Pour The Wine, It's Rom-Com Time

Hallmark's Mistletoe Murders S2: E3 & E4 - Ides of December Pt.1 & Pt. 2

• Garry & Amy

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On this episode of Pour the Wine, It’s Rom-Com Time, Garry and Amy unwrap the season’s second murder. Sam’s former partner, Reed, returns to town on a private security job guarding artwork. When he turns up dead, Sam uses unconventional methods to crack the case with Emily by his side as they work to rebuild trust. Meanwhile, Violet searches for the perfect Christmas gift for her boyfriend, Brooke reveals some surprising artistic talent, and Emily’s past offers a few answers while stirring up even more mystery. Between the sparks, the secrets, and the seasonal mayhem, this episode keeps romance and mystery dancing in perfect step. Pour yourself a glass, get cozy, and press play!

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. Hey. And review all things rom com on the Hallmark channel. I'm Amy.

SPEAKER_01:

And I'm Gary.

SPEAKER_00:

And we are ready to discuss episodes three and four of Mistletoe Murders season two. The Ides of March. Girls, my what? What? No, the Ides of December. Parts one and two. They aired back to back on Friday, November 14th, 2025 on the Hallmark channel. You can catch them right now on Hallmark Plus. Ides of December. Those are the names of the episodes. That was episodes three and four, parts one and two. Okay.

SPEAKER_01:

And we would love it if you would click that follow button on your favorite podcast platform so you don't miss an episode. And if you listen on Apple or Spotify, you can also leave us a review. And we are now on YouTube. So if you like to watch this particular episode, you can catch us over there.

SPEAKER_00:

That's right.

SPEAKER_01:

Pourthewine. Pourthewine.com. Poor the wine is monkeys.

SPEAKER_00:

It's been a long day. Actually, we had a really long weekend.

SPEAKER_01:

We sure did.

SPEAKER_00:

There was lots of work involved. So we're a little, we're running on uh running on empty a little bit right now.

SPEAKER_01:

Yep, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Delirious almost.

SPEAKER_01:

So I know. But you can also catch us on all the all the social media platforms too. Facebook, uh X, Threads, Blue Skies, Instagram.

SPEAKER_00:

Yep. And earlier when you were talking about you can leave us a review. I thought you were going to go to like Apple and Spotify, and I was like fingers crossed, it's a positive review.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

And leave us stars and maybe, yeah, that would be so wonderful. We would really appreciate it. If you like what you're listening to, and hopefully you do, you will leave us a review wherever you listen or watch now on YouTube. Or you can also head on over to your email and send us an email at For the Wine. It's romcomtime at gmail.com. We would love to hear from you. Let us know your thoughts about the current season of Mistletoe Murders and maybe how it compares to the first season. Are you liking it better? Do you think it's not as good? Do you think it's, you know, the same as the first season? Let us know your thoughts about that or anything hallmark related, really.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, because there's a lot going on. There is cat down to Christmas, and there's plenty of material to go over.

SPEAKER_00:

Goodness, there's a lot. We're not reviewing them all, but we are watching everything.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

Which has been a little crazy.

SPEAKER_01:

And it's so it's so hard to believe that we're just almost a week out from Thanksgiving.

SPEAKER_00:

I know. That's crazy, right? Oh, it's flying by. I can't, I can't believe it. It'll be here before you know it. And it's so exciting because we're all decorated and we're trying to just savor it and enjoy it because we just love this time of year so much.

SPEAKER_01:

So it's flying. I know we gotta have a countdown sign outside. We do. It's a digital countdown for the kids, and it's at 38 days.

SPEAKER_00:

I can't believe it.

SPEAKER_01:

I know I can't believe it either. It's flying so, so fast.

SPEAKER_00:

So fast.

SPEAKER_01:

So, do you want to tell us who's in this one?

SPEAKER_00:

I sure will. I will tell you who we added in episodes, in addition to the main characters, right? Main actors, main characters. Jake Epstein returns as Noah. He was in the final two episodes of the first season. Yeah. Right? He was in episode five and six. What was that? Death of a humbug?

