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"Gone Abie Gone" is five hundred and twelfth episode of The Simpsons and the fourth episode of the twenty-fourth season.

Synopsis

When Grampa escapes from his retirement home, Homer and Marge frantically try to track him down by following clues that reveal secrets in Grampa's past, including that he worked at a local restaurant with composer Marvin Hamlisch (guest-voicing as himself) and met and fell in love with the restaurant's singer Rita LaFleur (guest voice Anika Noni Rose). Meanwhile Lisa tries her hand at online poker, getting tips from the experts, including Jennifer Tilly (guest-voicing as herself), but is soon gambling with her college fund.^[1]

Plot

Act I

Homer pulls up at the Gulp 'N' Blow drive-thru, where, despite remembering Marge's request to eat healthier, he orders some onion rings. The cashier, due to being stressed by a female waitress, a customer complaining about a homeless man who was showering in the restroom, and Milhouse's karate's team, accidentally chucks the onion rings out of the order window and they burn Homer, who subsequently visits a lawyer with the intention of suing the fast-food chain. The lawyer supports him and Homer ends up winning $5,000 in court.
At Moe's Tavern, Homer tells Lenny, Carl and Barney that he put the money he won in a college fund for Lisa at the bank. Lenny and Carl warn him about how banks aren't as secure as they used to be. Moe overhears the conversation and suggests Homer withdraw the money and put it on FlamingHotPoker.net. Initially reluctant, Homer is eventually won over by the idea when Moe reassures him that he doesn't have to bet the money, the poker website will just keep it safe. "A poker site is now more safer than an American bank," Homer declares, "Has our nation-- built on people suing because their onion rings were too hot-- come to this?"
Back home, Homer transfers Lisa's college fund onto the poker website. Lisa is less than enthusiastic about the idea. Later, Marge, while organizing the family's calender, remembers that she and Homer forget to visit Grandpa yesterday and head off to Springfield Retirement Castle to apologize.
They arrive at the retirement home and check in at reception. When the receptionist realizes that Homer and Marge are visiting Abraham Simpson, she dashes off to get her manager. The manager appears and informs them that Grandpa is missing, much to Homer and Marge's concern.

Act II

Homer and Marge search Grandpa's bedroom for any clues which could hint as to why he has disappeared. Marge locates Grandpa's army foot-locker hidden underneath his bed and begins searching through it. She discovers a drink coaster from Spiro's, a club in downtown Springfield, on which Grandpa had written on back, "The place that changed my life..."
Back at the Simpson home, Lisa is horrified to find Bart gambling with her college fund on the poker site. "Get your hands off my future," she exclaims, as she slams down the laptop screen and pushes Bart away from it. Bart leaves and now alone, Lisa decides to log out of the website. However, she changes her mind when she sees her online avatar has a hand with two queens. She plays the hand, all the other players fold, and she wins $50.
Homer and Marge decide to pay a visit to Spiro's, where various intimidating bikers are drinking and playing pool. The bikers almost immediately gang up on Homer, after he shows them a photograph of his father and carelessly mentions the police, until the club's owner, Spiro Papadapaconstantikasgianopolopodopotopolis, intervenes. He recognizes Grandpa from the photograph and informs Homer that his father used to work here years ago.
Mr. Spiro, through a flashback, recalls how Spiro's was in its heyday, and how Grandpa was a busboy at the club, with Marvin Hamlisch as his co-worker. Grandpa secretly wrote songs in his handbook while on the job. One night, once the majority of customers had left, Grandpa played one of his self-penned songs on the piano, which captured the attention of the beautiful restaurant singer, Rita LaFleur.
Mr. Spiro tells Homer and Marge that following that, he fired both Grandpa and Rita, and never saw the two of them again. Thinking Rita might have some knowledge of Grandpa's location, Marge searches for her on her phone. She finds a telephone number and calls it. Rita confirms that she knows an Abraham Simpson. In fact, she more than knows him -- she's married to him!

Act III

Meanwhile, Lisa, who has just finished studying poker by reading several books and watching Jennifer Tilly's instructional DVD, continues to play virtual poker by gambling with her college fund. She manages to increase her winnings from $5,000 up to a massive total of $360,725.
Homer and Marge pay a visit to Fallen Diva Apartments, where an aging Rita resides, who proceeds to tell them of her and Grandpa's love story.
After being fired from Spiro's, Grandpa and Rita began a secret romance. It emerges that during this time, Homer was six years old and Mona Simpson had already left. Grandpa was on the rebound. Soon after, one day while walking through the park, Grandpa asked Rita to marry him. The couple get married, however, not long following their wedding, Rita was booked on a tour around Europe. Reluctantly, Grandpa decided not to go on tour with her, deciding taking care of Homer was more important than their romance. Rita then left for Europe, where she got addicted to heroin, and she and Grandpa never saw each other again.
Lisa has since amassed a total of $413,762, which is enough money to get the best college education. However, she spots an opportunity to win even more money with her hand of two aces. She bets everything against Sideshow Bob, who is playing from Springfield Penitentiary. Bob reveals his hand and wins. Lisa loses all of the money and breaks down into tears, fearing she has ruined her future.

Act IV

Production

On 23 August, in a Fox press release, Marvin Hamlisch, Anika Noni Rose and Jennifer Tilly were announced to be guest-starring in the episode.^[2]

Music editor Chris Ledesma revealed via his Twitter account that the episode had been written by Joel H. Cohen and was in production under the code PABF16.^[3]

Reception

The episode was watched by 6.86 million viewers and received a 3.2 in the key demographic, making The Simpsons the most-watched show on Fox the night it aired, beating both Family Guy and Bob's Burgers.^[4]

"Gone Abie Gone" received mixed reviews from TV critics. The A.V Club awarded the episode a C+ rating and described it as a "thin story with little satiric spark", "not terribly funny" and "tired."^[5] The TV Critic.org review offered similar opinion. They discussed how "both plots had potential" but concluded, "Like its own stereotype of the retirement home, The Simspsons is old, tired and out of ideas."^[6] However, TV Fanatic were more positive, naming the episode a "surprisingly warm and and amusing installment" and ultimately gave it a 4/5 star rating.^[7]

Fan reaction was generally mixed-to-positive. Reviews submitted to NoHomers.net indicated a majority 3/5 fan rating, with many naming the episode "decent" but ultimately "forgettable." Most fans agreed that Lisa's sub-plot was more entertaining than the episode's main-plot concerning Grandpa Simpson's past.^[8]

The episode currently holds a 6.6/10 IMDB rating and a 7.9/10 TV.com rating.^[9][10]

In other languages

Language Name Translation Español "¿Donde estás abuelo?" Where are you grandfather? Português "O Desaparecimento de Abie" The Disappearance of Abie

Gallery

Wikisimpsons has a collection of images related to "Gone Abie Gone".

• Gone Abie Gone promo 1.jpg
• Gone Abie Gone promo 2.jpg
• Gone Abie Gone promo 3.jpg
• Gone Abie Gone promo 4.jpg
• Gone Abie Gone promo 5.jpg
• Gone Abie Gone promo 6.jpg

References