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.
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.