Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for The Simpsons season 35, episode 14.

Summary

• Season 35 of The Simpsons struggled to give complex characters like Barney the spotlight they deserved.
• The show continues to avoid addressing heavy topics like the stereotypes associated with characters like Apu.
• The recent episode "Cremains of the Day" revealed difficulties in utilizing Barney's character effectively.

Although the Simpsons never age, the show rarely kills off characters and its 760-episode run means that the series has introduced thousands of characters over the decades. As such, it is inevitable that some figures don’t get as much time in the spotlight as they should. However, this isn’t always due to a dearth of screen time. Sometimes, The Simpsons simply doesn’t know what to do with its characters.

Although The Simpsons season 36 might change this, the show has infamously ignored the existence of Apu for some time now. When the character’s role in propagating Indian American stereotypes was called into question, the series dropped him and avoided the topic instead of addressing the issue in-universe. Similarly, although The Simpsons devoted an entire Golden Age episode to Luann and Kirk Van Houtem’s breakup, the show soon reunited the pair. Maintaining canonical consistency, particularly when it comes to heavier topics and storylines, isn’t a high priority for the series. This caused a problem for one season 35 episode.

The Simpsons Season 35 Episode 15 Needed A Bigger Barney Role

The Episode Excused Barney’s Absence From Moe’s Gang

Although “Cremains of the Day” centered on the death of The Simpsons ing character Larry, Barney was almost entirely absent from the outing. In an episode that focuses not only on Homer, Moe, Lenny, and Carl but specifically on the bond they share in Moe’s Tavern, Barney is only seen in one brief cutaway gag. Barney’s limited role in “Cremains of the Day” proved The Simpsons can’t work out how to use him as the ing star’s history in the series should have made him a pivotal part of the plot. The episode revealed that Larry was surprisingly similar to Barney.

Larry was a lonely barfly who wanted nothing more than to be part of Homer’s group of friends, a description that could easily be applied to Barney. As such, it would have made sense for The Simpsons to compare them, with Barney noting that Larry’s life could have been his if he never gave up drinking. The problem is that Barney relapsed after he quit drinking in season 11, episode 18, “Days of Wine and D’oh’ses," and the show never contended with this. Some of the best episodes of The Simpsons address serious issues, but the series still struggles with Barney’s story.

The Simpsons Season 35 Struggles With Complex ing Characters

Barney’s Character Arc Makes Him A Tricky Presence

Like the Van Houtens, Barney has too much history for The Simpsons to bring him back for small roles without dredging up his complicated past. He relapsed after years of sobriety, but the show has mostly ignored him since this revelation, likely because of how downbeat and bleak it is. While the comedic potential of Barney’s sobriety might have been limited, his absence from “Cremains of the Day” proves that the series isn’t comfortable depicting him as a comical drunk either. Instead, The Simpsons has stranded Barney between his old self and his short-lived new persona, resulting in his absence.