YMMV / The Simpsons S29 E21 "Flander's Ladder"

• Critical Dissonance: The majority of critical reception for the episode was mixed to negative. Most notably, Dennis Perkins of The A.V. Club utterly hated the episode and described its ending scene as "a cheap gambit to close out a truly disappointing episode (and season) with unmerited weight." In contrast, audiences and fans at the time generally enjoyed the episode, calling it one of the best out of the entire series and with special praise being given to the Six Feet Under Series Finale parody at the end of the episode. (The positive reception of the episode, or at least its final segment, has seemed to fade, though, as the Six Feet Under reference is lost on a lot of younger viewers, who just see the deaths of these characters as needlessly cruel.)
• Crosses the Line Twice: An elderly Lisa deciding that her peaceful life of meditation was All for Nothing before immediately dying of a heart attack.
• Epileptic Trees: On the Six Feet Under-esque flashforward showing the deaths of the Simpsons and other various characters. Are these actually the destined fate of those characters, or are they just what Bart imagined their deaths would be while in his coma dream?
• Harsher in Hindsight: Chief Wiggum ordering Homer's death for a sandwich that almost resembled a firearm in a bag? Darkly humorous or just plain dark. However, the joke loses its touch after police forces gunned down Casey Goodson for possessing a bag containing a Subway sandwich which the forces thought contained a firearm.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: Dr. Hibbert considers Bart being in a coma to be nothing to worry about, claiming he's had "more comas than he's had hot breakfasts." It kind of seems like a Hand Wave to keep the family from seeming too callous as they head off to grab a bite to eat and leave him alone with Lisa, until the following season's premiere when it immediately happens again.
• Signature Scene: The ending parodying the Series Finale of Six Feet Under, showcasing how each of the Simpsons (along with several side characters, like Chief Wiggum and Smithers) will eventually die.

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