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The Simpsons has launched loads of characters throughout over 700 episodes, however there’s been a stable base of recurring characters within the orbit of the first forged for over 30 years. This contains Ned Flanders, the Simpsons’ non secular and perpetually upbeat neighbor. Flanders has served as Homer’s foil for your entire run of the sequence, however it hasn’t at all times been sunshine and rainbows for him.
Usually held up as one among Springfield’s nicest folks, he is additionally suffered a sequence of tragedies throughout the sequence extra befitting of a drama than the animated comedy. One fan principle explains why Flanders has suffered a lot throughout the course of The Simpsons — and quietly lays the blame at Homer’s ft.
Season 3, Episode 3, “When Flanders Failed” was one of many present’s first makes an attempt to discover Flanders and Homer’s relationship. Generally jealous of Flanders — particularly with the revelation that he’ll quickly be opening his personal enterprise, the Leftorium — a bitter Homer finally ends up becoming a member of a picnic together with his neighbor. When they cut up a wishbone, Homer silently needs for the Leftorium to exit of enterprise so Flanders can undergo some misfortune in his life. Over time, the Leftorium fails to attract in enterprise, ensuing within the retailer closing and the Flanders household falling into severe debt, ultimately having their residence repossessed. Guilty over the flip of occasions, Homer is ready to drive up enterprise for Flanders and a significant buy from Mr. Burns ends in the household getting their lives again on monitor.
The episode’s themes embody an acknowledgment that “luck” usually has to do with the actions one takes in direction of themselves and others, with Flanders solely having his enterprise saved because of Homer (who’d earlier refused to inform anybody concerning the retailer, in one among his earliest acts of spite) informing the remainder of the city. This appeared to interrupt Flanders’ streak of unhealthy luck — nevertheless, a fan principle from the TVTropes WMG web page means that Homer’s wishbone truly left his kindly neighbor with an more and more grim life. Before Homer and Flanders cut up the wishbone, Flanders was portrayed having a virtually good life, boasting much more stability in his marriage and together with his funds than Homer. But because the years have gone on, Flanders has endured quite a lot of heartache and ache.
Season 8 noticed his home destroyed in “Hurricane Neddy,” and his ensuing breakdown revealed a nicely of rage inside him. Season 11, Episode 14, “Alone Again, Natura-Diddily” — attributable to a contract dispute off-screen — resulted within the loss of life of his spouse Maude. His makes an attempt to forge a brand new romance have usually been doomed, with essentially the most profitable — his marriage to Edna Krabappel — finally left him a widower once more. And whereas the Leftorium has remained open, Flanders has been often proven having slower enterprise than his preliminary success would recommend. There have additionally been hints that his sons Rod and Todd are rising as much as be unusual younger males whose sheltered upbringing them will depart them ill-prepared for the tough world round them.
All of those hardships clarify why Flanders grew to become a harsher character for a time, together with his fundamentalist aspect turning into his main character motivation for quite a few seasons. But the speculation provides a layer of tragedy, because it ties collectively a lot of Flanders’ troubles with the brash and imply motion taken by Homer. Over the course of The Simpsons, Homer and Flanders have actually develop into mates, with Homer going to excessive lengths to appease his neighbor when their relationship turns into troubled. If Homer even remembers the wishbone incident, he is prone to discover a new supply of guilt — the form of emotion different theories have argued made him into a much bigger jerk at varied factors. While it does undercut a number of the themes of “When Flanders Failed,” the speculation offers an fascinating (and tragic) undercurrent to Homer and Flanders’ friendship.
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