SPEAKER_01:

Death of a humbug.

SPEAKER_00:

I believe. Yeah. So it was good to see him return. Katherine Barrow plays Piper. She is a starving artist in this in these two episodes. We know her from The Good Witch. She was also, which we did love. She was also in 2024's um a 90s Christmas. We didn't see that one.

SPEAKER_01:

No, we didn't.

SPEAKER_00:

I think we met we we need to go back and check that out. I've seen lots of positive reviews about that one. Julius Cho plays Harrison Crane. He plays like the YouTuber slash influencer, I guess.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, and I have to say his setup, it was awesome. His little phone rig.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I know. You were immediately like, we need that. Look at that. Yes. I was like, okay, we do. Nikki Carrow plays Moira Wells. She is an ancestor, allegedly.

SPEAKER_01:

Allegedly.

SPEAKER_00:

Allegedly, right? Of Angela Wells, who lived in Fletcher's Grove. Yes. Correct? Right. And was an artist. Tony Napo plays Reed Donley. He is a former uh the former partner of Sam's. And he may or may not survive.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

And somebody's gotta go. Somebody's gotta go. He's gotta play that part. Paulino, he did. And play it well, he did. Paulino, Paulino Nunes, or Nunes, I'm not really sure. Sorry if I mispronounced it. Plays Mike Meadows. And he is also a cop. He plays uh or a detective, right? From a different neighboring city. Right.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

So there you go. Those are the additional actors in this episode in these two episodes. All right.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, let's get to the directors and writers.

SPEAKER_00:

Let's do it.

SPEAKER_01:

So this particular episode was written by James Ginn, who did episodes three and four of this season. This is his Hallmark debut. Great job, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap. A few of his directing credits include episodes of The Good Doctor, Jenny and Georgia, Charmed, and Private Eyes.

SPEAKER_00:

Private Eyes. I've heard Private Eyes is pretty good, also. It's on Hallmark Plus. It's not a Hallmark production, I don't think, but it is on Hallmark Plus now. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Very cool. And part one was written by Jesse Gabb, and part two was written by Shelly Scarrow. Shelly wrote episodes five and six in season one, Death of a Humbug. She also wrote two episodes of the Mistletoe Murders podcast series.

SPEAKER_00:

Ah, that's very cool. It's very interesting that they had two different writers, but it was so seamless. Like I never would have I would have the same writer wrote both of those episodes.

SPEAKER_02:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

That's how good it was. And we really, I mean, for season one, for me, I don't know about you, we haven't actually ranked them, but the the final mystery was my favorite. The death of a humbug.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I'm with you on that.

SPEAKER_00:

That was that was actually my favorite. So no wonder why I liked these two episodes a lot.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, and uh I'm here to tell you that so far I'm really impressed with season two.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes.

SPEAKER_01:

It's hard, it's hard to continue with good writing, but these these guys and gals are doing an awesome job.

SPEAKER_00:

They're doing a great job, yes.

SPEAKER_01:

Is it time to drop the synopsis?

SPEAKER_00:

I will drop the synops for both part one and part two since we're gonna talk about both because there are is you know, they do a two-episode arc really. You have the murder and then it's solved in the second one, and then of course you have the underlying main characters who have drama, things going on in their personal life. There's Emily's past that pops up. We have Sam, you know, so um yeah, it's pretty cool. It's a lot digging it, digging it. Part one. Part one a murder at Fletcher's Grove art show leads Sam and Emily to investigate off-grid. Sam's ex-partner was killed guarding a valuable painting while Emily's past emerges. Part two, Emily and Sam investigate deception surrounding mysterious paint a mysterious painting, revealing hidden motives and Emily's own secrets, while Violet makes a special gift.

SPEAKER_01:

For someone special gift.

SPEAKER_00:

It was for someone very special.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes. Wasn't it in season one she was trying to find was she trying to get a Christmas gift for her dad?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Am I remembering that? Okay, that just dawned on me now. And then this season, it's not for her dad, it's for someone special.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, it is. So we're at that point in the podcast that I have to tell you, if you haven't watched this episode or the parts one and parts two of Mistletoe Murrers, you might want to stop this podcast because we have episode three and four. Or three or four.

