thanksgiving
Georgie wants to spend Thanksgiving with his mother since it’s the first major holiday since his father passed, but Mary doesn’t seem to be in the mood for celebration. Meanwhile, Mandy works together to get Georgie’s family to spend Thanksgiving with hers, because she recognizes how important it is for Georgie.
Somber Holidays
Anyone who has ever lost someone close to them knows the first holiday after that person passes can be hard. Georgie, recognizing it might be hard for his mother, wants to get as much of the family together as possible. Unfortunately, Sheldon isn’t returning from California, Mandy is going to a friend’s house, Meemaw and Dale are going camping, and Mary doesn’t feel like celebrating. Georgie puts his foot down as “the man of the family” a few times, which ends with both his mother putting him in his place and his sister hanging up on him. These are some of the funniest moments of the series so far.
Where Georgie is failing, Mandy is rising to the occasion. Mandy talks to Meemaw about coming over, who immediately tells Dale they are going to the McCallisters for Thanksgiving rather than going camping. Dale is disappointed and Meemaw keeps telling him she is too while making it pretty clear she had no interest in camping. Mandy talks Missy into joining them, but Missy will only come over if Mandy takes her to get a tattoo. Mandy does it setting up a predictable, yet humorous moment towards the end of the episode.
Arguing McAllisters
While Georgie and Mandy focused on bringing the Cooper family together, the McAllister family had its own struggles. Mandy’s mother took offense to a comment from Georgie expressing relief that she understood him initially wanting to spend Thanksgiving at his mother’s house. She made it clear she wasn’t a monster which led to Jim walking out of the room and calling Georgie to go to work to save his son-in-law from his wife’s wrath.
On Thanksgiving day, Jim starts drinking early. During dinner, with everyone there, including Mary who decided she wanted to spend the day with family after all, Jim and Audrey start arguing. The argument mirrors the fights George and Mary Cooper used to have with her yelling at him about drinking too much on holidays. Mary leaves and when Georgie goes to apologize, she explains that she misses the arguments just as much as the good times. It’s clear she’s going to be grieving for a long time and even something that doesn’t seem like it should be triggering can be.
Georgie (and George) to the rescue
Mary just wants to go home, but Georgie has an idea. Georgie takes his mother and his sister to George’s grave. Sheldon may not be there, but the rest of the Coopers have a family Thanksgiving that seems to help heal both Georgie and Mary. It, of course, ends with Mary noticing the tattoo on Missy’s leg and asking where it came from.
While the Coopers are at the cemetery, things have gotten a bit odd at the McAllister house. Mandy’s brother busted out his accordion, and Dale had his guitar in his truck. The pair of them are playing Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire” encouraging everyone to sing. Mandy, Audrey and Meemaw join in while Jim has drunk so much, he’s passed out in the chair. It’s an awful rendition, but Meemaw says “it’s still better than camping.”
Rating
This was easily the most humorous episode of the series, so far, for me. I laughed the most I have all season, and that still wasn’t much. There are a few chuckle worthy moments, but the series is simply just fine. It’s not terrible. I enjoy watching it, but if this were the old days and I missed an episode without streaming or on demand, I wouldn’t care. The weight of the two previous series continues to hang over it, and I don’t really know how it can escape.
Catch Georgie and Mandy’s First Marriage on CBS and Paramount Plus.
Article Written By: Jeremy Brown for Stelmach Brown Media 2024
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