Latest / Girls Gone Hallmark | Hallmark Movie Reviews / Finding Mr. Christmas Season 2, Episode 7

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Finding Mr. Christmas Season 2, Episode 7 · Girls Gone Hallmark | Hallmark Movie Reviews

0:02
Speaker 1: This is a Bramble Jam podcast. Welcome to Girls Gone
0:23
Speaker 1: Hallmark or Hallmark Review podcast. I'm Megan and I'm a
0:26
Speaker 1: longtime Hallmark fan. I'm Wendy. I'm a former Hallmark hater.
0:29
Speaker 1: On today's episode, we are discussing Finding Mister Christmas season two,
0:33
Speaker 1: episode seven, titled Mary Christmas Mom. We are regularly asking
0:40
Speaker 1: you for your five star ratings and your reviews, and
0:44
Speaker 1: I'd like to share our recent one that came in
0:47
Speaker 1: because y'all have been so great with your ratings and reviews.
0:49
Speaker 1: We appreciate you so much. From Laura, who says, I
0:52
Speaker 1: really appreciate the extra info on the movie's cast, crew, etc.
0:56
Speaker 1: The hosts are always so positive and fun should talking
0:59
Speaker 1: about us. We're fun. I mean I just admitted on
1:05
Speaker 1: a review that I'm like a level two and fun.
1:07
Speaker 1: So and positive. Sure sometimes, Well, I think that's appropriate
1:15
Speaker 1: for the show we're talking about now, because we say
1:18
Speaker 1: all the time, we talk about the show like we're
1:19
Speaker 1: paid to talk about it, right, which is not something
1:22
Speaker 1: we're opposed to entertaining all offers the official Finding Mister
1:29
Speaker 1: Christmas correspondence. Oh yeah, I would love it if you
1:35
Speaker 1: want to keep up with everything from us. Y'all follow
1:37
Speaker 1: us on the socials, especially Instagram. That's where we are
1:39
Speaker 1: the most active, and we're Girls Gone Hallmark. Yeah. Megan
1:43
Speaker 1: has just been like interviewing celebrities left and right over there.
1:47
Speaker 1: It's a good time, I know. I thank you so
1:50
Speaker 1: much for doing that, because it's my least strongest characteristic. No,
1:56
Speaker 1: you're great at it. You just gotta own it. You
1:58
Speaker 1: just gotta own it. Yeah, we've talked to some very
2:00
Speaker 1: fun people. You can check out our website. Most recently,
2:04
Speaker 1: we spoke to Daniel Lissing, who is in this past
2:06
Speaker 1: weekend single on the twenty fifth, which I'm a big
2:09
Speaker 1: fan of. End of him as well, and we walk
2:12
Speaker 1: into the interview walk in. It was on zoom. Dude's
2:15
Speaker 1: full blown Australian. I had no idea, did you know
2:18
Speaker 1: the hardies are like, hey, dummy, I know, I know,
2:23
Speaker 1: but I had never seen an interview with him. And
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Speaker 1: what's funny, I was telling Wendy, but he would be
2:29
Speaker 1: talking about scenes with his character Cooper, and he would
2:32
Speaker 1: slip into his American accent. I was like, that's like
2:35
Speaker 1: a magic trick. Oh, well, that's funny. That's funny. Speaking
2:39
Speaker 1: of interviews. We have another interview dropping today as well.
2:44
Speaker 1: Once you finish up this episode, just roll right into
2:47
Speaker 1: the next one is in an interview with Robbie Simpson.
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Speaker 1: Talk about a good time. Yeah, we had such so
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Speaker 1: much fun. All right, are you ready to get into
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Speaker 1: episode seven of Finding Mister Christmas. Let's do it. The
3:00
Speaker 1: final four pen holiday cards to their moms before being
3:04
Speaker 1: surprised with live reunions. Icon Sharon Lawrence guides them to
3:09
Speaker 1: channel raw emotion into a heartfelt holiday scene supported by
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Speaker 1: the people who love them best. The top of my
3:16
Speaker 1: notes say the one where everyone is crying all the time. Yeah,
3:20
Speaker 1: including me. I know it got me a couple of times.
3:24
Speaker 1: It got me a couple times, especially from a show
3:27
Speaker 1: that I do expect heart from these shows too, But
3:30
Speaker 1: the last six weeks prior have been such a fun
3:34
Speaker 1: ride that this turn of events really took me by surprise.
3:39
Speaker 1: No Crisco Mountain inside, None, No none, and let me
3:43
Speaker 1: talk before we get into the episode. I didn't mind
3:47
Speaker 1: this episode again. The tone was a little bit different
3:50
Speaker 1: than what we have come to expect. But you know
3:54
Speaker 1: what I'm missing from season one, I'm missing the improv. Yes,
4:00
Speaker 1: that was so good. The dance challenge. Why don't I
4:05
Speaker 1: have any memory of the dance challenge? Whitney from Dancing
4:09
Speaker 1: with the Soul, the pro who was on there, Yes,
4:14
Speaker 1: and Elijah killed it. Yep, she took them through a dance,
4:18
Speaker 1: you know, because sometimes our Hallmark movies have dancing in
4:21
Speaker 1: them and maybe you're not a dancing export. So yeah, anyway,
4:27
Speaker 1: I wish like Survivor, where you get reoccurring challenges, like
4:35
Speaker 1: fan favorite challenges. If anybody's listening, bring it back at
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Speaker 1: the Finding Yeah Finding, Mister Christmas Team, Like, I want
4:43
Speaker 1: the Improv Challenge and I want the Dance Challenge, but
4:45
Speaker 1: please keep in the slip inside Mountain challenge every year.
