The Simpsons Season 35 Ends With An Emotional Reference To... The Fast & Furious?!

The following contains spoilers for The Simpsons Season 35 Episode 18, "Bart's Brain," now streaming on Hulu

Summary Bart's emotional farewell to a brain in a jar in The Simpsons season 35 finale is a direct tribute to The Fast & The Furious franchise.

The emotional beat in Bart's storyline highlights his sensitive side and long-standing vulnerability in The Simpsons season 35.

The show has a history of emotional subplots with Bart, showcasing his inherent goodness and contrasting it with fears of his instability.

The Simpsons season 35 finale includes an emotional final beat for Bart that takes direct inspiration from The Fast & The Furious franchise. The Simpsons has poked fun at pop culture plenty of times over the years, with the show incorporating plenty of shout-outs to popular films. Sometimes, the characters repurpose movements and lines from movies to fit into the adventures of the titular family. Sometimes, especially in the Treehouse of Horror Halloween specials, the show will go out of its way to direct parody of the film in question.

Every once in a while though, The Simpsons uses a direct shout-out to a filmmakers like Alfred Hitchcock to underline an emotional beat that the Simpsons are going through. This is very much the case for Bart in the season finale of The Simpsons season 35, "Bart's Brain." After spending much of the episode highlighting his emotional vulnerabilities and capacity for unexpected love, Bart gets the chance to say goodbye to a new friend in a surprisingly perfect way. It's both a direct reference to The Fast & The Furious franchise and fits well into an underlying subplot about Bart that's been around for decades.

2:25 Related The Simpsons' Season 35 Finally Explains One Of The Show's Most Enduring Mysteries After 37 Years Season 35 of The Simpsons reveals exactly why the family always seems broke despite Homer's income, and how he makes the money back.

How The Simpsons Season 35 Gives Bart His Fast & Furious Moment

Bart's Farewell To A Brain In A Jar Mirrors The Ending Of Furious 7

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The Simpsons concludes the surprisingly political season 35 with "Bart's Brain," which ends with an extended reference to Furious 7 and its emotional farewell to Paul Walker. "Bart's Brain" focuses on Bart after he purchases a brain in a jar. Initially using it for prank purposes, Bart forms a connection to the brain that steadily weirds out the rest of the town. By the end of the episode, Bart finally lets the brain go. Setting up the jarred brain on a skateboard, Bart rides alongside it, quietly making peace with their separation while Wiz Khalifa's "See You Again" plays in the background.

The framing of the sequence is a deliberate reference to the ending of Furious 7. That film ended with Paul Walker's Brian O'Conner driving alongside Dom one last time, as the actor had passed away during the production. Instead of killing him off, the franchise effectively retired Brian, eventually driving down a different road than Dom. It's one of the series' most overtly emotional beats, serving as a fitting farewell to one of the actors who'd helped establish the series. Notably, The Simpsons doesn't mock the beat, instead using the moment to highlight Bart's emotional state during the farewell.

Related The Simpsons Season 35's Barbenheimer Moment Missed A Major Opportunity The Barbenheimer reference in season 35 of The Simpsons misses a golden opportunity to reference classic episodes of the show.

"Bart's Brain" Continues A Longstanding Simpsons Subplot

Bart's Goodbye To The Brain Proves The Troublemaker Still Has A Heart

Bart having unexpected emotional connections with people and creatures he has to let go has been a consistent emotional subplot in The Simpsons for years. The show has mined that well frequently with animals, showcasing Bart's inherent goodness by portraying him as a friend to animals in episodes like season 5's "Bart Gets an Elephant" and season 10's "Bart the Mother." The latter episode serves as a direct contrast to "Bart's Brain," as both episodes highlight Marge's worries over Bart's mental state and emotional wellness.

Several characters within the universe of The Simpsons have feared that Bart is unstable. Episodes like "Bart's Brain" underscore this by having Marge fear Bart may become the latest bizarre Springfield citizen, comparing him to Comic Book Guy and Crazy Cat Lady. However, Bart's connection to the brain — coupled with his genuinely emotional farewell to it — highlights the character's sensitive side that keeps him from becoming one-note. It's a sweet moment for Bart in The Simpsons, and works both in-universe and as an extended tribute to The Fast & The Furious franchise.