Holidays of Future Passed

"I'm Santa?! Oh...Now I'll never die."

- Abraham Simpson

"Holidays of Future Passed" is the ninth episode of Season 23. It originally aired on December 11, 2011. It was written by former Futurama writer J. Stewart Burns. (A flight for New New York can be seen in the episode; and it also references Cryogenic tubes)

Sypnosis
At Christmas 2041, a grown-up Bart, Lisa and Maggie bring their kids to Homer and Marge's house. When there, they learn about parenting and loving your family.

Intro
After a Thanksgiving dinner, Marge announces it is time to take the annual Christmas card family photo. When Bart and Lisa complain about the pointlessness of the photos, Marge tells them they will one day grow to appreciate the photos. We then witness a sequence of the Simpson Family Christmas Photo Album. The sequence shows considerable changes, including Lisa having bisexual relationships with her roommates and Milhouse(whom she marries and has Zia). She becomes a successful businesswoman and Maggie becoming a rock star. Bart is left at home which both Homer and Marge evict him out. Then, three separate photos of each of the children and their current lives are shown.

Act I
The sequence ends with Bart as a deadbeat. Bart (now 40) is living at The Lofts at Springfield Elementary, or formerly "Room 203". He watched The Itchy & Scratchy Show by hologram, but is then interrupted by Seymour Skinner, who reminds Bart he is behind his rent. Bart assures him that he will sell his good kidney with the belief they will grow back and will pay Skinner his rent soon. Then Bart's two children arrive on a teleportation device; they accordingly express their disliking of him and the apartment.

Lisa is seen in her new modern household. Milhouse Van Houten (her husband) is suffering hay fever; Lisa sympathizes with him. Zia Simpson, their daughter, enters in a troublesome manner. She then hooks herself online, leaving her unconscious. Lisa complains. Milhouse suggests she take Zia to her parents' house while he recovers from his illness. We see Maggie in The Benny Hilton. She is pregnant and is tended to by Medbot. Medbot reports she cannot make a sound until the birth, as new research has revealed the umbilical cord is the vocal cord. Maggie's Band protest, claiming that they have a couple more shows to get through before they go home to their families to celebrate Christmas. Medbot than asks of the father, but they refuse to answer and switch football on the Medbot's screen(Possibly suspecting that Maggie knew who the baby's father is and didn't tell them anything, including her own[off screen] marriage to Gerald).



Homer and Marge lay in their bed. Homer asks for 'future sex' before Marge receives a B-Mail of their children's arrival. Homer also receives one and opens it, despite Marge's warning of it being a virus. Homer suffers some sort of virus resulting in shaking.

When the family arrives, Lisa is impressed to see Homer building space ships in bottles. Homer expresses on how it helps him after becoming sober. The bottle flies to the ceiling and Homer says he would smash them all for one beer. Bart is downstairs with his children attempting to set up the Christmas Tree. He complains about tangles in the lights; they then mention how their mother's boyfriend is great at untangling Christmas lights. Bart asks why doesn't she just marry him; they confirm that she has in fact married him, upsetting Bart. Homer enters and Bart requests he take them out; he does so. Bart begins to complain to himself when Ned Flanders pops through the window expressing his sadness when Homer accidentally killed Edna. He then goes on to say he married Maude's Ghost; she then appears.

We see Maggie at Heathrow Teleport Departures. The worker tells her she cannot transport while pregnant, and must travel by air. We then see a largely outdated plane reminiscent of. Maggie boards the plane.

Marge is preparing food while Lisa works on her laptop. Zia enters and rejects Lisa's offer to 68% of a live show. Again she hooks onto the internet, making her unconscious. Marge suggests that she helps her make Christmas Cookies with her and leave Zia alone. Lisa ignores it and calls Marge out her unhelpful parenting advices. She reveals she had to learn to raise herself due to both her and Homer's ignorance. Lisa believes it's the parents right to butt in their kids' lives regardless. Marge gets angry at her accusations and she tells her daughter off that she is also being a bad parent as well in forcing herself in Zia's life. She believes that in doing so, it's making her turn to the Ultranet to cope. It causes a rift between Marge and Lisa due their conflicting parental issues.

We open to the airplane, where they serve dog food. Maggie is trying to get home so she can be with her family and get to a hospital in Springfield to deliver her baby. Homer enters after Marge told him of the issues. Lisa complains yet again. Homer then leaves to take Bart's children to Downtown Springfield. Following is a sequence of Springfield. They visit the Kwik-E-Mart where Apu Nahasapeemapetilon and his children are robbed by a cyborg Snake Jailbird. They escape with Squishees. Homer throws a rock into Burns Manor. Charles Montgomery Burns orders the hounds on them and Waylon Smithers, Jr. empties a box full of dog bones before Homer and Bart's children. Kearney Zzyzwicz drives Maggie in a taxi. He then asks if he went with her brother to jail; before Maggie can answer, she begins to suffer contractions. Kearney orders the computer in the car to take him to the hospital, but it takes him to Computer Hospital. He then gets out gloves and issues the command again.

Act II
Lisa goes into the backyard glum. Advertisements of Buzz Cola and Cookie Kwan are developed in the sky. Bart invites Lisa to the treehouse for some alcohol where they discuss their parenting problems. Lisa admits she wishes Marge stops giving her unhelpful advices that's making her look like a bad parent and causing Zia to turn to the Ultranet. She confesses in having an affair with Nelson when Milhouse was away. In that moment, Bart confesses his admiration for her, admitting that she was the person he wishes to have grown into. He also admits his own problems with his children and how his marriage fell apart. Homer is then seen playing with Bart's Children, Bart notes he's a much better grandfather then he was a father. Lisa leaves to apologize to Marge, causing the tree to come alive and lower to the ground — much like the trees from.