SPEAKER_00:

They're all episode three and four, part one and part two of the IDs of December. Yeah, I know.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, it's stop the podcast, go watch it, come back and listen, and tell us what you think. Or you can listen to the podcast, get the spoilers, and then go back and watch.

SPEAKER_00:

And watch.

SPEAKER_01:

And see if you catch something that we didn't catch.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I'm sure.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

I'm sure we do the best we can, but no, I know. All right, should we so should we jump in? Do we want to talk about so the murder that gets that happens and then gets solved? Right? It happens in part one and gets solved in part two.

SPEAKER_02:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

Is you have Reed, um, one of Sam's former partners comes into town and he doesn't live there, right?

SPEAKER_01:

I don't know he doesn't either.

SPEAKER_00:

I don't think he lives there, right?

SPEAKER_01:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

So he comes into town and he asks Sam to join him on a like security gig that he has guarding some paintings, right? And it's like an overnight gig, right? He's gotta he's gotta guard the paintings. And Sam, you know, says no, he unfortunately can't do it because he wants to spend time with Violet, because she is going to be spending Christmas with her mom.

SPEAKER_02:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

And so he's trying to get in as much time as he can before she heads off to her mom's. And so he has to he has to politely decline his friend, you know, Reed. And then of course, Sam goes to where Reed is supposed to be doing uh the security, right? Um the next morning, and he finds Reed unalived.

SPEAKER_01:

Unalived, that's unalived, unalived.

SPEAKER_00:

So we have that, so that's the murder that happens.

SPEAKER_02:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

Right. And in the meantime, we have um Moira, who is in town, who has written a book about her aunt her grandmother grandmother, right? Um, Angela Wells, right, who was kind of like a ri uh reclusive and not many people knew what she looked like.

SPEAKER_02:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

And so Moira is in town. She has relatively recently discovered that she was she is related to Angela, allegedly. Allegedly. And she's written a book about it, and she is in town to sign her book and reveal a painting of her grandma, and everybody's excited about it because there aren't any pictures of her really anymore.

SPEAKER_01:

And this is supposed to be the first time that they've all seen her, right, or what she looks like.

SPEAKER_00:

Right. So Moira ends up signing books at um Noah's at the bookstore, right? And then you have the YouTuber who is filming Harrison who is filming things.

SPEAKER_01:

He he gets the exclusive, or he thinks he gets the exclusive, but he is there to help promote this particular function, which Ray is sponsoring. Ray Ray.

SPEAKER_00:

Ray Ray, Ray Ray pops in.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes. I love it. I love Ray.

SPEAKER_00:

I know he's so great.

SPEAKER_01:

He's so it's like that one character we keep finding out he has many jobs.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, it's like it reminds me of Shauna from The Chicken Sisters. If you've watched The Chicken Sisters, which we absolutely love, and if you haven't, go watch it as well. Um, there's a character on there, and she is she's one of the best characters on there, right? Right. And she has throughout the series, there's been two seasons so far, and you've like every season, she's like, Oh, uh, you know, I'm a publisher. Like you find out all these different jobs, and oh, I invested my money, and I, you know, and I it it's just it's so crazy. I can't even think of some of her other jobs, but she has all the she sells um leggings and you know, and she's but and she's making all this money. She's really good at every job that she does. So when Ray popped up and he was like, Yeah, I'm throwing this uh what Christmas art competition. Right, right, and then he's gonna um what's he gonna do? He's gonna hang the the winner's painting in his stores, right? Right, his furniture stores. So yeah, that kind of ties in with everything else.

SPEAKER_01:

Can I just say his hair reminds me of the heat miser. And I'm like, No, it just does.

SPEAKER_00:

The way it's like up, yes, the way it's up, and it's kind of like coney a little bit.

SPEAKER_01:

Just go back and look at the heat meister, the the uh old timey Christmas cartoons.

