Pour The Wine, It's Rom-Com Time

Hallmark's Mistletoe Murders S1 E3 - Peril of the Belles Pt.1 (Re-Release)

• Garry & Amy

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Jingle all the way… to murder? In this episode of Pour the Wine, It’s Rom-Com Time, "Peril of the Bells, Pt. 1” is unwrapped! The holiday spirit takes a deadly turn when a sleigh plummets off a roof during choir practice, nearly killing Debbie. For Emily, a sharp-eyed amateur sleuth, this isn’t the first red flag. With a history of near misses, and one confirmed death, the choir’s festive façade may be hiding a killer. Join Garry & Amy as they dissect the mystery, the mayhem, and the mistletoe in a Christmas tale where every note could be your last.

Send us an email to pourthewineitsromcomtime@gmail.com! We'd love to hear your thoughts!

Music from #Uppbeat

https://uppbeat.io/t/abbynoise/mood-of-summer

SPEAKER_00:

Welcome to Pour the Wine. It's rom com time where we'll sip some wine and review all things rom com on the Hallmark channel. I'm Amy.

SPEAKER_01:

And I'm Gary.

SPEAKER_00:

And I really think you should pour that Cabernet Savion.

SPEAKER_01:

And I really think you're right.

SPEAKER_00:

I think you're right. It's time for some wine. Yes, sir. Welcome back to Tinsel Tuesdays, where we review All Things Christmas. Today we're reviewing episode number three of Mistletoe Murders.

SPEAKER_02:

Murder.

SPEAKER_00:

Peril of the Bells Part One. It originally aired on Hallmark Plus on November 14th, 2024. And this is our first go-around watching it. We did not catch it in November, but we are catching it now.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, we are. Woo-hoo! Well, we'd love it if you would click that follow button on your favorite podcast platform.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, we would.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, we would. So you don't miss any of these episodes. If you listen on Apple or Spotify, you can also leave us a review, and we hope that is a positive review.

SPEAKER_00:

We do hope it's a positive review. We have one review so far. We're so excited and grateful and thankful.

SPEAKER_01:

And it was a five.

SPEAKER_00:

And we would appreciate more. If you listen to it to us and you like it, then we'd really appreciate you leaving a review.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

And you can also find us on social media Facebook, Instagram, Blue Sky, X, and of course, Threads.

SPEAKER_00:

All the socials. Go find us on your favorite social media platform. You might not be on all of them, but go find us, like the page, comment, let us know what you think about mistletoe murders and everything else on Hallmark that we're reviewing. You can also email us at pour the wine, it's romcom time at gmail.com. Yay! No dashes, no apostrophes in the email.

SPEAKER_01:

Nope.

SPEAKER_00:

Just pour the wine, it's rom com time.

SPEAKER_01:

There you go. So are we adding any actors for this episode?

SPEAKER_00:

We are. We're gonna add a few because you know, as you know, the first two episodes sort of wrapped up that murder.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

One and two. So now we have some new actors. Actors actors that are involved in the murder, a new group. We have in addition to the main characters, which you can go and listen to episode one.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes. And two.

SPEAKER_00:

And two, well, I think it was episode one. Yeah. Yeah, where if you want to hear information about the main actors in this. But in episode three, they have added Raven Dowda plays Debbie Branagin.

unknown:

Okay.

SPEAKER_00:

For Hallmark, she was in a nutcracker Christmas in 2016. Some of her other work includes the Hulu series Spellbound, where she was in 39 episodes from 2023 to 2024. She was in Star Trek Discover, 17 episodes from 2018 to 2024. Lifetime's Yes Chef Christmas. We watched that. That was really cute. 2023.

SPEAKER_02:

Yep.

SPEAKER_00:

She uh voiced uh the character Sharice on three episodes of the Mistletoe Murders podcast in 2023, four episodes of Umbrella Umbrella Academy in 2020. That pops up a lot. And three episodes of Suits in 2016. There's that bean pie again. Suits comes up, huh?

