The Simpsons: Every Season 1 Episode Ranked

Moaning Lisa is not necessarily a straight storyline but more a character study of Lisa and how she fits it with The Simpson family. Previously we had only seen her as Bart’s brainy younger sister, almost more of a background character playing as sidekick to his mischief. But this episode goes further to delve into her passions, feelings and thoughts.

It starts immediately with Lisa staring at the bathroom mirror with silent melancholy - no dialogue, no movement, just an atmosphere of grief (note the one-the-nose toothpaste tube literally being called “glum”). There’s no preamble as to why she’s feeling this way.

Over the course of the narrative, it becomes more apparent as to what is causing Lisa’s sadness – feeling eclipsed by other family members at home, the repetitiveness of her routine, not being able to truly perform her music how she wants etc. Frankly, she doesn’t have any real major life problems but her condition brilliantly captures a feeling that the majority of us have experienced – an odd period in our lives where we’re feeling numb from depression. There may not be a dominant reason to feel low but sometimes the plight of life brings us down.

Nevertheless, the conclusion of Moaning Lisa is a happy and uplifting one. She is led to find Bleeding Gums Murphy because of his powerful jazz playing. He’s not the solution to all of her problems but he’s a friendly figure of an opposite world who she can confide in as they share a love of the blues. Marge also boosts her mood by retracting that Lisa shouldn’t have to put on a fake persona in front of her school chums and she just be herself.

By the end, Lisa’s obviously not miraculously free of her despair but she has peace of mind knowing that she can express herself however she wants.