Cold Turkey - Recap

Nora is making a last-ditch effort to secure a free-range turkey as she
wraps presents. Karl joins her in the kitchen over morning coffee. She's
at her wit's end, trying to make sure she remembers every single
ingredient she needs for her baking. She incinerated her gingerbread
people. She doesn't even know why she's doing this. The kids don't like
it, she'd chuck it all for two cents. She doesn't know what she'd rather
be doing, so Karl suggest she close her eyes and visualize what she
would rather be doing.

Kevin is delighted that Santa is having a drink at Scotty's bar. He
wants Saul to take his picture with Santa on the cell phone, but Scotty
says no. Leave the man to drink in peace. A man says Saul's name, and
Saul looks up. "Jonathan?" It's been a long time. They're both looking
good. Jonathan gives him his card and asks him to give him a call. He
has to go do the Messiah. Scotty and Kevin start singing Handel at Saul.

Sarah tells Frank that they're going to be making some staff reductions.
Not him, but she gives him a folder of who all is on the chopping block.
Sarah is feeling particularly Scrooge-like, since Luc is in China and
her kids are in Mexico, snorkeling with their dad. If she hears another
bell jingle, she's going into strangle mode. She doesn't pick up a call
from Nora, telling Frank that if he needs her over the next three days,
she's going to be at her mother's, stringing cranberries on dental floss.

Justin asks his nurse friend if there's a cure for a guilty conscious.
She says no. He'll just have to live with it. And why is he there? He
says he's there to see her. Despite the fact that they haven't spoken
for over a month. He claims he's been busy training to be a paramedic.
He gets a beep, bad news. Christmas time at mom's. He apologizes and
asks for a second chance. He invites her to join them, and she asks if
they'll have figgy pudding. He claims Nora makes award-winning figgy
pudding. She wants an old-fashioned Christmas.

Kitty and Seth are in bed together. Nora sends a text, and Kitty starts
talking Christmas. Seth has something to tell her, but she stops him and
they pick up where they left off.

Sarah is on the phone when Kevin arrives. He wants somebody to kiss him
under the mistletoe, but there isn't any. Nor are any of the usual
holiday decorations up. The kids start panicking because nothing's been
done, even though they were all grousing about Nora and Christmas,
earlier. She arrives and announces that because she and Karl have not
been able to spend as much time together as they like, they are going
away together, to Santa Fe. She wants to have snow for Christmas. Bye!!!
She'll have her cell phone with her. They all look aghast as she heads
out the door. Merry Christmas!

Sarah is the only one that doesn't care. They can figure out what they
want to do, let her know, and she'll be there. Kitty thinks maybe it is
a good idea, they can start their own holiday traditions. They agree,
but Kevin wants it at his place. All Justin cares is that whoever has it
should supply figgy freakin pudding. Kevin and Kitty are on the phone,
continuing their holiday impasse. Kitty decides that since Sarah is
oldest, she should decide where they're having Christmas. Kitty has to
answer her door, and ends the call. It's Seth.

Nora and Karl are on holiday, but she's having trouble letting go. A lot
of trouble.

Kitty and Seth are tossing tinsel. She picked a really bad tree. They
share a kiss as the doorbell rings. Justin arrives, with Evan. Seth
didn't know there was an Evan. The line was around the block, so Evan
didn't actually see Santa. But Macy's has this cool "Believe" thing
going on, where every letter you write Santa causes Macy's to donate $1
to the Make-a-Wish Foundation. Justin wrote letters from all three of
them. Evan leads Seth away to look at some dinosaurs. It's a
requirement. Justin notes that Seth is younger than he is. That, and the
place is way undecorated. Kitty fires back, because it's not her fault
that Justin's date is all Christmas happy.

Frank arrives in Sarah's office, wearing a flashing light Christmas tie
and bearing good stuff in a cup. She refuses it, asking why he didn't
let go the people he was ordered to let go. He can't, since two of them
have had a radio show here on the station for the past 35 years. She
doesn't back down, so Frank says have at it. If she wants them gone, she
can do it herself. They are just wrapping up their show. She agrees but
once she sees them, it appears that she won't be able to fire her,
either. It's an elderly woman with a dummy. Frank watches as Sarah sits
down and speaks to the woman.

Justin is calling Kevin on how his place is decorated. He specifically
wants an old-fashioned Christmas, like mom's. Kevin takes the point and
realizes something is missing.

