- Thanksgiving break. Phew. Bart's glad for it, though he's not looking forward to the holiday dinner for certain reasons.
- Bart always eats at his Gran's house. His mother's family sounds super affectionate, and unlike your stereotypical teenage boy, Bart doesn't seem to mind it.
- But two weeks prior to the holiday, Bart's mom told him that she had invited a guest to dinner—Bern, her work colleague.
- Bart is pretty suspicious of this Bern character, and he's uneasy with the idea of his mom dating.
- Bart's mom insists that she's not interested in Bern like that. It's just that Bern's wife recently died, and he has nowhere else to go.
- Bart decides that Bern must be the "tryout boyfriend." And he's convinced that Bern's going to ruin Thanksgiving.
- Finally it's Thanksgiving. Gran's house smells amazing; she's Italian, so there's lots of pasta and eggplant parm. Shmoop is jealous.
- Everyone's on their best behavior, trying to avoid bickering, and the family seems to be feeling really weepy on account of Bart's dad. Bart pushes past all the bad feelings this brings up for him.
- His mom keeps looking at the clock. Looks like someone's anxiously awaiting Bern's arrival…
- The bell rings. Ding dong, Bern is here. And guess what? He's a huge nerd. Bart begins to relax—this is clearly not going to be his replacement dad.
- Bart continues to be unimpressed with Bern; the guy's beyond socially awkward. The final straw is when Bern does the unthinkable and asks for ketchup to put on his turkey.
- All of the sudden, with his own ketchup incident at the front of his mind, Bart realizes that he and Bern are similar in some ways. And he's horrified.
- Bart tries to imagine Tyro at his own Thanksgiving dinner.
- Right after coffee, Bern's out the door, much to Bart's relief. The family seems to return to their normal selves.
- Bart's cousin asks him if he wants to smoke pot. Nah, Bart says. He's good.