Although The Simpsons season 33 has not been too concerned with canon consistency so far, the series took things to new heights by killing off Fat Tony for the second time. Not too long ago, it was highly unusual for The Simpsons to kill off characters. The long-running animated sitcom’s legendary 'Treehouse of Horror' Halloween specials were a bloody, non-canon free-for-all that often offed a significant portion of the cast, but the series itself was pretty consistent about ensuring that only a few dozen of the thousands-strong supporting cast were killed off throughout its entire run.
However, in recent years, The Simpsons has become more open to killing off supporting stars. For example, the mobster Fat Tony was killed in “Donnie Fatso” (season 22, episode 9) and stayed dead. As a result, some longtime Simpsons viewers may be surprised to discover that season 33 managed to off the same character again.
Continuing The Simpsons’ biggest season 33 problem, the two-part special “A Serious Flanders” (season 33, episode 6), introduced guest star Brian Cox’s crime boss Kostas Becker to the show’s sprawling cast. The character killed a slew of Simpsons stars ranging from the Rich Texan to Disco Stu and, late in his debut episode, Becker killed Fat Tony alongside Mr. Burns. Due to the events of “Donnie Fatso,” this was the second time The Simpsons killed off an iteration of Fat Tony. While this one of the two deaths was seemingly non-canonical, the first was a rare Simpsons character death that did count. However, since Fat Tony was immediately replaced by his cousin, Fit Tony, who almost immediately stress-ate his way to looking exactly like the original Fat Tony, the switch-over was almost instant.
As if to underline how much The Simpsons season 33 ignores continuity and canon, only a few episodes later, Fat Tony was back in action in “A Made Maggie” (season 33, episode 10). While it was always clear from the episode’s high body count that the event of “A Serious Flanders” was likely to be retconned, some were still understandably surprised to see how quickly Fat Tony gained a starring role only a few episodes after the was killed off. However, this should not come as too much of a shock, since The Simpsons season 33 has paid markedly less attention to canon than the show's outings so far.
Since that episode, The Simpsons season 33 has also centered an outing around Mr. Burns, who befriended guest star Beck Bennett’s hard-partying football star, despite the elderly businessman also being killed by Becker in “A Serious Flanders”. By giving both characters episodes of their own so shortly after their short-lived deaths, The Simpsons season 33 has once again reiterated that the show’s canon changes from episode to episode, and the events of one week have no bearing on the next. It is an interesting and unusual approach for a series with such a large cast of recognizable characters to take, and one that may help The Simpsons season 33 impress critics and viewers — or disappoint them — when the show returns to screens in late February 2022.