The effects of service careers on family life and relationships are felt most strongly at holidays, when duty often makes it impossible for people to be with their loved ones. In this episode, it's a day or two to Christmas, and events are threatening to upset people's holiday plans. In Afghanistan, a group of the Taliban is likely to take shelter in a small village. The Major must overcome bureaucratic and logistical obstacles to get food and guns to the villagers before the Taliban reach it. Meanwhile, his father, himself a retired special forces soldier, visits the Pentagon seeking copies of his service record to support a medical claim with the VA. Sonny Liston helps him; as we discover, father and son are barely on speaking terms.
—A Red Fish