The Simpsons: 10 Best Recent Episodes You Probably Missed
2. Barthood (Season 27, Episode 9)
Look past its unimaginative title and the Emmy-nominated "Barthood" is an instant classic - a parody of Richard Linklater's 12-years-in-the-making film Boyhood that doubles as a fantastic exploration of Bart's future.
Unlike a lot of the episodes inspired by movies this isn't overly beholden to the source, using its time-hopping gimmick to examine Bart's relationship with those around him, particularly Homer and, most tragically, Grampa.
The result is one of the most affecting Simpsons episode of the last decade, even if it absolutely would've benefitted from a double-length treatment given the expansive potential of the concept.
As it stands, it crams a ton of great character work, humour, and emotion into a single standard-runtime episode. Yet as great as Barthood is, it's still not the very best recent future-focused episode...