SPEAKER_00:

You saying that, you know who else he reminds me of? Who he his character reminds me of the character Sam on Burn Notice.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, if you've ever yeah, I just now was just now thinking about that. I wonder if he likes mojitos.

SPEAKER_01:

What do you think?

SPEAKER_00:

He might. The character Sam on Burn Notice did love Mojitos, didn't he?

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, he did. That's another great series. Um he started liking Mojitos.

SPEAKER_00:

So we we also got in these two episodes more of Emily's background, which we which I know I'm loving. I think you are too. I'm loving it. Yeah, I mean, we are really seeing her as a teenager. We're seeing her relationship in this episode develop with Aaron, um, which we saw in episodes one and two, right? Um, the first two episodes. So in episode three and four.

SPEAKER_01:

Cold War.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, they go right, right, yeah. Cold war. Um, so and in these two episodes, they also go back in time, and we see those those snapshots. Her and Aaron are getting closer. She's doing more with the coding, I guess you could say.

SPEAKER_01:

They're doing more um to get well, you get a glimpse that her starting to dip her toe into, and it kind of I don't want to say reminds me of Dexter, where Dexter has this moral code code. She you're starting to find out she has a moral code, right?

SPEAKER_00:

Right. Right.

SPEAKER_01:

So she they kind of there's a guy in the school, Zeke, who is not such a good guy. And apparently his dad is a senator. So he feels like he can do whatever he wants to any of the kids in the school. So Emily and Aaron, well, Emily. Grace. Grace, I can say Grace.

SPEAKER_00:

No, Emily's good.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, we know decides that they're gonna hack into the school records and you know, do a little something, something.

SPEAKER_00:

Maybe update, you know, the jerk's grades for a little, you know.

SPEAKER_01:

Or more like downgrade.

SPEAKER_00:

For the worst, or downgrade, you're right, yeah, yeah. Not upgrade, downgrade.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, that's funny.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, so she so she's yeah, she does.

SPEAKER_01:

But not really because she says only to those that deserve it.

unknown:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

Right, right. And there's there's kind of a line in there too where she says um doing the wrong things even for the right reasons can lead down a very slippery slope.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

Which we find out later on in the episode.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes. Yeah. I agree with you.

SPEAKER_00:

You know, uh it it's just it's so great to see that. And I think I mean there's so many things I want to talk about. So you have Sam who uh wants to investigate his friend's murder, right? Right, but he can't officially do it as a cop because it's in a different district jurisdiction or whatever, right? So he takes a leave of absence, and I loved this part of it so much because now he's got to do things like Emily does, you know, and she's I and she perks up when he says he took a leave of absence, and she's like, You don't say, Are you serious? You know, I just I loved the whole play on that. I thought they both were so great. And there's a scene where Sam, you know, he's got a ball cap on, and he's going to is where they're doing the art, yeah, the competition. And Emily's also going there, and she's like, wait, wait, is that Sam? Because he's like skulking around, right? And he's trying to sneak in there.

SPEAKER_01:

The narration on that part was was awesome.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Cause because now I think Sam understands what Emily goes through. And and and Emily is just, oh, she is truly loving it, truly loving it. And there was some great scenes between between them.

SPEAKER_00:

Between the two of them. They really and their banters coming back, right? Because they, you know, we we find out when uh during the season premiere that they you know, they're speaking, but they don't have their old relationship back.

SPEAKER_02:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

Right? Like they're getting there, but they're getting just starting to talk again. You know, and in these two episodes, Violet has come back to under the mistletoe, you know, because he didn't really want Violet working there because he didn't really know Emily's past. And we talked about it in the last podcast. And can you blame him?

SPEAKER_02:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

You know, I mean, he's a dad, he's a cop, he doesn't know everything about Emily, and he knows that he might maybe trust her now, but he's not sure about her past. Right. So yeah, but it was really good to see their their banter come back in these two episodes. I uh and it's part of the fun of the show, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

It truly is because it's like a good cop bad cop situation between them two. And when when Emily winks, oh that's right. And Sam is like, what are you doing? What are you doing? So she's like winking. He goes, No, this is winking.

