{{Use American English|date=January 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=September 2023}} {{Infobox Simpsons episode | image = | season = 19 | episode = 19 | director = * [[Mike B. Anderson]] * Ralph Sosa | writer = [[Joel H. Cohen]] | production = KABF12 | airdate = {{Start date|2008|05|11}} | guests = *[[Glenn Close]] as Mona Simpson *[[Lance Armstrong]] as himself | blackboard = "This punishment is not medieval (written in a medieval-style typeface)<ref name="FF">{{cite news | title = HOMER FULFILLS HIS MOTHER'S FINAL WISHES ON "THE SIMPSONS", SUNDAY, MAY 11, ON FOX | publisher = FoxFlash | date = 2008-04-15 | url = http://www.foxflash.com/div.php/main/page?aID=1z4&ID=95 | accessdate = 2008-04-15 | url-status = dead | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20090112161127/http://www.foxflash.com/div.php/main/page?aID=1z4&ID=95 | archivedate = 2009-01-12 }}</ref> | couch_gag = The "evolution gag" from "[[Homerazzi]]"; for the third time, with Marge's original line, "What took you so long?" after Homer comes home from evolving.<ref name="FF"/> | commentary = * [[Al Jean]] * [[Joel H. Cohen]] * [[Matt Selman]] * [[Tom Gammill]] * [[Max Pross]] * [[Mike B. Anderson]] * Ralph Sosa * [[David Silverman (animator)|David Silverman]] | prev = [[Any Given Sundance]] | next = [[All About Lisa]] }}

"'''Mona Leaves-a'''"<ref name="FF"/> is the nineteenth and penultimate episode of the [[The Simpsons season 19|nineteenth season]] of the American animated television series ''[[The Simpsons]]''. It originally aired on the [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox network]] in the United States on May 11, 2008. The episode features the death of [[Homer Simpson|Homer's]] mother, [[Mona Simpson (The Simpsons)|Mona Simpson]].<ref name="FF"/> Homer is reunited with his mother, Mona, but is not willing to forgive her for all the times she left him as a child. When she dies, a guilt-ridden Homer attempts to make it up to her by fulfilling her final wishes.<ref name="FF"/> It was written by [[Joel H. Cohen]] and directed by [[Mike B. Anderson]] and Ralph Sosa.<ref name="FF"/> [[Glenn Close]] makes her third appearance as Mona Simpson, and [[Lance Armstrong]] has a cameo as himself.<ref name="FF"/>

The episode is dedicated to the memories of Elsie Castellaneta ([[Dan Castellaneta]]'s mother)<ref name="FireFox">{{cite news | last = Bouvier | first = Mel | title = Review -- The Simpsons "Mona Leaves-a" | website= Firefox News | date = 2008-05-12 | url = http://firefox.org/news/articles/1488/1/Review----The-Simpsons-quotMona-Leaves---A/Page1.html | accessdate = 2008-05-17 | url-status = dead | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20090608110459/http://firefox.org/news/articles/1488/1/Review----The-Simpsons-quotMona-Leaves---A/Page1.html | archivedate = 2009-06-08 }}</ref> and Dora K. Warren ([[Harry Shearer]]'s mother).<ref>{{cite web| website= Film Reference| url = http://www.filmreference.com/film/37/Harry-Shearer.html | title = Harry Shearer Biography (1943-) | accessdate = 2008-05-19 }}</ref> This episode also marked the start of yearly episodes to deal with women or mothers while airing on Mother's Day.

In its original run, the episode was watched by 6.02 million people.<ref name="ratings">{{cite web|date=May 12, 2008|url=http://www.simpsonschannel.com/2008/05/ratings-mona-leaves-a/|title=Ratings: Mona Leaves-a|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100106004313/http://www.simpsonschannel.com/2008/05/ratings-mona-leaves-a/ |archive-date=January 6, 2010|website=Simpsons Channel }}</ref>

==Plot== As the [[Simpson family]] arrive home from their trip to the Springfield mall, they find their door is open, suggesting a burglar is inside the house. [[Bart Simpson|Bart]] fetches [[Homer Simpson|Homer]] a makeshift weapon made from a cinder block tied to a chain that he calls "The Defender". Homer swings it around to threaten the burglar, but when the family smells [[apple pie]], they discover it is actually Homer's mother, [[Mona Simpson (The Simpsons)|Mona Simpson]]. Mona says that her days of activism are over, and that she is staying for good. Homer explains that he feels hurt and abandoned when Mona is not around, and does not want to feel that way again. Mona tries to explain to Homer she has changed her ways, but, again Homer does not listen.

