Line #32 Recap/TheSimpsonsS23E9HolidaysOfFuturePassed


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/holidays_of_future_passed_116.JPG]]
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3	Original Air Date: December 11, 2011
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5	A ChristmasEpisode of the show (and what could, at one point, have been the final episode of the entire series).
6
7	After Thanksgiving dinner, Marge sets the family up for holiday photos, much to their charign. She assures Bart and Lisa that they'll want to do this for their own kids someday, though Bart and Lisa are doubtful they'll have any.
8
9	The photo is taken and we see 30 years pass via the Christmas photos as the Simpsons kids grow older. Bart tries to go to a state college but flunks out a year after attending and moves back in with his parents before eventually being kicked out in his thirties. Within the next six years he marries his girlfriend from "Future-Drama" (Jenda) and has two sons (Jiff and Skippy), but ends up divorced. Lisa, not surprisingly, is more successful in her college endeavors and her love life. She has a string of girlfriends in college before settling down with Milhouse shortly after graduating and having a daughter, Zia. Maggie pursues a career in music and becomes a world famous rock star in her early twenties, even being labeled “The Voice of Her Generation", despite that we the viewers still don't hear her voice. Homer and Marge remain married through the years, with Homer retiring and quitting alcohol.
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11	In the current timeline, Bart is living in a broken-down apartment complex (that used to be Springfield Elementary) and barely keeping rent. His two young sons are beamed over as Bart's ex-wife wants Bart to spend time with them, something both the kids and he aren't entirely happy about. Bart figures to just dump them with ''his'' parents. Lisa lives moderately with Milhouse and a now teenaged Zia, who spends all her time on the Neural-Net (The internet you plug into with an implant). Due to Milhouse's allergies, he suggests taking Zia to Lisa's parents house while he nurses his sinuses. Over in London, Maggie, while on tour, is shown to be pregnant with her baby due soon. The doctor orders her to not sing or use her voice as he explains "recent studies have shown the umbilical cord is also a vocal cord." Her band mates refuse to reveal who the father is when asked.
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13	Marge and Homer get "B-Mail" (Brain Emails) that their kids and grandkids are all coming home to be with them during the holidays much to Marge's joy. Bart and Lisa arrive with their kids but Maggie is delayed as she is advised not to teleport while pregnant and has to take the commercial airlines which have descended into Mad Max-style brand of flight. Lisa tries to spend time with Zia but her daughter isn't willing, Marge suggests trying to be more "hands off" and give Zia some space. Bart likewise isn't having any luck with Jiff and Skippy, falling into depression when the boys reveal their mother remarried. Homer instead takes the two boys out on a trip to Downtown Springfield.
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15	That night Bart and Lisa meet up in the treehouse and have a few drinks while discussing their problems. Both agree to try their best with their kids. Maggie arrives in Springfield but no sooner then she hails a taxi, which is driven by Kearney, her contractions begin and he takes her to the hospital. As the hospital is full, she has to be put in the manger wing. Lisa tries to take her mother's advice but can't go through with it and enter the Neural-Net to find her daughter. She manages to locate her thanks to Google and finds that her personal online room shows that Zia aspires to be like Lisa. The two reconcile. Bart tries to locate his sons and finds that Homer took them to go see Grandpa who is located in a cryo-lab located in a graveyard (Homer revealing Abe was frozen when he came down with a disease. They found the cure for it but Homer finds the Cryo-lab cheaper then a retirement home.)
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17	During the visit, Homer teaches the boys that, though Bart may not be a perfect father, he still loves them all the same and to give him another chance. Bart arrives shortly after and apologizes to Jiff and Skippy, promising he'll do better and they too reconcile. Homer likewise reconciles with his father. During this Marge was informed of Maggie giving birth and is there for the birth of her baby girl. The family all reunite for Christmas and gather together for a Christmas photo, this time taken by their pets who have evolved into intelligent beings.
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19	----
20	!!''Holidays of Future Passed'' has the following tropes:
21
22	* AbusiveParents:
23	** Thankfully averted with Bart and Lisa who, despite having problems with their kids, don't do what Homer and Marge did in terms of parenting -- mostly because they're better than that, and mostly because Homer's strangling of Bart became such a problem that a law was made to forbid child abuse (particularly strangling of any child) once and for all (called "Homer's Law").
24	** Abe however is still an emotionally abusive jerk who spends his appearance after the TimeSkip to insult Bart's kids and call Homer a big disappointment and a coward.
