1. Edna Dates Bart, Sort Of Bart The Lover
Bart's tendency for mischief will lead a more grown-up version to be breaking hearts, left right and centre. It's a shame this had to start with Edna Krabappel, as Bart assumed the identity of a yo-yo-hating hockey-playing Woodrow Wilson, who also happened to also be the 28th President of the United States. Whoever thought up this combination among the writers deserves a medal, as they pulled it off perfectly. 'Bart The Lover' captured Edna's desperation for some loving greater than any other episode. The way she scares her cat by snapping "I need a man!" showed her vulnerability, which Bart gleefully took advantage of by splicing Homer's old love letters to Marge together with a picture of the hockey player Gordie Howe. Such Machiavellian scheming allowed for pnety of great moments, but the highlight was surely this line
"Truly yours is a butt that won't quit."
A line that a drunk Homer had originally drooled onto the page sounded surprisingly seductive delivered by a baritone Harry Shearer, and Edna was obviously hearing that voice too as she fell for the fake, hook line and sinker. For that moment to sound as poetic as it did would win any 'best moments' contest on its own. As the letters grow more intense, Edna's fake gentleman caller arranges a date at The Gilded Truffle, rounded off with Bart's smooth-talking "Sexually yours, Woody." Who could resist such a charmer? Mrs Krabappel certainly can't, and her despair sends Bart into a guilt spiral which eventually leads to his sensitive ending of the relationship of sorts with a family-collaborative letter. This was where we really saw Edna's true vulnerability the woman behind the cynicism and the laugh yet also her filthy and depraved side. There are many moments Marcia Wallace can be proud of, but this stands tall as an emotional high-point in Edna Krabappel's character arc. To borrow, and alter, a line from Woody's farewell letter to Edna -
"Any time I hear the wind blow, it will whisper the name... Marcia."
RIP.