“Holidays of Future Passed” – Season 23, Episode 9

One day, The Simpsons will end. Seems hard to believe, but it will happen. And I’ll be excited to see how the writers and showrunners finally end this massive series. But I’ll also be sad that back in season 23 they burned what would have been a great finale so early. Since “Holidays of Future Passed,” the show has popped into the future multiple times to give us additional aged-up Bart and Lisa material. Yet this is still the best example of the series showing us a glimpse of the future.

Seeing Bart and Lisa struggling to be parents is both sad and also believable. With a dad like Homer and a family life filled with all the wild stuff they saw for so many years, it’s not shocking the two of them are struggling as parents. But it’s not a downer episode either, actually ending on a positive note. And like the very first episode of the series way back in 1989, the whole thing happens during Christmas. I’m still excited to see what the actual finale ends up being one day, but I’ll probably remain a bit bummed that it wasn’t “Holidays of Future Passed.”