Gwen's intimidating, emotionally distant mother Rita comes to the door, and she finds herself in a situation similar to Gwen's. The most recent of her old, rich husbands has died and left her practically nothing. Now she is more ill-prepared to face the world without money than Gwen was. Despite Terry's disdain for her mother, Gwen tries to show her what she's learned in the past several months about living practically, including an attempt to cook a chicken. But it looks like Rita may have found another suitably rich suitor. Also, Guy is feeling pressure from other area bars and he turns his place into a Western-themed saloon to try and compete, much to Danny's chagrin.

Gwen ambitiously wants to cook a Thankgiving dinner for everyone, but her plans are hampered by her lack of culinary skills and Danny's forgetting to buy a turkey. While an attempt is made to locate a bird on Thanksgiving Day, Gwen's mom Rita shows up unexpectedly, not knowing that her ex-lawyer Gordon, who once stood her up at the altar, was invited.