Latest / Girls Gone Hallmark | Hallmark Movie Reviews / Mistletoe Murders Season 2, Episodes 1 & 2
Transcript
- 0:02Speaker 1: This is a bramble Jam podcast.
- 0:22Speaker 2: Welcome to Girls Gone Hallmark, a Hallmark review podcast. I'm
- 0:25Speaker 2: Megan and I'm a longtime Hallmark fan.
- 0:27Speaker 1: I'm Wendy. I'm a former Hallmark hater.
- 0:29Speaker 2: Today we're discussing Mistletoe Murders Season two, episodes one in
- 0:33Speaker 2: two Cold War, which originally aired on the Hallmark Channel
- 0:37Speaker 2: on Friday November seventh, twenty twenty five, and is currently
- 0:41Speaker 2: available for.
- 0:42Speaker 1: Streaming on Hallmark Plus.
- 0:44Speaker 2: Currently available for your viewing pleasure are our social media accounts.
- 0:48Speaker 2: We are Girls Gone Hallmark on Instagram and TikTok.
- 0:51Speaker 1: Hey. If you guys want more from us Megan and
- 0:54Speaker 1: Wendy and maybe a little less Hallmark, I encourage you
- 0:59Speaker 1: to come visit us on Patreon, Patreon dot com, slash
- 1:02Speaker 1: Megnan Wendy, where we drop four new episodes per month for.
- 1:09Speaker 2: A what for the bargain basement price five bucks. That's it,
- 1:16Speaker 2: and you get to keep the lights on over here.
- 1:18Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, it's super helpful for us, like behind the scenes,
- 1:22Speaker 1: paying for running the show here. But you know, enjoy
- 1:27Speaker 1: the crash out. Listen to Megan and Wendy meltdown in
- 1:30Speaker 1: real time. We are struggling this season.
- 1:35Speaker 2: I would also encourage you if you would like to
- 1:36Speaker 2: hear your name on a future episode of Girls Gone Hallmark,
- 1:39Speaker 2: you should email us your thoughts on Mistletoe Murders, on
- 1:42Speaker 2: the movies, on whatever you're watching on Hallmark, Girls Gone
- 1:46Speaker 2: Hallmark at gmail dot com and we may just read
- 1:49Speaker 2: your email in a future mailbag episode.
- 1:52Speaker 1: Yeah, we got one on the calendar coming up, coming
- 1:54Speaker 1: up soon. We do so get you here thoughts in
- 1:58Speaker 1: I'm dying to hear what people think about Mistletoe Murders
- 2:01Speaker 1: Season two.
- 2:02Speaker 2: Well, let's kick off our talk of season two of
- 2:04Speaker 2: Mistletoe Murders with a synopsis of episodes one and two.
- 2:07Speaker 1: Okay, so this is how I'm going to do it,
- 2:09Speaker 1: because the synopsis is different for Part one and part two. Okay,
- 2:15Speaker 1: so part one the episodes are called Cold War Part
- 2:18Speaker 1: one and Part two. Yes, right, okay. Part one. After
- 2:21Speaker 1: a year of avoidance, Emily and Sam reunite to solve
- 2:24Speaker 1: the disappearance of a high school chess coach, triggering echoes
- 2:29Speaker 1: of Emily's past. Violet hopes to attend the Winter Dance
- 2:33Speaker 1: with her crush. Part two, Emily goes undercover at the
- 2:37Speaker 1: school to solve the chess Coach's murder. Tensions rise when
- 2:41Speaker 1: Sam suspects the Violet's date and the Winter Dance turns
- 2:44Speaker 1: into a game of cat and mouse with the killer.
- 2:48Speaker 2: Ken cooperis the creator and writer of Mistletoe Murders. Has
- 2:51Speaker 2: forty four writing credits to his name, including eighteen episodes
- 2:55Speaker 2: of the hit series Hudson and Rex. Mistletoe Murders was
- 2:59Speaker 2: adapted from an addio podcast series and fun fact. Ken
- 3:02Speaker 2: is the writer on another Audible mysteries series called Middlebridge Mysteries.