25	* AdvertOverloadedFuture: Apparently someone figured out a way to make ''the stars in the night sky'' reconfigure themselves into advertisements.
26	* AllThereInTheManual: Bart's sons are unnamed in this episode, but are called "Skippy" and "Jiff" in ''VideoGame/TheSimpsonsTappedOut.''
27	* ArtisticLicenseReligion: Abe makes a crack about how unwed mothers should get a break on Christmas, referencing the Virgin Birth, except that Mary was married to Joseph when Jesus was born.
28	* AwayInAManger: Slightly parodied with Kearney as Joseph and helping Maggie (both the Mary expy as well as the "star in the east", as Kearney notes she just played a sold out show in Beijing) to the hospital and her having to be taken to the Manger...Wing.
29	* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther:
30	** Bart and Lisa have a scene where they get drunk together in the treehouse while talking about how difficult it is to be a parent.
31	** In spite of her hostile treatment to her mother, Zia admits that she still loves her and looks up to her just like her other female role models.
32	* BabiesEverAfter:
33	** All the Simpsons kids have their own kids after the thirty year time skip, and Maggie has her first daughter. [[SubvertedTrope The "ever after" would have been true had the show ended at that point, but it's not]].
34	** Exaggerated with Apu and Manjula's children who each managed to create their own set of octuplets making ''64'' grandchildren in total.
35	* BaitAndSwitch: Aside from the FoodPills parody, there's also the cab driver (Kearney) who drove Maggie to the hospital. When his cab's computer took his order to drive to the hospital ("Computer, hospital") as an order to go to the [[ExactWords computer hospital]], he said he'd have to do it the old-fashioned way. He took a pair of gloves and ordered them to drive to the hospital.
36	* BasementDweller: As revealed by the Christmas photographs between the present and the future, Bart will live with his parents for several years after flunking public college until they decide to kick him out when he’s in his thirties.
37	* BestFriendsInLaw: Lisa is married to Bart's best friend Milhouse.
38	* BittersweetEnding: As a future for the Simpson family (and as [[SeriesFauxnale an intended potential ending for the series as a whole]]). Bart's divorced, miserable and living in an apartment in his former school and his two sons despise him, while Lisa seemingly never lived up to her ambitions of greatness, questions her decision to marry Milhouse, and struggles with a BrattyTeenageDaughter. Only Maggie is [[RidiculouslySuccessfulFutureSelf the kind of roaring success]] that Bart and/or Lisa eventually become in [[DependingOnTheWriter some]] FlashForward scenarios--and even she doesn't appear to have much of a relationship with the father of her child and is forced to find her way to the hospital with only Kearney supporting her. Still, Homer and Marge are HappilyMarried into their old age, Homer's quit drinking for good and become a better grandfather than he was a father, Lisa discovers that her daughter secretly admires her and gains a better appreciation for Marge in turn, and Maggie's new baby brings the whole family together.
39	* {{Bookends}}: The first ''Simpsons'' episode was a Christmas episode ("Simpsons Roasting Over an Open Fire"). If this actually aired as the series finale, it would have ended with a Christmas episode.
40	* BrattyTeenageDaughter: Lisa's daughter Zia acts condescending and seemingly has no respect for either of her parents in the rare moments she isn’t plugged into the [=Ultra-Net=], making it hard for Lisa to connect with her. Despite this, it is shown through her [=UltraNet=] room, to Lisa's joy, that Zia does look up to her.
41	-->'''Zia''': (sarcastically, in response to Lisa asking to go to a 68% of Cher concert) Sure, I'd love to. Only not with you and not that.
42	* BrokenPedestal: Homer reveals to his grandsons who idolize him that he was a terrible dad to their dad, and has a terrible relationship with his own father. He does this to show them that Bart is actually trying to be a good dad to them.
43	* BullyTurnedBuddy: Kearney TookALevelInKindness and helps a pregnant Maggie travel safely to the hospital to deliver the baby throughout her subplot.
44	* CallBack:
45	** Bart is shown to have married (and divorced) Jenda from "Future-Drama".
46	** Homer accidentally getting Edna killed echoes what happened to Maude, though, unlike Maude, we don't see how Homer had a hand in killing Edna.
47	** Lisa's "Ultra Net" account included people Lisa knows and people the Simpsons met on their International travels.
48	** Lisa's [[{{Goth}} Ravencrow Neversmiles]] persona from [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS15E13SmartAndSmarter "Smart and Smarter"]] makes a reappearance during the Christmas photograph montage at the beginning of the episode.
