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What If Christmas (Hallmark Channel 2026) · Girls Gone Hallmark | Hallmark Movie Reviews

• 0:11
  Speaker 1: I'm ready. Welcome to Girls Gone Hallmark, a Hallmark Review podcast.
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: I'm Megan, and I'm a longtime Hallmark fan. I'm Wendy.
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: I'm a former Hallmark hater. Today, we are discussing What
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: If Christmas, which originally aired Sunday, October 25th on Hallmark
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: Channel and is now streaming on Hallmark +. Follow us
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: everywhere on social media. Why are you laughing at me?
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: Because I just realized that you have your computer set
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: up on the dog crate. No, I don't. What's it on?
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: I have like a little TV tray that I... That's right. Okay,
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: because I was like, wait, you're not actually using the
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: desk right now. No, because if I use the desk,
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: all the light is behind me. Yes, I see. Okay, sorry.
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: The dog crate's actually not a bad idea because I
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: did have to pile stuff up on top of this
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: tray to make it high enough. So maybe next time. Okay,
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: but are you at all a little apprehensive because your
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: back is to the door and anybody could walk in
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: behind you? Well, now I am, but the good news
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: is I have both dogs in here, so if anybody
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: tries to walk in, they'll go on the attack. Exactly. Okay.
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: So we're all good. They're both snoozing in their respective recliners.
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: We got doggo number one. I can't make it turn
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: all the way to the other one. Anyway. Kind of
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: set up you got over there. Anyway, follow us all
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: over the internet where we are Girls Gone Hallmark. I
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: was having some nice chats over on Threads the other night.
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: It was just a good time in the Girls Gone
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: Hallmark community. Did I tell you about the Threads drama
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: I found myself in? Are you aware of this? No.
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: It's so minor. But someone came on Threads, posted, I
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: hate how Hallmark is putting all their new movies on
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: Hallmark Plus. Like, it sucks. And I was like, what?
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: So I commented like all their movies like air originally
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: on the channel and then they stream on Hallmark Plus,
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: but they do re-air on the channel. And then I
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: think I may have like sent a second comment that
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: was like a couple of their they've had two series
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: go to Hallmark Plus exclusively. And apparently I was not
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: the only one because this person then sub tweets that
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: and was like, I love how the Hallmark bots are
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: coming out to tell me that Hallmark does, in fact,
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: put movies on their channel first. So I then posted, like,
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: Hallmark bot reporting for duty. But I was like, y'all,
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: it's just, look. Wait, question. Yes, from the Girls Gone
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: Hallmark account. Okay, that was my question. Yeah. Sorry. I
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: don't care. Hallmark, that's so funny to me because do
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: you see that happen often, like, in, not just on threads, but, like,
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: in any sort of, like, social media conversation where there
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: are replies and the people are like, oh, the bots
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: are out. It's the bots. It's the bots. Look, just
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: stand in your wrongness. I'm sorry that you're wrong. If
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: you want to argue with me about Hallmark, there's plenty
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: of things we can complain about. I got lots of issues.
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: I'm not telling you they're a perfect corporation, far be it.
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: But you just so happen to be wrong. All the
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: new stuff is on the Hallmark channel. Why didn't you
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: just say that? You shouldn't have been nice. You should
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: have just been like, no, you're wrong. It airs. I
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: wanted to post the West Wing stand in your wrongness
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: and be wrong gif, but I did not. I did not.
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: I refrained. You know, it's a business account. Got to
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: play nice. Got it. Got it. It's all right. Say
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: whatever you want to say over there. I'm not out
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: here trying to be Wendy's. You know what I mean?
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: Excuse me? The hamburger joint? I know. They are savage.
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: I know. I love it. I don't have the thick
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: skin for that. So anyway, if you want to be...
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: That could go sideways. That could go sideways. If you
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: want to be a part of the social media drama,
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: follow us, Girls Gone Hallmark. We're Instagram, we're Threads, we're
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: Blue Sky, YouTube, whatever your... Facebook, Facebook groups, whatever your
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: social media platform of choices, you can find us there. Drama.
