The Simpsons' Throwaway Barney Joke Highlights 1 Of Homer's Worst Mistakes

The following contains spoilers for The Simpsons Season 35 Episode 15, "Cremains Of The Day," now streaming on Hulu.

Summary Barney's absence in "Cremains Of The Day" highlights his potential without Homer's influence.

The tragic evolution of Barney's character reflects growth and loss in "The Simpsons" series.

"Cremains Of The Day" focuses on friendship without Barney, showing how Barney is better off without Homer and his friends.

The Simpsons casually included Barney in a single gag for season 35's "Cremains Of The Day," but it highlights the tragic consequences of Homer's worst mistake. The Simpsons has used its animated nature to pick and choose how to evolve the show. While the central family and their personal world remain largely static, culture changes around them. Personal growth and loss occur in certain bursts across the show. Every once in a while, The Simpsons has a permanent character death for good or change the status quo for a certain corner of the town's massive cast.

This fluid growth in The Simpsons has seen certain characters grow and fade in prominence, reflecting different storytelling purposes over the long-running show. One of the ways this can be best seen is in the show's focus on The Simpsons characters like Barney Gumble. Introduced all the way back in the first full-length episode of The Simpsons, Barney has been a constant in the show since the beginning. However, his lack of role in recent years feels particularly poignant in season 35's "Cremains of the Day," which highlights how distant Barney has become from the rest of the cast.

Related The Simpsons Season 35's Lisa Fix Drops The Most Annoying Part Of Her Character The Simpsons season 35 has largely dropped one of Lisa's most annoying character traits and the show has improved her role as a result of the change.

Why Barney Isn't In Much Of Season 35's "Cremains Of The Day"

Barney Doesn't Feature In The Simpsons' Newest Episode About Friendship

Season 35's "Cremains of the Day" is largely focused on Homer, Moe, Lenny and Carl responding to the death of fellow Moe's Tavern regular, Larry. Lary was never much more than a background character in The Simpsons, and is even seen as such in-universe. Much of the episode takes place after his funeral, where the four men realize how little they really knew about their fallen "friend" and strive to spread his ashes somewhere meaningful. Unlike the others though, a quick cutaway reveals that Barney didn't even attend Larry's funeral.

While Moe is dismissive of the explanation that he had something "more important" to attend to, it turns out Barney is out of Springfield, helping construct a well for a remote village. It's a sharp contrast from the rest of the episode's tone. Much of the episode highlights the differences and flaws of the others. Meanwhile, Barney makes a positive impact on the world elsewhere. It plays into one of the sadder elements of Barney's arc in the show, and underscores one of the key elements of the character in the Golden Age of the show.

Barney Can't Reach His True Potential With Homer In His Life

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Barney was a far more prominent character in the early seasons of The Simpsons. Before Lenny and Carl supplanted the character as Homer's more consistent supporting character, Barney was a fellow regular at Moe's Tavern. An underlying element of the character was his stunted potential, which season 4's "Mr. Plower" traced back to Homer's influence on him when they were in high school. That episode hinted that Barney would have been the fast track to the Ivy League if Homer hadn't introduced him to alcohol, establishing a tragic origin of Barney's defining trait in the broad animated setting of Springfield.

This potential carried over from "Mr. Plow" into other episodes of the era. When Barney is given a proper outlet and forced to abstain from drinking in season 5's "Deep Space Homer," he quickly proves capable of becoming a NASA-approved astronaut. He's even shown to have a strong artistic impulse, winning the Springfield Film Festival in season 6's "A Star Is Burns" with an artistic exploration of his addiction problems. However, the influence of his friends like Homer and Moe typically leads Barney down a more self-destructive path.

Related The Simpsons Season 35 Proves Who The Show's Best Villain Is (& Always Has Been) The Simpsons season 35 almost forgot about the show's original villain, but one of its best outings reinstated this famous figure as its antagonist.

The Simpsons Season 35 Sets Up A Far More Tragic Story Than Larry's Death

Barney's Absence In "Cremains Of The Day" Highlights How Much Better He Is Without Homer

Barney's absence in "Cremains Of The Day" is all the more notable given the episode's subject matter. "Cremains Of The Day" focuses on the friendship Homer shares with the other regular faces at Moe's Tavern. Barney used to be one of the most prominent figures in that social circle in the show but has become increasingly relegated to background roles. Barney's character evolution, which included his attempts to become sober and his subsequent relapse in later seasons, has steadily become less prominent in the series. In "Cremains Of The Day," the four friends don't even make note of Barney's absence.

While Barney's disconnect from Homer and his friends would have made him a compelling character death for The Simpsons, "Cremains Of The Days" establishes a genuinely sad element about Barney's role in the show. Instead of reaffirming his friendship with the others after Larry's death, Barney went far away and improved the world. He had the kind of impact he may have spent years working towards if he'd never known Homer. Although the friendship between Homer, Moe, Lenny, and Carl on The Simpsons is meaningful in season 35, it seems that Barney is better off without them.