Difference between revisions of "Yellow Mirror"

Revision as of 09:12, August 27, 2026

This episode is considered non-canon and the events featured do not relate to the series and therefore may not have actually happened/existed there. The reason behind this decision is: Two alternate reality stories and a framing device to suggest they're non-canon. If you dispute this, please bring it up on the episode's talk page.

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"Yellow Mirror"

Episode Information Episode number: 809 Season number: D+ E6 Production code: 36ABF22 Original airdate: August 26, 2026 Billboard gag: Springfield Downs: AI Rabbits Now Feel Real Fear Chalkboard gag: "I did not predict any of this crap!" Guest star(s): Patti Harrison as Hailey Demi Moore as Lydia Showrunner: Matt Selman Co-showrunner: Carolyn Omine Written by: Carolyn Omine Kai Omine Directed by: Matthew Faughnan

"Yellow Mirror" is the sixth Disney+ exclusive episode of The Simpsons and the eight-hundred ninth episode overall. It was released on Disney+ on August 26, 2026. The episode was written by Carolyn and Kai Omine and directed by Matthew Faughnan. It guest stars Patti Harrison as Hailey and Demi Moore as Lydia.

Synopsis

A defective lamp reveals a heartbreaking truth about what Homer believes is reality, and an AI-powered tablet befriends and controls Maggie. The Simpsons struggle to find the light through two dark tales of the curious and bizarre.

Plot

After Bart falls through the chalkboard, he starts talking to the viewers, saying that there will be two tales of the curious and bizarre and that anything can happen in the "Yellow Mirror", except a third story.

The Way We Wasn't

Homer is singing "Roar" in the shower when the power suddenly goes out. Homer panics and comes out of the bathroom to find the rest of the family, who have flashlights. After getting dressed, Homer joins them downstairs. Lisa finds a Lupé the Snoopé puzzle for them to do while they wait for the power to come back. The puzzle leads to them discussing women's rights, which Marge mentions she didn't learn about until she was in high school. Bart and Lisa ask Marge to tell the story of how she and Homer met again. As Marge begins telling it, Homer interrupts her to talk about what he was doing at the time too. Marge becomes upset at Homer not caring about what she has to say, but Homer tells her that he loves what she says, he just wishes she would say it in a more concise, less rambling way. Marge begins telling the story again, but Homer notices that the lamp has started glowing, despite there being a power outage. Homer interrupts again to ask if the lamp is on, which annoys the family. Marge carries on telling the story, but the lamp's glow gets brighter and brighter until suddenly the power comes back on. Everyone then runs off to bed for the night. However, Homer can't sleep and goes downstairs to find that the lamp is still glowing. As he approaches the lamp, he gets blinded by the light and wakes up in the toilets at Springfield High School, a teenager again.

Homer finds Barney and Principal Dondelinger looking over him. He asks where Marge is, but Dondelinger and Barney are confused when Homer says that she's his wife. They realize that Homer must have gotten confused after hitting his head. Barney then explains that he and Homer turned up at school and went to smoke in the toilets. When Dondelinger entered to confront them, Homer ate the cigarettes, but the heat and smoke caused him to panic and run into one of the stall walls, knocking himself out for five minutes. In those five minutes, Homer dreamed up an entire life with a wife and kids. Homer realizes that his life never existed and becomes panicked over this. In class, Homer doodles pictures of his dream family while wondering if he made it all up. He then realizes that it's time for detention, where he and Marge met in his dream. He runs to the detention room and sees Marge coming down the hall, but she walks straight past the room. Homer stops her and asks if she's supposed to be going to detention, but she tells Homer that she doesn't have detention. Her voice is completely different from what he dreamed of, and Homer asks what happened to her voice. She introduces herself as Lydia, not Marge, but finds Homer funny. She asks Homer to prom with her, but Homer rejects her because she isn't Marge.

Six years later, Homer is living in an apartment with Barney. Barney finds Homer crying, which he believes is because Homer still can't get over Starsky & Hutch getting canceled. Homer tells Barney that he still can't get over his dream life not really happening, but Barney's reaction causes Homer to say that he was joking and he really is upset about Starsky & Hutch. Barney tells Homer to remember all the great episodes he had, which gives Homer an idea. He begins sketching his family and writing down the events of his life.

Thirty years later, The Sadsons has become a cultural phenomenon. It has spawned merchandise and a movie. For Cartoon Con, animator David Silverman gives an interview where he talks about Homer being a stickler for what he calls "the way it happened." The camera then cuts to Homer, who is verbally abusing an animator for drawing him as an angry drunk instead of a delightful drunk. The Cartoon Con panel starts, and the host asks Homer what town Springfield is set in, to which he responds with "Oregon". Homer then asks for a question that hasn't already been asked hundreds of times, so the host takes audience questions. The first question is from a fan who wants to know if there are any more Hank Scorpio episodes happening, but Homer says he only met the guy one time, so any more episodes would be lying. Another attendee tells Homer that he wrote fanfiction where Homer falls in love with Selma, which enrages Homer, and he strangles the fan. Barney pulls Homer off the fan and drags him away, but Homer grabs the Marge figure on stage and kisses her, accidentally pulling her head off when Barney drags him away, with Homer taking the lamp from the table.

As Homer and Barney arrive at one of Homer's mansions, Homer is singing a parody of the "Spider-Pig" song before crying because Plopper only existed in his dreams. When Barney tries to sit Homer down on his couch, Homer becomes angry because his couch should be brown and sticky, like in his dream. Homer then lies on the floor with the lamp in his hand, which he refuses to give up. He knocks over a vase of flowers to put the lamp on the table and tells Barney that he's been grieving the loss of something he never had for thirty years. Barney becomes angry because, in his eyes, Homer has everything. Barney leaves as Homer plugs the lamp in, not realizing that the water from the vase has spread to the outlets. The shock from the lamp causes Homer to enter a coma, and Barney visits him at the hospital, where Dr. Thurston tells him that Homer may never wake up.

Homer wakes up again in his original reality, where the power is still out and Marge is telling the story of how she and Homer first met. When Marge asks if he's still listening, Homer tells her to tell him everything and listens to every word she says without interrupting.

Production

Gallery