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: Drama light. I know. Oh, oh my gosh. Hold on
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: a second. I'm going to be right back. I know
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: what you have. I'm so excited. You're going to do
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: a live unboxing? Can I? Please. Oh, my gosh. My
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: something came. It came to my neighbor's house on accident,
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: and they dropped it off last night. I was like, huh,
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: what's this? And then I saw the return address, and
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: I was like, oh, my gosh. Look at how cute
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: it is. It's so cute. It's so funny. You know,
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: I'm wearing Girls Gone Hallmark merch today, too. Love it.
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: I'm wearing our main character energy sweatshirt from last season.
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: If anybody wants one, you can get it in our
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: Etsy shop. Love it. I cannot wait to wear it. Yay!
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: I actually thought it was going to be a t-shirt. Oh.
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: But I'm happy it's a sweatshirt. Well, I can send
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: you a t-shirt, too. I know, but we're getting into
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: cozy season, so it's cool. I'm so excited. And it's
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: Gildan Brand, which is one of my favorite brands. sweatshirt
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: brands to wear. Yes, those are the best. Those are
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: the blanks we use to print our sweatshirts on, and
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: they're the best, coziest. Love them so much. Love them. Cool. Well,
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: today we are talking what if Christmas. So start us
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: off with a synopsis, please. After years of putting her
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: own dreams aside to support her heart surgeon husband, Erin
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: begins questioning her choices when a move to New York
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: leaves her without a sense of purpose. A magical Christmas
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: transports her into an alternate reality where she's a world-famous
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: fashion designer. But when she crosses paths with her husband again,
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: she must decide which version of life she truly wants.
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: What if Christmas was directed by Jerry Siccaritti? Jerry has
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: 75 directing credits, including the 2024 Netflix movie Hot Frosty.
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: But his last Hallmark film was the 2021 movie Two
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: for the Win. Two for the Win. Do you remember
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: Two for the Win? Is that a skiing movie? Yeah,
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: written by Julie Sherman-Wolf, who also co-wrote on this movie.
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: Kara J. Russell and Julie Sherman-Wolf share writing credit. Kara's
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: last writing credit was the 2025 movie Double Scoop. Julie
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: Sherman-Wolf is fan favorite, but her last Hallmark movies were
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: the 2025 back-to-back films To Barcelona With Love and To
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: Barcelona Forever. Not enough Julie. Not enough Julie Sherman-Wolf. Lori
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: Loughlin stars as Erin, returning for her first Christmas movie
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: on Hallmark since Homegrown Christmas in 2018. Of course, we
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: saw her a few weeks ago in Garage Sale Mysteries,
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: and she will return to When Calls the Heart in
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: early 2027. Tom Cavanaugh stars as Adam. Tom is best
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: known for his roles in The Flash and the sitcom Ed.
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: We last saw Tom in season one of Mistletoe Murders,
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: which drops on Netflix on November 1st, and we will
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: be airing encore episodes during our reviews next week. Connie
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: Manfredi plays BFF Kelly. Connie has appeared on Hallmark in
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: various roles, including trading up Christmas and romance in style.
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: Jonathan Whitaker, Carrie Wong, Lila Elliott, Marissa McIntyre, and Rosemary
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: Dunsmore round out the cast. Question for you. Did you
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: see Marissa McIntyre? She played She played the sister, Adam's sister.
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: And were you like, where do I know you from?
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: Tell me where I know her from. She's from the
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: Eye for an Eye. True Justice. True Justice. The Scooby gang.
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: She's one of the Scooby gangs? Yes, exactly. Got it.
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: Thank you. I did spend a lot of time thinking,
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: who is she? And I didn't look it up. I've
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: been doing a screen-free watch of these, taking notes on
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: paper so that I do not get distracted. It's been
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: working out real well for me. Although then I have
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: to go transcribe my notes. But yeah, that's no fun.
