When "Lisa the Vegetarian" aired in 1995, it was a seminal moment in The Simpsons' 34-year history.
With cameos from prominent vegetarians Paul McCartney and his late wife Linda, the episode saw the Simpsons' middle child turn her back on meat, after an existential crisis sparked at a petting zoo.
Almost 20 years later, and Lisa is still a vegetarian—an impressive feat, for someone who is canonically only 8 years old—but their latest outing may have changed that.
In the Season 35 episode "AE Bonny Romance," which broadcast on December 3, the Simpsons travel to Edinburgh, Scotland, for Groundskeeper Willie's wedding.
While visiting the capital city, Lisa checks out the Edinburgh Fringe Festival—the world's largest performance arts festival. During the event, she eats a Scotch egg and is filled with "deep regret."
However, Scottish fans took to social media to complain about the snack choice. A boiled egg wrapped in sausage meat and coated with breadcrumbs, Scotch eggs are definitely not vegetarian.
"Isn't Lisa vegetarian anymore?" asked @DregsEleven on X, the social network formerly known as Twitter.
"An egg wrapped in obvious meat and breadcrumbs and Lisa thought 'Yeah, must be veggie,'" said Mike.
"The fact that the writers just used a Scottish sounding thing and didn't think too much about it haha," said Karla May, with @theplantman suggesting: "Maybe that's why she regrets it."
Newsweek has reached out to Fox for comment via email.
Other Scots were offended by the inclusion of Scotch eggs to begin with, as they're actually an English invention. Although the snack has various origin stories, it's believed that London department store Fortnum & Mason created the Scotch egg recipe in 1738.
"A scotch egg... least Scottish thing ever..." said Dod.
Jimanarlene Taylor agreed, commenting: "The 'scotch egg' has hee-haw to do with Scotland."
"A Scotch Egg is much more an English thing than a Scottish thing," wrote Glen Binnie. "A haggis supper would have more like it."
In an interview with The Hill in 2021, Yeardley Smith—Lisa Simpson's voice actor since 1989—said the McCartneys would only agree to cameo in "Lisa the Vegetarian" if the character remained committed to a meat-free lifestyle.
"The wonderful story about Lisa becoming a vegetarian is that Paul and Linda McCartney said they would not come on the show unless Lisa remained a vegetarian for the life of the series," she said. "And we've kept our promise."
The Beatles star has been a vegetarian since 1975. The decision reportedly came from watching lambs play outside their farm window while eating lamb chops.
In the Season 24 episode "Penny-Wiseguys," Lisa decides to add insects to her diet after fainting due to iron deficiency, also known as "entoveganism." Still, it's not long before she starts to feel guilty, and after having nightmares about insects tormenting her, she goes back to being fully vegetarian.
"The saving grace was that even after she ate the bugs, she then reversed course and went, 'This isn't for me. I'm going back to my vegetarian ways,'" Smith said. "So, I feel like ultimately we kept our promise, even if she stuck her toe in unknown waters."
Watch The Simpsons Season 35 on Fox, Sundays at 8:00 p.m. ET or 7:00 p.m. CT. Or, stream it on Hulu.
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