Lisa goes into Marge's room and apologizes for her behavior. She admits she had been under a lot of stress because of the lack of communication with Zia. Marge understands the situation much better and finally gives her some helpful advice. Bart attempts to connect with his children by showing them The Krusty the Clown Show, yet the show's quality has declined and fails to impress them. They prefer Homer's company as he has shown to be a better role model than Bart.

At the Springfield General Hospital (now next to the Montgomery Burns Institute For Soul Extraction), Maggie is falling into labour. Kearney attempts to get her a room, but the receptionist refuses, revealing they're all filled. She eventually agrees after Kearney argues with her (while referencing the Christmas Story) and that Maggie need help. Back at the home Marge, Lisa and Bart converse. Zia is still hooked online. Bart is angry for Homer taking his children out, but Lisa knows what to do. Patty and Selma enter with their 'lovebots'. Selma's Lovebot then refuses her affections, saying not even a robot could love her. he then leaves with Patty's Lovebot. Back at the hospital Maggie is further into labour. The nurse asks Julius Hibbert if they should start the epidural, but instead they give Maggie a pacifier. This helps alleviate the stress of her labor with her childhood favorite pastime. At Apu's Taj Mahal, Marge visits Apu, Manjula Nahasapeemapetilon and the Octuplet's Octuplets. Marge leaves after receiving a B-Mail of Maggie's labour. Apu then tends to Sanjay (cow) — a cow which he has mistaken as the reincarnation of Sanjay Nahasapeemapetilon.

Back at the home Lisa is anxious about Zia, who is still online. Lisa chooses to go onto the Ultranet to check up on Zia. Upon entry she is taken into a vast world. She enters Google to find Zia. Zia's door is visible, and Lisa contemplates entry. Bart is driving Springfield looking for Homer and his children. He passes District 9 and District 10. He is pulled over by a now police officer Ralph Wiggum, however it turns out it is his clone and he kills himself — followed by many other clones dying. At Moe's Tavern Bart sees Moe, Larry and Sam (barfly). Lenny and Carl then tell Bart where Homer is - they both swapped brains and therefore speak from different bodies. With their help, Bart deduces where Homer took his boys and realize he needs to grow up and be responsible for his actions.

Act III
Back at the Springfield General Hospital, Mr. Burns can be seen leading the Devil to his Soul Extraction facility. Marge arrives to Maggie's room. Dr. Hibbert makes a joke. Back on the Ultranet, Lisa enters Zia's Ultranet Room. She is surprised to find the room is more than appropriate, dealing with studies and contains posters of: Joan of Arc, Queen Elizabeth I, Marie Curie, Empress Zimzam and herself. Zia is unimpressed with her intrusion. Lisa begins to say she was worried, and she interrupts asking if she thought she would be flashing her boobs on Unripemellons.com. They both reconcile as they have more in common than Lisa first imagined. Milhouse briefly interrupts, after he leaves, the two hug. A door opens showing a club with people dancing, Zia closes the door without Lisa noticing(not wanting her to see what Zia has been up to in secret and fearing that Lisa will punish her for it).

Homer takes the children to Springfield Cemetery to a grave leading to the Cryogenic Facility. Inside are hundreds of frozen people, including Abraham Simpson. He explains he had a disease with no cure and froze himself. They ask if there is a cure, Homer replies there is, but cryogenics is much cheaper than a nursing home. He unfreezes Grampa. Grampa begins to complain and Homer freezes him again. The two boys ask the reasoning for coming here, Homer answers that all fathers aren't the greatest, but as you grow older you appreciate them. Bart appears apologizing to the children. They initially reject him, but eventually accept him when he teaches them the true meaning of Christmas. Homer is inspired to reconcile with his father and eventually succeeds.

We see the family at their house. They are all together when Maggie arrives with her new baby, Maggie Jr.. They ask the pets to take a photo as they pose. Enters two highly advanced pets. Santa's Little Helper and the cat (it is unknown what Cat, as Snowball II dies in earlier episodes) both have human features, and large craniums. They take the photo.

Production
Holidays of Future Passed is the eleventh episode of the series (what?), and the fourth set in the future. It was first announced at a Comic-Con Convention in San Diego, California on the 23rd of July 2011. The episode was originally aired on FOX on the 11th of December, 2011 in the United States.

Matt Groening himself provided voice acting. When Maggie's Band turn Medbot onto football, an announcer shouts "Goal!", which was Groening. He, however, is not credited for this role.

Reception
Holidays of Future Passed has received highly favourable reception. Many fans and critics alike believe it is one of the best episodes in years of the series, and emits a surprising emotional plot and reasonable humour. It has been described to contain that 'Classic Simpsons'. The episode received a Nielson rating of 3.0. It is said that 8.43 million people tuned in to watch the episode during its original broadcast.

Writing for HitFix, Alan Sepinwall cited "Holidays of Future Passed" as the best future-set episode of The Simpsons since the first one, "Lisa's Wedding". He noted that it was "the emotional side of things" that made the episode successful, such as Bart and Lisa not being satisfied with their lives because of their disconnection with the children, and also Homer's transformation into a "very wise, sweet guy after somehow surviving into old age." Sepinwall particularly praised the scene at the cryonics facility where Homer encourages the children to give Bart another chance as "really sweet", and he described the idea of a frozen Grampa as "a clever variation on the very familiar joke of how Homer and the family neglect Grampa because he's such a pain in the ass."