Later that night, Mona asks if Homer will forgive her, a shaken Homer angrily replies that he will not, because of all the times she left him. Afterwards, Homer realizes he should have listened to his mother, and makes her a card as an apology. But when he goes downstairs to apologize, he sees her sitting in front of the fire, and asks if she is asleep. When he then notices and questions that she is "[[Nocturnal lagophthalmos|sleeping with her eyes open]]", her head slumps down and Homer realizes that she has died.

After Mona's funeral, Homer is depressed and guilt-ridden for not apologizing to his mother and struggles to come to terms with her death, especially since he blames himself for her death. While shopping at the Kwik-E-Mart, he asks Apu what happens when people die. Apu believes that Homer's mother may have been reincarnated, but Ned, being [[Christians|Christian]], doesn't buy into it and says to Homer that no one returns as anything from the hereafter. Eventually, the family finds and watches a video will from Mona. They discover that Mona left the family some of her possessions: [[Marge Simpson|Marge]] receives Mona's [[hemp]] sulfur purse, Bart receives Mona's [[Swiss Army knife]], and [[Lisa Simpson|Lisa]] receives Mona's rebellious spirit. For Homer, however, she leaves a task: to take her ashes to the highest point at Springfield Monument Park and scatter them at exactly 3:00pm. With great difficulty, Homer climbs the mountain in honor of his mother. He releases her ashes, only to find they travel inside the mountain and disrupt a secret nuclear missile launch. Homer is hurt that the last thing Mona told him to do was "one more stupid [[hippie]] protest".

Homer is taken captive inside the mountain. There, [[Montgomery Burns|Mr. Burns]] explains the purpose of the missile: to send the city's [[Radioactive waste|nuclear waste]] into the [[Amazon rainforest]]. Burns imprisons Homer in a room, tied up, and returns Mona's ashes in a vacuum bag to Homer. Outside, the family find Homer and attempt to save him. Bart throws him Mona's knife, which Homer uses to cut himself free. Meanwhile, Marge and Lisa light Marge's hemp purse on fire using a pair of Mona's diamond earrings that Lisa had stolen (jealous that Bart got a tangible inheritance). This creates marijuana fumes through a vent, mellowing out the guards. Homer then breaks free from his prison room using "The Defender", and stops the launch. However, he accidentally pushes the self-destruct button, exploding the launch site and representing Mona's final victory, through her family and over all the things she spent her life fighting for.

Homer escapes on a [[Union Jack]] parachute landing next to his family. He then releases his mother's ashes once again (after misunderstanding that he only needed to apply water to Mona's ashes to bring her back to life). The scene then turns into clips of Homer enjoying time with his mother from earlier episodes, which ends with a happy Homer as a child hugging his mother over breakfast.

==Cultural references== [[File:Mike B. Anderson by Gage Skidmore.jpg|right|thumb|Mike B. Anderson (pictured) directed the episode.]]