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: It isn't fun. Sometimes I voice transcribe them. I just
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: like read them into a voice note. It's great. Hey, Wendy,
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: what's your first impression of What If Christmas? I have
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: never been more offended on behalf of a fictional woman
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: than when they offered her to be the coat check. Oh,
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: that was a rough job. The whole scene kind of
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: pissed me off, but we can talk about it when
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: we get into it. Yes. We will get into the
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: reality of nonprofit fundraising. Exactly. My first impression is leave
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: it to Julie Sherman-Wolfe to make me like an It's
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: a Wonderful Life reimagining. So, you know, I've never seen
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: that movie. And you don't like the original, I'm guessing. Why?
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: Because I think it's depressing. Oh. George Bailey is grumpy
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: and sad, and it is the last 90 seconds of
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: the movie that redeem it. And I understand that we're
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: supposed to be like, oh, God bless us, everyone. Every
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: time a bell rings. No, I hate it. It's boring.
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: It's depressing. I actually, it was one of my husband's
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: favorite movies. My little dog here, Bailey, is named for
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: George Bailey. I was just going to say. My hate
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: of the movie has actually made my husband dislike the
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: movie now. Do you guys look at your dog and go, ugh.
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: He's named after George Bailey. No, his name has another
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: very significant... My husband grew up on Bailey Street. Who did?
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: My husband. Oh, that's cute. My big dog is named
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: for Michael Cooper. Do I have any connection to Michael Cooper,
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: the basketball player? I do not. Coop from the Lakers?
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: Michael Cooper? From probably the 80s or 90s? Yes. Yeah.
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: I didn't know your husband was a Lakers fan. fan. Yeah. Oh, wow. Interesting. Okay. God,
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: you learn something new every single day. I'm telling you guys.
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: Don't you really? Okay. Do you want to jump into
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: what we liked about this movie? Uh-huh. Other than you
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: like the freshened up It's a Wonderful Life? You know,
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: it didn't even occur to me right away that that's
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: what was happening here. And when I realized it, I thought, well,
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: Julie Sherman Wolf, look what you did, because I don't
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: like that movie. And if I had had that in
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: my mind ahead of time, I probably would have gone
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: into this movie kind of salty. I think I need
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: to watch the original movie and get back to you. Yeah,
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: please let me know. I mean, it's in black and white.
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: You're going to hate it. Who says I would hate
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: black and white? Miss I Can't Stand a Period Piece,
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: Don't Drag Me Kicking and Screaming Through an Episode of
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: Downton Abbey is going to watch George Bailey in black
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: and white. Maybe. Like a blast of the moon. Is
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: that supposed to be like one of the greatest movies
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: of all time? Maybe. That's not Rosebud, is it? No,
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: that's Citizen Kane, a movie that I also hate, but,
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: you know. Not a movie reviewer, guys. I'm just a
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: mom in my kitchen. That's right. Talking Hallmark. Yep. Yep, yep, yep.
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: A mom in her kitchen talking Hallmark who, by the way,
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: got her name in the New York Times last week.
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: Thanks to you. Well, I mean, okay, but our names
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: were in the New York Times. Thanks to you. But yeah, yeah,
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: we got to put that on our website. Yeah, just
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: casual national news mention, MBD. That's all right. I didn't
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: hear from anybody except for, like, my dad. I didn't
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: hear from anybody either. Nobody I know reads the New
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: York Times, so. No, I read the New York Times.
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: Do you? Yeah, I have a subscription, a digital subscription. See.
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: And I read through my morning brief every day. I mean,
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: I'm not reading it cover to cover, but the morning, yeah.
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: This reminds me of a whole nother topic that we're
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: going to talk about on Patreon, about reading. No. So,
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: if you guys want to jump in. I saw a
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: great TikTok about like reading curriculum for women of a
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: certain age. I love a personal curriculum. Yes, I'm very
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: into that idea. I'm going to talk about it on Patreon.
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: Write it down so you don't forget because it's going
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: to be a minute before we record that. I know.
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: I'm going to write it down. Write yourself a note.
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: I can't wait to talk about this. Let's talk what
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: we liked. All right. First and foremost, I love an
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: older established couple. Older, like, I'm not trying to offend
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: anybody here. No, they're not in their 20s. They have
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: lived a life. Yeah. I love that. It's almost similar to, like,
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: Garage Sale Mysteries, where they just came into that relationship.
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: They'd been married for a long time. They still liked
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: each other. Same sort of thing here. I liked that.
