The Simpsons has occasionally delved into episodes of a much "darker" nature involving a wide variety of its iconic characters, but was an actual plot involving Grandpa Simpson and suicidal thoughts really necessary? "No," we all say. "No way." So it was 2006's Million-Dollar Abie that saw Abe Simpson, old and alone, contemplating suicide by way of a invention called the "diePod" (seriously: this was an episode that happened). Aside from that particularly grating cultural reference ("diePod" sounds like "iPod" - get it?), the episode was pretty darn awful, but the basic premise - that loveable, scatty Grandpa Simpson was thinking about topping himself - just left viewers with a sour taste in their mouths. It's not that The Simpsons shouldn't deal with big topics from time to time, but something about this plot didn't ring true, and compromised an iconic character for no reason.
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