SPEAKER_01:

There's that bean pie again.

SPEAKER_00:

That's right. Gosh. Arlene Duncan plays Vera Van Dorn for Hallmark. She was in one episode of The Good Witch in 2018. I didn't see any other Hallmark work for her.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay.

SPEAKER_00:

But she has done rom coms for other networks. She was in A Change in Heart in 2025, Loving Every Minute in 2023, and The Great Holiday Bake War in 2022. Some of her other work includes Digstown, the series, 15 episodes between 2019 and 2022, two episodes of Suits in 2015. And Eloise at Christmas time in 2003.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay.

SPEAKER_00:

David Delancey Wilson plays Lance Mitford. He was in one other homework production, Catch Me If You Claws. That's cute, too. He saw it in 2023. Some of his other work includes Murdoch Mysteries, one episode in 2025, Good Sam, one episode in 2023, and The Handmaid's Tale, who's in one episode in 2018.

SPEAKER_01:

There's a new one.

SPEAKER_00:

Jamie Spilchuk plays Adam Jameson. Some of his homework work includes one episode of Win Hope Calls in 2019. Now Win Hope Calls was on the Hallmark Channel for one season, but it's now on the great American Family network, I guess. For subsequent seasons. He was in Christmas in Love in 2018 and two episodes of The Good Witch in 2016. He also has done some rom-coms for other networks. He was in Mr. Positively Perfect. Positively perfect. Positively and The Love Issue in 2023 and Christmas Around the Corner in 2018. He too was in one episode of Suits in 2011. It seems like all these actors make a stop. Yeah, they do suits. Nicole Volesteski plays Nikki. This is her Hallmark premiere. She's in a been in about a dozen things, and a few of them are Stealing the Sky in 2025, and one episode of Slip in 2023.

SPEAKER_02:

Slip.

SPEAKER_00:

Isaac Cragton plays Pete. This is his Hallmark debut. His other work includes Shoresy, which is a Hulu series. He was in five episodes in 2025. The movie War with Grandpa in 2020 with Robert De Niro.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay.

SPEAKER_00:

That's not too shabby. And a series called Odd Squad. It's a kid's series on PBS. He was in 35 episodes between 2016 and 2019.

SPEAKER_01:

Awesome.

SPEAKER_00:

So these guys will be in this episode and the next episode, part two. Peril.

SPEAKER_01:

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_00:

Peril of the bells. Peril of the bells. Oh gosh.

SPEAKER_01:

Sorry about that. Well, I don't have any trivia for you today. You don't have any no trivia.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh I'm so bummed. I get my sad face. I know you were just no, I do like your trivia.

SPEAKER_01:

You were biting the nails, and you were like, Where's the trivia? Where's the trivia?

SPEAKER_00:

What's it gonna be? What's it gonna be?

SPEAKER_01:

Well, then we can move on to time to drop the synopsis.

SPEAKER_00:

Drop the synops. Emily goes undercover when she sus suspects foul play in the local choir. Dun dun dun.

SPEAKER_01:

Period.

SPEAKER_00:

Period.

SPEAKER_01:

That's it for the synopsis.

SPEAKER_00:

That's it for the synopsis. That'll do it.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, we just want to give you guys a heads up. We'll probably give away some spoilers. Definitely. So if you haven't watched it yet, please press pause now.

SPEAKER_00:

Press pause.

SPEAKER_01:

Go watch it. Yep. Come back, press play, and afterwards, drop us a review. Let us know. Let us know what you think.

SPEAKER_00:

Or go on socials and let us know what you think about mistletoe murders. I'm kind of digging the two episode plot lines, which we didn't know when we first started. I had no idea. So now we have a part one and part two of Parallel of the Bells. And um, you know, you have new new characters added in, and some have fallen off by the wayside for now. I don't know if they appear in, you know, like the last one.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, June's still there, so that's good.

SPEAKER_00:

I mean, I said some. Yeah. Not all.

