While The Simpsons has never been very consistent when it comes to the anarchic animated sitcom’s canon, one season 33 episode did shed light on a peculiar family mystery. Homer Simpson’s mother Mona is one of the show’s most intriguing figures. Played by Glenn Close, Mona is a hippy and ecological activist who abandoned Homer early in his childhood, and didn’t return to his life until he was a middle-aged father.
At least, that is the backstory Mona received in her first appearance on the show. In that beloved Simpsons episode, the villainous Mr. Burns recognized Mona as one of the hippies who thwarted one of his environmentally disastrous plans back in the late 60s, and the character was sent back into a life of hiding shortly after she was reunited with Homer. It was a bittersweet reunion, particularly when Mona barely even got to meet her grandchildren before she was on the lam again.
However, since that Golden Age episode, The Simpsons has been inconsistent about how much or little Mona kept up with Homer’s life after she was forced to leave him and Abe behind to flee the law. The question of whether or not Mona knew that Homer had a family and children was never clear since she seemingly knew nothing about Lisa, Bart, or Maggie when she met them, but later appearances depicted Mona keeping some tabs on Homer during their years apart. However, while The Simpsons season 33 upended many show traditions, one controversial episode revealed that Mona was present at Bart’s birth.
The Simpsons season 33, episode 9, “Mothers & Other Stranger” ended with Homer recalling a bittersweet memory of his mother briefly appearing at Bart’s birth, posing as a doctor. While Homer didn’t recognize her at the time, this does fit with the persona that Mona displayed during her later appearances on The Simpsons. In her initial debut, the character was a kindly, unassuming old hippy, but later episodes where Mona returned proved that the character was a criminal mastermind thanks to her years on the run. She was capable of faking her death in one instance (which is ironic, since Homer faking his death was what led him to find out Mona was alive), and even managed to use her cremation to ruin another one of Mr. Burn’s pollution-producing plans.
While The Simpsons season 33 had its problems, it is hard to fault the show for this particular twist. The revelation that Mona was present at Bart’s birth fit her character’s acumen when it came to disguises and deception, and Homer’s inability to recognize his mother was easy to excuse given his heightened emotional state, the character’s generally dull wit, and the fact that he hadn’t seen her in person since his teenage years. As a result, although some were dismayed to see The Simpsons retcon another element of a beloved character from the show’s Golden Age, Mona’s new backstory was at least well-suited to her established story.