- 3:08Speaker 1: Yeah. I was like, I wonder if he's trying to
- 3:09Speaker 1: sell that to Hallmark too. Bring it on over. I
- 3:13Speaker 1: looked it up. It has it has a good voice
- 3:17Speaker 1: acting cast. Somebody familiar. Oh Eric McCormick. Oh. Eric McCormick
- 3:24Speaker 1: is one of the voices on that podcast series. Melanie
- 3:28Speaker 1: Orr directed both episodes one and two, with thirty one
- 3:31Speaker 1: directing credits. She also helmed the final two episodes of
- 3:35Speaker 1: last season. Her other work includes Children Ruin Everything, Sullivan's Crossing,
- 3:41Speaker 1: The Spencer Sisters, and much more. Sarah Drew plays Emily
- 3:45Speaker 1: Lane outside of Mistletoe. The last time we saw Sarah
- 3:47Speaker 1: on Hallmark was in Branching Out. From twenty twenty four,
- 3:50Speaker 1: she starred in some of our all time favorites like
- 3:53Speaker 1: Guiding Emily and One Summer She Needs to Be More Right. Yeah. Yeah,
- 3:58Speaker 1: I was kind of surprised at that note that we
- 4:00Speaker 1: haven't seen her since Branching out'en busy making these series.
- 4:04Speaker 1: I mean six episodes, it's basically three full movies. Yeah,
- 4:08Speaker 1: I think of it. I get that. I was also
- 4:10Speaker 1: looking at her IMDb. She has a lot of other
- 4:12Speaker 1: work she's doing outside of Hallmark, So go get that bag,
- 4:17Speaker 1: soa true. Peter Mooney plays Sam Wilder. Peter has forty
- 4:22Speaker 1: nine acting credits and has appeared in Hallmark movies such
- 4:25Speaker 1: as Retreat to You and Fly Away with Me.
- 4:28Speaker 2: Sierra Marilyn Riley plays Sam's daughter, Violet. Mistletoe is her
- 4:31Speaker 2: biggest project to date, though she did appear in the
- 4:33Speaker 2: series Motorheads.
- 4:35Speaker 1: Which I think got canceled. Bummer Gene Yune returns as
- 4:39Speaker 1: diner owner Sue. Gene has ninety acting credits, including attentive
- 4:44Speaker 1: voice work for several animated series. She also voiced the
- 4:48Speaker 1: character of Sue for the Audible series Hey.
- 4:51Speaker 2: Lara Amersay also returns as Emily's friend June. Lara has
- 4:55Speaker 2: thirty acting credits and will appear in the upcoming We
- 4:58Speaker 2: Met in December, starting Nie Mader and Autumn Racer. Kylie
- 5:02Speaker 2: Evans appears as Brooke. Kylie is probably best known for
- 5:06Speaker 2: her longtime role as Stephanie on Goodwitch. She also voiced
- 5:10Speaker 2: the character of Brooke on the Audible series. David Hewlett
- 5:14Speaker 2: plays Famous Ray. David has one hundred and twelve acting credits,
- 5:17Speaker 2: with previous appearances in Hudson and Rex as well as
- 5:19Speaker 2: Murdoch Mysteries.
- 5:20Speaker 1: Special guest star Benjamin Airs appears in episodes one and
- 5:25Speaker 1: two with one hundred and seven acting credits. We Last
- 5:29Speaker 1: Saw been in a Christmas Angel Match a few weeks ago.
- 5:32Speaker 2: Quincy Kirkwood appears as young Emily slash Grace. She has
- 5:36Speaker 2: six acting credits, with her other biggest project being Why
- 5:40Speaker 2: the Last Man from twenty twenty one.
- 5:42Speaker 1: Colton Stewart plays fellow student Kyle. He has thirty two
- 5:45Speaker 1: acting credits and has starred in fifteen episodes of the
- 5:48Speaker 1: series My Life with the Walter Boys. He also voiced
- 5:52Speaker 1: the character of Zach.
- 5:54Speaker 2: On the Audible series Look At All These Characters who
- 5:57Speaker 2: are doing double duty now. Jamie Thomas King plays the
- 6:00Speaker 2: vice principal with thirty three acting credits. You might recognize
- 6:04Speaker 2: him from shows like Brilliant Minds, Elementary and Call the Midwife.
- 6:08Speaker 1: Mikey Silkin plays the chess coach, Mister Henley. Mikey is
- 6:12Speaker 1: a fresh face for Hallmark, but has appeared in any
- 6:14Speaker 1: ten of Hallmark adjacent Christmas movies.
