S1, E9: It's Thanksgiving at the White House, and Mackenzie's mom, Kate Allen (Polly Bergen), comes to spend the holiday. Mac, in an effort to rise above the political fray, invites Nathan Templeton and his wife to join them for dinner… which Kate insists on cooking herself, bucking protocol. Meanwhile, when an independent commission proposes the closing of a major naval base in Mac's home state of Connecticut - which would be devastating to the local economy - Rod brings in Richard "Dickie" McDonald (Mark-Paul Gosselaar), a savvy media consultant, to help with her image and lagging poll numbers. And in the midst of all this, Mac weighs the fate of a woman on death row.