In early episodes of The Simpsons, it wasn't uncommon to see her take on a different role that set up plenty of mysteries around Springfield and beyond. This element of the character became less pronounced over time, with Lisa instead shifting into other roles as the episodes required. However, The Simpsons season 36's "Shoddy Heat" brings this aspect of the character back to the forefront in a very fun way.
The Simpsons Season 36 Brings Back A Classic Episode Template
The Simpsons Makes Lisa A Detective Again
"Shoddy Heat" turns Lisa back into a young detective, which was a consistent element of the show's earlier Lisa-heavy storylines. "Shoddy Heat" focuses on an uncovered cold case that Abe Simpson once investigated decades before the events of the main series. Curious about the situation, Lisa sets out to find the truth and uncovers a secret between Mr. Burns and Abe that ensured the latter's silence, explaining how Homer keeps his job at the Nuclear Power Plant. It's a fun return for Lisa the Kid Detective, which was a more consistent character beat during the Golden Age of The Simpsons.
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Episodes like season 3's "Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington," season 5's "Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy," season 6's "Sideshow Bob Roberts" and season 7's "Who Shot Mr. Burns Part 2" highlighted Lisa's potential as a mystery solver. Alongside Bart, the pair found themselves uncovering plenty of truths around Springfield. This was even poked fun at in The Simpsons itself, with season 7's "The Day the Violence Died" revealing a similar pair of siblings who steal Bart and Lisa's thunder. Although her own investigation stopped being the primary focus of the episode, it's a fun return for Lisa's detective skills.
How The Simpsons Turned Lisa Into A Modern Nancy Drew
Lisa Has Been On Dozens Of Mystery Stories Over The Series
Early seasons of The Simpsons played with Lisa in several different ways, with the character's innocence and intelligence steadily becoming a key component of the character. This intellect made her ideal for solving mysteries across Springfield, which became a recurring element of those early seasons. Over time, Lisa's intellect being applied to politics and academics became a much more prevalent aspect of her storylines, with the detective plots falling by the wayside. However, this element would be reintroduced occasionally, such as in season 20's "Gone Maggie Gone" or season 35's "Murder She Boat."
Lisa has still embarked on enough mysteries over the years to place her firmly alongside other iconic "young detective" characters like Nancy Drew.
Even with those plotlines becoming less pronounced in modern seasons, Lisa has still embarked on enough mysteries over the years to place her firmly alongside other iconic "young detective" characters like Nancy Drew. The show even pokes fun at this in "Who Shot Mr. Burns," with Lisa telling herself that she can follow in Nancy Drew's footsteps as she helps prove her father wasn't responsible for shooting his boss. Lisa's natural charm and intellect make her an ideal modern answer to Nancy Drew, especially in a setting like The Simpsons that can gleefully subvert expectations in those mystery stories.
The Key To The Simpsons' Longevity Helps Lisa Become A Foundational Character
The Simpsons' Flexibility Is Why It So Enduring
The sheer adaptability and fluidity of The Simpsons is one of the big reasons the show has lasted as long as it has. The characters are at their cores very consistent but benefit from the ability to be used in many different ways. Lisa's intellect can make her a detective for an episode, an over-achiever in the next and a somber lone in the one after that. All those elements feel true to the character. Lisa being a snooping detective plays into her intellect and her capabilities, while still feeling natural for the character.
This same idea applies to the rest of Springfield's many residents, who have proven adaptable enough to be placed into different settings and genres as episodes dictate. Lisa's detective capabilities are one of the best examples of this, a character skill set that may have been largely pushed aside but can easily be reasserted in an episode to both motivate the plot and set up different directions. The key to The Simpsons feeling as fresh as they do even after 36 seasons is the ability to shape their characters into different forms, like letting Lisa become a detective again.
The Simpsons is a long-running animated TV series created by Matt Groening that satirically follows a working-class family in the misfit city of Springfield. Homer, a bit of a schmoe who works at a nuclear power plant, is the provider for his family, while his wife, Marge, tries to keep sanity and reason in the house to the best of her ability. Bart is a born troublemaker, and Lisa is his super-intelligent sister who finds herself surrounded by people who can't understand her. Finally, Maggie is the mysterious baby who acts as a deus ex machina when the series calls for it. The show puts the family in several wild situations while constantly tackling socio-political and pop-culture topics set within their world, providing an often sharp critique of the subjects covered in each episode. This series first premiered in 1989 and has been a staple of Fox's programming schedule ever since!
Release Date December 17, 1989
Seasons 35
Network FOX
Franchise(s) The Simpsons
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English (US) ·