- 6:18Speaker 2: Mistletoe Murders was filmed in and around Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
- 6:23Speaker 2: Let's take a quick break and we'll come right back
- 6:24Speaker 2: with our first impressions. Hey, Wendy, what is your first
- 6:36Speaker 2: impressions of Mistletoe Murders Season two?
- 6:39Speaker 1: Cold War? The tension between Emily and Sam could power
- 6:44Speaker 1: the Christmas lights in Fletcher's Grove. I love it.
- 6:48Speaker 2: My first impression is we're back, baby, and dare I
- 6:49Speaker 2: say better than before? Do you think it's better than
- 6:52Speaker 2: season one? It's as good, if not better?
- 6:54Speaker 1: Right, and usually you know, like the sophomore slump not here,
- 6:59Speaker 1: not here, no slumping' in Fletcher's growth. Yeah, I almost
- 7:03Speaker 1: think it's a smidge better. I think so too. The
- 7:06Speaker 1: story alone, I thought was better amazing. Let's get into
- 7:10Speaker 1: the likes. Let's get into the likes. Let's get into
- 7:13Speaker 1: the well.
- 7:13Speaker 2: In my first impression, I was just so glad to
- 7:15Speaker 2: be back in Fletcher's Grove with these characters. As it's
- 7:18Speaker 2: like Bam, Sue Bam, Emily Bam Sam bam Brooke.
- 7:22Speaker 1: I was like, yes, we're back. Yeah, I was happy too.
- 7:27Speaker 1: I want to reference Kim Cooperis wrote us an email
- 7:31Speaker 1: back in September. Yeah, after we had reviewed season one
- 7:36Speaker 1: during our summer school series. Yes, which is so nice,
- 7:39Speaker 1: like a creator and writer just like randomly emails us.
- 7:43Speaker 1: He listened to our podcast review. I get a little
- 7:46Speaker 1: like nervous when that happens. He wrote a very nice email.
- 7:49Speaker 1: But what he did include in the email that stands
- 7:52Speaker 1: out to me. He said, based on some of your wishes,
- 7:56Speaker 1: I'm very excited for you to see what we get
- 7:58Speaker 1: up to in season two. And I was like, what
- 8:01Speaker 1: were my wishes? And the only thing that I can
- 8:04Speaker 1: keep going back to was I need more background on Emily. Yeah,
- 8:09Speaker 1: and we got it, yes, in these two episodes, and
- 8:13Speaker 1: I freaking love it. I do think that's my biggest
- 8:16Speaker 1: wish too, that we start to peel back.
- 8:18Speaker 2: Some of these layers. And I just loved the emily backstory,
- 8:23Speaker 2: she's Grace, she's in boarding school. We see the origins
- 8:26Speaker 2: of the alter ego Chimera. But then then that begs
- 8:31Speaker 2: more questions, right because when they reveal that to be
- 8:37Speaker 2: her hacker name, her coding name, yeah, I was like,
- 8:41Speaker 2: wait a minute, Emily is not Kimera. So did you
- 8:46Speaker 2: jump to the conclusion that her boarding school buddy.
- 8:50Speaker 1: Let me explain my thought process here. Yes, So we
- 8:53Speaker 1: get to the very end of episode two, and that's
- 8:56Speaker 1: when we learn that she's made up this name Chimera, right, yes,
- 9:00Speaker 1: both these episodes twice, okay, And I couldn't help but think.
- 9:05Speaker 1: I was like, is she is she the builder of
- 9:09Speaker 1: this monster? Like? Was this her project? And somehow like
- 9:16Speaker 1: whatever Kaymera is in terms like whatever it morphs into,
- 9:20Speaker 1: did somebody run with that? Yeah, because clearly she's the
- 9:25Speaker 1: original creator of it in some form, and now there's
- 9:29Speaker 1: someone else behind it, right, I do agree it is
- 9:33Speaker 1: probably that boy that she befriends and who she's involved
- 9:37Speaker 1: with obviously in high school. Like they're showing too much
- 9:41Speaker 1: of him, like to not let this play out. And
- 9:44Speaker 1: even at the very end of the episode where she's
- 9:47Speaker 1: in her voice over she's talking about she's never escaped
- 9:52Speaker 1: her past, and to me, I'm like, we're gonna see
- 9:57Speaker 1: the teenage boy is going to be like the villain
- 10:00Speaker 1: I believe in current day. I'm very curious. I'm very curious.