SPEAKER_01:

No, I know. But yay. You're right. The the unimportant ones have fallen up.

SPEAKER_00:

No, that's not true. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01:

You know what I mean. The episode is over. They solve the mystery. It's time to move on.

SPEAKER_00:

It's unimportant. It just means that their characters are no longer. That's what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_01:

That's what I'm saying. The unimportant character because it's no longer relevant to this one.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay. Okay.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, I'm just gonna have a sip of wine. I have a sip of wine.

SPEAKER_00:

Are you talking about unimportant? I know what you meant, but we have to let them know what you meant.

SPEAKER_01:

They know what I meant.

SPEAKER_00:

They know what you meant. All right. So previously, so at the end of the last episode, Emily figured out who the murderer was.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, she did.

SPEAKER_00:

She figured out who murdered Marcus, right? It was Rowan. Spoiler alert if you haven't watched that.

SPEAKER_01:

Uh-oh.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, you did say spoilers. I did.

SPEAKER_01:

I gave him warning.

SPEAKER_00:

Emily gives Ray a postcard that says something like, Here's to keeping each other's secrets. So we know her and Ray either have a past or she found out he's got something dark too. And he helps her out. And Ray gave Emily a new box. Yes. Right. But we don't know the contents.

SPEAKER_01:

Nope.

SPEAKER_00:

Sam starts to listen to Emily a little bit. Yeah. He kind of eases off being upset at her. Sam and Violet, his daughter, come to an understanding. And Emily definitely has a past, but we're not sure what where we are.

SPEAKER_01:

That's correct. Which is interesting. Yeah. Because I do like how they are weaving all of this together here. You know.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I agree. So you have so you have the common theme of her storyline and Sam and Violet. And like you said a little earlier, that there are characters who are going to be in all of the episodes. And so we're going to learn more about that. It's kind of an interesting storytelling. Yeah. I kind of, I'm digging it. I am. I like it. I like it. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Because they also have her little side thing going on with with, like you said, Ray.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. With Ray. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

So you got the love, you got the comedy, you got the Yeah, she has a lot of one-liners, right? That are really good in this. She's really fun. I like it. Cute and fun.

SPEAKER_00:

I like it. Mm-hmm. So, how do you want to do you want to talk about revelations in this episode?

SPEAKER_01:

Yes. Let's do some revelations.

SPEAKER_00:

All right. So I feel like we should have a murder board. We like to play the game Hunt a Killer. Yes. If you've never played it, it's really fun. Some of them are really hard. You can find them on like what? Amazon.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

Um, Target. And you can go to probably Huntakiller.com still. But we have played many, many of those games, and we love those games. Yes. So these two, these episodes kind of remind me of that. I'm looking for clues. I'm not very good at it, but I do look for clues. Yeah. So in this episode, we're introduced to the singing snowbells. Yay. Which I like, which is a choir, the town's choir.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

I guess. And they are caroling outside.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, and they're competitive.

SPEAKER_00:

And they are competitive. There's politics in choir.

SPEAKER_01:

There's politics and everything.

SPEAKER_00:

They sounded pretty good. Yes, they do. Some of them are real life singers. Oh, you know they are. Probably.

SPEAKER_01:

Pretty much. If you're on Hallmark, he's singing.

SPEAKER_00:

You singing. You sing. Well, maybe.

SPEAKER_01:

You got some pipes. Most of them do.

SPEAKER_00:

So they're outside singing, and a sleigh falls on one of the carolers from the rooftop. From the rooftop. And I'm impressed on how it landed on her.

SPEAKER_01:

I know. I I was like, there's the murder.

SPEAKER_00:

Spoiler alert, Debbie survives the sleigh falling on her from the rooftops.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, that was amazing. That's some really good.

SPEAKER_00:

It landed just right.

SPEAKER_01:

Yep.

SPEAKER_00:

Right. So what happened to Caroling anyway? Do people go caroling a lot still?

SPEAKER_01:

You know, I don't know.

