Holling (John Collum) and Marilyn (Elaine Miles) both have family issues in The Bad Seed. Written by Mitchell Burgess, this episode first debuted on 16 November, 1992.

Holling is thrown for a loop when Jackie (Valerie Perrine) arrives in town and claims to be Holling’s daughter. He refuses to believe it, as he thought he was sterile, something he didn’t share with Shelly (Cynthia Geary).

Holling begins to suspect something is going on, as not all of her stories add up. Everyone else seems to see a connection between Jackie and Shelly and Valerie keeps pushing Holling’s buttons driving him to something.

Joel (Rob Morrow) does his best to help Holling figure out what is going on with his sperm, and whether he’s actually sterile. But will it help figure out Valerie’s true nature?

Marilyn is having issues with her mother, so looks for a place to live, and goes to Maggie (Janine Turner) for help. And Maggie begins to figure out what is going on, and helps smooth things over between mother and daughter and helps Marilyn find the perfect home.

And Ed (Darren E. Burrows) who is still helping Maurice (Barry Corbin) with his memoirs, is excited when he finds Princess, a sandhill crane that he helped rear is back, but is getting ready to fly south. Chris (John Corbett) hangs out with him, and of course, will help Ed deal with the migration, and finding a mate.

This feels like a quiet episode with lots of great bits. I love the bits with Chris and Ed, especially the references to Ed’s extensive mosquito collection, and a friend of Chris’ who fell in love with a dolphin. Great stuff.

Thanksgiving was written by David Assael and it debuted on 23 November, 1992.

Surprise, surprise, the State of Alaska has pulled one over on Joel. They tell him he owes them a third year. That means everything previous to this has taken place over the course of fifteen months! He’s less than happy, but discovers it’s all legally binding. Consequently, he’s taking things out on everyone who crosses his path.

The local indigenous population get ready to celebrate Thanksgiving, and that means they start throwing tomatoes at the white folk.

Chris is feeling out of sorts and he finally figures out it’s because he’s missing his time in the joint, or at least this time of year there.

This episode also keeps the Mike Monroe (Anthony Edwards) storyline alive as Maggie thinks about pursuing him romantically. But when Mike’s symptoms return, she begins to worry and rethink everything. But so is he. He realizes Cicely may not be the best place for him after all, and relocates.

Sorry Maggie. But…The holiday (and story) develops in its own unique way, as things do in Cicely, but at least it ends with a big party and lots of food.

Maybe, Joel realizes, things aren’t so bad.