- 10:03Speaker 1: I just want to I just want it all right now.
- 10:05Speaker 1: And you know, I feel so bad. I don't I
- 10:07Speaker 1: can't remember the name of that character, and I don't
- 10:09Speaker 1: we didn't have him listed in our His name is Aaron. Aaron. Well,
- 10:15Speaker 1: let's let's let's talk more about what we liked in
- 10:17Speaker 1: this episode.
- 10:17Speaker 2: Okay, Look, I was so happy to see Ray Aka
- 10:20Speaker 2: I can't help but call him Jonesy because that's what
- 10:22Speaker 2: you call him, cruising down the halls of the high
- 10:25Speaker 2: school as a sponsor of the chess team. And then
- 10:28Speaker 2: you and I talked about this great tie in with Sam.
- 10:31Speaker 2: We talked about this off mic Sam goes to him
- 10:33Speaker 2: for some off book investigation. Yeah, and I love that
- 10:38Speaker 2: they present it as like everybody kind of knows that
- 10:41Speaker 2: Ray plays on the edges of.
- 10:42Speaker 1: The law, right, and that line at the end.
- 10:44Speaker 2: Where Ray's like, let's talk compensation and Sam's like, how
- 10:47Speaker 2: about I just not arrest you.
- 10:50Speaker 1: Great. I'm worried though. Is Sam trying to get information
- 10:54Speaker 1: from Ray about Emily? Well, those codes that he takes
- 11:00Speaker 1: were from Emily's home.
- 11:03Speaker 2: Oh, he picks up the paper. So she drops a paper.
- 11:07Speaker 2: At one point it slides under her couch. We see
- 11:10Speaker 2: that happen. Then when Sam comes over, he notices it,
- 11:14Speaker 2: picks it up, and she says, oh, those are just
- 11:17Speaker 2: some codes.
- 11:18Speaker 1: I have for the store.
- 11:20Speaker 2: But he had secretively taken a photo of it now,
- 11:24Speaker 2: which he then takes to Ray. So, yes, he is
- 11:27Speaker 2: trying to get information.
- 11:28Speaker 1: Well, that makes me worried. Ray, you cannot sell out
- 11:31Speaker 1: our girl Emily, right, But he doesn't know. I know,
- 11:35Speaker 1: I know. It makes me nervous. It makes me nervous
- 11:39Speaker 1: because Emily trusts very few. She trusts Ray. I mean,
- 11:44Speaker 1: obviously Ray doesn't know. I don't believe Ray know is
- 11:47Speaker 1: like the extent of Emily's background. She says, Game recognizes Game,
- 11:52Speaker 1: he knows that there's more to her than meets the eye.
- 11:55Speaker 1: But I don't think anybody in this town knows a
- 11:58Speaker 1: lot about Emily, including Ray's just gonna like walk right
- 12:02Speaker 1: into this and like not realize he's handed Sam the
- 12:06Speaker 1: keys to Emily's identity.
- 12:07Speaker 2: Mmm.
- 12:08Speaker 1: I gotta tell you. I love that we learn Emily
- 12:13Speaker 1: has these chess skills. Hmmm, because I like the symbolism here.
- 12:18Speaker 1: You know, she's playing chess when everybody else is playing checkers.
- 12:22Speaker 1: It just it lends a lot to how smart she is. Yeah,
- 12:27Speaker 1: And I don't know if we've I mean, obviously last season,
- 12:30Speaker 1: like we realized like she's smart, she's good at like
- 12:32Speaker 1: solving keyses and like whatever. But now we learn like
- 12:36Speaker 1: she's a coder, Like she's got she's this computer whiz,
- 12:40Speaker 1: and she's got an analytical brain and peeling back the
- 12:44Speaker 1: layer it makes her dangerous, makes her super dangerous. How
- 12:48Speaker 1: happy were you to see Benjamin Ayer's in the cast
- 12:50Speaker 1: this episode? Oh my gosh, let me tell you. When
- 12:53Speaker 1: his name came up on the screen as special guest Star,
- 12:55Speaker 1: I was like what what? I was so excited. Yeah,
- 12:58Speaker 1: I was so excited. I was a little bit worried
- 13:02Speaker 1: because I assumed he was gonna be in the bad
- 13:05Speaker 1: guy and I was like, I don't want him to
- 13:07Speaker 1: be the bad guy. Huh. I like the twists at
- 13:10Speaker 1: the end, I mean, he's still did like something bad
- 13:13Speaker 1: that there were consequences for it, but because it was
- 13:15Speaker 1: not the murderer.