SPEAKER_00:

I mean, what like you always see it in movies and TV shows and things, but it was never really popular. Like when I was a kid, we didn't go caroling with my friends down the street, you know, arm in arm. I think the last time I went when the kids were little is probably more than 20 years ago. And um, one of the girls was in Girl Scouts and we walked around and that was really fun.

SPEAKER_02:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

But that that was about it.

SPEAKER_01:

I know.

SPEAKER_00:

And I don't remember anybody ever coming to our door.

SPEAKER_01:

I know you know we never had anybody come to the door.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, yeah, for caroling. So, but we do like to go to Busch Gardens Christmas Town.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, we do.

SPEAKER_00:

And they have carolers, and they're supposed to be late 1800s, maybe. I would think so. Costumes, and it's kind of it's very cool, and we always stop and listen to them and they're always there too, so that's fine. Yeah, yeah, and they're always some character in the yeah, so it's pretty cool. Yeah. But yeah, so maybe small towns do it.

SPEAKER_01:

I don't know. More than maybe we should go to a small town and find out.

SPEAKER_00:

Maybe we should. So then another revelation. So Debbie survives the sleigh.

SPEAKER_01:

She does.

SPEAKER_00:

And Emily finds out that Debbie almost died by food poisoning a few months prior. And another member, Clara, was killed by hit and run in a neighboring city. And of course, then Emily, who is some kind of background of detective work.

SPEAKER_01:

She's something, yes.

SPEAKER_00:

Things are adding up for her that maybe this all isn't a coincidence.

SPEAKER_01:

And then it's hard for her to let Sam know.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_01:

I know there's something going on. I just can't tell you because then you're gonna start digging into my past. Right. We can't have it right now.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, then she doesn't she say something like it would be dangerous if I got close to him. Because I she kind of likes him a little bit, and so she she does try to tell him, but she's not pushy and she's more open now, or she tried to hide her questioning in the last what the first or second episode. She tried to and he got upset. But now she's like, Hey, yeah, this is what I found out, and just so you know, you know.

SPEAKER_01:

And and she gets him to kind of you know move along with the investigation by just saying, Hey, can I look at this sleigh? Something doesn't seem right.

SPEAKER_00:

That's right, that's right.

SPEAKER_01:

And then um, I think his name's Jameson or Adam. Adam. Yeah. Yeah, he's the uh town, I guess he picks up John. Yeah, I forget what the name of his company is. Yeah, and he's the husband of Clara who was like, we don't know she's murdered, she was killed in a hidden rut. Murdered. And he's kind of it they make it seem like he he wants Sam to hurry up an investigation so he can haul off the sled like he had done something to the sled.

SPEAKER_00:

But oh, that's right. He did. I didn't think about it that way, but you're right. He was like, I want to tell you, yeah, he kind of gets a little grumpy in that scene. Yeah, I didn't look at it that way, but you're right.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. So and then we move on to Debbie again.

SPEAKER_00:

Debbie again, third time's a charm. Not really. So she sprays her mouth with her I don't know.

SPEAKER_01:

She she tells Emily she's allergic to honeybee. Right. Honey, bees honey.

SPEAKER_00:

Bee pollen or something.

SPEAKER_01:

No, it's bees honey. Because she goes into the store and it's almost, I feel like she's planting this stuff, right? She's telling the phone. Like leaving little nuggets of nuggets that hey, if this happens to me, yeah, you know. Maybe but she was she wanted to get some snacks for the the choir prior to that night's, you know, uh um practice. Right. And that's when she tells she drops a couple nuggets there too. She talks about Clara, she talks about um does she talk about Adam at this point? I'm not sure. But anyways, yeah, that's when they go and they have practice, right?

SPEAKER_00:

For the choir. For the choir for the choir, right, right, right.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, she's a trip. That girl Debbie's a trip.