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: And I liked that, you know, Aaron... Is obviously at
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: a crossroads. She's not questioning if she, like, loves her husband, right? Yeah.
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: That's never, like, their relationship is never the conflict. They're solid. Yeah.
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: She's questioning, like, what has happened along the way. And
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: what I thought was really interesting is, like, they don't
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: have children, right? That they don't have children. And it
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: really made me think. I was like, what has she
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: been doing? Now, this might be a misogynistic thought, but
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: I was like... What's she been doing with all that time?
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: What has she been doing with all that time as
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: a housewife? And I'm quoting housewife, you know, married to
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: this surgeon. She didn't have to work because he was successful,
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: and she was very involved in, like, fundraising, and that's great. But, like,
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: why didn't she pursue... any of her passions during that time.
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: It wasn't like she was raising children. It made me like,
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: it was a lot of like, hmm, but what? But
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: I liked it. I liked it. And what I really
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: liked was, I know that was a little tangent, but
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: what I liked is that, you know, like she's unpacking
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: the Christmas stuff, right? And he's getting ready to go
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: for work. This is all at the top of the movie.
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: And then like, you know, I just think she was like, OK,
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: what about what about me? Like we're in this new place.
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: What about me? And I was like, this is very
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: relatable for a person my age. Yeah, they're walking down
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: the street and he's like, maybe you need a hobby.
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: And she's like, don't suggest needlepoint to me. And he
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: was like, well, I was going to, you know, I
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: loved a casual needlepoint mention. But I think that's very
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: what am I doing now? You would kind of maybe
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: normally see a woman in her situation, like, in our
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: phase of life, like, with an empty or emptying nest. Like,
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: what do I do now? But it's just a different
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: sort of transition. She had all of those systems in
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: place before, and now she doesn't, and she kind of
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: has to start over. I mean, it's very similar in
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: a lot of ways. She has to find her place again.
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: I think about it like your mom, for example, right? Yeah.
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: So she's been an empty nester, obviously, for a really
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: long time. And she doesn't work right. But she's very
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: involved in things. What if she moved to Boston? She
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: would have to, like, restart all those things. And it
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: might make a person go, like, how did I get here? Like, how?
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: What do I do? It's very interesting to me. Especially
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: if she were moving for Boston for my dad, right?
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: They're in their 70s. He's not relocating for a job. But...
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: The issue here is that Adam has a place where
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: he's needed and he has a purpose and he's like
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: there's a place for him to go every day. And
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: they show that shot of like everybody like, oh, the Cardiacs,
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: everyone loves you. Right. And so she doesn't even have
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: that to build upon, which, you know, would be hard
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: at any phase of life, especially. I think it makes
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: it harder because, you know, if you have kids, you
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: can pour your energy into that. Or if you have
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: a job like she needed direction and she didn't have any.
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: And I can kind of understand that. Totally. Yeah. I
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: want to talk about the socks because up top, I'm
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: going somewhere here. Up top, she gives them these heart socks.
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: And she's like, I designed them online. Right. And look,
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: you gave me socks with like my Bailey's puppy face
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: on them. Like we all know. This is not a
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: hard thing to do. She didn't design them online. Like
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: you uploaded a photo and like. Yeah. Okay. Don't get
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: me wrong. But when she did that, I was like. okay,
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: it's not until later in the movie that you realize
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: that they've built in all of these little ways in
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: which her life has been important and valuable and meaningful. Like,
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: she brought joy and whimsy and helped her husband find
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: the fun in what is otherwise a very serious job.
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: And that, it to me, was, it wasn't until later
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: that that pays off, but You can look back and
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: you can see all the way her friendship with Kelly
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: really helped Kelly's life move forward in the right direction
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: and her relationship with her niece and all of these things.
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: And I think it's very easy in a relationship where
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: one person has this like very important in quotes job,
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: like meaningful. It's important in a way that's understandable to
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: like the world at large. Like you're a cardiac surgeon.
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: Everyone gets how what a big deal job that is.