- 13:16Speaker 2: No, I wrote, I am glad he was mildly bad
- 13:19Speaker 2: and not murderously bad.
- 13:21Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, but good job. Like that feels like Hallmark
- 13:25Speaker 1: Mystery one on one that like they misdirections.
- 13:28Speaker 2: Yes, yeah, that's scene at the end at the dance
- 13:30Speaker 2: when Violet goes to her locker and it's like multiple cuts,
- 13:34Speaker 2: so we see her get the note, then we cut
- 13:37Speaker 2: back to feet and then we cut to the vice
- 13:39Speaker 2: principal and then we cut to Benjamin Yerrs as the custodian.
- 13:42Speaker 2: That's great right there, Yeah, because you're like, who is it,
- 13:45Speaker 2: what's gonna happen, Where's she gonna go? Where's Violet?
- 13:48Speaker 1: Who's gonna get her? Great?
- 13:50Speaker 2: Perhaps the standout of these two episodes for me is
- 13:53Speaker 2: the Emily and Sam relationship. The tension is so good.
- 13:58Speaker 2: I feel like they're the pull and the poll. Yeah,
- 14:01Speaker 2: they're giving us just enough to keep us fully invested
- 14:04Speaker 2: in the relationship. Sam when he comes to her house
- 14:08Speaker 2: and basically says, I'm having a hard time with.
- 14:12Speaker 1: This, it's so good. Their relationship is complicated, and I
- 14:17Speaker 1: like that it's complicated, and we see like play out
- 14:21Speaker 1: in these two episodes where in my opinion is like
- 14:25Speaker 1: he needs her mm hmmm, and he like realizes he
- 14:29Speaker 1: needs her. He gets to another full realization obviously when
- 14:32Speaker 1: he says to her at the end that Violet can
- 14:34Speaker 1: work at the shop, like he realizes like she will
- 14:37Speaker 1: protect Violet. But then back and forth of he wants
- 14:43Speaker 1: to protect his daughter. He's fearful of Emily. He doesn't
- 14:48Speaker 1: know who she is, he has a file on her,
- 14:50Speaker 1: but he's still very much flirty with her.
- 14:54Speaker 2: Yes, and she with him, And it seems like he
- 14:57Speaker 2: really wants to believe that she's not the bad guy here,
- 15:01Speaker 2: but that she has the potential of bringing danger which
- 15:05Speaker 2: would then affect people around her.
- 15:07Speaker 1: Right, what I need from him? Like I in my opinion,
- 15:10Speaker 1: I was like, oh, he just sees her as the
- 15:12Speaker 1: bad guy, but he also needs to respect her boundaries
- 15:15Speaker 1: of I don't want to talk about my past, like
- 15:19Speaker 1: it is not for you to know, and he needs
- 15:23Speaker 1: to accept that. I would not be able to accept
- 15:27Speaker 1: that knowing that there's information out there. She has no
- 15:31Speaker 1: identity as Emily Lane. She doesn't exist as Emily Lane.
- 15:35Speaker 2: So that would be so hard for me as Sam
- 15:37Speaker 2: to say like, Okay, I'm just gonna let it go.
- 15:40Speaker 1: You couldn't, of course not now I know he'sn't rock
- 15:43Speaker 1: in a hard place. What else did you like? More
- 15:46Speaker 1: on Emily and Sam. I love their bicker. I love
- 15:48Speaker 1: their banter. They vibe totally. It's fun to watch. At
- 15:53Speaker 1: one point, she says to him, you're keeping tabs on me,
- 15:56Speaker 1: and I was like, oh, I love this like so much.
