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TV Tuesday: All Creatures Great and Small Season 1 Episode 7 "The Night Before Christmas" · Cozy Comfort Club Podcast

• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Cozy Comfort Club,
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: the podcast where we talk about comfort movies,
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: cozy stories,
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: and the little moments that make them memorable.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Leah and if you enjoy cozy mysteries,
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: period dramas,
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: and comfort stories with a little emotional depth,
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: you are definitely in the right place.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: Here I talk about how stories feel,
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: I share what worked,
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: what didn't,
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: and even the moments that made me side-eye a character,
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: all so you know it was worth adding to your watchlist.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: Today,
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: we're discussing All Creatures Great and Small,
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: Season 1,
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  SPEAKER_00: Episode 7,
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: The Night Before Christmas.
• 0:43
  This episode is the Season 1 finale and it runs about one hour
• 0:47
  and two minutes,
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: is rated TVPG,
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: and the synopsis says,
• 0:52
  Siegfried hosts a Christmas Eve party with an even bigger event
• 0:55
  to follow the next
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: day.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: Helen accompanies James on an emergency house call.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: And this episode was a beautiful way to wrap up the season.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: A quick spoiler note,
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: as always,
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: we'll be discussing the entire episode,
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: including the season finale ending.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: If you haven't watched All Creatures Great and Smalls Season 1,
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: Episode 7,
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: you may want to watch first and then come back and join us.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: And before we get into the story itself,
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: I have to say this is another favorite episode of Season 1.
• 1:29
  I think I've said that about every episode,
• 1:31
  but it had everything that I love about this show.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: This time we get Christmas traditions,
• 1:38
  of course we have our community and animals the family drama
• 1:43
  romance and heartbreak
• 1:45
  and emotional moments that had me tearing up more than once as
• 1:50
  usual now what stood
• 1:51
  out to me the most is that this episode felt bigger than a
• 1:54
  typical episode I mean
• 1:55
  come on it was an hour and two minutes long anyway and so the
• 1:58
  Christmas setting
• 1:59
  made everything feel really cozy but there was a lot at stake
• 2:04
  for pretty much every
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  SPEAKER_00: character
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  SPEAKER_00: Mrs.
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  Hall is waiting and hoping for Edward Tristan is anxious about
• 2:10
  his exam results
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  Siegfried is trying to navigate some kind of romance with
• 2:14
  Dorothy and of course
• 2:16
  James and Helen are running out of time to figure out what they
• 2:20
  really mean to each
• 2:20
  other before she gets married now by the end of the episode I
• 2:25
  was completely sold
• 2:26
  on the series and I'm already looking forward to starting
• 2:29
  season two I was going to
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: start now but I'm going to wait until August when we revisit Darby
• 2:36
  so let's go ahead and jump into the night before Christmas so
• 2:41
  this episode opens on
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  Christmas Eve and James is visiting Burton Ann's farm now of
• 2:47
  course the scenery is
• 2:49
  beautiful he even stops to take everything in and remember he
• 2:53
  is from Scotland and
• 2:56
  it was busy and so it's just to see this beautiful view is just
• 3:00
  a reminder to slow
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: down and appreciate everything around you
• 3:05
  And in this episode everything was festive and cozy but there
• 3:09
  was some sadness that
• 3:10
  was hanging over the story and it did feel a little different
• 3:13
  from some of the
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: earlier episodes.
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  SPEAKER_00: Now at Burton Ann's farm their dog Susie is struggling during labor.
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  She has one very large puppy that's blocking the birth canal
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  and is creating a
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: dangerous situation for the mom and for her litter.
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  SPEAKER_00: While James is there,
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  SPEAKER_00: Bert and Ann mention Helen and Hugh's wedding,
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  SPEAKER_00: and as always,
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  SPEAKER_00: news travels fast in a small town.
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  SPEAKER_00: Random but one small thing I noticed in this episode was James' scarf.
