Lawyer Forrest Bedford struggles to raise a family amid the civil-rights strife of the 1958 South, aided by Lily, a lack housekeeper who comes to work in the opener to find Forrest prosecuting a young white for a bus accident that killed three black; and little John Morgan missing his hospitalized mama.
When John Morgan loses his cowboy hat out of the car window, Lilly finds it—but then so does her daughter—-while Forrest faces verbal cross-fire over a beating case arising from the demonstration.
With Forrest away on a weekend hunting trip, womanhood takes aim at Francie, who feels utterly alone; while worries about the fate of an errant arrow dog, John Morgan.
As Forrest joins the race for attorney general, Lilly considers attending a voting-rights meetings, while Francie elects to overcome her writer's block by committing a betrayal.
John Morgan is upset when he doesn't get to go to Lilly's birthday party; the wrestlers aren't celebrating Zollicofer's decision to let a black join the team; Forrest realizes running for office isn't going to be a piece of cake.
On Halloween, the specter of the KKK haunts Christina as she's asked to investigate Prevtiss Carver's death. It also haunts John Morgan, who's heard about the ""dragon men"" from Adlaine.
Slocum wrestles with his conscience—-and with-–Evans as Zollicfer applies pressure over the brick-throwing incident; Lilly balks when Lewis, wanting to relive his time in the Negro Leagues, takes his eyes off the ball at home.
Thanksgiving brings family—and conflict—home: Gwen's visit from the mental hospital knocks the stuffing out of the Bedfords, especially Nathan; and Lilly's brother makes a pilgrimage home after discovering the New World of the North.
A game of checkers turns deadly serious for Nathan and Slocum; Lilly helps Francie, who's afraid she'll lay an egg singing in the church benefit.
Lilly expresses a burning desire to divorce her absent husband; sparks fly between Nathan and a carnival worker; Forrest's arrest of an upstanding citizen in the McDaniel murder adds fuel to the fire against him, which licks at John Morgan.
John Morgan makes up a tall tale about his absent mother joining the rodeo; as the trial approaches, Forrest lassos a witness and then tightens the rope; Slocum's father brands his son a loser and kicks him out of the house.
On a campaign swing, Forrest lobbies for the affections of a difficult Francie, while Lilly faces a difficult test registering to vote.
As Election Day nears, John Morgan plans a post-victory show, but Forrest isn't sure he can pull a win out of his hat in his race for attorney general. He's facing a blackmail threat from a drunken Tyler. Meanwhile, Lilly's determination to vote remains unabated, even after her faith is tested by the opposition of her minister. But discrimination at the polling place makes that step forward seems more like an illusion.
Forrest faces a test in courage when some of the townsfolk decide to teach him a lesson; Nathan is eager to learn why Forrest and Lake had a falling-out; and Lilly enrolls in night school.
An impromptu lunch-counter protest leads to a more serious demonstration; Lilly has to chew out John Morgan and an unruly friend; Nathan, stunned by a revelation about his girlfriend, wishes he could eat his words after Slocum repeals them to her.
Forrest is shocked when Rev. Henry's latest protest sparks Lilly to action; Nathan and Diane's status as a couple generates charged comments; John Morgan fools with electricity.
Diane's father tries to put a damper on her and Nathan's passions; racial tensions heat up with the department-store boycott, leaving Lilly's cousin Oscar out in the cold.
Not realizing how deep town sentiment runs, Lilly and Forrest learn fast after witnessing a police attack on black children; Tucker robs the cradle with Forrest's young campaign worker; Francie behaves childishly after being asked to walk John Morgan to school.
Lilly finds herself in time with a visiting sax player; a frustrated Forrest wants someone to face the music about his incompetent opposing counsel in a murder trial; Slocum is jazzed to find Zollicofer in town, trying to get his job back.
John Morgan tries to put to rest his guilt and fear over an elderly neighbor's passing; Forrest asks Christina to step in to save the dying defense of a black man accused of murder.
Lilly feels no pain when she's with Clarence, but Lewis isn't as intoxicated by his presence; Christina faces her own demons helping alcoholic tucker dry out; Nathan keeps his anger bottled up after catching Forrest in a compromising position.
Forrest ponders an offer for a challenging job; Lilly tries to make peace between her father and Clarence, who asks her to make a life-changing decision; Nathan sees something he shouldn't; and Slocum saves his mother's birthday party.
In the second-season opener, Nathan reacts to Forrest's infidelity by deciding to confront Christina; Lilly struggles to give an answer to Clarence, who's new York bound; and Forrest opts to take the job as U.S. attorney, even though it means an FBI investigation of his life.
Lilly is questioned by the FBI as part of Forrest's bid for U.S. attorney, and she gives some disturbing answers that may cost him the job; Forrest is surprised to learn Gwen may be coming home soon; and Francie throws a party.
On his first day at work as a U.S. attorney Forrest must break some bad news to his children about Gwen; the two suspects accused of killing Col. Landers are released—to no one's surprise; Slocum finds out that Parkie might be pregnant.
The Bedfords deal with a painful loss; Slocum makes matters worse with regard to Parkie's pregnancy; Lewis takes Adlaine to a Shriners meeting.
Civil-rights leaders converge in the ""trial"" of the two men accused of killing Col. Landers, including Rev. Henry, who persuades Forrest to get involved. Meanwhile, Slocum and Parkie make some decisions about their unborn child; and Francie has trouble with her home-ec class.
A group of Freedom Riders rolls into town, one of whom stays with Lilly and changes the way she thinks about the civil-rights movement; Nathan takes his driver's license exam; and Forrest visits Washington, D.C., where he meets up with Christina.
Slocum decides to marry Parkie, but not before he and Nathan make a trip to a brothel; Lilly asks Forrest for a raise and is unglued by his response; Forrest persuades a young man to infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan.
The police interrogate Slocum, who turns to Forrest for legal advice; Lilly throws a birthday party for Lewis that turns into a political debate when his nephew Oscar clashes with her; and Christina's pressured by her mother to date other men.
Frankie gets deeper into the KKK and finds out that there was a third man involved in the killing of Col. Landers; Slocum's trial commences; and Lilly's ex-husband comes to town, bringing with him his new fiancée.
Slocum's trial winds to a close, but not before Nathan pressures Coach Zollicofer to take the stand; Lilly tries to set Marguerite up with a train porter, but becomes attracted to him herself; and Forrest feels guilty over his treatment of Frankie.
Lilly finds the holidays difficult to bear after she is brutally beaten by a freedom-bus protester; the Bedfords attend a Christmas party at Christina's house; and Slocum finds some Yuletide cheer in an unlikely place—Zollicofer's circle of friends.
Lilly reluctantly leads a boycott of a racist's store; Forrest, after having words with his Washington contact, debates dropping the Landers' case; Christina and Forrest's relationship take a turn for the worse after they go away for a romantic weekend.
Nathan is falsely arrested for narcotics possession; the Landers trial concludes with a shower of publicity, but it's not exactly what Forrest would have liked; and John Morgan becomes jealous of Lilly and Joe's relationship.
Forrest discovers that he's being followed—but it's not by whom he thinks; Nathan feels pressure at school over his relationship with Claudia; Lilly tries to persuade an elderly woman to register to vote.
Lilly tries to study for her high-school final exams despite continual interruptions; Forrest confides to Christina that he's being matched and then goes to Washington to see if he can do something about it; and a group of students stages a sit-in.
Joe faces some tough decisions when he thinks about becoming a teacher for the community's new school. Meanwhile, Nathan reluctantly goes to a college interview that Forrest arranged with the dean of admissions.