- 15:59Speaker 1: I love like she him out on it. There was
- 16:02Speaker 1: also a scene where she goes to him. They're talking
- 16:05Speaker 1: about like the chess teacher and blah blah blah blah blah,
- 16:09Speaker 1: and like she gets giddy almost that he lets her
- 16:12Speaker 1: like he opens the door for her to like help
- 16:15Speaker 1: solve the case. Yeah. I love all that. I just
- 16:19Speaker 1: love it, you know who. I also love Violet remains
- 16:22Speaker 1: an MVP for me. I am so happy that we
- 16:25Speaker 1: have a well rounded, realistic teenage character who has her
- 16:30Speaker 1: own stories. Yeah. Notice though, remember last year big part
- 16:36Speaker 1: of the season was like her mom being in a
- 16:39Speaker 1: different like city.
- 16:40Speaker 2: And he's not the source of conflict. Yeah, yeah, she's
- 16:45Speaker 2: going to grow up and leave now.
- 16:46Speaker 1: Yeah, And I love it And I love that Emily.
- 16:49Speaker 1: I was thinking about this. I was like, is Emily
- 16:51Speaker 1: a mother figure to her? No, I feel like she's
- 16:53Speaker 1: more of like a big sister confidant instead. I love
- 16:56Speaker 1: this relationship. Yes, Sam says, you have been there in
- 16:59Speaker 1: ways that I could not. Yeah, love it. You know what?
- 17:03Speaker 1: I also really liked. I thought the costume mean in
- 17:08Speaker 1: this episode was really good. Emily wears a tan polka
- 17:11Speaker 1: dot blouse that I just loved so very much personally
- 17:15Speaker 1: for me. But I also really loved Violet's dress for
- 17:18Speaker 1: the damn oh, I loved her dress. I loved it.
- 17:22Speaker 1: I showed it to my own seventeen year old who
- 17:24Speaker 1: like scoffed at it because like she would never that's
- 17:28Speaker 1: not the vibe. That ball gown look isn't really the vibe. No,
- 17:32Speaker 1: it's more of like an idealistic of what you would think.
- 17:36Speaker 1: But I loved it. I thought it was so cute,
- 17:38Speaker 1: and these little flats that she was wearing, I just
- 17:40Speaker 1: I thought it was And the whole like slow dance
- 17:44Speaker 1: with the boy in the parking lot of the police
- 17:48Speaker 1: station when it's snowing, I just those are the kinds
- 17:52Speaker 1: of things that you think high school's going to be
- 17:54Speaker 1: like and then it's not, but like romanticizes it. I
- 17:58Speaker 1: loved it so much. We didn't talk a whole lot,
- 18:01Speaker 1: but I did enjoy the missing teacher mystery here m.
- 18:06Speaker 1: I thought it was a good hook, and I thought
- 18:09Speaker 1: it was suspenseful, suspenseful, but wolf like the dude was
- 18:15Speaker 1: buried under submit at school was dark. I agree, you know.
- 18:19Speaker 2: I was thinking this town, as does every one of
- 18:22Speaker 2: these mystery based series, they just solve every problem with murder,
- 18:26Speaker 2: but the murder was actually kind of an accident.
- 18:28Speaker 1: Yes, you're right, You're right in this case. The murder
- 18:31Speaker 1: I've had completely forgotten that a hook to the back
- 18:34Speaker 1: of the head kind of grewesome totally. I was like
- 18:39Speaker 1: when they showed that. But I do agree with you
- 18:42Speaker 1: that they did develop the mystery really well. I liked
- 18:45Speaker 1: I thought they were pointing at some very you know,
- 18:47Speaker 1: the other coach, the other.
- 18:49Speaker 2: Coach, the custodians, simply because he kind of exists in
- 18:53Speaker 2: the shadows and is always around. Then you've got the
- 18:57Speaker 2: vice principal with his son. I liked the motivation that
- 19:00Speaker 2: the vice princip was trying to cover for him, trying
- 19:03Speaker 2: to take the wrap for his son.
- 19:05Speaker 1: I have one like super random thing. HM. Sue's Diner
- 19:09Speaker 1: is to me, Luke's diner from Gilmore girls. I love
- 19:13Speaker 1: that this is the only place in town, like you
- 19:16Speaker 1: have breakfast here an also happy hour.
- 19:18Speaker 2: Yeah, when Emily and June go out and they're just
- 19:20Speaker 2: in Sue's diner, yeah, but in a glass of wine.