<!-- Please do not change this section to bullet points. You will be reverted unless you start a discussion that ends with consensus to use bullets. At the moment, paragraph style is the much preferred version. --> The title is a reference to [[Leonardo da Vinci|Da Vinci]]'s most famous painting, the ''[[Mona Lisa]]''. This is the third ''Simpsons'' episode to be named after the painting, after "[[Moaning Lisa (The Simpsons)|Moaning Lisa]]", "[[Moe'N'a Lisa]]" and before "[[Loan-a Lisa]]".<ref name="TVSQUAD">{{cite web | last = Keller | first = Richard | url = http://www.tvsquad.com/2008/05/12/the-simpsons-mona-leaves-a/ | title = The Simpsons:Mona Leaves-a VIDEO | website= [[TV Squad]] | date = 2008-05-12 | accessdate = 2008-05-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080512134332/http://www.tvsquad.com/2008/05/12/the-simpsons-mona-leaves-a/|archive-date=May 12, 2008 }}</ref> Homer compares Mona's disappearances to the show ''[[Scrubs (TV series)|Scrubs]]''<ref name="TVSQUAD"/> when he says "You keep disappearing and reappearing&nbsp;— and it's not funny." When Homer escapes on the Union Jack parachute, it parodies the film ''[[The Spy Who Loved Me (film)|The Spy Who Loved Me]]''.<ref name="TVSQUAD"/> The [[ESPY Awards]] features [[Lance Armstrong]] and [[Fozzie Bear]].<ref name="TVSQUAD"/> The "Stuff-N-Hug" store at the Springfield Mall is a parody of the [[Build-A-Bear Workshop]] chain.<ref name="IGN">{{cite news|title=Mona Leaves-a Review; Homer's mother returns... briefly. |website=[[IGN]] |date=2008-05-12 |url=http://tv.ign.com/articles/873/873196p1.html |first=Robert |last=Canning |accessdate=2008-05-12 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080513173238/http://tv.ign.com/articles/873/873196p1.html |archivedate=May 13, 2008 }}</ref>

A fraction of [[Jefferson Airplane]]'s "[[White Rabbit (song)|White Rabbit]]" is heard after Marge sets her purse on fire.<ref name="Recapist">{{cite news | title = Recapist: "Mona Leaves-a" | publisher = Recapist | date = 2008-05-12 | url = http://www.recapist.com/2008/05/12/the-simpsons-mona-leaves-a-episode-1919 | author = Christine M | accessdate = 2008-05-12 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100205205628/http://recapist.com/2008/05/12/the-simpsons-mona-leaves-a-episode-1919 | archive-date = 2010-02-05 | url-status = dead }}</ref> This episode also marks the third episode of a Fox animated series to deal with the death of a parent shown between 2007 and 2008, with the ''[[Family Guy]]'' episode, "[[Peter's Two Dads]]", and the ''[[King of the Hill]]'' episode, "[[Death Picks Cotton]]" dealing with similar themes, and the killing off of a main character's parent, Francis Griffin in the former, and Cotton Hill in the latter.

==Reception== The episode was watched in 6.02 million homes and garnered a 2.9 [[Nielsen rating]] and a 9% share, placing it third in its timeslot.<ref name="ratings" /><ref>{{cite news | title = Nielsen Ratings May 11, 2008: Housewives vs. Survivors | website= [[TV by the Numbers]] | date = 2008-05-12 | url = http://tvbythenumbers.com/2008/05/12/nielsen-ratings-may-11-2008-housewives-vs-survivors/3722 | first = Robert | last = Seidman | accessdate = 2008-05-12 | archive-date = 2009-02-14 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090214023145/http://tvbythenumbers.com/2008/05/12/nielsen-ratings-may-11-2008-housewives-vs-survivors/3722 | url-status = dead }}</ref>

Both Robert Canning of ''[[IGN]]'' and Richard Keller of ''[[TV Squad]]'' called it a decent episode, but criticized Mona's brief appearance.<ref name="TVSQUAD"/><ref name="IGN"/> Both, however, found favor with the scene where Homer realized Mona's death, and the tribute at the end.<ref name="TVSQUAD"/><ref name="IGN"/>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{Wikiquote|The Simpsons/Season 19#Mona_Leaves-a|"Mona Leaves-a"}} {{portal|The Simpsons}} *{{IMDb episode|1225550}} * [https://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/view_episode_scripts.php?tv-show=the-simpsons&episode=s19e19 Mona Leaves-a script] at Springfield! Springfield!

{{The Simpsons episodes|19}}

[[Category:The Simpsons season 19 episodes]] [[Category:2008 American television episodes]] [[Category:Television episodes written by Joel H. Cohen]] [[Category:Television episodes directed by Mike B. Anderson]]