4:49
Speaker 1: Love that It'll never not be funny to me. No,
4:51
Speaker 1: no shade to Hallmark, but this letter writing challenge does
4:55
Speaker 1: not land with me. Well, before we talk about the letters,
5:00
Speaker 1: we do start with some casual cornhole and mild trash
5:03
Speaker 1: talk up top trash talk. Yeah, they're kind of like
5:08
Speaker 1: the guys are kind of clown on each other, and
5:10
Speaker 1: Angel's like, okay, like we're in a Hallmark movie. Yeah yeah, yeah,
5:14
Speaker 1: And then Marcus goes around and tells everyone what he's
5:16
Speaker 1: learned from them. Which is nice, very nice, very if
5:23
Speaker 1: you follow the pattern we've been following, and are they
5:27
Speaker 1: giving us clues up top, I'm like ding ding ding,
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Speaker 1: Oh no, oh, no, Marcus, this is Marcus's special moment
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Speaker 1: jump to the workshop to the opening challenge that you
5:41
Speaker 1: did not love, And I will admit it wasn't the
5:44
Speaker 1: most dynamic of our festive face offs for sure. I
5:48
Speaker 1: mean it was your Wayne's world. What's the line nuprin
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Speaker 1: little yellow different with the Hallmark card collaboration set up
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Speaker 1: all over the table all or I mean, look, I
6:00
Speaker 1: get it's a I get it. I get it, guys.
6:03
Speaker 1: But this episode was heavy on Hallmark and heavy on
6:05
Speaker 1: Balsam Hill. Oh. There were some awkward Balsam Hill transitions
6:11
Speaker 1: mid scene. It would just be like zoom in on
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Speaker 1: an ornament, cut to Angel and Sharon Lawrence talking. I
6:17
Speaker 1: was like, wow, they had not reached their contractual obligation
6:21
Speaker 1: for Balsam Hill shots in this episode. Apparently it's not.
6:26
Speaker 1: I guess not. We'll get to that. The cards sprinkled
6:31
Speaker 1: on the table and they're not laying flat. They'd better
6:33
Speaker 1: be up in the back of the card so you
6:35
Speaker 1: can see the Hallmark Crown look I get it. I'm
6:39
Speaker 1: a Hallmark shopper too. I like their cards. Their card
6:42
Speaker 1: game is strong. But I was like, okay, this is
6:45
Speaker 1: what we're doing. I was I was just in a
6:47
Speaker 1: Hallmark the other day buying ornaments and home alone plushies.
6:52
Speaker 1: Did your Hallmark have the Tyler Hines cut out in it?
6:55
Speaker 1: By chance? It did not? Last season they had a
7:00
Speaker 1: Lacy Yeah it, shu did it. I saw that they
7:05
Speaker 1: had Tyler Hines this year, but my local one did
7:09
Speaker 1: not have it. You know, those workers are probably like,
7:12
Speaker 1: I'm gonna take this homeworking. I would Could you imagine
7:15
Speaker 1: my daughter has a cardboard Harry Styles in her room.
7:18
Speaker 1: I would just put the cardboard Tyler Hines in the
7:21
Speaker 1: in the loft. Do you remember our cardboard Barry Watson?
7:27
Speaker 1: I do, yes. If somebody from Hallmark is listening, look,
7:31
Speaker 1: I know I'm I'm bagging a little bit today, but
7:34
Speaker 1: I would love a cardboard Tyler Hines. I didn't. I
7:38
Speaker 1: could you imagine this podcasting but Tyler Hines in the
7:42
Speaker 1: room for us? I think it's hilarious. I would love
7:46
Speaker 1: if somebody could make that happen. That would be amazing.
7:50
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, dreams do come true. Put it on
7:53
Speaker 1: the Christmas list. So the assignment is write a Christmas
7:58
Speaker 1: card to your biggest super fan mom. Marcus is like,
8:02
Speaker 1: I'm gonna I would I notice is he has a
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Speaker 1: rough draft, Like he has a pad of paper he's
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Speaker 1: writing it out on. Did you notice that? I didn't
8:08
Speaker 1: notice that? And then Rustin, while Marcus is working and
8:11
Speaker 1: we're on a time crunch, Rustin's like talking about the
8:15
Speaker 1: cards his mom has sent him over the years. And
8:17
Speaker 1: if I was Marcus, I'd be like, bro, I had
8:19
Speaker 1: a focus right now, like being stop interrupted me. I'm trying.
8:24
Speaker 1: And then Jonathan's like five minutes. And what I love
8:28
Speaker 1: is Melissa walks around like a school teacher peeking over
8:30
Speaker 1: their shoulders, like checking their work. Yeah, cute. I love Melissa.
8:35
Speaker 1: And I was like, man, what are we doing here?
8:37
Speaker 1: And then my brain was like, duh, they're gonna bring
8:41
Speaker 1: in the moms. Hold up. I just had a thought. Hmmm.
8:45
Speaker 1: If you listen to our review of an Alpine Holiday
8:48
Speaker 1: last week, we talked about how we wanted to hang
8:50
Speaker 1: out with Lucy Guest and Ashley Willing, Melissa needs to
8:53
Speaker 1: be there too. We need to add Melissa to our
8:56
Speaker 1: girl gang. Yes, one hundred thousand percent. Okay, carry on
9:02
Speaker 1: the like. In the final moments of the challenge, Craig
9:05
Speaker 1: mister Bold Decisions is back and he diabolical diambolicle, what
9:11
Speaker 1: is he doing here? He slathers on lipstick and kisses
9:14
Speaker 1: the card and Jonathan's like, oh, I was like, that's
9:19
Speaker 1: not the reaction mister Bold swings. Oh my god. I
9:25
Speaker 1: was like what that's Well, why was there lipstick on set?
9:32
Speaker 1: Is my question? Well? Probably, well, you know the guy.
9:36
Speaker 1: I'm sure the guys have makeup right, and there probably
9:40
Speaker 1: was a makeup person, you know in the wings. Do
9:43
Speaker 1: you think he just went and stole it from the
9:45
Speaker 1: onset makeup artist who's there to touch up Melissa Peterson's lip?
9:49
Speaker 1: He's like, I got a great idea? Can I To me,
9:52
Speaker 1: it looked like he was going to the props table
9:54
Speaker 1: that they were using for their cards. It just was bizarre.
9:56
Speaker 1: I'm like, who's leaving a lippy out for you to
9:58
Speaker 1: do this? Yeah? That was so interesting to me to
10:04
Speaker 1: outcome the moms and nothing like these boys breaking down
10:07
Speaker 1: seeing their moms to just wreck me. When Angel yells money,
10:13
Speaker 1: I immediately lose it.
