The Simpsons Christmas Special Finally Addresses One of Ned’s Most Tragic Issues

The Simpsons has released a brand new Christmas special exclusively with Disney+, and the episode finally takes a deeper look at one of the big problems eating away at Ned Flanders over the years. The Simpsons celebrated the 35th anniversary of its original broadcast on Fox with the first double episode in the series’ history. Streaming exclusively with Disney+, “O C’Mon All Ye Faithful” is a much deeper exploration into the characters than fans might have ever expected to see from a new special. In fact, it dives deep into Ned Flanders in a very unanticipated way that’s been brewing for years.

Ned has been through quite a lot in The Simpsons as he’s suffered arguably some of the worst tragedies that any character in the series has had to deal with. Some of The Simpsons‘ most famous episodes explore this side of Ned as they reveal the limits of his positive attitude, and that’s the case with The Simpsons‘ new Christmas special on Disney+ as Ned has a crisis of faith over the fact that he’s lost two of his wives and feels like God would not do that if the being exists.

The Simpsons Puts Ned Through a Crisis of Faith

“O C’mon All Ye Faithful” introduces Springfield to mentalist Derren Brown, who hypnotizes Homer into being a better gift giver. This leads Homer to go to the extreme and think he’s actually Santa Claus, and the entire town loves it so much that they actually begin to believe in Santa. This starts rubbing Ned the wrong way, and he tries to disprove it by pointing out some of the Santa story’s flaws. But in doing so, Ned accidentally shakes his own faith and starts to not believe in God.

This crisis of faith has been shown before through Ned, but it’s taken to a whole new level this time as he reveals that he’s still very much in mourning after the loss of both Maude and Edna. The Simpsons has slightly addressed its writing off Edna Krabappel following actress Marcia Wallace’s passing in 2013, and retired the character through the series with a brief final appearance where Ned is seen in mourning. It was a tragic loss in the real world, but in the series as well. Ned had only been with Edna for a short time at that point, and their relationship was only confirmed not long before through a fan vote online.

Fans had voted to keep the two happy by having them be a romantic couple, and it was meant for the two lonely characters to finally not feel so alone. So with Ned being alone for the decade after, The Simpsons‘ new Christmas special shows the other side of this as Ned has been privately mourning his two loves with small gestures to them that help get him through the day. But with this crisis, he doomed himself to being even more alone.

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The Simpsons Has Tested Ned More Than Anyone

Ned is able to get through this crisis with the help of Derren Brown and Professor Frink, but this is the first real time since Edna’s passing that The Simpsons has had Ned openly talking about these losses. It’s a reflection of just how much he’s actually been through, and it gets him questioning his belief in God. That’s the one element of his personality that’s been getting him through the years, but it was really tested here in a very grounded way. In fact, that’s something one of the writers behind the special specifically wanted to tap into.

Speaking to ComicBook, writer Carolyn Omine opened up about Ned having this crisis, “I think Christians are often told to sort of turn the other cheek and just trust in God. I think Ned sort of presents himself as somebody who does that, but he is human. So on some level, he must be thinking. That’s something that was more discovered as we wrote it that he would be thinking, “It’s not fair.” And this special pushes it over as other things begin to pile on. It’s a tragic pointing out of what he’s been through over the years, and makes it even more heartwarming when he starts to believe in himself and his faith once more.