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  SPEAKER_00: I couldn't remember for sure,
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  but was that the same knitted scarf his mother sent him for his
• 3:44
  birthday in the
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: last episode?
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  SPEAKER_00: Because if it was, I thought that was a really sweet detail.
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  and considering this is a Christmas episode and James is
• 3:52
  missing home I just
• 3:54
  thought it was nice to see him wearing something that his
• 3:57
  mother made for him so
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: meanwhile back at Skeldell House Mrs.
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  Hall and Siegfried are preparing for Christmas and Tristan's
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  exam results have
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  SPEAKER_00: arrived in the mail and Mrs.
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  Hall is begging Siegfried not to open them until after
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  Christmas and she doesn't
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  SPEAKER_00: want any bad news or potential bad news to ruin the holiday
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  now the camera lingers on a present that's under the Christmas
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  tree and it's
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  SPEAKER_00: addressed to Edward and you know that's Mrs.
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  Hall's son and we are left wondering if he's coming home to see
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  his mother now
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  Tristan arrives home after a Christmas celebration and is
• 4:34
  clearly enjoying himself
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  SPEAKER_00: a little too much.
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  One thing I did notice throughout this episode is Tristan is
• 4:42
  drinking quite a bit.
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  I mean obviously he's stressed about his exam results and I
• 4:46
  couldn't help but
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  SPEAKER_00: wonder if some of that was anxiety disguised as celebration.
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  We also see Maggie selling mistletoe in the village and now
• 4:56
  remember with Tristan
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  and Maggie their relationship is still a little rocky after
• 5:00
  Tristan's behavior
• 5:02
  earlier in the season but there's definitely still something
• 5:04
  there between them.
• 5:06
  And back at Skeldale House,
• 5:08
  Mrs.
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  Hall has prepared an incredible Christmas buffet.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: Seriously, if you're watching this episode hungry, good luck.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: The food looked amazing.
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  So Tristan starts hanging mistletoe everywhere in the house and
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  teasing Siegfried
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  about Dorothy because Dorothy is going to attend the Christmas
• 5:23
  Eve gathering as
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  SPEAKER_00: Mrs.
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  SPEAKER_00: Hall's guest.
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  SPEAKER_00: And Tristan is convinced that romance may finally be in the air.
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  SPEAKER_00: And of course,
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  Siegfried is dressed as Father Christmas while Tristan has been
• 5:35
  assigned the role
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  SPEAKER_00: of Elf.
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  SPEAKER_00: Perfect casting, if I'm going to be honest.
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  SPEAKER_00: Now, soon everyone begins arriving.
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  SPEAKER_00: We have Helen and Jenny and Mr.
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  SPEAKER_00: Alderson,
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  SPEAKER_00: Hugh,
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  SPEAKER_00: Dorothy,
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  SPEAKER_00: and even Connie shows up for the celebration.
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  SPEAKER_00: One thing that stood out to me,
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  SPEAKER_00: though,
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  is that Hugh never misses an opportunity to remind everybody
• 5:56
  about that wedding.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_00: He seems very eager to make sure people know what's happening and when.
• 6:03
  Now Connie and James they're getting along well and I actually
• 6:06
  think they have a
• 6:07
  decent amount of chemistry but the problem is James is still in
• 6:11
  love with Helen and
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_00: obviously that's getting in the way of him connecting with anyone.
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  SPEAKER_00: Mrs.
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  Hall spends much of the evening watching the door and waiting
• 6:20
  for a phone call from
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  SPEAKER_00: Edward and that sadness just follows her throughout the entire episode.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: The biggest turning point of the episode comes when Bert calls and Susie,
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  SPEAKER_00: his dog,
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  is still struggling with delivering these pups and James has to
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  leave immediately.
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  SPEAKER_00: Now, while he's preparing to go, well, let me back up a little bit.
