
Thanksgiving brings family—and conflict—home: Gwen's visit from the mental hospital knocks the stuffing out of the Bedfords, especially Nathan; and Lilly's brother makes a pilgrimage home after discovering the New World of the North.
Lawyer Forrest Bedford struggles to raise a family amid the civil-rights strife of the 1958 South, aided by Lily, a lack housekeeper who comes to work in the opener to find Forrest prosecuting a young white for a bus accident that killed three black; and little John Morgan missing his hospitalized mama.
When John Morgan loses his cowboy hat out of the car window, Lilly finds it—but then so does her daughter—-while Forrest faces verbal cross-fire over a beating case arising from the demonstration.