10:16
Speaker 2: Yes, I mean.
10:18
Speaker 1: This entire time I'm watching this going like, uh, where
10:22
Speaker 1: is my improv like fest the face off or whatever?
10:25
Speaker 1: And then Angel just cold clocks me with the mommy.
10:31
Speaker 1: I know, just these boys with their moms, they just
10:34
Speaker 1: needed someone there for them. I'd love to know the timeline.
10:37
Speaker 1: How long have they been here the moms? No, no, no,
10:40
Speaker 1: the guys. How long have they been in the house? Oh,
10:43
Speaker 1: I don't know. Yeah, that's interesting, Like are they filming
10:46
Speaker 1: this in two weeks? Is it three week production? Who knows?
10:50
Speaker 1: That's a good question, that's a really good question. Jonathan's like, great,
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Speaker 1: you guys wrote your cards. Now we're gonna make you
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Speaker 1: read them in front of everybody. Yeah. And Craig goes first,
11:04
Speaker 1: gets immediately choked up. Mm hmm. And I was like,
11:09
Speaker 1: you know what is really funny, Not really funny, not
11:12
Speaker 1: any of this is funny, but Craig's mom. Craig's mom.
11:16
Speaker 1: I was like, Oh, that's Craig's mom. She commented on
11:19
Speaker 1: an Instagram story of ours, and so it was like,
11:22
Speaker 1: just nice to put to she did remember when I
11:25
Speaker 1: shared when I saw Craig in the audience of Dancing
11:28
Speaker 1: with Yes, And I was like, is that Craig. She replied, yes,
11:31
Speaker 1: that's my son. Oh, hey, that's Craig's mom. So that's it. Oh,
11:36
Speaker 1: full circle moment, totally. What a thing I like about
11:40
Speaker 1: Craig's card is he does a bit about writing from
11:42
Speaker 1: the North Pole, which I thought was just a cute
11:43
Speaker 1: little I thought it was cute. Mm hmm, I'm right,
11:47
Speaker 1: I like that. Yeah, and he ends with the ps
11:49
Speaker 1: Jonathan has taken so don't even think about it. And
11:51
Speaker 1: Jonathan cracks up at this. Yeah, it's a neat, knee
11:55
Speaker 1: slapping crackup. It really is. Angel sobs through his life.
12:00
Speaker 1: That are we have gotten so much of Angel's talking
12:04
Speaker 1: about his mom. I'm not dogging on it. It is, however,
12:08
Speaker 1: a little bit disproportionate to some of the other family
12:11
Speaker 1: stories we've gotten from these guys. We just know a
12:14
Speaker 1: lot about Angel's mom and her sacrifices. I find it
12:17
Speaker 1: interesting the stories I choose to tell. And he reiterates
12:21
Speaker 1: how much she did for them and they're coming to
12:23
Speaker 1: this country, how hard she worked. It's very touching. Yeah,
12:26
Speaker 1: he's like sobbing. He's indeed thanking her. He's saying he's
12:30
Speaker 1: forever grateful. I mean, my cold dead heart was feeling things.
12:38
Speaker 1: Rustin goes next, and he nervously laughs at first, but
12:42
Speaker 1: as he starts to read, like his poem because you know,
12:45
Speaker 1: like he nervously laughs because he knows the emotion is coming.
12:51
Speaker 1: And I'm gonna tell you his poem lands it really did.
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Speaker 1: He ends with every Night So Good, I Dream of
12:58
Speaker 1: the stars. She sees, Oh, remind me, I know he
13:03
Speaker 1: plays music. Does he write music too? He does? Right?
13:06
Speaker 1: Probably probably remember in the Talent Show he sang that
13:10
Speaker 1: song about his wife, that about meeting his wife. I
13:13
Speaker 1: think he's yes, singer songwriter. Yeah, good good stuff and mom,
13:17
Speaker 1: way to lean yeah, way to lean into like what
13:20
Speaker 1: you know. Melissa's really touched by this, and she says,
13:23
Speaker 1: it's like you have an invisible cloak of power knowing
13:26
Speaker 1: that you have the support of your mother. Melissa, the
13:30
Speaker 1: mom in the group, I think, having a moment throughout
13:33
Speaker 1: this entire episode, like she understands those mom vibes. Every
13:37
Speaker 1: time they cut to show her, I describe her eyes
13:40
Speaker 1: were well up. Yeah yeah. And then Marcus goes last.
13:44
Speaker 1: He flips the script by saying he's her super fan,
13:48
Speaker 1: and he does start off with the SETI voice, but
13:50
Speaker 1: the emotion does get the best of him. And when
13:53
Speaker 1: he says I want to cherish every moment we have
13:55
Speaker 1: left together, my heart breaks. And we don't know the
13:58
Speaker 1: full story of her diagnosed in her path and obviously
14:01
Speaker 1: it's not for us to know, but did make me
14:03
Speaker 1: very worried. Well, yet we've gotten breadcrumbs of her health situation.
14:08
Speaker 1: I mean, I think there's an understanding, but this was
14:11
Speaker 1: brutal for me. When he's like, I want to cherish
14:14
Speaker 1: every remaining moment. I don't know if he said that,
14:17
Speaker 1: but I was like, oh, I couldn't he does. He says,
14:20
Speaker 1: I want to cherish every moment we have left together. Ah,
14:24
Speaker 1: stop it right now. Punch me in the stomach. And
14:27
Speaker 1: then I'm like, how are they going to pick a winner?
14:29
Speaker 1: And then I was like, well, then it's going to
14:30
Speaker 1: be Marcus. But then fortunately they didn't have to pick
14:33
Speaker 1: a winner. Yeah, good thing. Jabi's like, you all win.