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  SPEAKER_00: He did ask Connie if she wanted to go and Connie's like,
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  SPEAKER_00: no,
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  SPEAKER_00: not with this outfit,
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  SPEAKER_00: I'm not going.
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  SPEAKER_00: And so he's leaving and he finds Helen sitting alone.
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  SPEAKER_00: Helen is very overwhelmed.
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  SPEAKER_00: The wedding is only...
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  SPEAKER_00: hours away.
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  SPEAKER_00: And it's obvious that she's carrying a lot of doubts.
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  When Helen decides to go with James on the house call,
• 7:02
  even he's a bit surprised.
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  SPEAKER_00: I know Mrs. Hall certainly was.
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  I mean,
• 7:07
  the look on her face when she sees them driving away together
• 7:09
  was priceless.
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  SPEAKER_00: She was shocked.
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  SPEAKER_00: Now, once they arrive, things become even more complicated.
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  SPEAKER_00: The weather is terrible.
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  SPEAKER_00: The puppies are struggling to be born and
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  SPEAKER_00: James and Helen are stranded overnight.
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  This entire section of the episode was probably my favorite
• 7:28
  because we get some
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: incredibly sweet moments between James and Helen as they work together.
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  SPEAKER_00: And we also get to see James in his element.
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  SPEAKER_00: I mean, that man is compassionate.
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  SPEAKER_00: He's patient.
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  SPEAKER_00: He's skilled and he's determined to save these puppies.
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  SPEAKER_00: I think any woman would find that attractive or it may be a man.
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  SPEAKER_00: But anyway, one
• 7:48
  really touching moment comes when the first puppy appears
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  lifeless and James is
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  SPEAKER_00: trying to revive it.
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  SPEAKER_00: And when that doesn't work,
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  SPEAKER_00: cause he's blowing in to the pup's lungs,
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  they placed the puppy beside his mother and Susie's care and
• 8:04
  affection really
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  SPEAKER_00: helped bring that puppy back to life.
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  SPEAKER_00: And it was a beautiful scene.
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  And I think it's moments like this that remind Helen why she
• 8:14
  admires James so much
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  SPEAKER_00: and why she doesn't really want to get married to Hugh.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_00: Now, again, we're back at Skeldal House.
• 8:22
  Tristan may have one of his strongest episodes of the entire
• 8:26
  season and he spends
• 8:29
  time helping David and David is Maggie's little brother whose
• 8:32
  donkey named Bob
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: becomes ill after eating mistletoe.
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  SPEAKER_00: And what I love most about their interaction was the conversation.
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  SPEAKER_00: Tristan admits that he's actually shy
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  and he talks and he pretends to be confident and he's kind of
• 8:48
  wearing a mask like
• 8:49
  this magical mask because he's afraid of the world underneath
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  it all that was one
• 8:55
  of the most honest and vulnerable moments that we've gotten
• 8:58
  from him all season we
• 9:00
  spend so much time talking about Tristan's failures and his
• 9:03
  procrastination and his
• 9:05
  laziness and his exam struggles it's easy to forget how
• 9:08
  kind-hearted he really is
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: and this episode reminded me that Tristan would totally make
• 9:14
  a great father as soon as he gets some things together I think
• 9:16
  that he would make a
• 9:17
  wonderful father and we also learn that Siegfried has been
• 9:22
  raising Tristan since he
• 9:23
  was 13 years old which explains so much about why they have
• 9:27
  such a complicated
• 9:28
  relationship meanwhile Dorothy our girl Dorothy because I like
• 9:34
  Dorothy sorry y'all
• 9:35
  I do I really do but she arrives at the party and at first I
• 9:39
  wasn't sure how I felt
• 9:43
  about Dorothy earlier in the season because I love the
• 9:46
  friendship between Mrs.