49	** Future Maggie having a talent for singing in "Lisa’s Wedding" evolves to her becoming a world famous rock star in this episode.
50	** Among the many crime scene outlines on Moe's floor is Sideshow Bob... lying next to an outline of a rake.
51	* CanonDiscontinuity: Subverted, unlike previous FlashForward episodes, this one has no FramingDevice with an UnreliableNarrator (fortune teller, Native American shaman, future prediction machine) and instead almost plays out like a GrandFinale and the canonical fates of the characters. It even gets a SequelEpisode "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS25E18DaysOfFutureFuture Days of Future Future]]" a few years later.
52	* ChalkOutline: Several of them at Moe's. One of them was implied to be of Sideshow Bob (with a rake). Another is the Capitol City Goofball from "Homer at the Bat".
53	* CoolOldGuy: Homer, especially to Bart's kids.
54	* DeadSparks: Implied with Lisa and Milhouse's marriage. She didn't look particularly happy [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/simpsons/images/7/7a/The_Simpsons_16.JPG/revision/latest?cb=20181121235250 in their wedding photo]], and while drinking in their old treehouse with him she asks Bart if she should’ve married Nelson instead, and mentions she still talks to him on the phone. When she’s looking through her Facebook friend requests Nelson's comes up and he asks if her marriage is still dead and unfulfilled, implying she’s described it that way to him.
55	* DotingGrandparent: Bart gets jealous of Homer when he sees him happily playing with Skippy and Jeff, while remembering Homer treating him badly as a kid.
56	* DrowningMySorrows: Bart and Lisa do this in the treehouse after Zia won't spend time with Lisa and after Jiff and Skippy prefer spending time with Homer than with Bart.
57	* ExpendableClone: The original Ralph Wiggum was KilledOffForReal and "he" is now a Clone Army with an alternate self ready to replace him whenever [[TheyKilledKennyAgain another one bites the dust]].
58	* ExperimentedInCollege: Lisa has several girlfriends in college (and at one point, two girlfriends at once), and then gets engaged to Milhouse soon after graduating.
59	* FamousFamousFictional: A variation in this exchange:
60	-->'''Lisa:''' My daughter thinks I'm a ruthless tyrant, like [[UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler Hitler]] or [[UsefulNotes/TheBritishRoyalFamily Prince Harry]].\
61	'''Homer:''' Ah, Bloody Harry. He brought back beheading in a big way.
62	* FirstGirlWins: Having now outlived both his major LoveInterests, Flanders is married to Maude's ghost. No sign of Edna's.
63	* FoodPills: Parodied. When Marge wants to make cookies, she takes out a tablet and adds water. The tablet turns into... a recipe card, which she uses to make cookies with real ingredients.
64	* ForTheEvulz: This is presumably why Snake (who has become a cyborg by this point) is still robbing the Kwik-e-Mart, as according to Apu, they're a cashless society now.
65	* FreakyFridayFlip: Carl and Lenny are revealed to have swapped brains in the future. One of them has an ex-wife who swapped brains with a monkey.
66	* FutureLoser: [[TimePassesMontage The family portraits through the years]] shows Bart progressing from fourth grader to high school graduate, college student, college dropout, and eventually middle aged BasementDweller, which is when Marge and Homer get tired of Bart being an unemployed middle aged LazyBum and kick him out of the house. In the story proper, Lisa is in a stable marriage with Milhouse, appears to work some sort of corporate job, and they live with [[BrattyTeenageDaughter Zia]] in a upper middle class suburb. Meanwhile, Bart is barely able to hold down a minimum wage job, lives in the old elementary school that is now a housing project/slum, went through a bitter divorce that resulted in his two sons hating the fact that they have to legally see him during the Christmas season, and the boys heavily imply that they would prefer to spend the holydays with their stepfather than him.
67	* GenderBender: "Martin Prince is now Marsha Princess?"
68	* GenerationalTrauma: Explored. Homer's horrendous parenting and lackadaisy work ethic have transferred to his son in his adult years as he's barely involved in his sons' lives and can't keep a stable job. His sons make it clear that they hate him for his incompetence, just like how Bart criticized Homer in his childhood years. However, thanks to Homer becoming OlderAndWiser, he tries to fix his mistakes by encouraging his grandsons to be patient with his dad as he will come around to being better. This in turn inspires Bart to live up to that hope by promising to be better for his sons.
