The Simpsons Season 30 recap: Is Grampa Simpson gay?

The most recent episode of The Simpsons put the central family’s storyline on the backburner to share the spotlight with Grampa. Check out our recap of “Mad About The Toy” below.

When Season 30, Episode 11 of The Simpsons starts off, it’s a big day for Marge and Homer —  their anniversary. Homer is getting himself dressed while humming the theme song from Married With Children. The sitcom itself hasn’t aired on Fox in years but this callback was a nice treat for fans who’ve stuck around from the beginning; MWC is currently streaming on Hulu.

Once Homer completes his prep, Marge walks out of the bathroom in need of his assistance. She asks for help zipping up her dress to which Homer complies. He finishes up but needs some help too. Homer then asks Marge to zip him up – the problem is he doesn’t have a zipper.

Homer turns around to reveal a tear in his suit. Marge then proceeds to squeeze the seams together, urging Homer to squeeze it in — mirroring the ordeal that today’s women go through while trying to fit into tightly-worn dresses.

After preparing themselves for a night on the town, Marge and Homer then have to deal with finding a babysitter for the kids. Homer is fine leaving them under Alexa’s supervision but Marge doesn’t feel like the device would be an efficient caretaker. They’re about to cancel the evening when Homer blurts out the perfect candidate to babysit — Grampa.

It doesn’t take long for them to drag Abe Simpson over to the house — and soon — he’s sitting down with the kids. They start their evening off by watching some television. Unfortunately, the program that Grampa chooses bores them to death.

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Bart can’t stand the agony any longer so he switches the television off and swallows the control batteries. Grampa isn’t at all phased by the Simpson boy’s action and turns to Lisa for the location of their Castor Oil. The Simpsons don’t have any in their house so Grampa decides on an activity for them to play together.

The group then all wander down into the basement in search of board games. Bart and Lisa find plenty worth spending a few hours on but Grampa isn’t impressed by the selections.

Without any games to choose from, Bart pulls out an old bag of toys for them to play with. The bag has a label on it that reads “Toys Were Us”, poking fun at the fact that Toys ‘R Us went out of business not too long ago.

When Bart reveals the contents of the bag, Grampa freaks out at the sight of toy soldiers. He begins screaming incessantly before the screen cuts to black.

In the next scene, we learn that Bart, Maggie, and Lisa left their grandfather alone — screaming for the hills. Marge and Homer come to find Grampa pressed up against the window still yelling maniacally. They’re then left with no option but to take Grampa to the local Veteran’s Hospital for a psychiatric exam.

At the hospital, Grampa has returned to normal. He seems calm and relaxed while the attending physician examines him, but goes into a frenzy again when Bart pulls out a box of toy army men. The doctor assumes Grampa’s reaction stems from a traumatic experience during the war but that’s not the case.

As it turns out, Grampa had another job in his early years — one as a model. The virile Abe Simpson ended his tour of service to find himself without an occupation. And just when the situation was turning grim for the unemployed Simpson man, a modeling agent approached him on the street. Soon after, Abe was posing in military fatigues used as models for toy soldiers.

While the revelation is somewhat shocking to Grampa, he knew about it already — he just sort of forget. Once Grampa successfully recalls the events of his modeling years, the troubling past that accompanied them begins to surface.

What that entails is a steamy encounter between the eldest Simpson and a photographer by the name of Phillip Kefflin.

Apparently, Grampa met Phillip during the soldier photo shoots and hit it off. They didn’t become romantically involved but the photographer mistook Grampa’s friendliness for affection, leading to a kiss. But Grampa being a traditional kind of fellow — was shocked by his friend’s sudden candor. As a result, he ran out of the session screaming.

Later on, Grampa learns that his outburst got Phillip fired from his job. Phillip’s employers figured out that he was gay, shunning Phillip from the industry entirely. Grampa then takes a trip to Texas in search of the man whose life he ruined. The Simpson family all accompany Grampa on his journey of redemption — and self-discovery.

The Simpsons arrive in Texas to find that Grampa didn’t actually ruin Phillip’s life. Turns out, Phillip became a well-accomplished artist and photographer after being fired from his New York job. He and Grampa reconnect, which causes Abe’s feelings to resurface. He then begins contemplating the possibility of being gay too.

Phillip and Grampa continue talking while memories of the past dredge up emotions they both shared for each other. At that point, Grampa is ready to kiss the only man he ever considered kissing.

When they do, Grampa realizes that the kiss wasn’t meant to be. He doesn’t pull away from Phillip in shock or disgust but understands that’s not who he is. The episode closes out shortly after but not before showing a montage of Grampa and Phillip spending some time together. Could this mean that Grampa reconsidered becoming romantically involved with Phillip? Only time will tell.

The Simpsons airs Sundays on Fox. Episodes are uploaded to Hulu the following day. For more on The Simpsons, follow us on the Hulu Watcher Twitter Account @HuluWatcherFS or on the Hulu Watcher Facebook Page.