The Simpsons Season 35's Character Death Continues A Homer Problem I've Disliked For 35 Years

Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for The Simpsons season 35, episode 14.

Summary Homer's flaws are what drive the storylines in The Simpsons, making him a compelling antihero after over 760 episodes.

The death of Larry the barfly in season 35 revealed Homer's inability to be a great friend, despite acknowledging his flaws.

The big death in season 35 failed to justify itself, as the episode struggled with dark themes and a misguided storyline shift.

Although The Simpsons season 35 has improved on its predecessors in numerous pivotal ways, the show still fell short when one unexpected character's death revealed a sad truth about Homer Simpson. Since the Simpsons never age, Homer never learns his lessons. Over the decades, the show’s main character has been forced to contend with the consequences of his greed, laziness, apathy, and arrogance countless times. Despite this, Homer still wears these flaws like a badge of honor after over 760 episodes and this is a big part of what makes him such an iconic antihero in comparison to other sitcom protagonists.

Although The Simpsons season 36 may change this, Homer hasn’t historically been unaware of his flaws. He has often acknowledged that he is a bad parent and a terrible employee, and he frequently admits that Marge deserves better than him. Homer’s humility makes him a compelling character, and it is hard not to root for him to do better, despite how often Homer plays the villain of his series. However, while Homer’s awareness of his flaws makes him a great character, this isn’t enough to carry some storylines, as proven by season 35, episode 15, “Cremains of the Day.”

Larry’s Death Proves Homer Isn’t A Great Friend

Homer, Lenny, Carl, and Moe Never Knew Larry Wanted Their Friendship

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When The Simpsons season 35 made Marge its heroine for multiple episodes, the show began to rely on Homer as a reliable antagonist. This resulted in some superb drama between the couple, but “Cremains of the Day” struggled as its storyline leaned into Homer’s unpleasant side while still making him the episode’s lead character. Larry the barfly died in “Cremains of the Day” and at his funeral, his mother revealed that all he ever wanted was to be included in the friend group that meets at Moe’s bar. This made it tough to root for Homer, Lenny, Moe, and Carl.

This plot could have seen the group struggle with the fact that they ignored Larry’s presence for decades, but this storyline was too dark for the episode to acknowledge beyond one or two throwaway lines.

Since Barney was busy supplying a remote village with clean water, the quarter set off on a voyage to a waterfall that Larry seemingly loved. This plot could have seen the group struggle with the fact that they ignored Larry’s presence for decades, but this storyline was too dark for the episode to acknowledge beyond one or two throwaway lines. Larry the barfly was ever-present at Moe’s, but the gang never even realized that he always wanted to hang out with them. This revelation was simply too downbeat for the episode to succeed as a fun road trip story.

The Simpsons Season 35’s Larry Death Underlines A Recurring Homer Problem

The “Jerkass Homer" Era Proves The Simpsons Hero Is Deeply Flawed

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Even though many great episodes cast Homer as a hero fighting The Simpsons villains like Mr. Burns, there is no avoiding the fact that he is far from perfect. This isn’t a problem and, if anything, it helps make Homer a more appealing comedy protagonist. His flaws are what make him funny and, often, what drive the storylines of the series. The events of The Simpsons Movie wouldn’t even take place if Homer didn’t dump tons of pig effluence into Springfield because he was too lazy to properly dispose of the gross waste, a fitting use of his character flaws.

However, Homer’s dark side has its limits. As The Simpsons fell out of favor with critics, online commentators dubbed Homer’s later-season incarnation “Jerkass Homer” as his behavior became increasingly callous, cruel, and villainous. In the show’s attempts to compete with darker adult animated sitcoms like South Park and Family Guy, The Simpsons made Homer a more cynical figure. Recent seasons saw the show undo this approach, making Homer a more likable everyman again. Thus, the revelation that he and his closest friends ignored a lonely bar patron desperate for companionship for decades was a devastating twist the show failed to justify.

The Simpsons Season 35 Didn’t Justify Its Big Death

The Series Rarely Kills Off Characters Since This Is A Bleak Twist

Most of “Cremains of the Day" centered on the gang bringing Larry’s ashes to his favorite waterfall, only to be derailed by the discovery of smuggled jewels in his urn. This bizarre twist ruined the poignancy of Larry’s death, with Moe, Lenny, Carl, and Homer getting abducted by a fake cop working for Fat Tony to find the jewels. Although some of greatest episodes of The Simpsons feature wild plot twists like this, the decision to take the storyline of this particular outing down such a zany route was misguided after how tragic the episode’s opening scenes were.

Revealing that Larry wanted to be friends with the gang at Moe’s while they never noticed him was a big swing for The Simpsons, and this could have been played for sincere drama or very dark laughs. Earlier outings like season 8, episode 23, “Homer’s Enemy,” have proven that the show can handle pitch-black comedy, but “Cremains of the Day” felt uncomfortable with the revelation that Moe, Carl, Lenny, and Homer were never there for Larry. As such, the episode’s cartoony caper was an attempt to change its story focus. The problem was that this change came too late.

The Simpsons Season 35 Reintroduced An Unwelcome Storyline

Homer’s Drinking Buddies Struggle To Sustain An Entire Episode

The Simpsons rarely kills off characters for good and rarely centers entire episodes around the gang at Moe’s Tavern, partially because both of these things make the series feel darker. The Simpsons season 35 has pulled off dark stories, but reminding viewers that Homer spends more time drinking than he does with his children is a jarringly grim gag that doesn’t fit his persona as well as it once did. The last successful case of The Simpsons relying on the gang from Moe's Tavern for a story was season 32’s finale, the ambitious John Wick parody “The Last Barfighter.”

This outing worked better because its storyline was so absurd and inspired, with the fast-paced action set pieces leaving viewers no time to mull over the lonely existence of Moe’s regular customers. The wackiness of “The Last Barfighter” succeeded since the episode was entirely silly and light-hearted, whereas “Cremains of the Day” failed because the outing couldn’t stick to its poignant opening. This episode saw The Simpsons season 35 acknowledge that Homer and his friends could be thoughtless, only to then avoid the implications of this revelation with a silly subplot that only served as a distraction from its real story.

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