The teen years of The Simpsons was an interesting period for the show. The humor became noticeably harsher as the show became less grounded in Springfield and more willing to go on broad, silly turns. This was an era of South Park and Family Guy, shows that embraced shock humor to strong effect, and The Simpsons followed suit. But one episode, in particular, pushed the family to the breaking point.

Directed by Matthew Nastuk and written by Joel H. Cohen, Season 13's "Brawl in the Family" is nominally a way for the Simpsons to resolve a lingering plot thread from Season 10's "Viva Ned Flanders." However, the episode also tackles a lot of the show's other elements (like Homer and Marge's marriage, Homer's physical abuse of Bart, and the cynical direction of American politics) and plays them especially dark. All of this coalesces to make "Brawl in the Family" one of the darkest episodes of the long-running show.

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What Happens In "Brawl In The Family?"

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"Brawl in the Family" opens with the Republican Party of Springfield deciding to strike down environmental laws for the sake of sheer evil. The resulting effect on the town's weather forces the Simpson family to spend time together -- which quickly escalates a game of Monopoly into a full-fledged brawl. The family is forced to work with a social worker to try and sort out their issues, only for the return of Homer's accidental second wife, Amber to ruin all their progress.

Marge's fury at Homer over this second marriage leaves him heartbroken and alone in the treehouse, but his refusal to spend a night with Amber convinces Marge of his genuine affection. Together, they work with the family to force Amber into fleeing Springfield by tricking her into marrying Homer's father, Abe. A horrified Amber leaves town to escape her new husband, and the episode ends with the family laughing at Abe's failing memory, as his own heartbreak at her departure is overtly remedied by his senility.

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Why "Brawl In The Family" Is The Simpsons At Its Darkest

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The Simpsons has never really been afraid to get dark. The "Treehouse of Horror" Halloween specials have been historically grisly, and the show's occasional dips into genuine tension (like Season 6's "Bart of Darkness or Season 27's "Halloween of Horror") have been effective. The show's reflection on Homer and Marge's marital troubles and family strife has been center-pieces of many episodes, older episodes make Homer's treatment of Bart overtly abusive (and horrifying in-universe), and the show's overarching bittersweet examination of life has touched upon concepts like suicide. "Brawl in the Family" references many of these subjects and through a particularly dark lens. Even the episode's inciting incidents revolving around the Springfield Republican Party are harsh, with the political party reading from demonic books while using technology taken from Disney parks to ensure the notoriously anti-Civil Rights politician Strom Thurmond "lives another hundred years." The show has always had a satirical edge when portraying politics in America, but the sheer bluntness of this episode highlights a particularly pessimistic viewpoint.

The real dark edges can be found in the family plotline for the episode. The fateful Monopoly game that factors into the episode highlights some of the show's biggest underlining dramas, with Homer and Bart's testy relationship setting off an argument between Marge and Lisa that quickly spills into a fight between the rest of the family. There's a moment of genuine horror for Maggie, who is forced to call the police to break up the fight. Even this gets a darkly comic visual gag, as it turns out domestic disturbances are so common in the Simpson household that they've added a button on their house phone to directly alert the police department about it.

Homer and Marge's romance -- a long-tested but eternally enduring relationship -- is put under a harsh microscope. Marge briefly notes she may never fully be able to forgive Homer for this mishap, and even though they end the episode reunited, this turn highlights the trouble their marriage has had to weather over the years. Even the episode's final emotional beat -- that the family came together once more -- was set in motion to concoct a scheme that forces a woman to flee town out of horror and regret. "Brawl in the Family" is a particularly harsh episode of The Simpsons and quietly one of the darkest half-hours the show has ever produced.