I don't judge Homer or Marge. That's for vengeful God to do.Maude Flanders
Maude Flanders was a major character of The Simpsons in the first eleven seasons. She was the first wife of Ned Flanders, and the late mother of Todd and Rod Flanders.
Maude was a devout Christian who once attended a Bible camp to learn how to be more judgmental, although she isn’t as preachy as her husband. She campaigned strongly against Itchy and Scratchy with Marge and often partnered with Helen Lovejoy as they protest against the "evils" in Springfield.
She died after being struck by a barrage of shirts fired from T-shirt cannons at the Springfield Speedway in "Alone Again, Natura-Diddily".
Biography
Although she spent much of her free time in prayer and reading the Bible, Maude was known to let her hair (and her neckline) down for the occasional dinner party at the home of the Simpsons (Maude's neighbors).
Homer Simpson and Moe Szyslak both find her attractive, as shown on numerous occasions. While Moe made unnamed phone calls to her and inappropriately told Ned she was “hot” while attending her wake, Homer made several remarks such as “But why? She’s such a fox!” (when Bart was briefly convinced Ned murdered his wife), or “Really? All those guys?” (asking God how Maude Flanders was doing in Heaven when saying grace at the kitchen table). Additionally, Homer once ogled Maude's low-cut dress at a dinner party, which resulted in him and Marge going to marriage camp.[1]
Maude liked ficus plants, unflavored nonfat ice milk, and Newsweek Magazine.
Death
I know. [Foot-long hot dogs] make you uncomfortable.Maude Flanders' last words
In the 2000 episode "Alone Again, Natura-Diddily", Maude died after being knocked off a grandstand by several t-shirt cannons at the Springfield Speedway. The shirts had been meant to hit Homer, who wanted one of them, however, before the shirts could hit him, Homer noticed a bobby pin on the ground and bent over to pick it up. This caused Maude, who was returning to her seat behind Homer, to be struck instead, and fall off the grandstand to her death, at least a 20-foot drop. According to Homer's statement later in the episode, he had parked in the ambulance zone, which prevented any quick resuscitation.[2]
Her death crushed Ned and their sons, Todd and Rod, who, although used to some measure of hardship (such as going bankrupt[3] or their house getting destroyed[4]) assumed they would always be together since Maude can be seen next to Flanders in Take My Life, Please.
Apparently, Homer fell in her grave, which Ned mentioned.[5] Reverend Lovejoy eulogized her as follows: "In many ways, Maude Flanders was a supporting player in our lives. She didn't grab our attention with memorable catchphrases, or comical accents. But whether you noticed her or not, Maude was always there ... and we thought she always would be."[6] Though the episode aired in February 2000, the events appeared to take place before the winter meaning that the events probably took place before Winter 1999 and 2000.
Praiseland
After her death, the grieving Ned Flanders and the Simpsons saw in her sketchbook a series of drawings that outlined a plan for a Christian-themed amusement park named "Praiseland." Realizing this park to be her so thought final dream, Ned acquired the defunct amusement park "Storytime Village" from Colonel Antoine "Tex" O'Hara ("The Rich Texan") and, with the assistance of Homer and other townspeople, built and opened Praiseland. He memorialized Maude there with a statue of her and placed on its base a plaque bearing the phrase: "She taught us the joy of shame and the shame of joy."
Praiseland sold Maude memorial items, an example being masks. Praiseland gained popularity among the residents of Springfield when they erroneously attributed to the statue of Maude the performance of miracles providing religious experiences. The religious experiences were actually hallucinations, caused by gas that was leaking from a gas line near the base of the statue (it was revealed that Springfield natural gas was actually deadlier and more poisonous in area with good ventilation). Feeling that profiting off the memory of his thought to be dead wife was wrong, and even more so after the candles near the gas leak nearly caused an explosion, Ned closed down Praiseland.[7]
Post-Death Appearances
- Despite her death, she and Bleeding Gums Murphy continued to be in the seasons 2-20 intro until the show introduced the 720p high-definition opening sequence as well as the new 16:9 high-definition format in the episode "Take My Life, Please".
- At the start of "Treehouse of Horror XIII" originally broadcast in the U.S. on November 3, 2002, the Simpsons and Ned Flanders hold a séance and summon Maude's ghost, who proceeds to tell them three horror stories.
- In the regular episode "Bart Has Two Mommies", which aired March 19, 2006, Maude was shown looking down on her sons from Heaven and said: "My little boy's growing up." Maggie Roswell voiced her, and she was credited in the premiere airing.
- Maude was also shown to be alive in Season 6 in the episode "Lisa's Wedding" which was set in the future after the Simpson children had grown up but written before Season 11 when Maude was killed. However, it should be noted that this was a vision by a possibly illegitimate psychic and may not have been considered canonical.
- Maude appeared in flashbacks in the Season 20 episode "Dangerous Curves" and the Season 21 episode "Postcards From the Wedge", as well as other episodes such as "Take My Life, Please", "The Kids Are All Fight", and "Fland Canyon".
