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| In this creepy moment, Ned assumes the form of his beloved dead wife. |
At a church-hosted ice cream social, Ned Flanders comes across Rachel Jordan, whom he met at the end of the episode where his wife died. At the end of that episode, it seemed like Ned was ready to move on from Maude's passing, however this episode makes it abundantly clear he hasn't. After the Simpson family coerces him into having Rachel stay at his house for the night rather than a hotel, Ned's continued obsession with Maude becomes apparent. Pictures of her all over the house, all of Maude's stuff still left where they were, even the bed still has Maude's indentation. Rachel tries to sleep through it anyway but wakes up alarmed when she discovers that Ned is cutting her hair to make it look like Maude's. Rachel leaves in disgust, and Ned realizes he has a problem.
As Ned takes his boys to the eye doctor, he asks the Simpsons to remove anything that reminds him of Maude. They 'sort' out everything, but forget to 'sort' one item that Ned uncovers: an old book of Maude's featuring pictures she drew. As Ned looks through it, he sees designs of a Christian-themed amusement park called Praiseland, perhaps Maude's final dream or some such. With both of his sons imploring him to build it, Ned decides to do so, able to acquire the old Storytime village which had been out of business for some time. Ned puts in great effort to build the park, and soon enough its open for business. With masks of Maude's face and a giant statue of Maude, it seems like her dream is about to come true.
However, Praiseland turns out to be about as fun as one would expect from a Christian-themed park. Rides consisting mostly of bible verse tellings, plain flavored treats, no beer, no fun at all. People leave the park en masse, and Ned is forced to deal with the fact that Maude's dream has failed. Just then, a Maude mask rises from the ground, floating up near the face of Maude's statue. People view it as a miracle, but eventually the mask falls back down. Principal Skinner is about to be skeptical, but he collapses to the ground and speaks in tongue. When he comes to, he admits he had a vision: a vision of his own personal heaven. People begin to believe the miracle to be real, and Homer convinces everyone to pay $10 to get their own vision, though Marge is able to get the money to go to the orphanage so that Ned would be okay with it.
Things are going along great now, and this time, maybe, Maude's dream will come true. However, Ned overhears that a grill isn't getting any gas, and that there's probably a leak somewhere. Ned goes to investigate and, to his horror, learns the leak is right under the Maude statue, meaning the the 'visions' people are having are just them getting high off gas. Ned considers telling the truth about the matter, but with so much money going to the orphans he opts not to. Although, you know, gas is poisonous, Ned tries to convince himself that its okay as its making people happy. Just then, Ned and Homer see a pair of orphans place candles near the statue - near the busted gas line - and remembering another property of gas, rush in to stop the orphans. They end up tackling the orphans, a rather offensive sight to the uninformed, and they all decide to leave the park in anger. With no business and the gas leak, Ned is forced to close Praiseland. At this moment, Rachel Jordan reappears, having read about the park in a paper and wearing a wig to cover up the unmentionable incident. She and Ned reconcile, and together they finally remove the last creepy thing that reminds Ned of Maude: the imprint on Ned's bed.
Quick Review
So, when Maude died in Season 11, it was done for a few reasons. One of the reasons was that with Ned now single, it would open up new storylines for him. This episode would be the first such storyline, and frankly its not very good. Ned's obsession with Maude is creepy. Homer's obsession with Ned's love life is creepy. Letting people get high off gas because they're mistaking it for miraculous visions and the proceeds are going to orphans is, well, not creepy but just plain stupid. A lot of poorly delivered jokes add to that and it makes for one of the lesser episodes in the series, though its kinda sad that its not even the worst episode of this season.
Final Score: 4.7
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