Spoilers

“Thanksgiving”

Thanksgiving means family, but in Rome, Wisconsin, Thanksgiving means conflict.

This was the first of the annual Picket Fence Thanksgiving episodes that they would have every year and every year there would be a new chance for the Brock family and their circle of friends to argue, fight and eat turkey.

This first episode sees Jill’s father arrive with a brand new fiancé who just happened to be 26 years old. Jill can barely contain her opposition to the surprise that was sprung on her.

Other conflicts that were being contained within this Thanksgiving episode included Douglas Wambaugh, who had caught his wife Miriam in bed with another man, and Maxine and Kenny alone at the police station.

The master of dialogue, David E. Kelley, loved these kind of episodes that would split up the characters in different places around the Brock house (and the police station) and just had one on one conversations, dealing with the conflicts among them.

The episode laid some groundwork for a possible relationship between Maxine and Kenny, who have always been close. It started with Kenny calling Maxine “Supercop.” It ended with a passionate kiss under the “New Years’ Eve rule” which says that a kiss at New Years does not have to mean anything, just a way to satisfy curiosity.

Holiday episodes are a staple of this series and “Thanksgiving” is the first one to be seen. It is a style that this show will emphasized throughout it.