- 19:22Speaker 1: I thought, well that's kind of nice. I know. I
- 19:24Speaker 1: was like, I want to I want to go to
- 19:25Speaker 1: Fletter's Grove, Like, I can they make this as like
- 19:28Speaker 1: a visit like a fan fan What is that called,
- 19:33Speaker 1: like a fan activation? Yeah, that's the word pop up.
- 19:37Speaker 1: I think that would be so fun if they had
- 19:38Speaker 1: like Emily's store and Sue's diner and the police station,
- 19:42Speaker 1: a police station, I don't know, Famous Raise, Electronic warehouse,
- 19:47Speaker 1: whatever he has. Anyway, My final like is I just
- 19:52Speaker 1: liked the end that we Violet gets. Violet gets her
- 19:56Speaker 1: normal feedback, like everything that she wants. She wants to
- 19:58Speaker 1: work back at the store. Obviously, Sam sees that Emily
- 20:02Speaker 1: saves the day and maybe all is right in the
- 20:06Speaker 1: world of Fletcher's Grove. I doubt it's going temporarily though,
- 20:10Speaker 1: but I'm here for it. Well, what did you wish for?
- 20:14Speaker 1: I didn't love the twists of the vice principal and
- 20:17Speaker 1: his kid. Oh a little bit messy. Kind of made
- 20:20Speaker 1: me like think that it was a little bit unbelievable.
- 20:25Speaker 1: This vice principle is so mad that he threatens the
- 20:29Speaker 1: teacher because his son might not get into college or whatever.
- 20:33Speaker 1: I'm like, hold your children accountable for doing bad things.
- 20:38Speaker 1: I guess it's kind of believable. I guess then saying
- 20:41Speaker 1: it out loud, that parents today want to blame somebody
- 20:44Speaker 1: else in their own children. Indy, you know the other thing.
- 20:48Speaker 1: And I told you, and we just talked about it
- 20:50Speaker 1: a little bit. I needed Sam to trust Emily's instincts,
- 20:56Speaker 1: but I see where he can't. That's all. I have
- 20:59Speaker 1: very few wishes. I thought it was a really really
- 21:01Speaker 1: good two episode start to the series.
- 21:04Speaker 2: Yeah for me, really, it's the timeline jump is a
- 21:08Speaker 2: little bit confusing is the wrong word. But we end
- 21:12Speaker 2: it's Christmas Eve, we fast forward ten months. Not a
- 21:17Speaker 2: whole lot has changed, right, other than Violet's working at
- 21:20Speaker 2: the diner. Were to believe that Emily and Sam have
- 21:22Speaker 2: been keeping each other at arm's length.
- 21:24Speaker 1: For all of this time.
- 21:25Speaker 2: Yeah, with all of this tension, I get that we
- 21:28Speaker 2: need to be back in the holiday timeline.
- 21:30Speaker 1: So I'm gonna let it go. But did you catch
- 21:32Speaker 1: the the note about like having to let Violet go
- 21:38Speaker 1: during the slow time of Yes, I did, I did.
- 21:42Speaker 1: That's really it. Let's talk to you to see that. Okay,
- 21:45Speaker 1: we talked about it for a second. But the locker
- 21:47Speaker 1: scene in the high school where Violet's putting her jacket
- 21:50Speaker 1: away chilling. Yes, it's a dark hallway. I don't know.
- 21:54Speaker 1: It just gave me like, oh, I was nervous those
- 21:57Speaker 1: high school feelings again, Like that's doesn't feel safe to
- 22:00Speaker 1: walk around a dark high school.
- 22:02Speaker 2: No, speaking of high school feelings, when Emily goes to
- 22:04Speaker 2: the high school for the first time, she walks past
- 22:06Speaker 2: a group of girls and they mad dog her.