14:36
Speaker 1: Everybody's a winner. Everybody gets to spend time with their moms,
14:40
Speaker 1: which is nice. I mean, it's very Survivor esque, where
14:43
Speaker 1: you bring in your family trying to give you that
14:46
Speaker 1: final push at the end of the competition. And I
14:49
Speaker 1: know we did this last season, I remember Ezra's sister
14:52
Speaker 1: coming in. Oh that's right, yeah, Barbara, Oh Barbara, she
14:58
Speaker 1: was so pretty. Yeah right, they brought in family members,
15:02
Speaker 1: but this one was very mom heavy and it does
15:05
Speaker 1: work really well because we feed into our star Quality challenge.
15:11
Speaker 1: Jonathan goes it's gonna be tremendous, and I was like,
15:14
Speaker 1: what does that have to do with anything. It's a
15:16
Speaker 1: freaking product placement for Balsham Hill. For we go to
15:19
Speaker 1: the star Quality Challenge. The guys all get a chance
15:22
Speaker 1: to connect with their moms. They're all really sweet, but
15:25
Speaker 1: once again, Angels is the one that really touches me.
15:28
Speaker 1: His mom says he gives great honor to the family name,
15:32
Speaker 1: and then Angel goes on to say such nice things
15:35
Speaker 1: about the other guys. Yeah. I enjoyed this scene. You know.
15:40
Speaker 1: I feel when we have such a small group now
15:43
Speaker 1: we have like all this kind of like filler. And
15:46
Speaker 1: I'm not suggesting that the scenes with their mom and
15:50
Speaker 1: the guys was filler, but kind of is filler. Yeah,
15:54
Speaker 1: it's outside of the challenges. Sure. Yeah, I thought Rustin
15:58
Speaker 1: and his mom's talk was nice. When he tells her
16:01
Speaker 1: like she asks, what's your favorite moment been? So far
16:04
Speaker 1: and he's like, oh, you walking in. I loved that.
16:07
Speaker 1: I was like, the man knows what to say when
16:09
Speaker 1: to say it. Thought that was great. Craig's mom brought
16:13
Speaker 1: him a New York sweatshirt or sweater, which I thought
16:16
Speaker 1: was you're always at home with us. Yeah, I was like, Santini.
16:20
Speaker 1: As soon as I saw it, I said, Santini again.
16:23
Speaker 1: Angel and his mom I thought was really quite moving.
16:26
Speaker 1: But for me personally, I thought it was Marcus and
16:28
Speaker 1: his mom's conversation was the most real. He's checking in
16:33
Speaker 1: on her, and I swear to god, Robbie's influence is
16:37
Speaker 1: all over Marcus's emotional rosy, don't you think so? Like
16:42
Speaker 1: they had those moments two episodes ago outside talking about
16:48
Speaker 1: death of their parents, et cetera, et cetera. Like I
16:51
Speaker 1: feel like maybe Marcus is in a not an easier spot,
16:55
Speaker 1: but like a more open, vulnerable having these of hard
17:00
Speaker 1: conversations on camera. I don't know if he would have
17:03
Speaker 1: I don't know. It was very moving to me. I
17:06
Speaker 1: think so too. The whole time. I was thinking, especially
17:09
Speaker 1: for Marcus, it was nice that they got this chance
17:11
Speaker 1: to connect with their moms, but having to have some
17:13
Speaker 1: of these emotional conversations on camera must have been a
17:16
Speaker 1: little bit challenging. Oh, one hundred. So let's take a
17:20
Speaker 1: quick break, and we are going to come back and
17:21
Speaker 1: talk about the Star Quality Challenge. So of course we're back.
17:33
Speaker 1: Let's talk to the Star Quality Challenge. Since their moms
17:36
Speaker 1: are here, this challenge is going to be focusing on family.
17:39
Speaker 1: They're coming home from the holidays. They're having a special
17:42
Speaker 1: sponsored moment with their moms decorating a Balsam Hill tree,
17:45
Speaker 1: a sponsored moment, but we bring in the goat. Sharon
17:51
Speaker 1: Lawrence is their co star. Okay, I have a question
17:55
Speaker 1: for you. First of all, she's a tiny human being,
17:58
Speaker 1: Like I want to just put her in my She's little, little,
18:01
Speaker 1: little little and talk to me about the skincare routine. Sharon,
18:05
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh. Especially in the elimination cave, I was like, damn,
18:10
Speaker 1: she looks good. I don't know that I had full
18:13
Speaker 1: appreciation for Sharon Lawrence before this, but the woman can
18:17
Speaker 1: act right. She was great. She's really special to Jonathan.
18:21
Speaker 1: She played his mom in the two Christmas House movies,
18:24
Speaker 1: and then Jonathan shared that his mom had passed and
18:26
Speaker 1: Sharon stepped into that mom role. And she was their
18:30
Speaker 1: flower girl at their wedding. This is new news to me.
18:34
Speaker 1: I didn't know Jonathan's mom had passed. I didn't either,
18:38
Speaker 1: so his his dad, both his parents have Oh really,
18:41
Speaker 1: Oh that makes me so sad. I mean, it just
18:44
Speaker 1: makes me sad. I don't I guess it's not information
18:48
Speaker 1: everybody needs to know about which Hallmark actors. No, of
18:52
Speaker 1: course I've passed. It just completely took me by surprise
18:57
Speaker 1: when he mentioned it in this episode. Well, especially because
19:01
Speaker 1: I've heard, probably because he's done so much press, I've
19:04
Speaker 1: heard him talk a lot about his parents and how
19:06
Speaker 1: supportive they were of his path in life. So it
19:11
Speaker 1: adds an extra layer to that that they're no longer here.
19:13
Speaker 1: And he made a Keller Christmas vacation partly in tribute
19:18
Speaker 1: to his dad. So the guys start by running lines
19:22
Speaker 1: with their moms. This to me, this we saw this
19:26
Speaker 1: in a previous episode. When they're running lines, I'm like,
19:29
Speaker 1: oh God, we are in trouble here. Yeah. Do you
19:34
Speaker 1: think it's the scene partner or do you think it's
19:37
Speaker 1: just the execution of like reading the lines back and forth?