SPEAKER_00:

That was cute. I forgot about that. I forgot about that. Yeah, that was really good.

SPEAKER_01:

It was brilliant, it was brilliant. I really enjoyed it.

SPEAKER_00:

I think that was that was towards the beginning, wasn't it?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, it was when he first started he when he left, when he uh removed himself from being a from being right so he could investigate. Yeah to just investigate it on his own. But yeah, they have some really good times.

SPEAKER_00:

I loved how you know, kind of then we have Noah who kind of is in this episode too, and and not a main character, but sort of a main character, because he he starts to we have like all these like little side stories, which I love, you know. So he's starting to suspect Moira isn't who she says she is, and she might not be telling the truth about her relationship with Angela Wells, right?

SPEAKER_01:

So and and because he's in the process of writing a book too about uh Wells the town's history, right? I thought, yeah, yeah, and Angela Wells is part of part of the book.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Um because nobody knows what she looks like, Mora decides to take on you know that particular identity of of the grandchild. So you got that little mystery going on. And like you said, he's um Noah is he's kind of contr he's kind of doubting himself at first. At first, because he's like, Well, hey, maybe my research isn't that good, but then he starts to throughout the movie, start he starts to put the pieces together.

SPEAKER_00:

Throughout the episode.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, or movies.

SPEAKER_00:

They're like movies, right? I know.

SPEAKER_01:

I keep saying movie because it's they stick them both together. Yeah. But yes, the episodes, and he starts to put one and one together.

SPEAKER_00:

One and one? Or well you can put one and one together. That equals two.

SPEAKER_01:

It's the one, it's the one.

SPEAKER_00:

That's okay.

SPEAKER_01:

It's all right. So you have that little side thing going on, and I and that makes it even more interesting because Piper, who is the starving artist, um she keeps showing up at Mora's little book events, right?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

And she doesn't know, she's just being, you know, she's just this innocent painter, starving artist who just wants to know about, you know, Angela Wells.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

And and about Mora, you know, because she wants she's painting and she she uh entered this competition because she wants to become more than a starving artist.

SPEAKER_00:

Right. So she wants to get noticed, I think, right by Moira.

SPEAKER_01:

And Mora kind of thinks she's figured out what's actually going on, so she kind of pushes her and brushes her off in every scene that they're, you know, together in.

SPEAKER_00:

And so you have that going on, and it's oh man, they really well, and there's more later that you learn why Moira's kind of pushing her away because I think she recognizes something, right? You know, and knows that she's not telling the truth, and now somebody else might be related.

SPEAKER_01:

Now she knows why or who this uh Piper is, right?

SPEAKER_00:

Right, yeah. And then you have, and then of course we have the other another storyline where Violet is on the hunt for the perfect Christmas gift for Kyle.

SPEAKER_02:

Kyle.

SPEAKER_00:

You know, and and I loved yeah, her bow. And she doesn't know what to get him, and you know, she's she's asking the town, and um, I loved how we had sort of her story with her boyfriend, you know, and even Emily says something like, ah, young love. Yes, I forgot how annoying it can be, or you know, whatever. And then um, but then you also have the flashbacks are about Emily slash Grace and Aaron and that young love about the same time frame. And I thought that they ran those parallels pretty well, other than the fact that um, you know, Violet isn't coding yet or anything or doing anything nefarious yet, you know, right? So, but you do have those kind of uh stories that are similar, but you do see where they diverge really. So I thought that was pretty cool.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, it was kind of like what Emily would do to get love from Aaron, or not exactly love, but or a grace, not affection, no, affection, thank you. That's a word. And then you see what Violet is trying to do to win up because she's never had a boyfriend, and then she's never had a boyfriend during Christmas. Right, right, because it's all been a good thing. So throughout the movie, or I said it again, throughout the episodes, she's asking, she I think she asked Sue, and that was an awesome scene too, because she she wants to know what to get Kyle.

SPEAKER_00:

Violet is asking Sue.

