Difference between revisions of "Mona Leaves-a"

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"Mona Leaves-A" is the nineteenth episode of The Simpsons' nineteenth season. It aired on May 11, 2008.^[1] It guest starred Glenn Close in her third and final appearance as Mona Simpson, and Lance Armstrong as himself.^[1]

Plot

The Simpsons return home from the mall to discover that someone has broken into their home. Homer prepares to confront the burglar using a device made from a concrete block on a chain, but when he smells apple pie, he abandons the attempt and rushes into the house. Here he finds that the housebreaker is, in fact, his mother. Mona informs Homer that she intends to give up her life on the run and settle down with the family permanently, but Homer refuses, having been hurt too many times by her in the past.

Bart and Lisa inform Mona that despite his anger, Homer loves her and misses her while she is away. After hearing this, Mona realises that in an attempt to save the world, she had destroyed her family, and is truly remorseful. However, when she tries to tell this to Homer, he becomes infuriated. Sadly, she leaves the room, saying that it takes time for him to forgive her.

Later that night, Homer feels guilty for the way he treated his mother, and decides to make her a card to express his feelings. He comes downstairs to give it to her, but finds her still and quiet in front of the fire. Unaware of the reason for his mother not speaking to him when she seemed so eager to apologise earlier, Homer gets directly into her face. Soon he realizes that his mother has died, and is devastated.

After Mona is cremated, the family returns from her funeral and finds a videocassette with her will recorded on it. She has left Bart a pocketknife. She has left Marge with a bag made of hemp. She has left Lisa her rebellious spirit. And she has left Homer with a difficult task.

Homer must carry Mona's ashes to the top of a mountain and release them into the air at 3 o'clock. Homer does this. The ashes float into a missile launching device in a secret lair inside of the mountain and cause it to malfunction. Homer, realizing that this was just another radical activist movement, feels betrayed. He accidently falls into the secret lair.

The secret lair is run by no other than Mr. Burns, who plans to send all of the leftover nuclear waste to the Amazon Rainforest to have it out of the way. Mona's ashes are removed from the missile launching system, and the plan procedes as before. As punishment for trying to stop the missile launching, Homer is tied to a chair and trapped in Burns's lair. Outside of the secret lair, the family tries to break Homer out. Bart gives Homer Mona's pocketknife by throwing it into a vent that leads into the secret lair. Outside, Marge ignites the purse made of hemp, the smoke causes some guards that are guarding the lair to get high and pass out. Homer takes out any remaining guards using the concrete block on a chain from the beginning of the episode. He finally makes peace with his mother and releases her ashes in the air. He fondly remembers her, and Paul Simon's "Mother and Child Reunion" accompanies a tribute to her at the end.

Dedication

This episode dedicates Elsie Castelleneta (Dan Castelleneta's mother) and Dora K. Warren. (Harry Shearer's mother)

Trivia

The Stuff n' Hug store is a parody of Build a Bear Workshop

Cultural references

It's the third time a title is used based on the famous Da Vinci painting, the Mona Lisa the first two being "Moaning Lisa" and "Moe 'N' a Lisa.

References

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