.

Despite her attempts to be better, Lisa should be as flawed as the rest of her family. This is best epitomized in a quote from season 7, episode 9, “Sideshow Bob’s Last Gleaming,” where she says that she wants to meet the first female stealth pilot. Lisa notes that this pilot bombed 70 mosques before excitedly adding “And her name is Lisa too!” This scene works as it clarifies that, despite her intelligence, Lisa isn’t uniquely morally superior to her family. When the show asks her to be, The Simpsons robs her of the chance to seem like an ordinary, if well-read, child.

Lisa's Season 35 Stories Avoid A Common Complaint With Her Character

Lisa Is Often The Sensible Member Of The Simpsons

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In season 35, episode 3, “McMansion and Wife,” Lisa uses Hubert Wong’s technology to bully Nelson back. Like Marge’s dark season 35 plots, this episode proves that Lisa has a mean streak when it comes to self-preservation and isn’t a one-note angelic counterpart to the more blatantly rebellious Bart. Similarly, in episode 12, “Lisa Gets an F1,” Homer’s eldest daughter becomes a fearless go-kart driver who is as reckless on the road as her father, if a lot more skilled. Lisa’s aggression isn’t portrayed as a problem but rather a natural extension of her character.

In contrast, Lisa’s weaker season 35 subplots all treat her as the family’s resident moral advisor. These outings prove her naiveté has grown tired as, for such a smart character, Lisa can be bizarrely clueless. In The Simpsons season 35’s weakest episode, Lisa laments Homer’s new job, but viewers never get to see why his work is troubling her. Similarly, in episode 10, “Do The Wrong Thing,” she is shocked that Bart, Marge, and Homer will cheat to win. Episode 4, “Thirst Trap: A Corporate Love Story,” where she can’t believe a corporate billionaire is corrupt, feels particularly forced.

Lisa’s Most Annoying Habit Did Save A Weaker Season 35 Episode

“Murder She Boat” Needed Lisa’s Sweet Side

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While Lisa’s naiveté does often feel limiting and out of touch with her characterization, there is one season 35 outing where this character trait was at home. In episode 9, “Murder She Boat,” Lisa is the only one who believes Bart when he claims he didn't destroy Comic Book Guy’s valuable toy. This allowed her to reveal the real culprit in a solid twist that salvaged an otherwise middling episode. Here, Lisa’s innocence was moving, since both Bart’s parents had no problem assuming that he was both guilty and lying.

While Marge had defended Bart before, she was quick to give up on him in “Murder She Boat.” There was no way that Homer would defend his trouble-making son, so Lisa’s idealism felt entirely appropriate in this outing and helped propel the story forward. The rest of the episode wasn’t particularly strong, but Lisa's belief in Bart when everyone gave up on him proved that her sweet side has a place in the show. More broadly, The Simpsons season 35 has proven that there is more to her than precocious moralizing.

Episode Number Episode Title Air Date 1 "Homer's Crossing" October 1 2 "A Mid-Childhood Night's Dream" October 8 3 "McMansion and Wife" October 22 4 "Thirst Trap: A Corporate Love Story" October 29 5 "Treehouse of Horror XXXIV" November 5 6 "Iron Marge" November 12 7 "It's A Blunderful Life" November 19 8 "Ae Bonny Romance" December 3 9 "Murder, She Boat" December 17 10 "Do The Wrong Thing" December 24 11 "Frinkenstein's Monster" February 18 12 "Lisa Gets An F1" February 25 13 "Clan of the Cave Mom" March 24 14 "Night of the Living Wage" April 7 15 "Cremains of the Day" April 21