A Plot: When Beverly learns that Linda Schwartz will host Thanksgiving, she becomes concerned that her role as family hostess - and more importantly as Erica's mom - is threatened.
B Plot: Pop-Pop surprises the family by showing up with a new lady friend.
- Be Yourself: When the boys convince Pop-Pop to serenade Joyce to win her back, she admits that she's still interested in him, but wants him to be himself rather than put on a false persona.
- Blackmail: Pop-Pop admits to the kids that he's blatantly lying to Joyce in order to attract her, so they attempt to get some money out of him to "prove" his generosity. However, they only get the four dollars that were currently in his wallet.
- Blatant Lies: Pop-Pop's lies to Joyce about being an athletic and generous man that cares about his family. Murray decides to immediately admit the truth to Joyce rather than play along, stating that Pop-Pop already had a chance to be a "loving dad" as his father and blew it.
- Call-Back: Once again, someone — Pop-Pop this time — tries to recreate the boombox scene from Say Anything.... Since Pop-Pop doesn't own a boombox, he plays "In Your Eyes" on the accordion instead.
- Competition Freak: Beverly is so accustomed to being the Thanksgiving host that, when Erica convinces Linda to stand up for herself and take control for a year, Beverly organizes a "Nosh" the night beforehand that's just as large as a full-fledged dinner and thoroughly steals the spotlight. Then, when Erica calls Linda "mom", Beverly gets revenge by injuring Linda in a family game of touch football in the backyard. However, she immediately regrets this, and apologizes for putting the thought of losing a child's affections over their friendship (learning in the process that Linda had similar worries).
- Hypocritical Humor: When the boys offer to help Pop-Pop win Joyce back after his lies are revealed, Pop-Pop states that she's not an object...she's "a smoking hot babe" with "a caboose that keeps chugging".
- New Parent Nomenclature Problem: Outraged with Beverly's Competition Freak nature, Erica pulls out the "big guns", and refers to her soon-to-be mother-in-law Linda as "mom". In The Tag, Geoff tries to find a way to address Beverly that they're comfortable with, but the only one Beverly tolerates is "Mrs. Goldberg".
- Thanksgiving Episode: Self-explanatory, given that "Thanksgiving" is right in the episode's title.
