The Simpsons: 10 Best Flanders Episodes

This long into The Simpsons’ run, annoying neighbor Flanders may be a “Flanderization” of himself, but he’s still at the star of some great episodes.

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TV Tropes coined the term “Flanderization” in reference to when a TV series has been around for a while and turns a familiar supporting character into a caricature of their former self. Ned Flanders was introduced on The Simpsons as a friendly neighbor who annoyed Homer. However, over the years, Flanders’ religious beliefs became the focal point of his characterization.

While this term was coined to point out the decline in The Simpsons’ quality, Flanders’ increased presence in the Simpsons’ lives — not to mention being a vehicle for religious satire, one of the show’s favorite comedic wells — has led to some great Flanders-centric episodes.

10 Homer And Ned’s Hail Mary Pass (Season 16, Episode 8)

Homer makes a name for himself by putting on sporting celebrations while Ned makes a name for himself shooting homemade blood-soaked biblical epics in the season 16 episode “Homer and Ned’s Hail Mary Pass.”

The A-plot and the B-plot come together when Homer is called upon to plan the Super Bowl halftime show and he has no ideas.

9 Viva Ned Flanders (Season 10, Episode 10)

Flanders realizes he doesn’t have any fun or do anything spontaneous in season 10’s “Viva Ned Flanders.” Recognizing that Homer is 100% fun and spontaneous, he asks him to teach him how to live.

Homer drives him down to Las Vegas, where Flanders orders a white wine spritzer, disappears into a drunken haze, and wakes up married to a cocktail waitress.

8 A Streetcar Named Marge (Season 4, Episode 2)

When Ned Flanders is cast as Stanley opposite Marge’s Blanche in a local musical production of A Streetcar Named Desire, the director finds that he has the character’s physique but not his rage. He also finds Marge’s acting to be passionless until she channels her anger toward Homer — in many ways, her Stanley — into the performance.

In the middle of a rehearsal, the director tells Ned that Stanley is supposed to overpower Blanche while an enraged Marge is restraining him and he says, “I’m trying!”

7 Bart Of Darkness (Season 6, Episode 1)

The season 6 premiere “Bart of Darkness” mainly revolves around Bart as the Simpsons get a pool to enjoy the summer in style and he breaks his leg and gets confined to his room while everybody’s having fun in the backyard.

However, Ned Flanders comes into the plot when the episode becomes a parody of Rear Window and Bart begins to suspect that Flanders is a “mur-diddly-urderer.”

6 Alone Again, Natura-Diddily (Season 11, Episode 14)

Surprising fans everywhere, The Simpsons permanently killed off Maude Flanders in season 11’s “Alone Again, Natura-Diddily,” recharacterizing Flanders as a widower for the remainder of the series.

The episode sees Marge and Homer trying to help Ned deal with the grief after Homer’s reckless blunder gets Maude knocked off the top of a sports stadium by a t-shirt cannon.

5 Boy Scoutz N The Hood (Season 5, Episode 8)

Bart joins the Boy Scouts on a Squishee bender in season 5’s “Boy Scoutz N the Hood.” He’s initially horrified but warms to the organization when he realizes they give out knives and the meetings with Scout Master Flanders get him out of class. He reluctantly invites Homer along on a father-son camping trip and they end up in a raft with Ned and Rod.

Thanks to Homer’s incompetence, their raft gets stranded in the middle of the ocean. With dwindling food (again, thanks to Homer), the Simpsons and the Flanders come to terms with their possible doom in different ways.

4 When Flanders Failed (Season 3, Episode 3)

Flanders opens a store for left-handed people called The Leftorium in season 3’s “When Flanders Failed,” and Homer uses a wishbone to doom his neighborino’s new business venture.

Initially, Flanders’ failure makes Homer so happy that he doesn’t tell Mr. Burns and Moe about the store when they’re in dire need of left-handed products. When Homer realizes the error of his ways, he calls in as many favors as he can to ensure Flanders’ store can stay open.

3 Hurricane Neddy (Season 8, Episode 8)

Flanders snaps in season 8’s “Hurricane Neddy.” A hurricane hits Springfield and everybody’s houses are fine except for the Flanders house, which is reduced to rubble. Flanders’ faith is tested as he’s dedicated his entire life to worshipping God and he still lost everything.

When he returns to his house, the townspeople have joined forces to rebuild it, which he’s initially ecstatic about — until he realizes they don’t know how to build a house. So, he snaps and tells everybody in Springfield how he really feels about them before checking himself into a psychiatric hospital.

2 Home Sweet Homediddly-Dum-Doodily (Season 7, Episode 3)

Ned and Maude adopt Bart, Lisa, and Maggie when a series of unfortunate events get Homer and Marge branded as negligent parents and they’re taken away by the state in season 7’s “Home Sweet Homediddly-Dum-Doodily.”

While Bart and Lisa miss living in a household with non-Christian-approved television and can’t wait to get back to their biological parents, Maggie is too young to know the difference and starts turning into a Flanders.

1 Homer Loves Flanders (Season 5, Episode 16)

In season 5’s hilarious gem “Homer Loves Flanders,” Ned learns the hard lesson that being Homer Simpson’s friend is even worse than being his enemy. From breaking his pool table to invading his family dinner to tarnishing his public image, Homer’s attempts to get along with Flanders always lead to much more disastrous results than his usual insults.

Although Homer stands up for Ned in the episode’s poignant climactic scene (peppered with just enough joke material, like “every cheek on his body”), by the time the end credits roll, Homer is back to hating Flanders. Lisa adds a fun meta wink to the audience in the final scene.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/simpsons-most-memorable-flanders-episodes/