• 9:47
  Hall and Siegfried but hey Dorothy is thoughtful intuitive and
• 9:52
  she understands him
• 9:53
  pretty well and she I think now I can't remember y'all but I
• 9:57
  think she's also
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: grieving the loss of her husband yes I think so
• 10:04
  Now one of my favorite scenes comes when Siegfried asked
• 10:07
  Tristan for romantic advice.
• 10:09
  I love seeing that role reversal and Tristan was like okay big
• 10:13
  bro you want some
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  advice because this is my territory and he's the one that's
• 10:18
  usually being corrected
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_00: but in this moment he has something valuable to offer.
• 10:23
  Now eventually Siegfried admits that he would like to explore a
• 10:26
  relationship with
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_00: Dorothy and he finally gets to kiss her and I was cheering.
• 10:32
  Let's get back to Mrs.
• 10:33
  Hall because this was an emotional episode for the viewers and
• 10:37
  for her.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_00: So Edward, her son, never arrived.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_00: He never called.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_00: And when Mrs.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_00: Hall begins crying during the church service on Christmas Eve,
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: I understood her heartbreak.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, because we finally learned a truth about Edward.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_00: As a teenager, he stole from Mrs. Hall's employer.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_00: Mrs. Hall reported him
• 11:01
  and Edward was sent to Borstal which is like a reform school
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  for six months and
• 11:08
  even though she believed it was the right thing to do their
• 11:13
  relationship never
• 11:14
  really recovered and so now she's carrying guilt and a lot of
• 11:19
  sadness and that's
• 11:21
  what makes her storyline pretty heartbreaking and one thing I
• 11:25
  will say about
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: Siegfried is that whenever someone truly needs him he does show up
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  SPEAKER_00: The scene where he is quietly holding Mrs.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: Hall's hand during church was one of the sweetest moments of the season.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: Really.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: We have so many sweet moments in this episode, guys.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_00: I felt this was the perfect wrap-up for the entire season.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: It couldn't have gone better.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_00: Now,
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_00: I mean,
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: well,
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: obviously we wanted Mrs.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_00: Hall to see her son,
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_00: but maybe we're going to be introduced to
• 11:58
  to him in the second season I don't know now Christmas morning
• 12:04
  arrives the
• 12:05
  weather's clear and I forgot to mention the night before on
• 12:11
  Christmas Eve when
• 12:12
  James and Helen were alone they shared one final conversation
• 12:17
  and it was a very
• 12:19
  hard scene to watch because there was so much left unsaid and
• 12:22
  you could feel both
• 12:23
  of them kind of waiting for the other to say something about
• 12:26
  how they feel about
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_00: each other
• 12:28
  but nobody does and Helen is waiting for James just say it just
• 12:32
  say you don't want
• 12:32
  me to marry him say you want to be with me but he doesn't and
• 12:37
  at least not then and
• 12:39
  so the weather's cleared and I guess she'll make it to the
• 12:43
  wedding after all back
• 12:45
  at Skeldale House Tristan's exam results are finally opened and
• 12:50
  at first it seems
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_00: like the perfect Christmas miracle
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_00: and Siegfried announces that Tristan passed and we're all celebrating.
• 12:57
  I know as viewers we were celebrating too and only for us to
• 13:02
  discover that Tristan
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_00: failed pharmacology.
• 13:05
  But leave it to Siegfried to create an even bigger problem by
• 13:09
  not telling him
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_00: because he's trying to protect him in his feelings.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_00: And so now I have a lot of questions going into season two.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_00: How long can Siegfried keep that secret?
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_00: What happens next for Tristan?
