History Recap / TheSimpsonsS7E8MotherSimpson

-->'''Marge''': A tombstone?!
-->'''Patty''': It came with the burial plot, but that's not important. The important thing is Homer's dead!
-->'''Selma''': We've been saving for this since your wedding day!

* EveryoneHasStandards: Marge frequently shows a very high tolerance towards the insults her sisters throw at Homer, but when they show up a with a gravestone for Homer and are celebrating the fact he's supposedly dead, she tells them to get the fuck away from her and slams the door in their faces.
-->'''Marge''': Get out of here, you ''ghouls!''

--> '''Mr. Burns''': Smithers, who was that corpse?\\
'''Smithers''': ''(crying)'' Homer Simpson, sir. One of the finest, bravest men ever to grace Sector 7G. ''(normal)'' I'll cross him off the list.

-->'''Marge''': Mother Simpson, we need to talk to you.
-->'''Mona''': Can't reminisce. Sleeping. ''[feigns snoring]''
-->'''Bart''': Spill it, Muddy Mae, or we're calling the cops!
-->'''Mona''': Please don't.
-->'''Lisa''': Then we'll call your husband, Grampa!
-->'''Mona''': [[BigNo No!]] [[AnythingButThat I'll talk! I'll tell you everything!]]

-->'''Mona Simpson''': (''singing'') [[Music/BobDylan How many roads must a man walk down / Before you can call him a man?]]\\
'''Homer''': Seven!\\
'''Lisa''': No, dad, it's a rhetorical question.\\
'''Homer''': Rhetorical, eh? ... Eight!\\
'''Lisa''': Dad, do you even know what "rhetorical" means?\\
'''Homer''': Do '''I''' know what "rhetorical" means?

--->'''Mona''': Oh Abe, you've aged ''terribly''.
--->'''Abe''': Well what'd you expect?! You left me to raise the boy on my own!
--->'''Mona''': I ''had'' to leave! But you didn't have to tell Homer I was ''dead''!
--->'''Abe''': It was either that or tell him his mother was a wanted criminal! You were a rotten wife and I'll never, ever forgive you! ...Can we have sex, please?
--->'''Mona''' (''disgusted''): Oh ''Abe''...
--->'''Abe''': Well I tried. What's for dinner?

* TheSixties: Mona's rebelliousness is encouraged when she notices Joe Namath's long hair and the spirit of the 1960s falls upon her.

* BothSidesHaveAPoint: While Mona is justified in calling out Abe for lying to Homer about the reason for her absence. Abe himself was equally justified in calling out Mona for abandoning Homer and leaving him as a single parent,

* BothSidesHaveAPoint: While Abe was certainly justified in calling out Mona for abandoning Homer and leaving him as a single parent, Mona herself is equally justified in calling out Abe for lying to Homer about the reason for her absence.

* ArtisticLicenseLaw: In real life, Mona would have nothing to worry about since the statute of limitations on here crime would have long since passed.

Much like Futurama's "[[Recap/FuturamaS4E7JurassicBark Jurassic Bark]]", this episode was known for its TearJerker ending, where Homer once again has to say goodbye to his mom as she returns to the underground to evade authorities and Homer silently sits on his car and stares into the night sky.

* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: When the FBI raided the house to arrest Mona, her ex-husband Abe immediately jumped up to distract them, though even he's not sure if it was a distraction or just senility.

* BittersweetEnding: Homer had to watch his mom walk out of his life again after keeping her from getting caught by Mr. Burns. But this time, Homer was awake to see his mom leave and at least knows why she left him in the first place.

-->(turns around and hits her head on the van's doorway)

* HippieVan: Mona's old hippie friends [[spoiler:who rescue her at the end of the episode]] drive an electric Microbus with the usual psychedelic paint job.

* INeedToGoIronMyDog: While Lisa was spending time with Mona:

* NotHelpingYourCase: As Homer gets excited about Mona being around, Marge gently reminding him that she abandoned him for 25 years. Homer retorts it was ''27'' years and that he has no idea why she left in the first place. [[MadeMyselfSad He immediately becomes depressed and feels it was his fault.]]

* SmartBall: In a quick little gag, it's revealed that Homer is familiar with the works of Walt Whitman.

* SoundtrackDissonance: Parodied. Before the raid on the house, Burns put in a tape of "Ride of the Valkyries" to mark this occasion. However, it quickly cuts to "Waterloo" by ABBA because Smithers used the tape, so the agents are bursting into the house to that instead. Burns is not happy.

* UngratefulBastard: This trope was the whole reason Mona Simpson was always on the run from the law. After saving Mr. Burns when a hippie demonstration she was participating in went wrong, Mr. Burns was able to identify Mona, forcing her to abandon Homer at such a young age. Luckily, the demonstration had also cured a young Clancy Wiggum, who was working as a security guard, of his asthma. Unlike Mr. Burns, Wiggum was, in fact, grateful because it finally allowed him to join the police force, [[SubvertedTrope and he anonymously helped Mona escape from Springfield to avoid getting arrested]].

** When Abe meets Mona for the first time in years, they both call each other out for A: abandoning the family and B: telling Homer Mona was dead.

-->'''Marge:''' Get out of here, you '''''ghouls'''''! ''(slams the door in their faces)''

* DaddyHadAGoodReasonForAbandoningYou: Mona needed to leave her husband and son to protect them

* BaitAndSwitch: As the FBI interrogates a cabby who saw Mona, Bill Gannon is tapping away at a computer, talking about an aging program it has... only when he switches it around all it does is show a large "25", rather than a digitally aged Mona.

Episode - 3F06\\
First Aired - 11/19/1995

* WhatYouAreInTheDark: Of all people, it's ''Chief Wiggum'' who comes to Mona Simpson's aid in the climax. He willingly stalls the police investigation to buy Mona time to escape, because he was grateful that she cured his asthma and thus allowed him to join the force.

* AdultFear: The first thing Mona does when she hears about Homer's death is visit the cemetery where he is to be buried. After she realizes that he faked his death, she and Homer have this exchange.
-->'''Homer:''' I thought you were dead!\\
'''Mona:''' I thought ''you'' were dead!

* ArmorPiercingResponse: After reading in his file that his mom is considered still alive, Homer angrily points the bureaucrat to the stone angel that is placed at her grave... and his response is what ''truly'' kicks off the plot.

* DeathGlare: Mr. Burns is ''not'' impressed Smithers taped over his copy of ''Music/RideOfTheValkyries'' with "Waterloo" by Music/ABBA.

* DeathGlare: Mr. Burns is ''not'' impressed Smithers taped over his copy of ''Ride of the Valkyries'' with Abba.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: In the flashback to the night Mona attacked Mr. Burns's germ warfare lab, Abe is seen watching [[UsefulNotes/SuperBowl Super Bowl III]]. Howard Cosell - voiced by Harry Shearer, in this case - is shown on-screen, talking about the two quarterbacks in the game, the New York Jets' Joe Namath, and the Baltimore Colts' Johnny Unitas. Cosell is seen wearing a jacket with the ABC's Wide World of Sports logo on it (or, at least, a crudely drawn representation of one). In real life, Super Bowl III was televised by NBC, with Curt Gowdy calling the game. However, Cosell is more well-known these days than Gowdy, despite the fact that Cosell never called a Super Bowl in his whole career...and Gowdy called ''seven of the first 13''.