19:40
Speaker 1: Because it was not great. I don't know what's the
19:45
Speaker 1: catalyst here, but they're not fully in the moment, and
19:50
Speaker 1: so they're just reading lines, they're not having a moment,
19:54
Speaker 1: and it always it just makes me say, I'm like, wow,
19:57
Speaker 1: I don't want to watch that at all. Oh it's
20:00
Speaker 1: like a car crash. Yeah. The whole disposure that we
20:04
Speaker 1: are not actors, nor could we do this job, and
20:07
Speaker 1: this whole thing is so incredibly brave, one hundred percent,
20:11
Speaker 1: like you couldn't pay me, No, we're just over here
20:14
Speaker 1: behind a microphone drop in judgment. So even even like
20:18
Speaker 1: when you and I do, like when we read sponsored ads,
20:21
Speaker 1: like I get through it. Yeah, yes, yes, yes, So
20:27
Speaker 1: you know, I'm drawn to people who can do their
20:30
Speaker 1: craft and do it well. So like, look you guys,
20:33
Speaker 1: bravo to you. What I laughed in this scene was
20:38
Speaker 1: Marcus's mom goes like a little offscript and he's like, look,
20:42
Speaker 1: you can read the script, which you know need to
20:44
Speaker 1: improv here, mom, Yeah, just read the lines. I loved.
20:49
Speaker 1: I laughed so hard. I thought it was so funny. Yeah,
20:52
Speaker 1: he's like, I don't need you acting. Craig's first, he
20:56
Speaker 1: knows he's got to bring the emotions. Craig, to me,
21:01
Speaker 1: had the best entrance to the set, something about the
21:04
Speaker 1: way he walks on the most dramatic knock knocks. I
21:07
Speaker 1: just I liked it you and Melissa both because Melissa
21:12
Speaker 1: noted it as well. Yeah, and especially when once we
21:15
Speaker 1: were able to compare it to the others, I was like, well,
21:17
Speaker 1: nobody beat Craig's entrance. The moms are sitting with Jonathan
21:21
Speaker 1: and Melissa, and this is the moment where I'm like, oh,
21:23
Speaker 1: Sharon Lawrence is so good. But Craig gets kind of heated,
21:29
Speaker 1: like I'm like, why are we shouting at her? And
21:35
Speaker 1: then I note Craig seems to find emotion by whispering.
21:39
Speaker 1: My notes say a lot of whispering. Oay. I like Craig.
21:45
Speaker 1: I like Craig a lot. I think Craig does comedy best. Yeah,
21:49
Speaker 1: and so these kind of more dramatic roles. Maybe he
21:53
Speaker 1: just needs some more work. I don't, I don't, I
21:56
Speaker 1: don't know, I don't know. What do you think about
21:58
Speaker 1: Craig's choice to kiss Sharon Lawrence cheek at the end
22:00
Speaker 1: of their scene tame compared to come next? Fair, okay, fair?
22:08
Speaker 1: You know what is really funny? Well, Angel is up next?
22:12
Speaker 1: And I wrote interesting that Sharon seamlessly adapts her performance
22:18
Speaker 1: to what the guys are bringing. Oh well, she's a pro,
22:24
Speaker 1: she is. But seeing it like this where you see
22:29
Speaker 1: the different energies the guys are bringing, the different tone
22:32
Speaker 1: they bring, and how she adapts every her performance is
22:36
Speaker 1: different every single time to match well the energy of
22:40
Speaker 1: who she's performing with. Do you remember in season one
22:43
Speaker 1: when Rachel Boston was on she did the same thing.
22:47
Speaker 1: I was so drawn to Rachel Boston and her scenes
22:50
Speaker 1: that she did last year on finding Mister Christmas. I
22:52
Speaker 1: was like, whoa, she's outstanding. That's our Rachel Boston origin
22:56
Speaker 1: story right there. Yeah, exactly exactly, And she kind of
23:00
Speaker 1: tailored her scene too to what the energy the guy's brought.
23:04
Speaker 1: But yes, Sharon is amazing here amazing. Yes. A couple
23:10
Speaker 1: of notes during Angel's scene m he says in his
23:15
Speaker 1: talking head he's never played a son before. I'm like,
23:18
Speaker 1: you are a son. You shouldn't. This should not be
23:22
Speaker 1: that big of a stretch, right, This isn't a world
23:25
Speaker 1: you don't know. It's not like we're asking you to
23:27
Speaker 1: play an elephant. I was gonna say, like an astronaut
23:31
Speaker 1: or whatever. But yeah, exactly exactly. I find his emotion
23:37
Speaker 1: believable in his scene, but he does a hairtuck that
23:43
Speaker 1: leaves me very uncomfortable. Yes, I said, Angel doing a
23:48
Speaker 1: hairtuck might be too intimate for a mother son scene.
23:52
Speaker 1: That's a nice way to put it. I we talk
23:55
Speaker 1: about this simple act of a hairtuck is so much
24:00
Speaker 1: moving in a regular and moving I mean like makes
24:03
Speaker 1: you feel things. Yes, it's a regular Hallmark movie, like
24:07
Speaker 1: it's one of our favorite things because it's so nuanced.
24:11
Speaker 1: Here was too, No, no, this is a mother and
24:14
Speaker 1: a son. I was very uncomfortable with it. Yeah, me too,
24:19
Speaker 1: I was too, And I was surprised that Melissa and
24:26
Speaker 1: Jonathan liked it. Well, this is exactly where my notes
24:31
Speaker 1: say that because the moms are sitting with Jonathan Melissa,
24:33
Speaker 1: we don't get real time commentary or criticism because they're
24:37
Speaker 1: not gonna do that. Yeah, yeah, yeah of course. But
24:42
Speaker 1: also Angel's mom is very overcome watching him and separate
24:48
Speaker 1: from this hairtuk situation. I kind of get it, like
24:51
Speaker 1: watching your kid getting to realize their dreams or a
24:55
Speaker 1: chance to realize their dreams. I was touched by her emotion,
24:58
Speaker 1: of course, me too. What I don't love is the
25:02
Speaker 1: like pull back to Heaven overshot of the end of
25:05
Speaker 1: each scene, it's very soap opera. You don't you think so? Yes,
25:11
Speaker 1: I don't love it. My daughter I was like, why
25:13
Speaker 1: are they doing why is it? Why are they doing that?