SPEAKER_00:

She can't find her purse. She she missed right? She so they're at the choir practice, and Debbie can't, she she misplaces her purse, and Lance, who's another choir member, who we find out was in prison because of a tattoo on his arm that Emily recognized. That's a long segue. But so he and he knew where her purse was, which I thought was interesting because he pointed it right out to her. So did he do something with her purse?

SPEAKER_01:

We don't know. We don't know.

SPEAKER_00:

The suspect list is and then they start to practice and she sprays herself with her, I guess it's a throat spray because she sings. I don't know. Yeah, loosen up her throat. And then she has an allergic reaction because somebody laced her spray with shocking honey bee, bee, honey.

SPEAKER_01:

Which they don't know until later on.

SPEAKER_00:

Right, right, right. But so her throat starts to close up and she has an allergic reaction. They have to call 911.

SPEAKER_01:

Because they can't find her at EpiPen.

SPEAKER_00:

Right. Well, that's the other right, exactly. It's missing from her purse, which she always has with her. So the question is who did it? Right. Who took the EpiPen? Who's trying to set her up?

SPEAKER_01:

Mm-hmm. It's not broke.

SPEAKER_00:

So then after she No, it's not broke. So then she this is where Emily finally convinces Sam something's going on. Because this is like the third attempt on her life, allegedly. She had the the food poisoning.

SPEAKER_01:

The food poisoning, the sleigh, the sleigh, and then this.

SPEAKER_00:

And then that. And then this allergic reaction.

SPEAKER_01:

And why is it always happening to her? That's a good question. That's what we don't know. Because we do find out she did inherit some money.

SPEAKER_00:

Right.

SPEAKER_01:

And she's the one that's actually funding the bells.

SPEAKER_00:

The bells, right? Right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

And I guess that's why Vera lets her get away with what she lets her get away with.

SPEAKER_00:

Vera is the choir director.

SPEAKER_01:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

So but Vera does it reluctantly. Like there's some contentious stuff going on between Brooke, Debbie, and Vera.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

And I think there's some point where Emily was like, if I known the politics would be this good, I would have joined the choir a long time ago or something like that. She's just to just to enjoy it. So Emily's kind of observing everyone's interactions and everything, right? So um, and then you you know, you find out that Adam, Clara's husband, believed she was murdered. Yes, he never believed it was an accident. So that kind of adds fuel to Emily's fire. Suspicions. Suspicions, yeah. When she's trying to figure stuff out. Um, you talked about Debbie funding Emily Emily and Sam go to talk to Adam.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

And they oh wait, maybe we want to go back to that in a minute. Uh yeah. Violet's key to the store goes missing.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

Violet has Emily gives her a key to lock up and trusts her. And all of a sudden, Violet, who's a good kid, responsible, can't find her a key. Well, I suspect it's who do you suspect? The boy who picked her up.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, you think so?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I think Pete.

SPEAKER_01:

Is that his name? Pete.

SPEAKER_00:

Pete, was it Pete?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I think it's Pete.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, it's Pete. So Violet's leaving the store one night, and her friend or her friend Nikki, and I guess it's her brother Pete. He's mad because he's got to go pick her up, and she gets in the back. And I suspect the key might be in the back of his car.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay.

SPEAKER_00:

And he probably finds it. And I think we're gonna find out, obviously, in part two, but that's what I think. So the key is missing, and she's stressed out as a teen would be because Emily trusts her. She's lost the key. Her dad knows something's up with her, but she hasn't told her dad yet.

SPEAKER_01:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

So she's a little bit freaking out. Yeah. A little bit.

SPEAKER_01:

You know what's funny about that? Because it reminds me when when you first get that key to close up a shop.

SPEAKER_00:

When you have a job, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

How many? Raise your hand.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I got my hand.

SPEAKER_01:

Sat there, locked it, unlocked it, locked it again, shook the handle, made sure everything was locked up, made sure the lights were off.

SPEAKER_00:

And that's kind of that's kind of what she does. Emily has her to make sure she can lock the door, and she locks it like three times and pulls on the door. It is because it's so much responsibility, you know.