Nora has her toes up to the fire. Things aren't going as she had hoped.
She told them to have their own wonderful Christmas, and that's what
they're doing. She's got the DT's, like she's going through children
withdrawal. She gets high on them needing her. She's a vampire, sucking
the life out of her children. Karl tells her she's just a little out of
her head right now. She needs a good night's sleep. He gives her a mild
sedative to send her on her path. She beats herself up from one end of
the bed to the other, then collapses in a self-pitying heap.

Kevin finds Kitty going after the same item he's there to get. She lies
about why she's there. She's picking up the Santa's Village box, but
says she's there for tinsel. They start fighting over the village. He's
always set it up, he knows where everything goes. They start
name-calling. He plays the gay card, and Kitty explodes. She plays the
widow card. Fine. They're going to have Christmas separate.

Nora sleeps like a baby, and dreams who her kids would be without her.
Sarah and Kevin are both repressed as the day is long, and Kevin has a
wife and kids. He and said wife are dressed in matching Christmas
outfits. Sarah looks like Cruella DeVille. The kids can't see Nora and
Karl. She's aghast that Kevin married a woman and had children. Karl
says that this is what would have happened if Nora had run away and left
the kids to their own devices. Justin is drunk. Karl says he's always
drunk. Nobody was there to rally the troops for his intervention. Kitty
is fat and passive-aggressive. Kevin's twin daughters get a package
"with love from Grandma Nora". One asks who Grandma Nora is, and the
whole family laughs uproariously.

Holly breezes in, and the girls greet her happily. William married
Holly. Nora can't bear it anymore. She wants to go back to Santa Fe.
Holly asks Kitty to make herself presentable for the occasion, which
Kitty dubs "Christmas with Eva Braun." Sarah tells Kitty to play it
cool. If they stick to the plan, they'll be free of Holly forever. Nora
is frantic. What plan is this?? Scotty arrives with hor d'ourves, and as
he leaves, Kevin excuses himself to go to the kitchen to grab more ice.
Kitty mutters "Is that what they're calling it these days? 'Ice?'"

Nora and Karl watch Scotty and Kevin making out. She asks why Kevin is
still in the closet, and Karl says it's because she wasn't there to tell
him it's okay. Kevin feeds Scotty while he fondles him, and Sarah walks
in. Apparently Kevin is already being blackmailed. Justin walks in and
starts sniffing powdered sugar. Sarah wants to kill Holly so they can
have her 20% of the estate. They send Holly upstairs, and drug her
eggnog. They each add a drop of poison so they all share the guilt.
Sarah puts a drop in for Tommy. Nora wants to know what happened to
Tommy, but Karl tells her she doesn't want to know. Nora tells her not
to drink the eggnog, but everything gets turned upside down when Holly
adds a drop as well. The eggnog is for Nora. Kevin delivers it, and Nora
wakes up screaming.

She tells Karl everything. She doesn't want to go cold turkey on
Christmas. She just wants to be with her kids, not having a big holiday
extravaganza.

Saul and Jonathan meet. He tells Jonathan that last year he found out
he's HIV+. He's fine, his numbers are good, it was quite a shock.
Jonathan remembers when he learned. He confronts Jonathan. Why didn't he
tell Saul? He infected Saul, and he never told him. Saul told him, the
night they slept together. "I could fall in love with someone like you."
It meant nothing to Jonathan, he didn't even remember they were
together. Jonathan feels terrible.

At the radio station Christmas party, Sarah is still in Scrooge mode.
She's about to tell them to be quiet, but Frank sees her and apologizes.
He closes the door, but Sarah continues to look through the glass at the
festivities.

Kevin and Kitty are still on the outs, and they are both miserable. She
calls him just as he's about to call her. Sarah calls and they wind up
in a conference call. She feels horrible because she fired the elderly
woman. They remember things Nora has told them, and start healing. Kevin
points out that the Walkers aren't Grinches, they're Whos. So what do
Whos do?

Nora gets home and finds Sarah on the phone with her kids. Sarah is very
happy to see her. Everybody runs in and greets her. Kevin asks her never
to do that again. Seth arrives, and Kitty introduces him to everyone.
Saul gets a hug from Kevin, telling him he'll fill him in later on what
happened with Jonathan. Scotty arrives with figgy pudding, and Justin's
date thanks him.

Seth finally shares his news with Kitty. Dean Whitley, from the college?
That's his mom. Kitty is flabbergasted. Seth was afraid if he told her,
he'd lose her. Saul takes a moment to honor their Jewish heritage.

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