Mothers and Other Strangers

Mothers and Other Strangers is the ninth episode of Season 33.
== Synopsis ==
Teenager Homer and Grampa take a road trip to look for his mom.
== Full story ==
Bart is browsing scenes on TV, when he stumbles upon Muttflix, piquing Santa's Little Helper's interest. This causes Santa's Little Helper to invite his mother, She Biscuit, over since it is Mother's Day. Bart and Lisa gift Marge mugs they made from school, gifting her the same gift they gave her previously, while Maggie gives her a baby's kiss, while teasing them for their lame gifts. They also notice that Homer is sad over hearing it is Mother's Day. After gifting Marge a framed picture of the kids, he continues crying remembering his late mother, Mona.
Lisa suggests Homer try online therapy. Annette the therapist brings him back thirty years ago to the day that Grampa got notes from Mona that she was wanted by the FBI and was leaving them. To avoid having to explain it, Grampa told then 9-year old Homer she was dead. At 16, Homer received a post card from Utah from Mona, which was secretly being monitored by the FBI. Homer confronted his father about the truth, and he and Grampa then traveled to Utah to track Mona down while being followed by the FBI. They spotted Mona at a gas station, but as she ran out to meet them, she was spotted by the FBI, who pursued the three into a canyon. When Grampa got stuck in a small gap, Homer had to choose between his mother and his father and went back towards Grampa. Mona managed to escape in the van of a hippie and left for San Francisco.
Back in the present, Grampa and Homer tell the therapist that they never found Mona again. After finishing the therapy session, Homer reveals to the family that Mona secretly visited him and Grampa in the hospital when Bart was born, checking on her new born grandson by posing as a doctor. Having achieved some closure from Mona's death, Homer brings the family to dinner at The Gilded Truffle where he ate like it was a buffet from the kitchen. When Homer quotes to a waiter that caught him in the act "When a sign say brunch, I brunch", the restaurant is forced to change their sign to avoid bankruptcy.
During the credits, Homer is sleeping with a bottle of maple syrup and dreams of dancing in a circle with his family and ancestors in an homage to 8½.
==References==
Category:Written by Al Jean
Category:Directed by Rob Oliver
Category:Episodes showran by Al Jean
Category:Mona Episodes
Category:Sequels
Category:Flashback episodes
Category:Episodes Set in The Past
Category:Episodes featuring guest stars
Category:Episodes Where Homer cries
Category:Episodes with alternate end credits