WhileThe Simpsonsseason 36, episode 2 did technically kill off an existing character, a lot of viewers would be hard-pressed to remember the unfortunate guest star. The world ofThe Simpsonsis a complicated one. While it sometimes seems like the chaotic cartoon is constantly changing the reality that its heroes live in,The Simpsonsalmost always reinstates the show’s status quo by the end of each episode.The Simpsonsseason 37might change this but currently, no matter how bizarre the events of a given outing are, the show snaps back to normality in the next episode.
The Simpsons Pays Off A Mr. Burns Threat 29 Years After Iconic Golden Age Episode
The Simpsons season 36 episode 1 paid off an infamous threat to Mr. Burns that the show originally made way back in 1995, but with a surreal twist.
The Simpsonsseason 36 saw the series take advantage of this with its premiere, “Bart’s Birthday.”The Simpsonsseason 36 episode 1’s show-shaking twistswere all undone at the end of the episode when, instead of turning 11, Bart turned 10 again and the rest of Springfield remained the same along with him. However, the very next episode featured the seemingly permanent death of aSimpsonssupporting character. This was a minor, long-forgotten character whose earlier role viewers might have missed altogether, but the twist still came as a surprise given the show’s love of its status quo.
Nick The Realtor’s Previous Appearance In The Simpsons & How He’s Different In Season 36
Nick The Realtor Looks Visibly Younger In His Season 9 Introduction
In a parody ofThe White Lotus,season 36, episode 2, “The Yellow Lotus,” killed off Nick the Realtor. Even among superfans, this character was an obscure one. A visibly younger Nick appeared once before in season 9, episode 9, “Realty Bites,” where he was one of the real estate agents Marge worked among. Marge’s other co-workers from the outing, Gil Gunderson and Cookie Kwan, became fan-favorite supporting characters who appeared in dozens of episodes. In contrast, Nick never appeared again until his death. He looks older in “The Yellow Lotus,” and this change seems intentional on the part of the show’s creators.
The Simpsonsproducer Al Jean called Nick the Realtor “Somebody that’s okay to lose.”
SinceThe Simpsons never age, the show is slow to kill off recurring characters who could eventually be central to a future episode. Speaking toScreenRant,The Simpsonsproducer Al Jean called Nick the Realtor “Somebody that’s okay to lose.” He noted that the character hadn’t appeared in the series for 27 years before his return, meaning he clearly wasn’t as pivotal to the show’s fictional world as Sideshow Bob or Dr. Hibbert. Even more minor characters like Duffman have had entire episodes dedicated to their stories, soThe Simpsonsneeded a truly forgotten character for “The Yellow Lotus.”
How & Why Nick The Realtor Was Killed In The Simpsons Season 36, Episode 2
Throughout “The Yellow Lotus,” Marge and Homer cursed the day they signed up for a timeshare thanks to Nick’s shady manipulation.The Simpson family warned Nick the Realtor that karma would catch up with him, but the real estate agent was unfazed and the family was mostly distracted by the rest of the resort’s drama. One such dramatic subplot was Dr. Hibbert’s struggles with his wife Bernice, who hid an addiction to prescription pills from him. WhileThe Simpsonsbrought back obscure supporting charactersin its premiere to set up a meta punchline, Bernice’s subplot had a practical purpose.
Hibbert eventually got Bernice alone in a hot air balloon, where he dumped her supply of pills in the sea and told her she was going cold turkey no matter what. The couple embraced and reconciled while, far beneath them, an otter consumed a range of psychoactive drugs and immediately became extremely intoxicated. Unbothered by the years of bad karma he earned before the episode began, Nick the Realtor enjoyed a relaxing swim in the ocean before he encountered this otter. The marine mammal attacked him, gnawing him to death and setting the event’s central mystery in motion.
Nick’s Death Continues A New Simpsons Trend
Nick Is The Second Minor Simpsons Character To Die In Two Seasons
In season 35, episode 15, “Cremains of the Day,”The Simpsonskilled off Larry the Barfly, a recurring background characterwho appeared throughout the series since its pilot episode in 1989. While Nick’s death was more comedic and served as the center of a murder mystery, Larry the Barfly’s demise was more poignant and set up a soul-searching road trip among the gang from Moe’s Tavern. Despite this, the two deaths form a surprising pattern for a show that is usually slow to kill off supporting characters.
Season and Episode Number
“Homer’s Enemy”
“Mona Leaves-a”
“Homer the Moe”
“Alone Again, Natura-Diddily”
Season 11, Episode 14
The Simpsonshas killed off over a dozen characters over the years, but almost all of them died in the same episode that contained their first appearance. Larry the Barfly and Nick the Realtor, although the latter was scarcely recognizable even to seasoned viewers, represent a change in that trend.The Simpsonsmay continue to kill off minor characters as the show progresses through season 36 and onwards, especially as its cast of thousands makes this achievable with minimal narrative disruption.
