The real issue with Alone Again, Natura-diddily is that, as with most Scully-era plots, it places its figurative apples into an entirely incorrect basket - unlike the majority of the classic era, plot holds a weirdly uneven position in the Scully era in that most episodes from its depths will gladly bend the established cast into different beings altogether to service a narrative (Marge going insane, anyone?), yet, while Jerkass Homer is basically a manifestation of this (an interpretation of Homer directed and dictated by the basic will of an immediate plot or gag over the consistent set of character traits he harboured during the first eight seasons), whenever said seasons tend to exert any focus onto him, any existing plot within an episode (by S11, at least) is almost instantaneously sidelined in favor of more wacky Homer gags (which follow the simple premise of ‘yeah, the audience likes Homer, we’ll simply dump more of that onto them’ as opposed to utilising Homer’s previously established traits to more judiciously integrate him into a storyline and justify his presence there), which leads Homer’s Scully-era characterization to adopt the air of a desperate attempt on the staff’s part to disguise the increasingly ramshackle nature of the plots behind him. Although this is (kind of) more forgivable in an episode primarily focused on comedic farcical, treating one’s own plot in such a callous and precarious manner simply doesn’t gel with the mechanics and themes one needs to employ to pull off a ‘character death’ episode successfully, which led to the execution of Maude’s death coming off as mean-spirited and disgusting in that the episode barely focuses on either Maude’s death (a particularly bizarre dichotomy in that they insert several grim scenes overplayed with melancholic string music to imply the harsh consequences of her demise, yet the episode barely refers to Maude or honours her character in any way (I get she was a sparsely used tertiary, but still, we’re talking an innocent woman who plummeted to her death courtesy of a certain maniac’s stupidity over any fault of hers or her family’s own) to indicate anything greater than apathy for its own story, which exudes a heinous disrespectful tone) or Ned’s grief (despite acting as the emotional push the episode attempts to strain for at its climax without any buildup) in favor of less compelling Jerkass Homer-focused comedy, which resultantly consumes virtually the entire episode and leaves the incredibly dour subject matter and plot the episode initially set up and implied during the second act to be shoved aside for Homer hiding in mailboxes and heckling Flanders (with a confused mixture of semi-decent intentions and mean-spirited gags, such as the ambulance slot line, which is not aided by the episode’s refusal to interpret Homer as anything more than a simple-minded and destructive clown (as opposed to a plausible human or character) amidst the inherent solemnity of the episode’s alleged plot and themes, in turn further confusing his intentions) in such a way that the episode and its plot (possibly accidentally) generate the air acting as a pretense or excuse to celebrate Jerkass Homer (particularly as neither Homer nor any other cast member (even Ned) appear to regret or resent Homer for Maude’s demise respectively) for his zany antics (despite said zany antics ultimately causing the death of an innocent woman). Ultimately, while the episode does present the possibility for a unique plot and tone among the endless Homer farces of S11, it suffers from the typical Scully-era issue of neglecting the most compelling aspects of its own story (the focus on Ned’s bereavement and progression towards his eventual recovery) to merely fall back on the same homogenous Jerkass Homer routines, albeit in a far more egregiously distasteful context than previous Scully efforts.
In short, the episode, regardless of its placement, needed to reshuffle its structure (axing the filler-heavy and irrelevant first act), exert more focus onto Ned, establish a more even balance between drama and comedy (tone) between scenes, emphasise Ned’s role as the central protagonist of the episode and tone down Homer significantly (at least showcase his regret and progression towards overcoming his established animosity towards Ned in favor of assisting him as opposed to shoehorning him in to crank out lame cartoonish gags at every turn), assuming that the crew lacked the time or further notification to development Maude prior to her death.