Simpsons Fans Absolutely Love This Epic Ned Flanders Moment

Ah, Ned Flanders — man of faith, friendly neighborino, bane of Homer Simpson's (Dan Castellaneta) existence. Over the course of 30 seasons of "The Simpsons," we've grown to know and love this abrasively wholesome family man. We've raced away from his attempts to convert us, only to come back and mourn the death of his wife with him. You love to resent him, but mostly you just love him. Even the heavy metal community has paid its respects, with a tribute band, Okilly Dokilly, dressing like Ned and singing (or more like screaming) songs based on his memorable lines and catchphrases (via Rolling Stone).

One of the things about being a beloved character for more than three decades, though, is that it means we get to dive into the complexity of his relationships. It's not just Homer who lets Ned (voiced by Harry Shearer) get on his nerves. Being full of so many dysfunctional citizens, much of the town of Springfield is rubbed the wrong way by him too, even as they acknowledge how good-hearted he is. Heck, his own reverend is even put on edge by him.

We also get to dive into the complexity of him as a person. In that respect, it's just that Ned is an insufferably upbeat and devout Christian. Like all behaviors, Ned's eccentricities came from somewhere. Perhaps that's why when we see his goody-goody veneer crack, it's one for the history books and one that fans still appreciate.

It comes in Season 8, Episode 8: "Hurricane Neddy." With the Flanders' home blown away by a hurricane, and with the house strangely being the only one in town that is damaged, Ned and the family are now homeless, all of their possessions gone. The residents of Springfield, led uncharacteristically, by Homer, endeavor to rebuild the Flanders residence. There's just one problem: apparently, nobody in the town has any idea how to build a house.

It all comes to a crescendo when Homer, patting the front door and asking Ned what he thinks about "the house that love built," accidentally brings the whole, unstable, shoddily constructed home crashing back down again. After so much hope, albeit hope deflated through kitchen toilets and dirt floors, the Flanders are once again homeless.

Throughout all of this, Ned has been, appropriately enough, cast in the role of Job. Only instead of Satan's malice and God's arrogance, it's the ineptitude of his own neighbors that breaks him. The same neighborinos he has gone out of his way to love and support for so long. While trying to calm himself down, one of Ned's lenses falls out of his glasses, serving as the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back.

Ned doesn't just snap. He unloads on everyone within eyesight. He mocks Marge (Julie Kavner), Bart (Nancy Cartwright), and Lisa (Yeardley Smith), before moving on to other residents of Springfield. He calls Chief Wiggum (Hank Azaria) incompetent, which is fair, and Krusty the Clown (Dan Castellaneta) unfunny, and that's also fair. He calls Moe (Hank Azaria) ugly and hate-filled, a recently-arrived Lenny (Harry Shearer) a jerk, and finally tells Homer that he is the worst person he has ever met. It's not the only time in "The Simpsons" that Ned does something that goes against character, but for the people of Springfield, it's utterly shocking.

Fans, however, are less surprised. On the YouTube video of this scene, plenty of comments are left assessing how correct Ned is about literally everyone. Johny Christ wrote that the Flanders patriarch is 100% right about everyone he dresses down. "All of Ned's insults are so articulated that it's unmistakable that he's developed a personal opinion on everyone," wrote haphazard. "Really adds a lot to his character and shows how much genuine restraint, patience, and forgiveness he exercises on a daily basis" A third YouTube user, Rathalomaniac, wrote that "Even Homer knows that Ned's tirade is completely justified."

Other comments point out not just how justified Ned is, but that his first move after his meltdown is to drive himself to Calmwood Mental Hospital to get help. It's there we learn that Ned was raised not by devoutly religious parents, but irresponsible beatniks. Little Ned was a terror as it turns out, and the hospital "cured" him through a months-long spanking. In other words, Ned's anger isn't just directed at Springfield, but there's definitely a lot of it pent up. Surely, most of us can relate.