69	* GenerationXerox:
70	** Bart's kids have a strained relationship with their dad, but [[GrandparentFavoritism get along fine with their grandfather]]. Homer points out that this is par for the course with every son.
71	** Lisa tries to understand a daughter that seems very different from her and can be condescending at the drop of a hat.
72	--->'''Lisa:''' You have no idea what that's like.\
73	'''Marge:''' [[DeadpanSnarker Uh-huh.]]
74	*** Zia is also addicted to the Internet and prefers zoning out rather than interacting. Lisa even wonders how SHE was the one to end up with a Bart clone.
75	*** Although it’s later revealed in her Ultra-Net room that Zia is interested in science and chemistry, and has posters of notable women in history, including her mother, meaning she’s not completely different from her.
76	** Maggie's daughter sucking on a pacifier.
77	** Apu and Manjula's Octuplets work at the Kwik-E-Mart with their dad. They also each have their own set of octuplets.
78	* HatesTheirParent: Downplayed with Skippy and Jiff towards Bart and Zia towards Lisa, however in the episode the cousins are clearly shown to be antagonistic towards their respective parents, though for different reasons. Following Bart's bitter divorce from Jenna, and [[FutureLoser the fact that he can even barely hold down a minimum wage job]], Skippy and Jiff see Bart as nothing more than just a deadbeat dad, and resent the fact that they're only spending the holidays with him because the court ordered that he has custody of them during those days, when they would rather spend the holidays with their mom and new stepfather. Zia more than anything, [[TrulySingleParent is essentially Lisa's clone]], and [[BrattyTeenageDaughter is going through a rebellious phase]].
79	* HereditaryTwinhood: Exaggerated; Apu and Manjula have ''sixty-four'' grandchildren because each of their octuplets also had a set of octuplets.
80	* HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood: It's illegal to [[RunningGag strangle kids]] now thanks to the passing of "Homer's Law." This is too bad for Lisa as she [[NotSoAboveItAll really would like to strangle Zia]].
81	* HumanPopsicle: Along with Grandpa, other Simpson regulars are cryogenically frozen.
82	* ITasteDelicious: This episode's couch gag presents the Simpsons as gingerbread people. Homer happily takes a bite of himself.
83	* {{Irony}}: Maggie is recognized as a world famous singer and is even christened "The Voice of her Generation" yet she doesn't speak a word in the episode.
84	* KarmaHoudini: Homer's being liked by Jiff and Skippy so much can across as this. However, the reason for Bart's hostility to Homer and Homer's hostility to Abe was that Abe and Homer were AbusiveParents. Bart is never shown to be abusive in any way, just going through a bad divorce and being a deadbeat.
85	* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: Bart (in his 40s) makes a comment about how [[NotAllowedToGrowUp he's been acting like a ten-year-old for the last 30 years]].
86	* LikeParentLikeChild: Along with her rebellious tendencies, Zia also shares her mother's love of advanced science and appreciation for historical women role models.
87	* LoserSonOfLoserDad: [[GenerationXerox Like Bart himself before them]], Bart's kids don't respect their {{Manchild}} father at all. On the other hand, they adore Homer, who's now OlderAndWiser.
88	* ManChild: Bart, age 40, notes that he's continued to act like the 10-year-old Bart we see in the show for the subsequent three decades. He vows to do right by his sons by to buckling down and acting like a ''20''-year-old.
89	* MoreDakka: When Snake tries to rob the Kwik-E-Mart, Apu shouts for help from his grown up octuplets, who promptly produce a multitude of weapons.
90	* MumLooksLikeASister: Lisa doesn't look much older than her teenage daughter.
91	* NoodleIncident:
92	** Lenny and Carl switched brains so Lenny could get back together with his wife, who was sleeping with Carl.
93	--->'''Carl:''' Turns out she had switched brains with a monkey on a Japanese game show, and it just got weirder from there.\
94	'''Lenny:''' Ah, I found it quite normal.
95	** Homer somehow got Edna killed.
96	** Kearney also mentions he and Bart were in jail around the same time.
97	** Bart's treehouse is actually a [[{{Treants}} living one]] who's bitter that some pine tree revealed their secret existence to humanity.
98	* NotSoDifferentRemark: Bart and Lisa bond in the treehouse over some wine and their parenting difficulties.
99	* TheNothingAfterDeath: Maude's ghost claims as such to Ned, though [[SelectiveObliviousness he doesn't seem to notice]].
100	-->'''Maude's Ghost:''' There is no God, Neddy. It's just an empty, meaningless void.
