Thanksgiving is a great holiday. It’s one day a year you forget about the fat, the carbs, The Zone, the weights, the cardio or whatever it is you do to keep your manly physique shapely and eat what you want when you want. You spend the day with family and friends and for a few hours all is right and well with the world. But for the gay people that aren’t out to their families, this day of indulgence of food and family can turn into a day from hell. In my family my brother cooks and my mom helps him. I set the table and decorate the dining room with the help of my nieces and we all generally have a great time.

But when it comes time for the actual meal, one hellish scenario inevitably plays out as the dinner conversation comes around to who is getting married, who isn’t and who is seeing who. The girls begin discussing a gay friend or two as your far right, conservative, republican brother, who is 15 years older than you, begins to writhe in his chair at the head of the table. All eyes turn to you as his bossy wife blurts out your unattached status.

She insists you should be married, or at least have a girl friend and announces in an over joyous manner, “I know just the right girl!” You suddenly wish you’d sink into the floor.

The niece in college points out that the girl is so prissy, “What would he want with her?”

To which the sister-in-law replies, “Look at this place! What do you think he is? They’d be perfect for each other.”

The older, married niece catches your gaze and puts her mother in her place by yelling, “Leave him alone!” with a wink to you and so the conversation quickly shifts and the bomb that could cause World War III is diffused once again, at least until Christmas. And all you can think is, “Christ, where’s dessert?”

After having seen the first two episodes of season three of ‘Dante’s Cove,’ I can see the show maturing and reaching that “zone” type of place that most shows do by their third season. It is still a hit. While it is still great and I can’t wait until I can see the rest of the episodes, I’m finding a few things to gripe about. Okay, Dante’s is three now and I’ve only gushed about it and even built a fan site, so I’m allowed. Please! But first…

What I Love, Love, LOVE About the New Season

Grace’s Entrance. Whoa! Descending from cosmic orbit in a fireball has got to be one of the best all-time entrances of a character on any show. Glinda, good witch from Oz, eat your heart out! I’m also thrilled with how much she has been woven into the rest of the cast as well. Tracy Scoggins is fantastic in this role and even though her character has been central from the start, she has been woefully underutilized up until now.

Cat Fight. Forget Krystal, Alexis and the lily pond. When Grace and Diana fight the claws and teeth are sheathed.

Brit. Michelle Wolfe was also underutilized last season and I’m glad to see her character expanding too.

Reichen. Need I say more?

What Surprised Me

Ambrosius Is a Big Bottom. Who knew?

Toby and Adam. I never thought they would hook up.

Marco Mauled. We all know Marco came to Dante’s Cove to do more than run a bar. But what? The “mood ring” he got from his grandmother that detects evil makes me think she was a Tresum witch and he was trying to learn about it. But alas, we may never know.

Now for My Gripes

Tresum. Up until this season was a mysterious form of magic that no one knew about, let alone did they know Grace and Ambrosius were practitioners. Now everyone seems to know about them and it and in addition we now have a council that governs Tresum and is able to block one’s powers? Hmm… I will reserve ultimate judgment until I see the rest of the season, but it would seem some of the mysterious element has been lost with those revelations.

Clean-Cut Toby. Charlie David is gorgeous no matter what, but only scruffy Toby will do for me.

Van’s Cameo. The opening scene of Van fleeing from an invisible foe was not new. Yes, we noticed. It was unused footage from season one, clearly scene during the opening title sequence of the first season.

I’m staying tuned, are you?