SPEAKER_01:

Right, right. Well, she asks Sue, and then uh Brooke overhears, and then Brooke gives her interpretation of what she should do, which was totally Which was an interpretive dance, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

But what's great about that scene is you um is when so Violet is talking to Sue at she's sitting at the bar, right? And she's talking to Sue, and then Sue walks away, and all of a sudden Brooke shows up and she's like, Where'd you come from? That was such a cute scene, and I love that we got so much more of Brooke also because I love her, the actress.

SPEAKER_01:

She ended the contest too.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, yeah, she was entering the we saw June again this episode, which yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

I'm glad. I'm glad they're putting them all in there.

SPEAKER_00:

I know, I know. It's so good, it's so good.

SPEAKER_01:

So um so Violet, yeah. So Violet, and then she asks who who does she asked last? I don't remember. Was it Emily? Did she ask Emily? Yeah. But the funny thing is, she ends up doing what the interpreted dance.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, yeah, she ends up with the interpretive, interpretive dance, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Which was because her and Emily did some crafting of a of an ornament, and she accidentally broke it, so she had to improvise, and what a great scene it was.

SPEAKER_00:

So it ended up it and and Kyle really loved the interpretive dance, was the most important part of that.

SPEAKER_01:

Yep.

SPEAKER_00:

And he got her socks, which she loved, and she'd given her dad a hard time about, which was great also.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, he asked, she asked her dad, and her dad told her what he got, her mother, yes, you know, for her their first Christmas, and she was like, No wonder you didn't stay together. Yeah, she was kind of like, Oh, but then Kyle ends up giving her this fuzzy and it was so thoughtful because they were violet, yeah, they were warm and fuzzy.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, yes. Well, he said she said he said to her, doesn't he say something like her you're always saying your feet are cold?

SPEAKER_01:

Right, yep.

SPEAKER_00:

And you love was what was on it, a penguin or polar bear, I think. Polar bear? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

So and these are all the things that he remembers her saying. So how sweet was that? Yeah, that was very cute.

SPEAKER_00:

So he's paying attention to what she says, right? So Kyle and Violet have their moment, which is really cute. And then we have the whole, so now you know, Noah definitely suspects that Moira is not who she says she is, and Emily wants in on that, and we have a whole group effort between Ray, Emily, Sam, and Noah to try to Noah gets uh a DNA sample from Moira because he has her drink from a cup, and then and then the four what was it, four of them work together to get Emily into an exhibit to get the DNA sample from Angela so that they can compare them and see who is the actual if they're actually related or not, or if Moira is lying. And she was.

SPEAKER_01:

And the reason they had to do that is Noah had gotten the DNA off of the cup because he had he apologized to get her to come over to the bookstore and apologize and offer her a drink, and of course she drank.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

And and um Emily is like, well, what are we gonna compare it to?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, and he's like, I didn't think about that. Right. Well, when you're not a professional, you know Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Cat burglar or whatever.

SPEAKER_00:

Cat burglar or whatever Emily's gonna end up being, right. Like when you haven't had to do that, you don't think about things like that.

SPEAKER_01:

No, you don't. But in the in in the episode, you know, Mora talks about how the paintbrushes were the tips of um uh her hair, Angela's hair. Angela's wells hair. Yeah. So that's why they had to break into the exhibit to get the some of the get a hair sample from the paintbrush. So that was that was really good. That was really well done.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, the way that kind of worked out was really well. So so they get the sample, and of course you find out that it's not uh Moira is in fact not related to Angela, but she is not the one who killed Reed.

SPEAKER_01:

Because what had happened was Harrison got a peek of the painting before the unveiling.

SPEAKER_00:

He did. He did.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, he sure did.

SPEAKER_00:

He got a sneak peek.

SPEAKER_01:

Just a little one.

SPEAKER_00:

An illegal sneak peek.

SPEAKER_01:

Illegal.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes.

SPEAKER_01:

But then when it was unveiled, that's when he realized it wasn't the painting that he had got a sneak peek of.

