(originally aired November 9, 2003)
It’s undeniable that “Mother Simpson” is one of the most touching episodes of the entire series; to me it’s only second to “Lisa’s Wedding.” The question of what happened to Homer’s mother had really been untouched upon prior to that, and that episode illuminated her character, her backstory, and her heartbreaking relationship with her son. So now eight years later we have a followup with the return of Mona Simpson, an opportunity to tell another story and showcase a different side to her character. Or, we’ll just repeat the same beats. Things start on thin ice immediately with how Mona contacts Homer: desperately searching for a newspaper headline gaffe to win a T-shirt, Homer discovers a hidden message in an article by highlighting the first letter in each column, the note telling him to meet under a local overpass at midnight. This plan is absolutely asinine, the chances of Homer getting the paper, reading the article and decoding this bizarre puzzle are essentially slim to none. She had her friends at the “liberal media” (groan) pick an article about food to catch Homer’s eye, but I guess she also didn’t figure that her son is a complete dunce who could never figure this out unless by plot convenience.
Mona is still wanted for her attacks on Burns’ germ warfare plant decades ago, and it isn’t long before she’s caught and finally stands trial for her actions. The jury is touched by a blubbering testimony from Homer, and Mona is found not guilty, free to live and catch up with her family. The middle act serves as an indicator of how much the show has strayed, because invariably you have to compare it to “Mother Simpson.” Genuinely sweet moments like Homer and Mona chuckling about dresser drawers and Lisa connecting with her intellectually mindful grandmother are replaced with stupid shit like forcing Marge to recreate the birth of Bart and Homer somehow ripping the entire guest room from Flanders’ house to affix to his. When your show is filled with so many ridiculous and weird gags and set pieces, it’s hard to really get any emotional reaction from anything because whatever moments like that there are, they’re given no breathing room. Upon meeting his mother again, Homer has an internal dilemma about whether he should open up to the woman who left him twice. He then proceeds to hug her… then it’s revealed to be a bum. And Homer steals his wine. It basically obliterates any positive response I might have had.
Ever vindictive, Mr. Burns ends up getting Mona sent back to prison on a technical charge, and Homer can come up with no better plan than to bust her out by hijacking a prison bus. To save her son from facing a prison sentence himself, Mona pushes him from the vehicle and evades the police, before the bus careens off the road and into a lake. It then explodes, and is completely buried by an avalanche, all of which Homer sees with his own eyes. Yeah, we know she’s not dead, but this is fucking horrifying for Homer. During her funeral, Homer tearfully holds his mother’s casket, saying that at least now he’ll never lose her again. Then the casket rolls away down the hill. I guess this is supposed to be a gag, but it’s just so absolutely terrible and in bad taste. Then the episode ends with Homer frantically looking through articles to find another coded message, and the family humors him by agreeing that Mona is still alive. It’s a really unsettling ending that doesn’t feel handled that right way, considering how jokey and callous the show is now. But in summation, this episode is basically running on nostalgia fumes, since it essentially just retells the same stuff we saw in the first Mona show (on the run from the law from Burns), except much more clumsily and crassly. But it’s nothing compared to the third Mona show. My God… more on that dung heap later.
Tidbits and Quotes
– The Oops Patrol opening is basically an act-long extension of the “Ketchup Truck Hits Hamburger Stand, Three Dead” gag from “Lisa the Treehugger,” and the shot of Homer’s brain filled with black and white 30’s cartoon characters is straight from “Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala-D’oh!-cious.” Hooray for recycling!
– Honestly, Mona could have just showed up at the Simpson house in a simple disguise. But then again, Lou instantly recognizes her and Eddie has her wanted poster in the car for some reason. In “Mother Simpson,” it made sense since Burns saw the poster on the old post office bulletin board, but here, not so much.
– Homer crashes his car through the police station, but of course there’s no repercussions for it. Although later he admits he’s due back in court multiple times the day of his mother’s trial, so maybe that’s part of it. But then, again, Homer’s gone from everyman to a maniac with repeat felonies who damages property and torches blood banks (!)
– Nice 19th century woodcut of Burns preying on young children.
– I really like Judge Snyder, I don’t know why. I also like we find out about his taunting sister and that he just got divorced, there’s a lot more to learn about him. Except now his airtime’s been cut down since we got Judge Judy… I mean, Judge Harm. This is the first time we’ve seen him since that episode, actually.
– The “I’m not a man who’s good with words…” silence bit goes on soooo long. Which then is immediately followed by Homer’s sniveling plea to save his mother. The two bits don’t gel together at all.
– Mona signing her name as “Anita Bonghit” is kind of juvenile, but I can see her having a raw sense of humor and doing that as a young woman.
– The flipping though the highway warnings is another joke that goes on far too long. Know when to quit.
– “Mom, I’m gonna hide you where there’s no one around for miles: Disney’s California Adventure!” Shot number two! Scathing! Again, no one besides theme park geeks like me knows or gives a shit about California Adventure.
– Mona’s funeral consists of each Simpson family member saying a punchline, instead of it actually being, you know, a heartfelt scene with a deeper meaning.
Me Blog Write Good 
The ending of Mother Simpson is the only time I’ve ever cried because of a comedy show. Although it’s probably only because I have mother issues. In fact seeing the image of Homer looking into the sky alone can get a tear in my eye. Why do these other Mona episode have to fucking ruin it. They brought her back in an episode from the newest season but it’s so disgraceful I don’t even want to describe it. Even in death the character gets no peace.
Yeah, that ending was so perfect, one of the few Simpsons endings where there is anything happening while the credits play, instead of the usual black screen… so it seems like the creators realized it was a very poignant, emotional moment too.
