Women of the House

Suzanne arrives in Washington, to the dismay of the press and her fellow Congressman. Suzanne is late into the office because she's trying to find a way to get her brother's ceramic spoon-rests sold in the House Gift Shop, the proceeds to go to his school. When she arrives, she finds Malone, Natty and Sissy awaiting jobs working for the newest member of Congress; though Sissy thinks she's either ""stupid, a lesbian... or maybe she killed a man."" Suzanne expresses her initial disinterest in the job and says that the ladies can have jobs if they want them. Then the unprepared Suzanne appears on the political show Crossfire, where John Sununu and Michael Kinsley begin to drill her about her political affiliation, gays in the military, etc. Then they accuse Suzanne of ""trying to make a profit from a federally funded enterprise,"" by selling her brother's spoon-rests.

After her botched appearance on Crossfire, Suzanne is ridiculed by the press, who say that it's hard to tell if the ""flamboyant, zoftig Miss Sugarbaker"" is ""playing Miss Kitty or Miss Ellie from The Beverly Hillbillies."" They also accuse Suzanne of selling her brother's spoon-rests in the White House for a profit, which they refer to as ""Knick-KnackGate."" Natty attacks Suzanne because she publicly ""diminished all women as sexual commodities, slandered homosexuals, insulted blacks, and bragged about being rich. . ."" Suzanne turns in her resignation, but her decision is altered after a heartfelt talk with her daughter and brother who also want to return home. So she goes and speaks on the House Floor, and points out that even though she's different, that's what being an American is all about, resulting in several references to Jimmy Stewart's movie ""Mr. Smith Goes to Washington"". After over-using her time, as she's drug from the podium, she looks out into the crowd and sees Jimmy Stewart

Malone takes an interest in art -- particularly sketching male nudes. Sissy and Natty stress out after Suzanne makes a fool out of herself at a press hearing. After canceling a dinner engagement, President Clinton invites Suzanne to spend an evening in the White House, where she'll be sleeping in President Lincoln's Bedroom. After arriving, she becomes overly excited and begins jumping up and down on the bed, breaking the slats. She fakes sickness so that no one will find out the bed is broken, while Malone rushes a sketch on a huge piece of wood (""We'll call it Nude Man on Wood"") to replace the broken piece of the bed. After saying it was a gift for the President, they sneak the board in and repair the bed--only to have it broken again by Suzanne's (also) overly-excited guest, Jamie Farr, who came to the White House in drag to promote the sale of his new book.

When Sissy is thrown out of her apartment for not paying the rent (and a mattress fire), she moves in with Suzanne. Suzanne jumps at the opportunity to co-write an article with Sissy to boost her image, about the ""interracial bond"" that she and her housekeeper, Sapphire, share. Sissy seems to be in Heaven staying with the caring Sugarbaker clan, who make her stay feel more like home than anywhere she had ever been. But when Ann Gilroy, Sissy's old rival, comes to town, Suzanne tries to make her look good by insisting that the house belongs to Sissy. Though Suzanne was supposed to learn a lesson about writing, Sissy is the one who learns a lesson--about friendship.

Malone becomes distraught when a man she just met casually asks her for a date; ""I've never dated anyone but my husband--ex-husband-that is,"" she stutters. Suzanne, Natty, and Sissy try to give her advice, but end up scaring her more. So in an effort to jump into the dating game, Malone decides that she must seduce Brad on their first date. She goes and spends a weeks' pay on assorted condoms, a tactic she saw on Murphy Brown -- unaware that Brad has his own plans for seducing her.

Suzanne and staff begin their participation in a hearing on the dangers of violence towards women on television. Suzanne bemoans the fact that everyone in Washington spends their time talking about absolutely nothing; and she urges the President to get a pet dog to boost his appearance. Sissy and Malone sit next to Senator Jessie Helms during lunch, giving Sissy an idea to pull a prank on Natty: she claims to have spit in Senator Helms' soup. When he is later rushed to the hospital for stomach pains, Natty calls the FBI and reports Sissy for poisoning him.