- There is a house in the final level of The Simpsons Game with a huge sign with Maude's name on it, which may have implied that she's literally "living with God."
- Comically, she was seen with Ned, Rod, and Todd when an overview of the crowd was seen in "Take My Life, Please", even though she was supposed to be dead.
- She was mentioned in "Kill the Alligator and Run", "A Star Is Torn" and "The Ned-liest Catch".
- Ned mentions in "Sex, Pies, and Idiot Scrapes" that he forgave Homer for accidentally killing her.
- There are still pictures of Maude in the Flanders home.
- In The Simpsons Road Rage game, if you play as Ned and go airborne, he'll eventually yell out: "AAGH, I'm coming to join ya, Maude!"
- In the "Treehouse of Horror XXII" segment "Dial D for Diddilly, Maude appears as a demon who is sleeping with Satan.
- In "How I Wet Your Mother", Maude appears in Homer's dream as a member of a crowd of women who support drunk driving, ironically enough.
- In The Simpsons: Tapped Out, Maude's ghost could be unlocked in the "Treehouse of Horror XXIV" Event in 2013.
- In the crossover episode "The Simpsons Guy", while threatening to hit Peter Griffin with a large rock, Homer says "Say hi to Maude Flanders!" (who Peter naturally did not know). Peter seeing Kang and Kodos's flying saucer about to crash onto Homer, replies "No, you say hi to Muriel Goldman" (a deceased Family Guy character who Homer didn't know).
- In "Holidays of Future Passed", Maude appears as a bride ghost and remarries Ned, interestingly claiming that Heaven doesn’t exist, where Ned revealed that Homer had killed Edna Krabappel.
- In "Waiting for Duffman", when Bart and Lisa are playing with the t-shirt cannons, Homer says that no one had ever been killed by a t-shirt cannon. One of the t-shirts hit a picture of Maude in Ned's house and Ned looks at the audience, referencing Maude's death.
- In "Fland Canyon", Maude features heavily, appearing in flashbacks in which she and Ned, amongst others, clean up Springfield's Skid Row, and on the Flanders' and Simpson's family vacation to the Grand Canyon and she judges Marge's parenting towards Bart during the vacation.
- In "Flanders' Ladder", Bart meets her ghost in a coma-induced hallucination to resolve unfinished business, where she also seems to be jealous of Ned marrying Edna.
- In the episode "Monty Burns' Fleeing Circus", the deceased Maude and Edna Krabappel sit beside Ned Flanders.
- In "My Way or the Highway to Heaven", she is in heaven alongside Edna Krabappel.
- In "Todd, Todd, Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me?", she appears to Ned in his dreams.
- In "Manger Things", she appears in a never-before seen story where she falls pregnant and gives birth to Todd.
Friends
- Helen Lovejoy
- Timothy Lovejoy
- Luann Van Houten
- Marge Simpson
- Julius Hibbert
- Bernice Hibbert
- Edna Krabappel
- Agnes Skinner
She was often seen with Helen Lovejoy, with whom she would protest against the evils of Springfield. After her tragic death in Season 11, Helen is often seen with Luann Van Houten and Bernice Hibbert.
Trivia
- She had an artistic streak, as is revealed in “I’m goin’ to Praiseland”, when Ned found her old sketchbook after her death.
- After her death, Marge was mildly surprised and concerned to discover Maude's three pairs of shoes as she believes this to have been a fetish.[7]
- One of Ned’s pet names for her is “Angel”, as mentioned in “I’m with Cupid”.
- Maude apparently had road rage, as she was seen returning from road rage classes.
- Aside from opening more possible storylines for Ned, Maude’s death was also the consequence of a pay dispute between the voice actress Maggie Roswell and the show runners, as it became difficult for her to cover the immense travel expenses. While Roswell’s other characters remained mute, however alive, until her return, Maude’s voice was briefly replaced by that of Marcia Mitzman Gaven until her death.
Appearances
Note: Maude is mainly a background character, episodes in which she has a speaking role are in bold.
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Episode – "Dead Putting Society" - Episode – "Itchy & Scratchy & Marge"
- Episode – "One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish" (picture)
- Episode – "Old Money"
- Episode – "The War of the Simpsons"
- Episode – "Blood Feud"
- Episode – "When Flanders Failed"
- Episode – "Lisa's Pony"
- Episode – "Flaming Moe's"
- Episode – "Radio Bart" (Mentioned)
- Episode – "Bart the Lover"
- Episode – "Brother, Can You Spare Two Dimes?"