• 13:24
  will Dorothy stick around and lastly but most importantly will
• 13:30
  we finally meet
• 13:32
  Edward then comes my favorite sequence did I say the other one
• 13:36
  was my favorite
• 13:36
  because this is my favorite yeah I think I did but this
• 13:41
  actually was my favorite um
• 13:43
  James is driving away he's heading to Scotland for Christmas to
• 13:47
  see his family
• 13:48
  Helen is on her way to the church the wedding is about to
• 13:50
  happen James stops at a
• 13:52
  crossroads like a literal a literal crossroad and the symbolism
• 13:56
  could not have been
• 13:57
  more obvious he's literally reaching a point where he has to
• 14:00
  decide which direction
• 14:02
  his life is going to go as far as with Helen at least so he's
• 14:08
  looking around like
• 14:09
  he's going to keep driving and I think Alexa play keep driving
• 14:12
  by Harry Styles
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_00: y'all know I'm a big Harry Styles fan I'm always going to talk about him
• 14:17
  but then he turns around and I was so proud of him and at the
• 14:22
  same time Helen's
• 14:23
  father acknowledges something that she's probably been avoiding
• 14:28
  because part of the
• 14:28
  reason she's marrying Hugh isn't love it's security it's
• 14:33
  stability and it's
• 14:35
  protecting her family and finally Helen realizes that she can't
• 14:40
  go through with it
• 14:42
  now when James arrives at the church and finds her crying oh my
• 14:46
  heart broke
• 14:47
  she's worried that she was being cruel to Hugh even though I
• 14:50
  thought Hugh could be
• 14:51
  cruel and James tells her that she's the exact opposite and
• 14:58
  that's why she made
• 14:58
  that choice and when they leave together hand in hand I think
• 15:03
  we all knew exactly
• 15:04
  where this story was heading what a perfect ending this was
• 15:10
  everything I wanted
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_00: from a season finale we got Christmas warmth found family
• 15:16
  some romance a little heartbreak some growth some hope and the
• 15:22
  final scene of James
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_00: and Tristan and Siegfried and Mrs.
• 15:25
  Hall sitting around and I think they're in the living room or
• 15:29
  something and they're
• 15:30
  listening to King George VI sharing the Christmas message and
• 15:35
  it was just perfectly
• 15:37
  perfectly done now my cozy rating for this episode is a five
• 15:42
  out of five cups
• 15:44
  my cozy rating for season one in general is a five this is
• 15:49
  comfort at its finest
• 15:53
  episode rating I gave it a five I think it was well done this
• 15:58
  is such a good show
• 16:00
  and on the rewatch scale I also gave it a five out of five I
• 16:05
  love this episode I
• 16:06
  love all creatures great and small now and now that season one
• 16:10
  is complete we're
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_00: going to be taking a short break
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_00: But we're going to eventually return for season two later this summer,
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_00: most likely sometime in August.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_00: On Instagram last week, I put up a poll for our next TV Tuesday pick.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_00: And the next pick will be The Other Bennett Sister on BritBox.
• 16:30
  So it was 80% voted for The Other Bennett Sister and only 20%
• 16:35
  voted for The
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_00: Durrells in Corfu,
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_00: but I certainly would watch that as well.
• 16:39
  The Other Bennett Sister is based on the novel by Janice Hadlow
• 16:42
  and reimagines
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_00: Pride and Prejudice through the eyes of Mary Bennett.
• 16:46
  There are 10 episodes total and we'll be covering two episodes
• 16:50
  per week beginning July 7th.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_00: Next week I'll be sharing my final thoughts on season one,
• 16:58
  my early impressions of the All Creatures Great and Small
• 17:01
  memoir by James Harriot,
• 17:03
  and a few thoughts on some of the other shows I've recently
• 17:06
  finished including
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_00: Grantchester Season 1,
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_00: Father Brown Season 2,
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_00: After the Flood Season 1,
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_00: You're Killing Me Season 1,
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_00: and The Heart Acres Season 1.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_00: And that's it for today's episode of Cozy Comfort Club.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_00: If you enjoyed this,
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_00: don't forget to follow the podcast on Apple Podcasts,
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_00: Spotify,
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_00: or wherever you listen.
• 17:32
  and feel free to send me your recommendations I love adding to
• 17:36
  our cozy list and
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_00: until next time keep it cozy