25:16
Speaker 1: My guess is that they were trying to get them
25:18
Speaker 1: to be able to find their cameras. That was part
25:20
Speaker 1: of what they were doing. Part of also, like with
25:23
Speaker 1: the gift in the Right Spot, which we'll discuss, they
25:26
Speaker 1: wanted to make sure that they were aware of those
25:28
Speaker 1: other things happening in the scene. I bet that's what
25:32
Speaker 1: it was, and we just don't have that context. They
25:37
Speaker 1: didn't explain it. Yeah, I definitely think so. Marcus is next.
25:41
Speaker 1: I thought, Marcus is It's okay to not be Okay
25:44
Speaker 1: line was the best delivery we've seen up to this point. Okay. Well,
25:48
Speaker 1: first of all, he comes in with that smile, and
25:50
Speaker 1: just his smile is so good. I don't hate his scene. No,
25:55
Speaker 1: it's when he sits down with her and we see
25:59
Speaker 1: a confessional with him where he says, I'm struggling to
26:02
Speaker 1: stay in the scene and he starts to forget his lines,
26:05
Speaker 1: and I don't you know, is it the emotion of
26:07
Speaker 1: it all is it the gotta find your mark, gotta
26:10
Speaker 1: keep the gift, gotta look what's happening. He does forget
26:14
Speaker 1: a few lines, but I think he does fine. And
26:17
Speaker 1: again if you rewatch it the first too, when he
26:20
Speaker 1: does the it's okay to not be okay, he's the
26:23
Speaker 1: one who feels like he's not delivering a line. He
26:26
Speaker 1: pauses in the right spot. Yeah, he picks up the
26:29
Speaker 1: gift and Toronsthon's like, no, you're not supposed to pick
26:32
Speaker 1: up the gift, which to me was like, oh, they
26:34
Speaker 1: didn't talk about one of the challenges of this scene
26:37
Speaker 1: is make sure you know your camera angles and all
26:39
Speaker 1: of that. Yeah, but that was clearly one of the
26:43
Speaker 1: they needed to be able to get that overshot of
26:45
Speaker 1: the gift. And Sharon course corrects, she puts it back.
26:49
Speaker 1: She's like, let's put this on the table for safety. Yeah,
26:52
Speaker 1: she did a good job. I mean, Sharon did a
26:54
Speaker 1: good job. She knew what she needed to do. Here
26:57
Speaker 1: is this Marcus his fatal flaw? Though, Like, is this
27:01
Speaker 1: what is gonna get him eliminated? To me, is this
27:06
Speaker 1: on its own enough to get him eliminated? Maybe not,
27:10
Speaker 1: but cumulatively perhaps if we're looking at the history of
27:15
Speaker 1: the other three guys remaining. Are there are there stronger
27:19
Speaker 1: performances in their portfolio overall? Let's talk about Restin. You know,
27:25
Speaker 1: Rustin is a fan favorite. He was a he was
27:27
Speaker 1: an early favorite of mine. Mm hmmm. He comes in.
27:31
Speaker 1: The second he starts, I felt myself welling up, and
27:35
Speaker 1: I don't know why, mostly because I feel like Rustin
27:39
Speaker 1: can act in my opinion, and he, to me, felt raw,
27:45
Speaker 1: he felt connected. It was emotional. I was like, I'm
27:51
Speaker 1: I'm watching finding Mister Christmas. I'm watching the winner here.
27:54
Speaker 1: You know, my husband did not watch this whole episode,
27:57
Speaker 1: but he watched the last half with me, and he
27:58
Speaker 1: was like, oh, he wins. He's the winner of this scene.
28:02
Speaker 1: I think he crushes it. He finds, in my opinion,
28:05
Speaker 1: real emotion. And his mom celebrating behind the camera was
28:08
Speaker 1: real cute. I you know, I feel like him and
28:10
Speaker 1: his mom were like cut from the same cloth. Yeah, yeah,
28:14
Speaker 1: they're both very like positive people. M M. I just
28:18
Speaker 1: think it's it's so like wild to me to see, like, oh, yeah,
28:21
Speaker 1: you too are definitely related, you know. Huh. Anyway, I
28:25
Speaker 1: thought Rustling was great, but again, that ending crane shot
28:29
Speaker 1: from above is so bizarre. It kind of it honestly
28:32
Speaker 1: ruined the moment for me. I just have to kind
28:34
Speaker 1: of because it just it felt cheesy. Yes, totally, Okay,
28:39
Speaker 1: let's talk. The guys say goodbye to their moms, and
28:42
Speaker 1: then we debrief with Jonathan, Melissa, and Sharon. Sharon said
28:47
Speaker 1: she felt the emotion from each actor. Sharon's a very
28:50
Speaker 1: generous critiquer in my opinion. She says he was lovely
28:54
Speaker 1: and warm and exhibited fragility, but they talk about not
28:58
Speaker 1: keeping the box in the rights Bot and Melissa and
29:01
Speaker 1: Jonathan wanted more emotion from him. I felt bad for Marcus,
29:06
Speaker 1: to be honest, I thought he did so well, so
29:09
Speaker 1: much growth on him, right, Yeah, I say he's come
29:12
Speaker 1: a long way. I feel like he struggled, Like there's
29:16
Speaker 1: too much his mom's real life challenges are like so
29:20
Speaker 1: interweaved in this, Like I just think like it must
29:24
Speaker 1: have been very difficult for him. Agree. I think that's
29:28
Speaker 1: a tough scene for him to take on, given what
29:30
Speaker 1: he's got going on exactly. Next up, we are talking
29:34
Speaker 1: about Craig Melissa's she knows he's got the comedy chops,
29:39
Speaker 1: but feels like he maybe went a little too hard
29:41
Speaker 1: on some of the lines MoMA line. Yeah, but I
29:46
Speaker 1: didn't hate Craig's performance. I mean, that's who Craig is
29:50
Speaker 1: in that moment, right, Like, that's what he's going to
29:52
Speaker 1: bring to that character. But I thought Craig did Okay. Yeah,
29:55
Speaker 1: you know, I don't hate his choice. It is totally
29:59
Speaker 1: acceptable for a child of a parent to be like
30:03
Speaker 1: annoyed or angry with your parent, right like, hey, like
30:06
Speaker 1: he's trying to snap her out of it. Yeah, it's
30:10
Speaker 1: a choice. I didn't hate it at all. We had
30:14
Speaker 1: opposing opinions about Rustin. Sharon says he's very skilled and
30:17
Speaker 1: they really got into the emotion. But Melissa said she
30:19
Speaker 1: wasn't surprised by the performance, and she wanted to be surprised.