SPEAKER_00:

Right, right. And then you you know come to find out that Moira had swapped the paintings. She had given Reed some money so that he would let her swap the paintings out because she knew that the original painting did not look like her and in fact looked like Piper. Right? Is it Piper?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, Piper, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

And so she because she obviously knew she wasn't a relative because she had set it all up.

SPEAKER_01:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

And then um she swapped the paintings out and Mike, right?

SPEAKER_01:

Mike, like good old Mike.

SPEAKER_00:

Good old Mike, the cop, he w had the morning shift for the paintings, right? To be the security of the paintings, and he saw Moira giving money to Reed so that she could swap the paintings out. And good old Mike wanted a piece of the pie, and Reed wasn't having it, and then they kind of tussled uh. He he took Reed's gun and they they kind of wrestled a little bit and the gun went off. So that's that's what ended up happening. Right.

SPEAKER_01:

To poor Reed. Yeah. So it was it was an accident, not necessarily a murder.

SPEAKER_00:

Right, right. But it was all sort of involved, right? Like the the complexity of the writing and the intertwining of all the stories was pretty was really, really good.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

I mean, I really, really liked these two episodes.

SPEAKER_01:

I know. So did I.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

But then let's go back to Grace because Slash Emily.

SPEAKER_00:

I don't know what to call her. Grace Emily.

SPEAKER_01:

Gramley. Anyway, um, apparently uh Mrs. Cambridge, who is their program teacher, um, gets arrested for apparently there was some money transferred to an offshore site, and all roads led to her. But as they're walking out, you kind of see that it wasn't her that did it. And Emily starts to think, well, you know, it wasn't her because she does she only does things for the for good, but you kind of think Aaron has something to do with it.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, you really are led to believe that Teen Emily, first of all, we know Teen Emily wouldn't do that, right? And the kind of the look on her face.

SPEAKER_02:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

And then, you know, I think the audience member suspects Aaron, but do we think Emily suspects Aaron for setting up their teacher, their coding or coding club or whatever it is, right? Right. So do we I think she does she suspect him yet?

SPEAKER_01:

Or I think she's on that path because she knows Miss Cambridge. So she knows what? She knows Mrs. Cambridge, and I don't think she would think that she would do that.

SPEAKER_00:

So yeah, but we don't know. We don't know for sure. But it sort of does kind of feel like a Aaron might be involved in that a little bit, right? Like it kind of it kind of seems that way. I don't know.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, we'll find out, right?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, yeah. So you have the murder solved, and then you know, we we kind of I think maybe we mentioned it earlier, but maybe not. There's a lot of you know development between Emily and Sam.

SPEAKER_01:

Right. Yes, definitely.

SPEAKER_00:

Also throughout this episode. And I just I thought so much of it was great, they did like a stakeout together when you know when Sam first finds out about um not when he first finds out, but when um, you know, he he knows that Reed has been murdered. Well, he finds him. Right. And Emily goes to find Sam and and she kind of she kind of talks to him, and Sam is blaming himself because he didn't go to help be the security with him or whatever.

SPEAKER_02:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

And she kind of grabs his hand, and there's that moment in the diner between the two of them. And I mean, there were just so many, and then when they're kind of undercover when when Sam is, you know, you know, not doing things on the up and up, he's sort of, as he said, skulking around, he's not used to it. So there were all these really cute moments, and then there's the moment where, you know, Emily knows that Sam, she learns that Sam has been investigating her, right? And she's upset about it. And there's the moment where her and Sam kind of have this, you know, they sort of have it out a little bit, and she's like, you know, I I like the way you look at me, and I don't want that to change. Right. And I thought that was so cool. And I'm paraphrasing, of course, the writing is much better than that. Right, right. You know, it's like I I like the way you look at me, and I'm afraid if you find out about my past, you're not gonna look at me like that anymore. And I just thought, oh, it was so good. It was really good. The writing was so good.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, 100%.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Um, so I just I just thought it was great. I thought all the character development in these two episodes was great. The mystery was great.

SPEAKER_01:

Yep, right?

