Cultural references[]

• This is the third time a title is used based on the famous da Vinci painting called Mona Lisa, the first two being "Moaning Lisa" and "Moe'N'a Lisa".
• During Homer's 'Difficult Task' a guard references Monk by saying "Ever since you started watching Monk you've been acting like Monk, you're not Monk."
• After disposing of the guards, Homer makes a reference to the movie Babe by saying "That'll do brick, that'll do".
• The song White Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane plays briefly when the Hemp purse is burning and the scent is transferred through the ventilation shaft. This song was also used in two previous episodes, "D'oh-in' in the Wind" and "Midnight Rx".
• The silo mimics the hollowed volcano lair in the James Bond movie You Only Live Twice and the Union Jack parachute mimics for the pre-title sequence of the James Bond movvie The Spy Who Loved Me set in the Alps and shot at Mt. Asgard on Baffin Island.
• When Homer parachutes down to his family using a Union Jack (Flag of the United Kingdom) parachute, James Bond style music plays.

Trivia[]

• The Stuff n' Hug store is a parody of Build a Bear Workshop.
• This episode is widely considered the most tragic episode of The Simpsons because of Mona Simpson's death.
• Ironically, Lisa stealing Mona's earrings and giving up on the mountain climb are signs of the rebellious spirit she gave Lisa.
• This episode marks the final return and death of Mona Simpson.
• This episode was dedicated to Elise Castellaneta (Dan Castellaneta's mother) and Dora K. Warren (Harry Shearer‘s mother).
• This episode premiered 4 days before The Simpsons Ride opened at Universal Studios Florida and 8 days before the Hollywood one opened.

Continuity[]

• The scenes of Mona at the end of the episode are from "Mother Simpson," "D'oh-in' in the Wind," and "My Mother the Carjacker."
• The missile silo is based on the hollowed out volcano lair which was also the inspiration for Hank Scorpio's lair at the Globex Corporation in "You Only Move Twice".
• Springfield Funeral Home was previously seen in this season's "Funeral for a Fiend".
• 3 of the men she cheated on Abe with are at her funeral, Seth and Munchie from "D'oh-in' in the Wind" and Mason Fairbanks from "Homer's Paternity Coot".
• The Simpsons watch a video will just as they did at Marge's Aunt Gladys' funeral in "Selma's Choice".
• Bart gets bequeathed his grandmother's Swiss Army knife. Bart had already been gifted a Swiss Army knife by Homer who stole it from Ernest Borgnine in "Boy-Scoutz 'n the Hood".
• Mona tells her grandchildren, "I do feel bad for missing so much of Homer's childhood. But at least he wasn't raised by a television." and the gag being a flashback to Little Homer sitting cross-legged staring in front of an open refrigerator. Grampa makes notes when he and Homer revisit the house Homer grew up in, "There she is the old Radiation King [a television]. You'd park yourself right there and watch for hours on end." and a flashback where Homer is in a similar sitting cross-legged pose in "Grampa vs. Sexual Inadequacy".

Goofs[]

• During the ESPY Awards, Lance Armstrong is offended by a joke Fozzie Bear makes about his trousers, grabs the Fozzie puppet and throws it across the room to reveal a single arm and hand underneath. However, the way the Fozzie puppet is designed is that the performer uses his right hand to work Fozzie's mouth and his left to operate Fozzie's left arm and hand (as he's a glove puppet), and Fozzie was seen using his left arm before Lance threw the puppet away.
• Only Homer and Abe attend Mona's funeral, along with Seth, Munchie, and Mason Fairbanks. While the rest of the Simpson family is unseen although this might be taking place after the funeral had ended as Homer walks outside of Springfield Funeral Home at end of the scene.
• The Simpsons family returns from the Stuff n' Hug store in the evening, but as Homer walks into the kitchen, spinning the "Defender", he stops next to a window and the sky outside is much brighter.
• If the recording bears would play the message only if you would press their button then how could they offend Homer (by saying whatever had Bart recorded) just when he entered the place without someone pushing their buttons?
• Homer is surprised that his mother is alive, but in while reading the newspaper solving the "message" IMOK (I am OK) he alredy had a theory that his mom didn't die while the prison bus dropped off the cliff. However, it possibly was due to the fact that Homer didn't anticipate her coming back to him.