- 22:09Speaker 1: I didn't notice, and I just thought, that's why I'm
- 22:11Speaker 1: afraid of teenage girls. Teenage girls are super scary and
- 22:14Speaker 1: we both have fun. Yeah, and I'm not afraid of
- 22:16Speaker 1: our girls, they're nice. No, I'm afraid of their friends
- 22:19Speaker 1: me too. Yeah, what were you going to say about
- 22:22Speaker 1: the high school? When Emily's snooping around the office of
- 22:25Speaker 1: the vice principal, Like, that's my biggest night I have
- 22:29Speaker 1: nightmares about that, like being caught in somebody's house while
- 22:32Speaker 1: I'm like snooping for something. All those things made everything
- 22:36Speaker 1: feel heightened while I was watching this, and that's that's
- 22:39Speaker 1: my own personal baggage that I bring into it. But
- 22:41Speaker 1: I thought it was well done. Yeah, I'm always afraid
- 22:43Speaker 1: they're gone. It caught. Yeah, I have a couple of
- 22:45Speaker 1: quick things.
- 22:47Speaker 2: How is Emily both running the shop without any additional
- 22:50Speaker 2: employees and coaching the chess team in the afternoon.
- 22:53Speaker 1: Maybe they close for during crime outnoon shopping hours.
- 22:58Speaker 2: I don't know and would like to call out. I
- 23:01Speaker 2: talked before about when Sam comes to Emily's house to
- 23:04Speaker 2: thank her for helping Violet. There is an almost kiss
- 23:07Speaker 2: moment there.
- 23:08Speaker 1: This is so good. It rings on the smoochometer just
- 23:12Speaker 1: for the tension. It's like you could tell that they
- 23:15Speaker 1: have to pull away from each other. Yes, it's so.
- 23:18Speaker 1: It feels unbelievable that they would have kept each other
- 23:22Speaker 1: at Arm's Lane for so many months. Yeah, so small.
- 23:25Speaker 1: They're hiding frous She's only place. Brook is everywhere you go. Yeah.
- 23:30Speaker 1: I had to laugh at one point with the rival
- 23:33Speaker 1: chess teacher. She hired a boyfriend who attack like her competitor.
- 23:38Speaker 1: I was like Tanya Harding, but make it chess right,
- 23:41Speaker 1: it's exactly what I think about Chess. But that's all.
- 23:45Speaker 2: Well, shall we rate this pair of episodes as if
- 23:48Speaker 2: it were its own self contained movie?
- 23:50Speaker 1: Okay, we can do that. I can't remember if we
- 23:51Speaker 1: did it on our original run. I think we did.
- 23:54Speaker 1: I could be wrong. Well for me, I mean, it's
- 23:58Speaker 1: up there, I'm gonna say it's five stars, like this
- 24:01Speaker 1: is a this is fantastic, this is a fantastic series.
- 24:04Speaker 1: So the same thing happened to me.
- 24:06Speaker 2: This is why I think we rate them because I
- 24:08Speaker 2: think I did the same thing last time that I'm
- 24:09Speaker 2: doing this time. In my mind, I'm like, this was
- 24:12Speaker 2: this was great. I have no complaints, minyl quibbles, just
- 24:15Speaker 2: because I want something to talk about. But really, I
- 24:18Speaker 2: thought it was so good. But I did this last
- 24:20Speaker 2: season where I thought, well, I want to give it room,
- 24:23Speaker 2: what if it gets better? So in my mind, I'm like,
- 24:26Speaker 2: it's four stars, but it's also five stars, right, I
- 24:29Speaker 2: hear you. I'm going to give it four stars just
- 24:31Speaker 2: so we have room to groove.
- 24:32Speaker 1: You give it like an A. That's right, I give
- 24:35Speaker 1: it an A with room for it to be an
- 24:38Speaker 1: A plus. I hear you. I totally I'm on board
- 24:42Speaker 1: with that.
- 24:42Speaker 2: Thank you for listening to this episode of Girls Gone Hallmark,
- 24:45Speaker 2: a Bramble Jam podcast. If you want to give us
- 24:49Speaker 2: five stars, please do that, drop those ratings and reviews
- 24:53Speaker 2: and we'll be back next time with more Hallmark reviews.
- 24:56Speaker 1: Goodbye bye. All right friends, before we go, just a
- 25:10Speaker 1: quick heads up, you're about to hear some ads. These
- 25:13Speaker 1: little gems help us keep the show running and the
- 25:15Speaker 1: Hallmark love flowing. So do with that info what you will,
- 25:19Speaker 1: Grab a snack, hit the skip button, or maybe just
- 25:22Speaker 1: maybe listen in and discover your new favorite product. Byetta
- 26:12Speaker 1: Sa