Episode #219 "Mud"

 With Ruth’s birthday coming up, Erica suggests Hilton buy her something other than a sweater, which has been his gift every year for the past ten years. In an attempt to be more original, Hilton paints a plate for Ruth at a pottery store. While Hilton’s hard at work on his plate, Harry Lennox, an artist, stops by with his daughter to paint a plate for her birthday. Harry’s daughter, Heather, sees Hilton’s plate and likes it a lot. Later, when everyone gathers to watch Ruth open her presents, they are all overwhelmed by Hilton’s amazing plate. Hilton, however, is the most overwhelmed when he realizes the plate is not his work. He goes back to the pottery shop and discovers that his plate was switched with that of Harry Lennox, who has the same initials. Since Harry’s plate is for his daughter, Hilton realizes he won’t want to sell the plate, and he knows that another plate by Harry Lennox, one of America’s most respected abstract artists, would cost Hilton fifteen thousand dollars. When he returns home to get the plate and return it, he finds that it has disappeared -- Pauline has put some cookies on it to sell at a bake sale. The woman who bought the cookies at the sale also thought she bought the plate, and Hilton is forced to jump through hoops to get it back. Later, Hilton confesses to Ruth that she has to give up the plate, which she wants very much to keep. Luckily, Heather Lennox also wants to keep Hilton’s plate, so they decide to switch. But Heather drops Hilton’s plate and the Lucases end up giving her the plate that her father made her. To thank Ruth for her kindness, Harry Lennox sends her a sweater. Ruth tells Hilton that, actually, it’s what she really wanted.