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about the episode

An animal-rights activist from San Diego trades places with a Cajun swamp tour owner from Louisiana.

Diana Tregle operates a swamp tour in Thibodeaux, Louisiana. She lives with her husband, Lloyd "Diego" Loupe, and her eight-year-old son, Zamariah "ZZ" Loupe. The family lives with a menagerie of snakes and alligators. Diana worries about the mother she's swapping families with, because she knows Zamariah can be a handful. Diana predicts her son will cry before she returns home. Meanwhile, in San Diego, California, Barbara Gates, a mother, homemaker, and animal-rights activist, keeps a vegan household. She and her family try to abstain from hurting any animals. She lives with her husband Jim, and their children: ten-year-old son, Jack; and daughter Lucy, age eight.

The time comes for both mothers to head for the airport. Barbara remarks that no one in the family bothered to get up and say goodbye. She jokingly hopes that whoever takes her place is ugly. Meanwhile Diego says goodbye to Diana before she drives off in a taxi. Jim meets Diana at the airport and helps her with her luggage. Diana learns that vegans not only don't eat meat, they don't eat any dairy products, either. When Diana sees the Gates house for the first time, she's very impressed. Meanwhile, in Louisiana, Diego greets Barbara as she exits the airplane. Barbara is a little taken aback when she sees the Loupe house. She compares the sprawling structure to a museum. ZZ says that every chance he gets, he's going fishing and not returning until midnight.

Diana decides to give the Gates children some mounted alligator heads as gifts. When Jim sees the heads, he realizes it's going to be a tough week for Barbara. Meanwhile ZZ takes Barbara behind the house and shows her the alligators that live nearby. Barbara isn't prepared for the sight of hundreds of alligator skulls, and compares the collection to a mass grave. When Barbara wakes up the next morning, she decides to do a little exploring. She disapproves of the conditions the family's animals live in. Later she tries rousting ZZ, but has a difficult time getting him out of bed. Barbara gives Diego a fruit smoothie. Diego claims he likes the taste, but in reality he doesn't care for it. Diego takes Barbara for a boat ride through the swamp. Barbara doesn't like it when Diego talks about hunting animals. Afterward Diego takes Barbara and ZZ to a seafood restaurant that specializes in Cajun cuisine. Barbara waits until they get to the restaurant to reveal that she's a vegan. She decides Diego and ZZ aren't eating right, so she insists they eat some vegetables and stop drinking so much soda. Meanwhile, back in California, Diana offers the Gates family some pie for breakfast. No one is interested.

Barbara and Diana are informed of the show's twist: they must decide how the $50,000 prize money is to be spent on the other family. Barbara tells ZZ she wants him to go an entire day without drinking any soda. Later Diego's friends and family gather to meet Barbara. Barbara becomes even more aware of everyone's poor diet. So she decides to educate them on the benefits of being a vegan. Meanwhile ZZ sneaks some soda when Barbara isn't looking.

In San Diego Diana attends a vegan potluck dinner. Diana is surprised by the large turnout of women, all of whom are vegans and friends of Barbara. Diana presents the women with some presents: voodoo dolls, t-shirts, and alligator heads. The women are taken aback by the sight of the alligator heads. Diana explains that Louisiana has a controlled harvest to deal with the overpopulation of alligators. She says she's only recycling the heads. Diana decides to take the alligator heads back with her. Diego takes Barbara to the French quarter in New Orleans. As they walk through the shops, Barbara keeps after ZZ, telling him how to behave. When ZZ bumps into a passerby, Barbara insists that ZZ apologize. Diego thinks Barbara is overreaching. ZZ, meanwhile, begins to miss his real mother.

In San Diego Diana grows tired of constantly eating vegetables. She tries playing along so she won't appear rude. Jim tells Diana they're going to have a party for his friends and relatives. Diana wants to cook gumbo for the party. Jim thinks it's a bad idea. Barbara has a long chat with ZZ about his behavior. Barbara tells ZZ that if he continues to misbehave, there are going to be consequences. ZZ tells Barbara, "gators don't sweat." Later the boy tells Barbara, "you're fired."

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