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: But she like a smaller life is not an unimportant
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: or invaluable life. I agree. And as a person who
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: lives a small life, I liked that messaging. I absolutely
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: agree with you. I found myself irritated because when we
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: talk about this a lot, she was the flow, right? Absolutely.
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: She just made all the things happen for him, like
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: made his life easier. He went to work, did the
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: hard stuff, came home. Everything was handled. I was irritated
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: that he did not recognize that while watching this. Sure. Yeah.
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: But she's like, I'm going to go unpack some more boxes.
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: And he's like, I'm going to go. I forget what
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: he was going to do. Or whatever. Yeah, yeah. He
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: wasn't going to go on pack boxes. He wasn't helping. Yeah.
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: But Tom Cavanaugh is so likable, right? Like, he made
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: the character Adam likable. Like, even though I was irritated with, like,
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: Adam not recognizing, like, all the things that his wife
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: did for him to make his life easier. Or forgetting
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: her hot chocolate order. Yeah, that kind of stuff. It
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: didn't make me not like him. No, Tom Cavanaugh is excellent. No,
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: he was great. He wasn't a terrible husband. Like, he
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: was a great husband. Especially in the end when he
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: finally sees, like, what he needs to do to help
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: her have the life that she wants. Yeah, when he
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: finally learns the lesson, like, yes. Like, he is a
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: good guy. Yeah, and I would agree. Even in the
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: beginning when she's struggling, he's not a bad husband. No.
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: He's a little clueless. He's in his own little lane. Mm-hmm.
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: But he's not bad. No. And the two of them
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: are so nice together. This like mature couple, Lori Loughlin,
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: Tom Cavanaugh. I really liked this comfortable chemistry they had
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: with each other. It was different than the chemistry she
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: had with Steve Basic, which I think is a little
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: bit more fiery and like spicy. And then these two
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: just felt like very like lived in and comfortable and
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: the kind of relationship you might aspire to like. you know,
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: this is my person, this is my family, this is
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: my home. Yeah. That's the vibe I got from them. Yeah.
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: Me too. Cool. A little aspirational. I know. Relationship. Love it.
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: Did you like Lori Loughlin in this? I did. You
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: know what was funny is I saw on socials I
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: can't remember who it was but prior to the movie
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: coming out somebody posted something like oh controversial movie this
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: weekend and I was like and a lot of people
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: were like why controversial and then on the flip side
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: I read some reviews and they're like Great job, Hallmark.
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: Hire a convict for, you know, your movies. And I
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: just was like, will we be done with this narrative?
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: I know. I can't. There have been people in my
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: own life who were like, she broke the law. I'm like, mm-hmm.
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: And she went to prison. Like, at what point are
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: we going to be like, I don't know. I just
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: think there are so many people who break the law
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: and don't ever see any punishment. And she. This was
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: a crime of entitlement. I do not forgive what she did. Like,
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: this was rich people deciding that they could make the
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: world what they wanted it to be. I don't think
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: it's great. But I think sometimes we just got to, like,
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: be realistic about what the stakes are here. Yeah, and
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: I can be realistic in saying that I like Lori
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: Loughlin as an actor. Me too. End of story. And
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: they even poked a little fun at it. They do
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: have a little bit of a college admissions. No, I
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: was like... what do you mean you're not taking your
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: SATs I was like oh I don't know if we
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: should go there but okay we went there wow wow
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: do you have any more likes just a couple I
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: like that Aaron and Adam find each other again like
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: in this alternate universe and they still are like drawn
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: to each other they still there's still a connection there
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: he wasn't like who are you I mean, there was
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: like a who are you, but like they were obviously
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: drawn to each other. Like even in you're my partner,
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: even in an alternate universe, you know? Yes. It's kind
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: of nice. The thing I liked about the alternate universe
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: is that all of these people exist and they haven't
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: made them like cartoon villain versions of themselves. They haven't
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: like flipped their personalities on their head. It really is a,
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: you know, if life took a slightly different direction, this
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: is what your life would look like. It's not the back,
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: the future version. Like, Hill Valley doesn't exist. Biff is
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: this evil supervillain situation. I liked their reimagining of her
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: alternate what-if world. So, okay, this is interesting to me
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: because she wakes up in her alternate universe, right? And
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: when she gets into the office, it kind of comes
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: off as like she's this no-nonsense boss. Cutthroat. Yeah, and
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: I was like, I had to question it because I
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: felt like, would that be, is that true to who
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: this character would be? Well, that's in my wishes. Oh, okay. Well,
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: let's talk about that. Let's take a quick break and
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: we'll come back to talk wishes. Well, you teed it
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: up so nicely. I had the exact same thought that
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: you did because I, This like success makes you an
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: unkind person was a that was a shift that I
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: didn't love because I think you're right. Everything we know
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: about Erin shows that that's not really who she is.
