"Thanksgiving" is the sixth episode of the tenth season of the animated comedy series Family Guy. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on November 20, 2011. The episode follows the Griffin family, and several of their neighbors, as they celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday. As they sit down for dinner, they are shocked to see that Kevin Swanson, son of Joe and Bonnie Swanson, has returned from Iraq. The episode was written by Patrick Meighan and directed by Jerry Langford. It received mostly mixed reviews from critics for its storyline, and many cultural references. According to Nielsen ratings, it was viewed in 6.04 million homes in its original airing. The episode featured guest performances by Max Burkholder, Jackson Douglas, Kevin Durand, Karen Strassman, Colin Ford, Zachary Gordon, Scott Grimes, Julie Hagerty, Jonathan Morgan Heit, Christine Lakin and Patrick Stewart, along with several recurring guest voice actors for the series. Plot As the Thanksgiving holiday begins, Lois invites Glenn and Ida Quagmire, the Swansons, Mayor Adam West, and Carter, Babs and Carol Pewterschmidt to join the Griffin family in a Thanksgiving dinner. Tensions are still high between Ida, Quagmire and Brian since Ida's sex reassignment surgery and her one-night stand with Brian the previous year. Once the guests arrive, they then begin eating their meal, when suddenly another guest arrives at the door. It is revealed to be Kevin Swanson, the son of Joe and Bonnie Swanson, whom they had presumed had died fighting in the war in Iraq. Overjoyed, they ask why the army had reported that he had died in action. Kevin then tells them a story that he was in a coma following a bomb that had been placed inside a turkey during Thanksgiving years before. Later, while having dessert, Kevin voices his distaste of the war, and reveals several inconsistencies about his time in Iraq. Kevin then tells his father that he had actually gone A.W.O.L., and because most of his unit was killed in the bombing but he miraculously survived, he faked his own death in order to leave the war and return home. Angered by his son's confession, Joe arrests him for the crime of desertion and handcuffs him with the rest of the family criticizing him for lying about being a war hero. Brian asks Kevin to explain why he deserted the army, with Kevin telling him that he had grown tired