The Simpsons: 10 Major Plot-Holes Everyone Ignores
6. Marge's Fear Of Flying
Marge’s Fear Of Flying is the basis for a classic episode of The Simpsons, where we discover it originated from shame over her father being a stewardess rather than a pilot. There’s also leftover trauma from being stabbed in they eye while being fed ‘by the aeroplane’ as a baby and being shot at from above in a cornfield, a la North By North West.
It’s a great episode, but comes with the considerable plot hole that Marge had flown previously. In Mr Lisa Goes To Washington, the first example of them flying, Marge gets on a plane with no issues. Flying appears to be a fairly regular part of their lives now too, visiting a new country every season or so, and it’s never brought up.
That’s made all the stranger by the fact that Marge’s gambling addiction is brought up all the time. Like her fear of flying, it’s only used to drive the plot for one episode, but becomes part of her characterisation afterwards. The fear of flying though only sticks around for that single episode, despite Marge facing her fears so often.