Today, we look at how a retcon altered Homer Simpson’s relationship with his mother on The Simpsons.
In Abandoned an’ Forsaked, we examine stories and ideas that were not only abandoned, but also had the stories/plots specifically “overturned” by a later writer (as if they were a legal precedent) with a retcon (retcon stands for “retroactive continuity,” but we’re specifically talking about retcons that contradict earlier stories).
I haven’t actually done one just yet, but eventually I’ll be doing “Death is not the End” as a feature, too, about deaths that were overturned on TV shows, as I think that’s a special sort of retcon, so I won’t be doing any retconned deaths in this feature, just letting you know because Homer’s mother fits into that feature, as well.
Season 7 of The Simpsons had the memorable episode, “Mother Simpson,” which introduced us to Mona Simpson (voiced by Glenn Close), Homer’s estranged mother, who he believed died when he was a boy, but was actually on the run from the FBI after taking part in an bit of “eco-terrorism” against Mister Burns. After Homer faked his death in the episode, Mona came out of hiding to pay her respects to her son, but since he wasn’t dead, they reunited. However, she had to go back on the run from the FBI at the end of the episode.
Mona returned a number of times before finally passing away (for real).
However, in the most recent season of The Simpsons, in “Mothers and Other Strangers,” we see that Homer DID know that his mother was alive and that he also knew that she was being hunted by the FBI, as he received a postcard from her when he was 16 (the FBI let the card go through in the hopes that Homer would lead them to his mother) and he and his father traveled to meet her in Utah, but she then ran off with a hippie before the FBI caught her.
Homer then revealed he ALSO saw her after Bart was born. She came to see Homer and his newborn son at the hospital.
So, yeah, this was a major retcon of Homer’s history with his mother and makes the classic original Season 7 episode rather odd now.
If anyone else has a suggestion for Abandoned an’ Forsaked, drop me a line at brian@popculturereferences.com!
It must’ve changed when Homer’s high school years went from being in the late ’70s to sometime in the ’90s.
John is right. THE SIMPSONS has lasted so long that I think they have developed a “sliding time scale” over what continuity they do have, much like Marvel and DC Comics characters have. I.E. it was fine to reference the Vietnam War from the 60’s into the 90’s but after that, it really ages the characters so it becomes “some war in Asia” which can then be altered or retconned further. I haven’t watched much Simpsons in over 20 years but I caught a glimpse of an episode that showed a flashback to when Homer was supposedly a “pre-teen” working as the DJ in a Chuck-E-Cheese knockoff and he was very much into early 90’s era rap, when many previous episodes established him as an ex-hippie guy into classic rock and maybe grunge. I mean, in the early 90’s, THE SIMPSONS was already on season 2-3 where Homer was an adult and married. I was shocked. But then I realized, “Well, if they kept it the same then by now Homer would be in his 60’s or 70’s when he’s always intended to be in his 40’s.”
That’s hardly the only strange retcon THE SIMPSONS has had to do. Just take a glimpse at the narrative gymnastics that had to be done with Bart’s teacher when Marcia Wallace (the voice of Edna Krabappel) died in 2013 and the show just kept going 9+ years and counting. And of course, Maggie never grows up (an absurdity not even the Flintstones franchise maintained, and lord knows that franchise seemed to never go away) nor do Bart or Lisa ever get promoted to another grade (which, after 2013, would have solved MANY problems in hindsight).
My point is that THE SIMPSONS may be similar to many comics or other franchises that have to do some strange narrative things, including retcons, once they’ve endured beyond 30 years and have to produce a ton of new stories. Heck, plenty of shows did that stuff which barely lasted a third of that time. So while this stuff about Homer’s mom is interesting (and something I didn’t know), it isn’t surprising. You could do a ton of articles about this with THE SIMPSONS, I imagine. So many of the characters and dynamics have changed so drastically over 30+ seasons.
I remembered her being a bad mother, and now watching season 2 ep 15 “Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?” with Danny DeVito as Homer’s half-brother (from Abe). And the ep had a flashback where Mona forbade Abe to tell Homer he has a half-brother. Not sure if that’s been retconned yet. If not, what a terrible person!