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Across the course of The Simpsons, the show has introduced plenty of possible ways for the world to end — including multiple raptures.
Although The Simpsons has largely been set in the same quasi-modern era of the last thirty years, the future of this world is often hinted in brief flashforwards. While some of these can be rewarding to see and others contain bittersweet send-offs for the cast, there are some that are truly frightening — suggesting the world of The Simpsons is ultimately doomed. Over the years, The Simpsons has featured some brutal visions of the end times — with a mix of religious and sci-fi-inspired apocalypses eventually befalling Springfield.
The Rapture Comes to Springfield
God appeared in various episodes of The Simpsons over the years, with Homer even seeming to have conversations with God in his dreams during Season 4, Episode 3, “Homer the Heretic.” As The Simpsons progressed, the Rapture has been referenced multiple times. In Season 10, Episode 18, “Simpsons Bible Stories,” the family leaves church to discover the world crumbling around them and the Horsemen of the Apocalypse bringing chaos to the world. While they watch the Flanders ascend to heaven while Homer keeps Lisa from making the same journey, the family is then invited to walk down a suddenly appearing flight of stairs into hell.
Later, Season 16, Episode 19, “Thank God, It’s Doomsday,” introduces the Rapture again to Springfield. After finalizing a prediction of the timeline for the Rapture, Homer briefly convinces his family and the town of his beliefs, which are proved somewhat false. While Homer continues to believe his prediction, everyone else abandons him. This means Homer — and Homer alone — is brought to heaven when the Rapture begins. However, when he witnesses his family wading in pools of lava and being tortured by the Devil, Homer convinces God to postpone the end of the world. He restores everything to how it was before the Rapture, with seemingly only Homer aware of the change.
The Simpsons’ Apocalyptic Future
Other, more sci-fi-tinged endings have also been suggested for The Simpsons. Season 5, Episode 4, “Rosebud,” ends with Mr. Burns reunited with his irreplaceable teddy bear from childhood, Bobo, before cutting to the year 1,000,000 AD, when apes have conquered the world ala Planet of the Apes. They utilize a slave race that all resemble Homer Simpson in a ravaged landscape, while Mr. Burns and Mr. Smithers — still alive thanks to cybernetic advancements — rediscover an abandoned Bobo in the dirt. Meanwhile, in Season 16, Episode 21, “The Father, the Son and the Holy Guest Star,” an entire religious war is fought a thousand years in the future between two sects who see Bart Simpson as “God’s Last Prophet.”
Perhaps the most vivid apocalypse in The Simpsons comes during Season 27, Episode 2, “Cue Detective.” Largely focusing on a smoker Homer briefly owns, its unique design and qualities stem from the fact it is a fallen meteorite that’s converted into a grill. The final moments of the episode chart the history of the smoker over the years, including when it’s discovered and used by a horde of survivors in the still-smoldering wreckage of Springfield after the “Waterless Flood.” Post-apocalyptic and fully grown versions of characters like Milhouse, Jimbo, Ralph and Janey can be seen in the group, roasting a pig. Mutated hogs follow the scent and attack the survivors — with the smoker, abandoned and forgotten, eventually being recovered by bee-like aliens eons later at the “Dawn of the 1000-Year Night.” While The Simpsons has looked ahead into the future many times, these predictions are grim and extreme to say the least.
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