Suburgatory Episode 1.08 Thanksgiving

Gobble, gobble! It's Thanksgiving and the Royces have invited the Altmans over for a bountiful feast. Don't worry, Dallas isn't cooking. Instead, she's hired a chef for the festive occasion. Unfortunately for the Shays, they have to spend another year with extended family wearing colonial costumes and feeling generally miserable. Maybe it's just Lisa that's miserable... but either either way, it's going to be an interesting holiday.

First, Tessa gives Lisa the great idea of refusing to wear her overbearing mother's ridiculous Thanksgiving outfit. Lisa's disobedience puts Sheila in a frenzy, so she comes up with a plan to force her daughter into the unfortunate dress. Sheila makes Lisa go to her room and then cranks up the heat to unbearable temperatures. Sheila has no other choice but to cool off by jumping in the shower. That's when Sheila strikes. She steals Lisa's clothing and replaces it with the colonial dress. Lisa has no other choice. She goes downstairs to greet the whole family in a towel, which she soon drops and exposes her naked body to humiliate her mother. It works. And while Lisa is feeling on top of the world, she takes her confidence to the streets. No, literally, she goes streaking in the streets of Chatswin.

Meanwhile, Tessa is bummed that she and George won't be able to do their only Thanksgiving tradition: hit up a NYC diner and drink black and white milkshakes. To make it up to Tessa, he asks Dallas to doing something extra fun with Tessa while he goes to work. Of course, Dallas' idea of fun is going to a hair salon and getting a Brazilian blowout, which isn't exactly how Tessa would spend her afternoon. Dallas strikes a deal with Tessa – if she gets a Brazilian blowout, they can spend the rest of the day doing anything Tessa wants. Yes, she means anything.

Tessa agrees and off they go to New York City. The joyous occasion turns sour when Tessa and Dallas spot George in the streets of NYC kissing an unknown woman. They leave before they're seen, but they're both shocked. Tessa feels particularly betrayed. How could George be such a hypocrite? Why does he get to go back to New York while Tessa suffers in the suburbs? It's just not fair. Not fair at all.

So, at the extravagant Royce Thanksgiving dinner, Tessa makes her disappointment known. She tells George flat out that she knows all about his secret girlfriend. While he feels bad that he's lied to Tessa about returning to the city, he also tells her that she can't always get what she wants. Sometimes parents do things that their children don't like. But who wants a holiday of appreciation to end on a bad note? Not George. He takes Tessa to the city where they carry on their Thanksgiving tradition another year.

Even though family can be stressful, it's clear that everyone in Chatswin has something to be thankful for this year. Lisa is thankful for her freedom; Dallas is thankful for her new dog; and George and Tessa are thankful for black and white milkshakes. Oh, and each other.