30:24
Speaker 1: This is where I'm like, what does that mean? Feel
30:27
Speaker 1: I feel like I'm like, is Rustin our winner here?
30:29
Speaker 1: Because I feel like they try to throw something at
30:35
Speaker 1: us that like gets us off the trail. Yeah, the
30:39
Speaker 1: scent of the winner. So but I don't know. I
30:43
Speaker 1: could not possibly guess based on the way this show
30:45
Speaker 1: has gone up to this point. Definitely. Finally, Sharon says
30:49
Speaker 1: about Angel, he was very physical and very vulnerable. This
30:52
Speaker 1: was the moment to say, like, maybe a hairtalk wasn't
30:55
Speaker 1: the right move. No one says it. They were like, well,
30:58
Speaker 1: we love the hugs at the and I was like,
31:01
Speaker 1: the hugs were fine. Sure, the hairtuck was a choice. Yeah,
31:07
Speaker 1: And you know, I don't know, it's maybe it just
31:10
Speaker 1: read different on camera for us. Maybe maybe because maybe
31:14
Speaker 1: maybe I would love if you're listening to this episode
31:18
Speaker 1: and you're like, what are you guys talking about? Maccana?
31:20
Speaker 1: Weindy like that was a great scene. Please email us
31:23
Speaker 1: at Girls Gone Hallmark at gmail dot com. I'm honestly floored,
31:29
Speaker 1: and maybe to everyone else that hairtuck isn't the like
31:33
Speaker 1: mildly sexy move that we think it is as that
31:36
Speaker 1: and a forehead kiss. I'm in let's take a quick
31:39
Speaker 1: break and come back and talk about the elimination. We
31:49
Speaker 1: are in the elimination cave for the second to last time,
31:52
Speaker 1: and I need to make a confession. What the guys
31:56
Speaker 1: come walking in and they always film them in a
31:58
Speaker 1: little bit of slow motion. Last week's episode, my friend
32:02
Speaker 1: Karen is watching Finding Mister Christmas because of us, and
32:05
Speaker 1: every week we text back and forth. I'm like, you
32:06
Speaker 1: got to tell me your thoughts and then we're kind
32:09
Speaker 1: of on the same page. She was like, if you're
32:10
Speaker 1: gonna wear a white tuxedo jacket, you should probably wear socks.
32:14
Speaker 1: I was like, I don't even know what you're talking about.
32:16
Speaker 1: She was like, well, the editors obviously notice because they
32:18
Speaker 1: did a slow mo zoom in on Rustin's bare ankles.
32:22
Speaker 1: So because of that, me, the least observant person on
32:26
Speaker 1: the planet, had a visual of what Rustin was wearing.
32:29
Speaker 1: Last week, Rustin comes in again in a white tuxedo jacket,
32:32
Speaker 1: and now seven episodes in I'm going they wear the
32:36
Speaker 1: same thing to every single elimination cave.
32:39
Speaker 2: Duh.
32:43
Speaker 1: Literally, this is the first time I've noticed the no song.
32:47
Speaker 1: It's a look. I know, it's a look. It's a look.
32:51
Speaker 1: I know. You know. It's so funny that you say that,
32:53
Speaker 1: because I was on TikTok and someone had a wedding
32:57
Speaker 1: planner had posted like a clip of a video and
32:58
Speaker 1: everyone's like, groom's not wearing the Groom's not wearing socks
33:01
Speaker 1: every single and she commented every single time, She's like,
33:03
Speaker 1: that's fashion, baby, Like, so anyway, it's a look. I mean,
33:08
Speaker 1: I see Andy Cohen every single night on Once where
33:10
Speaker 1: it happens live, especially during the summer months. Sockless, there's
33:14
Speaker 1: there's yeah with a suit, it's it's a thing. Yeah, well,
33:18
Speaker 1: I'm not sure how I And then I was like, oh, look,
33:21
Speaker 1: Craig does wear that green jacket every single week. How
33:23
Speaker 1: did I not notice Rustin's and a white jack? How
33:27
Speaker 1: I'll see myself out. You may need a new podcasting
33:29
Speaker 1: partner because this one is Barroken. You're not Barroken. I
33:34
Speaker 1: just I think we're always like, ooh, look what Melissa's wearing.
33:38
Speaker 1: Like we're always like and with fewer guys, I think
33:42
Speaker 1: then you start to notice these things, right, uh huh.
33:45
Speaker 1: And I'm sure the guys were like they were like, told,
33:47
Speaker 1: bring one nice elimination. Now I'm gonna wear it. Yeah yeah,
33:52
Speaker 1: Now if if if it was women, I bet you
33:55
Speaker 1: it's different every single time, like the Bachelor or Bachelorette.
33:58
Speaker 1: They're in different dress, right. And maybe it's also for continuity,
34:05
Speaker 1: maybe they use other scenes, shot scenes whatever. Sure, Yeah,
34:12
Speaker 1: I don't know. Well, the theme of this episode is
34:15
Speaker 1: that we are at the point we're making a choice,
34:17
Speaker 1: like splitting hairs. I think every single person on the
34:20
Speaker 1: show said that in this episode, did you notice that
34:23
Speaker 1: at all? No, I didn't. Everyone says that. Marcus is like, oh,
34:26
Speaker 1: we're down to the wire. It's like splitting hairs. And
34:28
Speaker 1: then Jonathan comes in. He's like, we're splitting hairs at
34:30
Speaker 1: this point, which I get. We are everyone, we're down before,
34:34
Speaker 1: everyone's making good choices. They just someone's got to go.