101	* OffWithHisHead: According to Homer and Lisa, [[NoodleIncident once he got the throne, Prince Harry became a big fan of this]].
102	* OhCrap: Apu and Manjula when Marge closes the door in a way that causes all their grandchildren to start crying simultaneously.
103	* OlderAndWiser: Homer. Bart's children, [[GenerationXerox who regard Bart with the same disrespect Bart once showed for Homer]], ''love'' him--and he comes through for Bart in a big way when he convinces them to give their father another chance.
104	-->'''Bart:''' How could he be such a cool grandfather when he's such a lousy father?
105	-->'''Marge:''' People learn from their mistakes. And your father made ''so many'' mistakes.
106	* OlderThanTheyLook: Bart and Lisa are supposed to be 40 and 38 respectively in the episode, around the same age as their parents in regular episodes, but Bart looks like he is in his 20's (he looks better kempt than other FlashForward episodes where he was supposed to be younger) and Lisa looks like she could still be in college, as we see in the photo montage her appearance hasn’t changed a bit since then. Same especially goes for Marge who, unlike other future episodes that give her wrinkles, only looks older due to her grey hair.
107	* PlaneAwfulFlight: Teleportation has reduced the airline industry to a last resort in the episode's futuristic setting. Unable to teleport due to her pregnancy, an adult Maggie has to board a ramshackle plane manned by a crew straight out of a Mad Max movie.
108	* ProductPlacement: Google.
109	* RakeTake: Moe's has a ChalkOutline of Sideshow Bob next to a chalk outline of a rake.
110	* {{Reincarnation}}: Apu thinks his brother was reincarnated as a cow, but it insists it's just a mongoose that died 600 years ago.
111	* RiddleForTheAges: It's never explained who Maggie's husband is.
112	* RoboticSpouse: Patty and Selma have bought their own love robots. To their annoyance, the two bots renounce them and run off together.
113	* SeasonalRot: An in-universe example occurs when Bart tries to show Krusty the Clown to his sons, who have never heard of him. He turns the show on, only to find that it's no longer funny and instead just ''boring''. Bart groans and {{Facepalm}}s.
114	* SeriesFauxnale: This episode was conceived as a DistantFinale in case the show really was going to end due to some disagreements at the time between FOX and the voice actors due to the latter being forced to accept a pay cut.
115	* SilverVixen: [[http://simpsons.fandom.com/wiki/File:Empty-Nest_Marge.png Marge remains very good-looking]] for being the grandmother of a teenager at this time.
116	* ShoutOut:
117	** Titlewise, to ''ComicBook/DaysOfFuturePast''.
118	** In the montage, Bart and Lisa dress up as [[ComicBook/VForVendetta Guy Fawkes]] and Franchise/SailorMoon (or a ''Sailor Moon''-inspired magic girl superhero) respectively during their teen years.
119	** Selma's [[{{Sexbot}} lovebot]] looks like Gigolo Joe (Jude Law's character) from ''[[Film/AIArtificialIntelligence AI: Artificial Intelligence]]''.
120	** [[Series/DoctorWho Daleks]] are the police in London.
121	** Maggie is staying at the [[Series/TheBennyHillShow Benny Hilton]].
122	** One of the destinations at the Heathrow Teleport is [[WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}} New New York]].
123	*** One of Homer's bottled ships is based on the Planet Express ship.
124	** The planes are from ''Film/MadMax2TheRoadWarrior''.
125	** Film/{{District 9}} is a dystopia, but District 10 is upscale.
126	** Dr. Hibbert is wearing [[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration Geordi's VISOR]].
127	** The father of Maggie's child could be one of three men, which feels like a reference to ''Film/MammaMia''.
128	** Future Snake resembles the [[Film/RoboCop1987 ED-209]].
129	** The sequence showing Homer making trouble around town with Bart's sons to Music/PaulSimon's "Me and Julio Down By the Schoolyard" references a similar scene in ''Film/TheRoyalTenenbaums'' between family patriarch Royal Tenenbaum and his two grandsons.
130	* SmartAnimalAverageHuman: Santa's Little Helper and Snowball II have evolved into intellectual beings with Bart commenting on how it's strange that the pets have evolved but not humans.
131	* SoHideousItsTerrifying: Milhouse mentions that everytime he visits Michigan which is under Sharia Law, the residents make him wear a veil despite being a man.