SPEAKER_01:

So I thought that was.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I remember that too. Oh, I had a few keys.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, me too.

SPEAKER_00:

And it was very nerve-wracking. Yes, it was. But fun.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

So her key. Um, what else? What else? What else?

SPEAKER_01:

But you're going back to Adam when he was talking to Emily, he also because he suspect she he told her she was murdered and that they drove her the bells drove her away. Yes. But he told her why he suspected because she was going to do an audition um with a state uh champion.

SPEAKER_00:

Choir choir who won a lot of awards.

SPEAKER_01:

The only person she told was Debbie.

SPEAKER_00:

Right. But then the twist is we find out from Debbie that Adam had come to her house drunk asking her who his wife was having an affair with.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes. Another nugget.

SPEAKER_00:

If we believe that. If we believe that we believe that. But so that's what Debbie tells Emily because Oh, and we forgot about Sam, talked to the other town and found they suspected Debbie.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, they have a follow.

SPEAKER_00:

So Emily confronts De and doesn't confront her, but has an opportunity to ask her some questions about her car and where her car was. And then that's when she tells her about Adam coming to her house drunk. Yes, accusing his wife of having an affair. And Debbie says something like, if it was with a bell, we she basically is like, we would know if it was a bell and she was not having an affair with anyone. Yeah, yeah. So that was a pretty good, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

But see, Emily tried to try to get some info from her because she was like, So what what uh towing service did you use? Because, you know, I have a friend whose car is broken down, they want to get rid of it. And she kind of down at the end of the garage.

SPEAKER_00:

Uh but that was after Debbie said she just got rid of her car a couple months. She just got rid of her because it was too expensive and cars are expensive and the upkeep and she just didn't. So you see how all these little things are pointing in her direction. You think it's her, it's not her, is it her? I don't know. Would she set herself up to have a an allergic reaction? Well, what is that's pretty good? What did Sam say?

SPEAKER_01:

You would do it to get the cops off your own.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I mean, I guess you would, but that's pretty serious to say.

SPEAKER_01:

To have to have a sleigh drop on you? Yeah, you've got to be in the right spot at the right time.

SPEAKER_00:

I mean, we so Emily and Sam go to talk to Adam after they find out the information about him being drunk and suspecting her because that gives Adam motive now because he thought his wife was having an affair. So they go to talk to him, he's not home, and then they leave and they find his truck off the road.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Basically. And my question is when they were going to Adam's house, they didn't see the truck.

SPEAKER_01:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

Or the stuff on the road. So did they go back a different way, or does are we supposed to believe that that happened in between?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

I don't know.

SPEAKER_01:

I thought that was a weird Yeah, that was kind of a weird thing.

SPEAKER_00:

Because they would see it going, but did it happen? Are we supposed to think then that maybe he was leaving or something happened while they were at his house? Right. They kind of cross paths. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01:

Right, right. I just thought that was a little bit more. I thought he was going to be jumping out a window, getting in a car, and taking off that's what I had in my mind. But yeah, because they were driving down the road because he wasn't home, and they saw boxes in the in the in the street, which were the boxes that Emily had given to Adam earlier on that day to get rid of. So, yes, his car was off in the ditch, off to the side. His phone was on the seat, front seat, and there was blood. So we're not sure what's going on there. Right.

SPEAKER_00:

We don't know where he is.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

He's not there. We don't know if he's still alive. I presume he probably is.

SPEAKER_01:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

So that's a little bit of a mystery. Yeah, mystery. Hence the mistletoe murders. We find out, you know, I guess a few last things, we find out a few a little more about Emily, right? She can program. She runs the program. She's a tracker. The uh flash drive that she used that was given to her by Ray. Was that in the box then?

SPEAKER_01:

Ray, Ray, that's what was in the box.

SPEAKER_00:

Was in the box. It was a flash drive that she could use so that she could search the internet and not be traced. Right. She developed the program. In the shadows.

SPEAKER_01:

Without the case, kind of like a VPN.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

They won't know where you're where you're at.

