| Thanksgiving | |
|---|---|
| Season 2, Episode 1 | |
| |
| Air date | November 19, 2011 |
| Written by | Dan Mandel |
| Directed by | Stephanie Arnett |
| Episode guide | |
| Previous "The Lemonade Stand Gang" |
Next "The Mall Santa" |
Elise Sr. loves Dan’s deviled eggs so much that she invites him to Thanksgiving at her house, but there’s an ulterior motive behind her invitation.
Plot
The episode begins with Dan shopping at a “$100.00 Store” that’s going out of business. He’s getting all the ingredients for his deviled eggs, which he plans to make at Chris and Elise’s house for Thanksgiving. Chris calls Dan and informs him that they will not be having Thanksgiving at their house. Dan erupts into anger to the point where he is thrown out of the store. He drives his car directly onto their lawn and throws eggs at their house. Chris answers the door but is egged by Dan. Elise informs Dan that they are having Thanksgiving at Elise’s parents’ house, and that Dan is not only invited, but that he should bring his deviled eggs.
Elise and Chris plan to take a plane flight with Dan, but they are forced to drive “at least two days” (Dan’s claim) to Elise’s parents’ house because Dan is on the no-fly list. When they get to the house, Elise’s brother, Ben , greets her, tells Chris that he’s still fat, and won’t let Dan into the house since he brought Mr. Mumbles with him and he’s allergic to cats. Elise Sr. lets Dan and Mr. Mumbles into the house. The entire family is friendly to every guest, especially Dan (yet begrudgingly to Chris). Elise Sr. even throws Ben out of his own room to allow Dan and Mr. Mumbles to sleep on their own bed; she even tucks him in for the night.
Suspicious, Elise sneaks out of bed to find out why her parents are being so nice to Dan. She finds out that Elise Sr. is trying to get Dan’s deviled egg recipe, which Don enjoys so much, because her mother refused to give her a similar recipe. They plan to shun Dan forever as soon as they analyze Dan’s deviled eggs. Chris, however, sleepwalks down to the kitchen and eats all of Dan’s eggs; Elise Sr. is so dedicated to getting the ingredients that she tries to give Chris the Heimlich maneuver so he vomits any remaining eggs. The entire event awakes Dan, so Elise Sr. offers to buy all the ingredients again and help Dan make his deviled eggs again. Dan looks around the kitchen, informs her that they have all the ingredients, and tells Elise Sr. not to worry: he’ll make them himself, but doesn’t want anybody seeing him make them because they’re from his grandmother’s recipe. (Unlike Elise Sr., Dan mentions that he was able to steal the recipe from his grandmother somehow, on her deathbed.)
The next day, after a short yet competitive three-on-three football game (where Chris is tackled by Don to the point where he can barely breathe), Elise Sr. tries to get another one of Dan’s deviled eggs. Dan, however took the precaution of putting the eggs in a padlocked, chain-surrounded container so nobody could eat them before dinner. Chris, losing patience with Dan's attitude, decides to tell Dan about Elise Sr.'s plot, which causes Dan to erupt into an ever bigger fit of anger; he is so infuriated that he plans to burn their house down. Elise calms down Dan so he can enjoy Thanksgiving dinner.
Dan brings out his deviled eggs for dinner. Elise Sr. and Don eat the first batch, forgetting that they need an egg to analyze. Dan brings out another batch, but soaks it in apple cider vinegar as part of his revenge. Elise’s parents cough up the new eggs and rush to the kitchen to rinse the vinegar out of their mouths. When Dan informs them that he knows of their plot, Elise Sr. and Don admit that it’s true, and that they just want the recipe. Dan rushes out of the house and brings in a flaming tree branch.
Elise insists that her parents apologize to Dan. They do, reluctantly, causing Dan to pass out from both anger and remorse. Mr. Mumbles points out that Dan’s flaming tree branch set fire to their drapes. The flames spread to the entire house. Elise Sr. worries about Dan, but only because he can still make deviled eggs. She drags Dan out of the house. Eventually the whole house burns down, forcing the entire family to sleep in a nearby motel.
The entire family is upset: Elise is angry that her parents would stoop so low as to trick Dan to give up his deviled egg recipe, Elise’s parents are angry that they have to sleep in a motel, and Ben is angry that Mr. Mumbles is in the motel room with him. Dan, however, is happy: he got his revenge, still has his secret deviled egg recipe, and even offers to tell Elise’s family the “true story of Thanksgiving”, which he insists is more gruesome than what they believe. Don threatens to smother Dan if he's not asleep within five minutes and then turns off the lights. Dan closes the episode by saying that he's thankful for their friendship before everyone tells him to shut up.
Trivia
- This episode was promoted as being a reunion of “The Keatons” of Family Ties[1], even though this isn’t the first episode where Elise's Sr. and Don appeared.
- The first appearance of Elise’s brother, Ben.
- Dan insists on “burning their house down” as revenge. This is the same line Curtis Armstrong, the voice of Dan, says in his film Revenge Of The Nerds, albeit with less profanity.
- The episode shows alot of charactor development from Dan, showing that hes never really felt wanted before.
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