- Episode – "Homer the Heretic"
- Episode – "Lisa the Beauty Queen"
- Episode – "Marge vs. the Monorail"
- Episode – "I Love Lisa"
- Episode – "Duffless" (Ned's flashback)
- Episode – "So It's Come to This: A Simpsons Clip Show" (pagan daydream)
- Episode – "Marge in Chains"
- Episode – "Cape Feare"
- Episode – "Bart's Inner Child"
- Episode – "$pringfield (or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Legalized Gambling)"
- Episode – "Homer Loves Flanders"
- Episode – "Bart Gets an Elephant"
- Episode – "Burns' Heir"
- Episode – "Lady Bouvier's Lover"
- Episode – "Grampa vs. Sexual Inadequacy"
- Episode – "Bart of Darkness"
- Episode – "Another Simpsons Clip Show"
- Episode – "And Maggie Makes Three"
- Episode – "Bart's Comet"
- Episode – "Lisa's Wedding"
- Episode – "The Springfield Connection"
- Episode – "Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part One)"
- Episode – "Home Sweet Homediddly-Dum-Doodily"
- Episode – "Bart Sells His Soul"
- Episode – "Mother Simpson"
- Episode – "Team Homer"
- Episode – "Two Bad Neighbors"
- Episode – "Much Apu About Nothing"
- Episode – "Bart After Dark"
- Episode – "A Milhouse Divided"
- Episode – "Lisa's Date with Density"
- Episode – "Hurricane Neddy"
- Episode – "The Twisted World of Marge Simpson"
- Episode – "My Sister, My Sitter"
- Episode – "Homer vs. the Eighteenth Amendment"
- Episode – "Grade School Confidential"
- Episode – "In Marge We Trust"
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THOH – "Treehouse of Horror VIII" - Episode – "Bart Star"
- Episode – "Realty Bites"
- Episode – "The Trouble with Trillions"
- Episode – "Natural Born Kissers"
- Episode – "D'oh-in' in the Wind"
- Episode – "Viva Ned Flanders"
- Episode – "I'm with Cupid"
- Episode – "Make Room for Lisa"
- Episode – "Mom and Pop Art"
- Episode – "Brother's Little Helper"
- THOH – "Treehouse of Horror X"
- Episode – "Little Big Mom"
- Episode – "Saddlesore Galactica"
- Episode – "Alone Again, Natura-Diddily" (Death)
- Episode – "Kill the Alligator and Run" (Mentioned and pictured)
- Episode – "I'm Goin' to Praiseland" (Seen in pictures and as a statue)'
- THOH – "Treehouse of Horror XIII" (As a ghost)
- Episode – "Bart Has Two Mommies" (heaven)
- Episode – "Kill Gil: Vols. 1 & 2"
- Episode – "Dangerous Curves" (Flashback) (returned)
- Episode – "Take My Life, Please" (In crowd with Ned, Rod and Todd due to an error)
- Episode – "Postcards From the Wedge" (Flashback) (returned)
- Episode – "The Ned-liest Catch" (Mentioned and pictured)
- THOH – "Treehouse of Horror XXII" (returned)
- Episode – "Holidays of Future Passed" (As a ghost)
- Episode – "How I Wet Your Mother" (Seen in Homer's dream) (returned)
- Episode – "Them, Robot" (Seen in couch gag as a ghost) (returned)
- Episode – "The Man Who Grew Too Much" (Appeared in a picture)
- Episode – "Days of Future Future" (As a ghost) (returned)
- Episode – "The Simpsons Guy" (Mentioned and pictured)
- Episode – "My Fare Lady" (Seen in pixel couch gag as an angel)
- Episode – "Waiting for Duffman" (Picture and indirectly mentioned by Homer)
- Episode – "The Kids Are All Fight" (Flashback) (returned)
- Episode – "Barthood" (Tombstone)
- Episode – "Fland Canyon" (Flashback) (returned)
- Episode – "Monty Burns' Fleeing Circus" (ghost)
- Episode – "Moho House" (ghost)
- Episode – "Dogtown" (grave)
- Episode – "The Serfsons" (severed head)
- Episode – "Haw-Haw Land"
- Episode – "Flanders' Ladder" (ghost)
- Episode – "My Way or the Highway to Heaven"
- Episode – "Thanksgiving of Horror" (in turkey form)
- Episode – "Todd, Todd, Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me?" (seen in Ned's dream and in Todd's dream)
- Episode – "Diary Queen"
- Episode – "Manger Things"
- Episode – "Mother and Child Reunion" (picture seen)
- THOH – "Treehouse of Horror XXXIII"
- Episode – "Pin Gal" (flashback) (returned)
- Episode – "Homer and Her Sisters" (flashback)
- Episode – "O C'mon All Ye Faithful" (mentioned, picture seen)
- Episode – "Abe League of Their Moe" (name listed in Abe's contacts)
- Episode – "Thrifty Ways to Thieve Your Mother" (picture seen in Marge's yearbook)
- Template:Comic Book
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Music video – "Do the Bartman"
Commercials – "Crime of the Century"-
Video game – The Simpsons: Tapped Out (As a ghost) - Video game – The Simpsons: Hit & Run (pictured)
Gallery
Citations
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|---|---|---|---|
| Maude Flanders | Helen Lovejoy | Elizabeth Hoover | Luann Van Houten | Princess Kashmir | Mary Bailey | Shary Bobbins | Barbara Bush | Mona Simpson | Martha Quimby | |||