SPEAKER_00:

Where you're at, because you're using it through something else. Right, right, right. So she says the name Kimara. Kimara. I wrote that down. Still makes the hair on the back of her neck stand up. So we don't know if I assume that's the name of a company, not a person. Um she says. Kamira, maybe. Something like that. Yeah. She says something to June about grief. Grief never really disappears. It just becomes an ache you learn to live with. So you gotta wonder what that's about. Yeah. Who did she lose? Is she talking about her parents, a significant other?

SPEAKER_01:

Well, she had that picture of uh I'm assuming it was her with her parents.

SPEAKER_00:

Her family. Right. Right. Right. And then she references the prison tattoo on Lance. He's a member of the choir. And she says something like, and I would know, not that I'm sharing that story. That that's a so we, you know, we get all these little tidbits, and we just still don't know her story, which is great because it can still build and develop over the next two episodes and next season, I guess.

SPEAKER_01:

So yeah, it's kind of it's kind of interesting because you know, you mentioned she we find out that she's a programmer and she's this hacker, she's got all these uh passports and and and money and stuff, and she's got this like tough book. The the laptop is a tough book, right? Which I wish I could get that battery packed because that thing is never plugged in and it stays on all the time. She was running that program in the background, went and had a day, came back, it was still going. So I'd love to have that battery. But I also find interesting that Ray kind of reminds me, like Inspector Gadget. Well, you know how they get their gadgets before they get he gets her the stuff.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

It'd be cool if if he gives her something else later on in another episode.

SPEAKER_00:

That'd be pretty cool. He probably does for her to use. I liked, I mean, she had, we talked about it earlier, her one-liners in this one.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_00:

Like when she when she joins the choir, or she was she's talking to Sam and he's like, Did you join the choir because, you know, just to prove me wrong or whatever? And she's like, Would I lie to an officer of the law?

SPEAKER_02:

I know.

SPEAKER_00:

You know, it's so funny. I mean, she just and the way she delivers them is so good. The way Sarah Drew, the actor, delivers them is so good. And we talked about the politics. If I knew choir politics were this entertaining, I would have joined a long time ago. Yes, I know. And then when she said Glee meets Mean Girls meets Friday the 13th with that crew about the choir, I thought that was so good.

SPEAKER_02:

I'm telling you.

SPEAKER_00:

That was a perfect explanation of choir, and that's just girls in general. I think anytime you get more than two, there's trouble.

SPEAKER_01:

Yep, there's always trouble.

SPEAKER_00:

There's always trouble with girls. Yeah. Um, who do you think did it? What you think?

SPEAKER_01:

Well, everything's pointing to Debbie. You know?

SPEAKER_00:

I know, but I don't know. I'm thinking no.

SPEAKER_01:

I'm gonna say if I had to choose anybody, but again, you you get that they're showing you who the murderer is and you're still not believing, or is it too obvious because they're making it too obvious? So I would say, I don't think it could be Adam.

SPEAKER_00:

I don't think it's I don't believe it's Adam. I don't believe Adam ran his wife over.

SPEAKER_01:

And the only other or maybe it wasn't really an accident to me in the choir would be Vera. Because I don't think the other ones I think I just don't see anybody that sticks out.

SPEAKER_00:

And why is Lance there? We find out that Adam and Lance they have a little argument, and if he was in prison, was Adam in prison at one time? Because I'm thinking maybe Adam like hired him to go and try to find who the murderer was. That's what that's what I think. Um, but I don't know. I mean, yeah, signs sort of point to Debbie, but is it too obvious or is it obvious and they're showing you? I mean, I don't know. My brain is all over the place. That's why I just don't know.

SPEAKER_01:

Those are those would be my two. Would be yeah. Would be well, actually three. Vera, Adam, and and Debbie. Because I there's no other character.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, obviously. So yeah, I don't think it's gonna be somebody we didn't sus you know that they're not focusing on. I mean, maybe it could be, but what do I know? I'm terrible at this. I I'm terrible at the hunt and killer games. I like playing them, I like trying to figure it out, but I am not although it could be.

