What Did The Simpsons Do With Selma’s Missing Daughter?

As The Simpsons gets ready to return for another season likely coming later this Fall, it still needs to answer what happened with Selma Bouvier’s adopted daughter and why she’s been largely missing from the recent seasons. The Simpsons has been running for such a long time that it has introduced a mass of characters who have appeared in the early seasons and have never appeared again since. As its overall timeline shifts even further and the status quo alters as a result, there have been even more notable changes that have fallen by the wayside over the years for one reason or another.

But there are some significant status quo changes within The Simpsons that tease are going to lead to bigger stories with some of its characters, only to then revert back to their usual stories. One such case was Marge’s sister Selma successfully adopting a baby from China named Ling, and officially becoming a mother years after she noted her interest in doing so. But after adopting her daughter Ling, and few appearances across the later seasons, Selma’s daughter has pretty much disappeared as of the latest season of the animated series. What happened?

Who Is Ling Bouvier?

The Simpsons first introduced Ling back in the Season 16 episode, “Goo Goo Gai Pan.” When Selma enters menopause and starts looking back on her life, she gets a renewed interest in having a baby. It’s something fans saw her suffer from in years past as many of her previous focus episodes had have her seeking a family (and ending up with her pet iguana Jub-Jub), and takes full advantage of here as she decides to adopt. It doesn’t work out in Springfield, so she instead decides to adopt a baby from China. After some shenanigans in China, Selma officially adopts Ling Bouvier as her daughter.

Originally appearing as a baby in her appearances since, Ling is surprisingly one of the only characters in the extended Simpsons family to show signs of actual aging. After being off-screen for a while, she suddenly then appears toddler aged as Selma has been getting her to take violin lessons and be as gifted as she possibly can. Then in Season 24’s “Changing of the Guardian,” Ling is then seen even older and given the ability to speak as she asks Marge for help (as both Patty and Selma are really pushing her to learn multiple arts).

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What Happened to Ling?

But then that’s it! Ling might have been seen next to Selma in crowd shots, but Season 36 had an entire Patty and Selma episode (even involving Lisa) that completely removed Ling from the picture entirely. Now there are two possible reasons why Ling hasn’t been mentioned much. The first is that it ultimately changed Selma’s character too much as her being a mother turned into into a rather abusive parent (and thus distant from the Selma who so badly wanted motherhood). And the second is that Ling just isn’t important enough to reference.

It’s like Maggie. She’s seen in many of The Simpsons episodes, and might get some fun sight gags as a result, but she rarely gets focus episodes of her own. Even when she does, it’s because she’s a member of the core cast. Someone like Ling who is on the secondary cast, and someone who is not at an age who can drive stories of her own, is just not a character that even needs to be revisited. It’s just an interesting case her because of how big an event it was when she was first introduced, and ultimately didn’t result in much for the status quo in the future.

Ling’s not the only one this has happened to either, but because she’s a member of the extended family it’s noticed all the more. With The Simpsons now renewed through at least Season 40, maybe Ling will finally play a role in a future episode. Or at the very least, shown on screen again.