The Simpsons: 10 Best Recent Episodes You Probably Missed
6. A Totally Fun Thing That Bart Will Never Do Again (Season 23, Episode 19)
"A Totally Fun Thing That Bart Will Never Do Again" is one of the strongest Bart-centric episodes in the Simpsons' last decade, as he wrestles with anxiety regarding his future while on a cruise with the family.
The episode certainly hits differently watched today - a subplot involves Bart staging a deadly pandemic on the mainland to keep the cruise out at sea for longer, with disastrous consequences - but the emotional core remains firm throughout.
The ending, in which we flash-forward to an elderly Bart living in a retirement home and looking back fondly on a life well lived, is especially effective - a brilliantly executed and totally unexpected gut-punch.
Given that Bart feels so fully crystallised as a live-in-the-now troublemaker, it's great to see him lent extra dimension by episodes like this.