34:37
Speaker 1: So potentially you're gonna go based on just a just
34:40
Speaker 1: a moment putting the box in the wrong place. Sharon again, Mark,
34:48
Speaker 1: do you think Marcus walked away from this experience? And
34:50
Speaker 1: he's like, damn it. If I didn't pick up that box,
34:52
Speaker 1: I could have won the show. Sharon respects all the
34:56
Speaker 1: work that they've put in, and she's a professional. She
35:00
Speaker 1: knows how hard this is. And I'm like, Jonathan starts
35:04
Speaker 1: talking about what the winner did and I'm like, oh,
35:06
Speaker 1: Russein's gonna win. Oh they fooled you this time. Yeah,
35:10
Speaker 1: my notes say Rustin is going to win, and then
35:12
Speaker 1: my notes say, whoa, it's Angel. Yeah, no shape to Angel.
35:16
Speaker 1: I enjoy Angel a lot, but I kind of thought
35:19
Speaker 1: Rustin was gonna win this one. I did missed. This
35:23
Speaker 1: is Angel's first star quality challenge win and they announced
35:26
Speaker 1: that he's guaranteed to be in the finale. They tell
35:29
Speaker 1: Rustin he was consistent and grounded and his performance was safe,
35:34
Speaker 1: but also it was good enough to also guarantee his
35:37
Speaker 1: spot in the finale. I mean, I'm actually happy for Rest.
35:42
Speaker 1: And they cut to him like an a talking head
35:43
Speaker 1: where he's like he's stoked. He that's what he said,
35:46
Speaker 1: like he said that to win this thing. And he's
35:49
Speaker 1: in the finale, so good for him. Craig and Marcus
35:51
Speaker 1: are of course, are bottom two. And Craig, they say,
35:55
Speaker 1: you came in a little bit too hot. Be careful
35:57
Speaker 1: about taking risks. And then and Jonathan says to Marcus,
36:01
Speaker 1: when you're in the pocket, you're a movie star, but
36:03
Speaker 1: you struggle with consistency. And Marcus is eliminated, and we
36:07
Speaker 1: get Jonathan's patented elimination tears. And I don't envy anyone
36:11
Speaker 1: this choice to send Marcus home this week after what
36:15
Speaker 1: he just went through with his mom. We're down to
36:17
Speaker 1: the final four. This is hard. It's hard. Yeah, yeah,
36:22
Speaker 1: it stings. One final button on the episode, as Marcus
36:26
Speaker 1: goes to take his stocking down, my husband says, good,
36:28
Speaker 1: those are ugly stockings and what was the choice to
36:32
Speaker 1: choose that burnt gold color. It's a little Timberland to me,
36:37
Speaker 1: you know what I mean? Maybe it's like rustic. I
36:40
Speaker 1: don't know. What I noticed about that is that the
36:43
Speaker 1: final guys three stockings are all next to each other.
36:46
Speaker 1: Was that from original? Like that's where they're they were hung.
36:50
Speaker 1: I have to assume they re hung them, so it's
36:52
Speaker 1: not like weirdly spacede unless that's an easter egg that's
36:56
Speaker 1: been there this whole time. Maybe just like we should
36:59
Speaker 1: go look. Yeah, yeah, I don't know. I remember from
37:04
Speaker 1: episode one Craig talking about his stocking and where it
37:08
Speaker 1: was at. But I would have to go back and
37:10
Speaker 1: look to see if our final three were actually next
37:13
Speaker 1: to each other the entire time. Interesting. Well, next week
37:17
Speaker 1: is our finale. I'm not ready. I just love this
37:21
Speaker 1: show so much. I know, I know, I want more
37:26
Speaker 1: than one season a year. Well, I think there's an
37:29
Speaker 1: argument to be made for this being a summer season.
37:32
Speaker 1: Oh couldn't Yeah, don't you agree? Yeah, I think timing
37:36
Speaker 1: it would be nice to have it in the summer
37:38
Speaker 1: because we're going to get the finale and then less
37:41
Speaker 1: than a week later the movie is gonna come out,
37:43
Speaker 1: and I understand kind of that excitement of it, and
37:46
Speaker 1: there's something to be said. But also, if we were
37:50
Speaker 1: to get it in the summer, we could get this
37:51
Speaker 1: person promoting their movie all season long and talking about it,
37:57
Speaker 1: and we could It's just such a tight turnaround. I
38:00
Speaker 1: think there's an argument to be made for to be
38:02
Speaker 1: a summer show. I think so too. I definitely think
38:05
Speaker 1: so also. I just really briefly, Homewark dropped surprise news
38:10
Speaker 1: of a new reality show, Second Chance Love, coming exclusively
38:14
Speaker 1: to Hallmark Plus. Do you think this means a return
38:19
Speaker 1: to exclusive Homemark Plus streaming of Homewark's unscripted content? Is
38:23
Speaker 1: this is the writing on the wall. I don't know.
38:28
Speaker 1: I don't know. I don't I don't know. Look, I'll
38:32
Speaker 1: take Fidna Mister Christmas back in any form. So if
38:35
Speaker 1: it means it has to return purely on streaming, I'm
38:39
Speaker 1: okay with that. But I want it. I want it
38:41
Speaker 1: on linear. I want to have the widest audience possible.
38:44
Speaker 1: I want it back, though. Oh I definitely want it
38:46
Speaker 1: back for a season three. Like if they're listening, if
38:50
Speaker 1: Hallmark is listening to us, like, please bring this show
38:52
Speaker 1: back for a season three. Thanks for listening to this
38:54
Speaker 1: episode of Girls Gone Hallmark, a Bramble Jam podcast. If
38:58
Speaker 1: you love this podcast, we love your five star ratings
39:01
Speaker 1: and reviews. Drop them if you got them. We'll be
39:04
Speaker 1: back next time with more Hallmark reviews.
39:06
Speaker 2: Goodbye bye.
39:20
Speaker 1: All right friends, before we go, just a quick heads up,
39:22
Speaker 1: you're about to hear some ads. These little gems help
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