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: And the idea that like, oh, I'm going to become
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: successful and therefore I'm not going to like she. As.
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: this Erin was inhibiting this new life. She was making
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: these changes, right? But the idea is like, that's always
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: been her. So why did it, it's not the perspective
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: of her lived life that has made her this person.
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: She just is a person who has worked hard her
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: whole life to be a good friend and a good
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: wife and a good citizen in the world. And so
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: the idea that she's like, oh, I'm going to be
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: nice to my assistant who's afraid of me, and oh,
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: I'm going to change the world of this ceramics maker
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: and all of this. That part I felt didn't super
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: ring true. I know that we need some sort of, like,
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: change that she sees that helps her understand, like, oh, look,
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: I was doing all of these good things before, but
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: it missed just a little bit for me. Do you
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: think it was... Would you have wanted to– what would
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: you have wanted to see different? I don't know. Like
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: we've said many times, you and I are not writers,
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: and so I don't know how to tell that story
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: without– because had she woken up in this new world
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: and she's successful, but she's also this, like, wonderful person
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: who is empowering those around her, what motivation is there
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: for her to then go back other than– Adam, really. Right.
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: Who she has in this life. Right. So I don't
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: know how you tell that story. Yeah. Can we talk
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: about my first impression and the coat check conversation? So
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: I found it a little bit unbelievable that we have, look,
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: I don't know how hospital hierarchy works in terms of
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: boards and all the moving parts with like foundations and
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: all that stuff. But I would imagine that You have
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: this big cardiac surgeon coming in that they would roll
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: out the red carpet for his partner who has done
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: all these wonderful things at a previous hospital and let
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: her come do some of those things at your hospital too.
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: Not be like, we don't have it. Oh, our gala
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: is three weeks from now and it's done. You don't
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: have to do anything. It's so unrealistic to me. 100 percent.
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: Show me the nonprofit fundraiser who isn't like falling all
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: over themselves at a woman who has experience doing the
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: very job you need to do and is offering their
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: services who wants to help. I mean, you would be like,
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: we will find a job for you. Come in. Be
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: my best friend. Not you can work the coat check.
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: Like that is failed volunteer management. Yeah. 101. So ridiculous. Yes.
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: So many levels. This woman, like she's the kind of
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: woman that's out there like. wrangling money for people. You
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: know what I mean? Nobody's going to turn that down. No,
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: there is no such thing as too much help, especially
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: when the help you're talking about is the wife of
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: a successful cardiac surgeon who probably knows more successful people. Exactly.
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: You've got to use your connections. My gosh. And I
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: was so offended by her. I was offended for her. Yes.
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: And maybe because I feel like I've been in that situation.
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: I'm like, oh, You don't think I know ball? You
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: know what I mean? Like, you know what I mean? Yes. Like, oh, yeah,
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: I was kind of pissed off, like, at the whole thing. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Same. But,
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: come on. Come on. Also, here's the other beef I
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: had with it. Like, Erin is in a successful, loving,
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: wonderful marriage, and she gave up her, what, appear to
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: be a very successful career, right? Potential career. I'm like,
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: why is it one or the other? Why does it
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: have to be one? Why are we always telling this story?
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: It is constantly telling women that you have to choose
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: and you cannot have it all. Well, and then in
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: the end, she kind of does have it all. And
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: I was like, why... Why could you not have gotten
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: there sooner? Because it wasn't like a lack of resources.