I like the idea of coded messages in the newspaper but agree that Homer wouldn’t have figured it out even if someone told him to specifically look for them. This episode sucks.
Hey, I liked the take on Inception.
I think the only way mona will be at peace is if she comes back to life and permanently reunites with her son.
I don’t like the episode much, but that Burns woodcut is maybe my favorite post-classic joke.
Seconded.
Also, what’s not to like about California Adventure? It’s got some solid rides, and every time I’ve gone there it’s been packed.
A joke that I have to admit gets a big laugh out of me is when Homer, wielding his flashlight, screams once at a false alarm, screams twice, and then does a triple scream when seeing the Zip Boys logo, all to the beat of the music stings. Not every joke has to be witty to be funny.
“Then the episode ends with Homer frantically looking through articles to find another coded message, and the family humors him by agreeing that Mona is still alive.”
Except… it -doesn’t- end there. They have a clumsy epilogue scene where it’s revealed Mona’s alive and in some restaurant. It would’ve been better if they had left some suspense as to whether Mona survived or not, but by revealing she was fine in the last 30 seconds, it’s a really lazy way of setting up a third episode. Which we wouldn’t get for a few seasons.
I can’t believe I actually liked this episode when it first aired. Just looking at the quotes and summary, I can tell it’s absolutely horrible. Shame on you, Al Jean. Just…ugh, everything in this episode is wrong. Every damn thing. This is why I’m skipping Season 15 when it comes to DVD. There’s no point in me owning shit like this.
Man, this episode was awful. Even bits like Homer chasing after the car had really clashing tones. The classic Simpsons was really good at mixing humor and sentiment effectively, but they really lost that in later seasons. Now when they try to be funny and dramatic they end up achieving neither.
Oakley and Weinstein should be able to file charges against episodes like this. Everything that they worked so hard to build in Mother Simpson, shot down the drain. Except by this season no one cares and everyone will associate Homer’s mom with Mother Simpson and nothing else. Why the writers continually feel the need to piss all over the great work the show did during its classic run, I have no idea. Well, I do know why, it’s because they’re untalented hacks with no original ideas. But that doesn’t make it any less infuriating.
I am sorry that shooting down Mother Simpson is not illegal or nasty enough for Oakley and Weinstein to care to press charges. I think there is a way for new episodes to bring Mona Simpson back and not ruin her regardless of the bad writing of other modern episodes before it, but this is clearly not the way to do it. I should watch Mother Simpson and My Mother the Carjacker back to back to know what you have against the latter.
I have just come back from watching them back to back, and I think the only problems you really have with My Mother the Carjacker are exactly what this blog said – it followed the same beats as Mother Simpson with too many jokes that don’t fit or work crammed into it. But unless you know that Mr. Burns arresting Mona on a technicality of another crime registering fake identities from Acadia to Zion, after she was acquitted of invading his Germ Warfare lab, was what shot Mother Simpson down the drain, you can not convince me that My Mother the Carjacker pissed over Mother Simpson when I am certain that Mona Leaves-a was the first one to do that otherwise.
I think it would have been a better episode if Mona stayed free and Mr burns plan failed. That would have been a good to conclude the mother Simpson arc.
Agreed! Homer was right, people should only be let out on technicalities. Who cares if Mona used fake names to hide? The reason why she had to hide was already cleared of charges. Even if Mona didn’t live with Homer after going free, there still could be some way to have her leave without being on the run from prison or dying out.
Terrible episode. Another excellent character desecrated by the Zombies.
Some episodes just shouldn’t be made. Some characters are better as one-offs. Some stories are stronger as stand-alones.
I’d do better by leaving the original Mona episode in peace. I lack the arrogance needed to think i can improve on it or add something to it.
I know just what you mean. A Bug’s Life, Ratatouille and Wall-E are all Pixar movies that benefitted from never getting a sequel, and their stories were stronger as stand-alones. The Incredibles would also be strong as a stand-alone, whereas its sequel is like My Mother the Carjacker going through the same beats as Mother Simpson. However, I do not think Mona as a character was actually desecrated until Mona Leaves-a.
I don’t get why they felt they needed to have Mona get arrested for something else. It defies the entire point of this episode even existing as nothing changes. Plus, shouldn’t the statute of limitations exceeded her crime by this point?
The whole sequence with the bus going over the rails and stuff could have been shocking funny if it ended there, but then they had to keep on going with the joke. I also agree about the lack of actual sadness during her funeral. You would think they would be in tears, but they clearly know she isn’t dead and are just doing it for the sake of appearances.
BTW, is the diner Homer, Bart, and Mona go to the same one that was just in this past season that ended up having Mona’s recipes?
An episode like this about Mona returning could have been way better as a two-parter because even with all of the ridiculous aforementioned gags, being a two-part episode would give us more time for all the emotional beats we would need to happen naturally, and if the Simpsons were a little more genuinely sad to have Mona lost at her fake funeral, it could be a little more than half the masterpiece Mother Simpson was. This could also be a better episode if it didn’t have Homer torch a blood bank or steal Ned Flanders’s guest room for Mona or have the prison car carrying Mona stop and go when Homer ran after it.
Okay, I admit, this episode is worse than I remember and I can tell it recycled Mother Simpson by putting Mona back on the lam for something else after she got cleared, but I do not think this takes a dump on Mother Simpson in any way at all like Mona Leaves-a did. Wedding For Disaster desecrated A Milhouse Divided way more than My Mother the Carjacker desecrated Mother Simpson.
Why are there so many instances of entire rooms being removed from buildings this season? The next episode has Willie steal the art room from Springfield Elementary School. Are there any other room removals I forgot?