132	* ATasteOfTheirOwnMedicine: Lisa, who has been shown to be [[InsufferableGenius condescending]] [[SoapBoxSadie whenever she talks about something]], has to deal with Zia, her [[TrulySingleParent (cloned)]] [[BrattyTeenageDaughter teenaged daughter, who is equally insufferable and rebellious]].
133	* ThemeNaming: Bart's kids are named Jiff and Skippy, both peanut butter brand names.
134	* TimePassesMontage: The episode opens with the Simpsons taking a Christmas portrait, and then shows other portraits demonstrating: Bart, Lisa, and Maggie going through school; Bart going to and flunking out of college; Lisa going to college, [[ExperimentedInCollege having several girlfriends]], graduating college, engaged and married to Milhouse, and having their daughter Zia; Bart and Maggie left living in the house, the latter either not getting accepted or not going to college, and Maggie shortly after moving out after becoming a world famous musician; Bart becoming a LazyBum, and Homer and Marge kicking him out after they tire of him being a BasementDweller; and finally, Homer and Marge enjoying their twilight years alone.
135	* TimeSkip: This episode takes place thirty years into the future (2041). Unlike previous episodes that take place in the future, there's no FramingDevice here. The only present day scene is the one in the beginning with the family photo.
136	* TooDumbToLive: Ralph Wiggum's clones. Bart also counts since he plans to sell his good kidney and hopes another one will grow over time.
137	* TookALevelInBadass: Snake Jailbird has upgraded himself into becoming a cyborg making him more dangerous when robbing the Kwik-E-Mart. Fortunately for Apu, his octuplets have grown up and are well versed with using gunfire to protect their family store.
138	* TookALevelInKindness:
139	** Homer by the time he's a grandparent, he's a really good grandfather, quit drinking and has learned from his mistakes.
140	--->'''Bart:''' How can he be such a cool grandfather when he's such a lousy father?\
141	'''Marge:''' People learn from their mistakes...and your father made ''so many'' mistakes.
142	** Subverted with Abe, he spends the majority of his time when he's unfrozen insulting Homer and Bart's kids. Though he and Homer do have a heartwarming father son moment after Bart and his kids reconcile, he later tells Maggie she doesn't have to reveal who her newborn's father is, saying that single mothers deserve a break on Christmas to not be judged.
143	* TrulySingleParent: Milhouse comments that, when he and Lisa had their daughter, she was made from the best parts of their genetic materials - meaning [[ButtMonkey none of his]]. Zia does have a lock of blue hair which he and his family have, but she could also have inherited it from Marge or dyed it.
144	* UglyGuyHotWife: Lisa looks very young and vibrant while approaching 40, while Milhouse resembles Homer more than Bart does.
145	* UncannyFamilyResemblance: Per usual, the next generation of Simpson kids greatly resemble their parents. Justified in Lisa's daughter Zia's case by Milhouse's comment suggesting Lisa to be Zia's only biological parent, saying she was only given the best genetic material, which meant none of his. She does have a lock of blue hair, but she could have inherited from Marge or dyed it.
146	* VictoriousChildhoodFriend: Milhouse manages to marry Lisa.
147	* TheVoiceless: Maggie, in continuing with the RunningGag that was set up on "Lisa's Wedding" (Made even more ironic as she’s a famous lead singer of her own rock band and is known as "The voice of her generation"), as she’s advised by her doctor to not speak until the baby is born, as new research reveals the umbilical is also a vocal cord.
148	* TheVoiceOfAGeneration: Maggie became the lead singer and guitarist of her own rock band, being labeled as "The voice of her generation", and shortly before giving birth had played a sold out show in Beijing. (PlayedForLaughs since she can't even say a word in the episode without being interrupted, and due to being close to giving birth, as new research shows the umbilical cord is also a vocal cord).
149	* WhenTreesAttack: Invoked; it turns out in the future they discovered plants were sentient, as Bart forces the tree in which the treehouse sits to bend down so he and Lisa can get out.
150	-->'''Tree:''' Our consciousness was a secret for thousands of years...[[NiceJobBreakingItHero then one pine tree had to open his sappy mouth!]]
151	* WhosYourDaddy: Maggie Simpson is expecting a child, and the child's father is implied to be one out of three band mates, as they refused to say who the father was when asked. Before Maggie herself can answer when Grandpa asks, the latter interrupts.
152	* WhoWantsToLiveForever: While [[ItMakesSenseInContext under the belief that he's]] SantaClaus, Abe Simpson is sad that he'll never die.

Context Recap / TheSimpsonsS23E9HolidaysOfFuturePassed