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: It wasn't that you're, yes, she's being the flow. But again,
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: he's a cardiac surgeon. You could hire someone to clean
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: that house. You don't, you could have someone helping you
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: walk that dog, right? Like there are, there are ways
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: to make this work that we maybe should have explored. Yeah,
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: I'm kind of surprised all throughout those years. Who knows
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: how long they've been married? I'm going to say 25 years, right?
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: Never in those 25 years, she's like, you know, I
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: really like to draw things or sew or whatever. I'm
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: going to make some stuff or I'm going to sell
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: something on Etsy. Yeah, like she just completely walked away
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: from it. I find it hard to believe. Yeah, I
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: don't disagree with you at all. I only have one.
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: Did you see that? Because we talked about the designer
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: socks at the beginning already. The barista at the coffee shop, like,
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: I am her. Like, I don't want to hear your story.
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: Just tell me the freaking coffee order. Do we need
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: to give her one of your sweatshirts? Do we need
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: to take a t-shirt? Totally. God, wouldn't that be so
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: fun if we could get a Queen of No Fun
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: shirt into a Hallmark movie? I would love it. I
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: would love it. I have a few. Did you see that?
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: Margot Bramire is so Miranda Priestly coded. Too easy. Too easy.
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: The hair, the glasses. She even comes in with that
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: affectation on her voice that we see in the Devil
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: Wears Prada. The what-if life. They did a really nice
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: job of... Her hair is so big and bouncy. Her
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: skin has a soft focus filter on it. Everything's beautiful
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: and glowy. I gotta say, in the what-if life, I
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: was like... Does she have extensions in? I was like,
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: that is like a lot of hair. Yeah. She had
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: a ton of hair, right? A ton of hair. A
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: ton of hair. I was jealous. Okay. And I already mentioned,
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: we got, you know, shout out Needlepoint. Needlepoint representation in
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: our Hallmark movies. You're so funny. You know what I
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: did love at the beginning? When she's unpacked. and the
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: dog Cooper is there and she's like, high five. They
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: did a little high five and then she asked for
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: like another one. And I was like, oh, that's like
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: so sweet. We don't get a lot of dogs in
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: movies who are not like the star of the, you
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: know what I mean? Barking up the tree or whatever. Yeah.
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: Barking for love. All the way. Yeah. Barking all the way. Exactly. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: Just a supporting dog character who doesn't have to drive
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: the plot. Yeah. Yes. I do like that. And it
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: was a cute dog. And there's lots of, sometimes we
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: have these dogs like in, what's the movie with Tyler
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: Hines and Aaron Krakow where the dog disappears halfway through?
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: You know what I'm talking about. I want to call
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: it the idea of you, but that's not it. That's
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: a different thing. That would be interesting. Sometimes, like, this
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: dog was fully incorporated. It was always you. It was
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: always you. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you,
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: thank you. This dog was fully incorporated. There's a moment
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: where the dog's, like, sitting on the couch with the sister,
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: and I just was like, this is a realistic depiction
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: of life with a dog. Yeah, for sure. It's well done. Yeah,
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: well done. Okay, so what did you rate What If Christmas?
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: I gave it three and a half stars. I give
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: it 3.75 stars. Cool. You know, I know it's early
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: in the season still, and there have been some good movies,
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: but nothing that has, like, fully hit it out of
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: the park yet. Yeah. My highest rating so far is 4.25,
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: and that's Holiday Touchdown. And you have 4.25 for Forgotten Holiday. Yeah.
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: I have not seen a five-star movie yet, but... But...
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: I have seen some good movies. Yeah, same. So. So. Hey,
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: let us know what you think. We'd love to hear
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: from you. Hello at GirlsGoneHallmark.com with your thoughts. Shoot us
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: your emails. And if you want more of this Megan
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: and Wendy fun, please hop on over to Patreon. It
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: is Patreon.com. slash Megan and Wendy. You can get a
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: full seven days completely free where you can dig into
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: the back catalog of all the ridiculous things we talk
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: about over there. We'd love to have you. We'll see
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: you next time. Goodbye. Bye. All right, friends, before we go,
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: just a quick heads up. You're about to hear some ads.
• 32:03
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• 32:05
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  Speaker 1: just maybe, listen in and discover your new favorite product. Bye.