SPEAKER_01:

I'd say it might be Vera.

SPEAKER_00:

It might be Vera.

SPEAKER_01:

Because when that sled fell, she kind of backed up a little bit. And then Debbie came out. Now Debbie doing that solo. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

And that head shaking, and woo-woo, woo.

SPEAKER_00:

She was getting to it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

It's like if I because I can't sing, and that's what I do, I'll shake my head. Like I'm getting the words out by shaking my head.

SPEAKER_00:

And there's who wants a solo and she can't get one. So there's that, you know, you think they're fighting over the solos, and Clara was their main soloist, the one who got hit by a car, the hit and run. So there's that angle too. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

So and Vera is worried about the Christmas tree not lighting up.

SPEAKER_00:

Right.

SPEAKER_01:

And Adam's the one that's doing the tree.

SPEAKER_00:

So well, that's yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

So we got a lot of things going on. Do you think that tree's gonna fall on somebody?

SPEAKER_00:

I hope not. I don't know. We'll find out maybe. Maybe. I don't know. Man, it could be the final, the final act. Yeah, I didn't think about that, but maybe.

SPEAKER_01:

We'll go we're gonna find out. Stay tuned.

SPEAKER_00:

Stay tuned. What was your tinsel topped moment uh of this episode?

SPEAKER_01:

I when Emily broke out that USB put that in and the narration of what she was doing. I was like, Oh my god, look at this.

SPEAKER_00:

That was pretty good. I know the hacker that she is.

SPEAKER_01:

I was like, Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

Yep.

SPEAKER_01:

What about you? What was yours?

SPEAKER_00:

Mine was there's a scene where Emily and Sam are in the car, and Sam reluctantly asks her to help. Oh, because he's like, Could you just and she's like, Do you need my help? Do you need me to be a spy? And he's like, No, not a spy, just if you could, you know, and she's like, Yes. And then she goes, anyone in particular? And then she says something like, Please say Brooke. It would, it would explain so much. You know, I think that's part of the narration. Yes. I just thought that scene was so cute and so fun. Cause you know, she's like dying, she's already doing the legwork and he doesn't know that, but she's dying to do it where he knows so they can talk about it and she can get information from him. So it was just I that's my tinsel top moment for the episode.

SPEAKER_01:

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_00:

I thought that was cute. Yep, yep, yep.

SPEAKER_01:

So as Out of five ornaments, how many would you give it?

SPEAKER_00:

I'd give it a solid four. I'd I'd hang four on the tree from this one. What about you? Four. Yep.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. I really enjoyed this one. Yeah. I'm actually liking this one, I think, a little bit better than the first one.

SPEAKER_00:

The first one. Oh, okay. The first, the first murder.

SPEAKER_01:

The first murder. Murder. Yeah. I can't wait to see the part two.

SPEAKER_00:

All right, cool. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

All right. So is that a wrap?

SPEAKER_00:

That is a wrap.

SPEAKER_01:

All right, folks. Thanks for listening. Be sure to follow the podcast wherever you listen so you don't miss one. Also, follow us on social media. If you really, really like the show and are listening on Apple or Spotify, you can leave us a review.

SPEAKER_00:

Leave us a review. If you take the time, we'd really appreciate it.

SPEAKER_01:

And you know what?

SPEAKER_00:

Yes.

SPEAKER_01:

And if you didn't really, really like the show, you can still leave a review.

SPEAKER_00:

You can, but we'd prefer it to be positive. Yes, we would. Join us next Tinsel Tuesday when we review episode number four, Peril of the Bells Part Two. You can catch the entire season of Mistletoe Murders on Hallmark Plus now, so go check it out and then come back for our weekly reviews. Also, be sure to tune in on Wednesdays for our Hallmark movie reviews. Until then, fill up your glasses and push play. Thanks for listening. Cheers!