"It's like we say in St. Olaf, Christmas without fruitcake is like St. Sigmund's Day without the headless boy."
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Son-in-Law Dearest is the twenty-first episode of the second season of The Golden Girls and the forty-sixth episode overall. Directed by Terry Hughes and written by Pat Shea and Harriet Weiss, it premiered on NBC-TV on April 11th, 1987.
Dorothy's daughter Kate visits (as well as Stan) and reveals that she has left her husband, Dennis, after he cheated on her. Dorothy is even more furious when Kate reconciles with him. Meanwhile, Blanche and Rose watch an I Love Lucy marathon on television.
Plot[]
Dorothy's daughter Kate visits with Dorothy thinking that she might be pregnant (Sophia spoke to Kate and hears that she was sick), Stan has also been called as well so Dorothy tells him the believed news. Kate arrives and the news is that her husband has cheated on her and she is leaving him.
As the shocked parents try to understand how Dennis did this, Kate is given time to rest. Dorothy, Blanche, and Rose chat about why men think they can cheat. However after hearing Rose's story of the day she thought Charlie cheated on her only for it to be a mistake, however the doorbell rings and Rose goes to see thinking it's Stan but it's David.
Dorothy asks him to leave but Kate appears and despite her wanting him to leave as well but he convinces Kate to listen to him. When Dennis goes to leave, but Kate reveals she has forgiven him and Dorothy is angry but Kate refuses to hear her Mother's argument.
That night she speaks to Sophia about how she can't believe Kate has forgiven Dennis, however Sophia remembers a time a young Dorothy came upset that Stan forgot her anniversary, but Sophia was angry that Dorothy was willing to forgive him, she warns Dorothy that if she confronts Kate she will lose her and when Kate has a child she will only hear it through Stan.
That morning she and the girls tell Stan about Kate forgiving Dennis, Dorothy then speaks to Dennis in place of Kate. She explains how that even though Kate is a grown woman, a moment like this, takes Dorothy and Stan back to Kate's childhood and that they will need time to repair that trust. While Dennis and Kate leave happily, Stan puts his foot in it and Dorothy holds him in a painful hug.[1]
The title is a reference to the 1981 Mommie Dearest (1981), which is about the relationship between actress Joan Crawford and her adoptive children.
Goofs[]
When the girls open the carton of ice cream, it goes from smooth to disturbed between shots without anyone taking any. Then, it sits in front of Rose in one shot and is in Blanche's hands in the next.
During breakfast, there alternately is not a bowl of fruit in front of Sophia, and she is alternately not holding her glass of orange juice.