SPEAKER_00:

And then at the very end, dun dun dun.

SPEAKER_01:

The cliffhanger.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

So there, so her and Sam are having the conversation, and Emily's kind of just looking around while she's listening to him. And across the street, she gets a glimpse of none other than Aaron.

SPEAKER_00:

Aaron. Or is it? But she says it can't be. So does she mean she thinks Aaron's dead?

SPEAKER_01:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

Or does it mean he hasn't, there's no way he found me.

SPEAKER_01:

He found her, right? Well, these are mysteries we're gonna.

SPEAKER_00:

Is it really Aaron? Did he have a twin? I mean, we don't know what's gonna happen. I know, I know, we have no idea. So I just I mean, there's there's a lot, you know, there's another scene, um, just real briefly going back where she has to trust Ray, right? She needs Ray's help again. And she says something like she doesn't know if trusting Ray is the right thing, but she needs to do it.

unknown:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

And I thought, I wonder if that's gonna come up again, also, because later Ray mentions to her that, you know, you're gonna you're you owe me a favor. Like, and I'm gonna I'm gonna call it up one of these days. Yeah, you know, when she's thanking him for doing something for her when they're doing that espionage to get in to get the DNA and all that of Angela. So I thought there's gonna be more, there's just so there's so many more places these characters can go. And I'm I'm just really digging it. I mean, what do you think's gonna happen?

SPEAKER_01:

I don't know because it's coming at you at all different angles and all these different backstories. You're like, whoa, wait a minute.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, and we have two episodes left only of this of season number two. I'm telling you, I'm excited, but I'm sad.

SPEAKER_01:

They're gonna get it third season.

SPEAKER_00:

Third season for sure, for sure. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, that's what I wanted to mention.

SPEAKER_00:

What's that?

SPEAKER_01:

So, as a fan club, what kind of name can we come up with?

SPEAKER_00:

Oh what so like it you what do you mean?

SPEAKER_01:

Like you have the the Heinies, the Heinese for Tyler Hines fans, right? You have the postables, yeah, the postables for Sciencefield Delivery.

SPEAKER_00:

The Hardy's are Win Calls the Heart, right? Right. I don't know. Mistletoers?

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, we gotta get people to get people to join in and come up with what a good and we just don't know. Right.

SPEAKER_00:

The mistletowers.

SPEAKER_01:

That's so funny.

SPEAKER_00:

MMs, the mistletoe murder. I don't know. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01:

Maybe maybe somebody out there listening will maybe will email us some.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, the fan club, sorry. Yeah. Or fans. Yeah, yeah. That's a great idea.

SPEAKER_01:

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh my gosh. I wonder what the last mystery is gonna be. I wonder how much more we're gonna find out about Emily and Grace. And Emily and Sam. And I love at the end how Sam is like, you know, he decides that he is gonna let the past be the past, right? As long as there are no more secrets moving forward with Emily, because he trusts the person that she is today, which I thought was great.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes. So he came around.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, he came around. Yes, he did. Yes. Yep, yep, yep. So, what was your tinsel top moment this episode?

SPEAKER_01:

I think my tinsel well you go first. I have to think about it.

SPEAKER_00:

Uh me? Yes, putting me on the spot. I was putting you on the spot. That's the way it's supposed to go. I know. No, I don't know. I would have to think, you know, I really, really liked the Violet and Kyle. Is it Kyle? Yeah. The Violet and Kyle story. I thought when they exchanged their Christmas gifts, I thought that was so cute. And when she, because she had made a gift and they're they're in under the mistletoe, they're in the store, right? And she goes to reach for it and she accidentally hits it off of the off of the table it was on and it breaks because it's an ornament she has made. And you see her face like, and you know what it's like to be a teen, and you're in love, and you're so embarrassed, and then she just handles it really well, and then just is not afraid to make a fool of herself, basically, in front of him. Although he ended up loving it, and then the gift he got her. I just thought it was really sweet. I love that they make Violet a good kid, you know, a nice kid, and she likes another kid who's nice, he's not in trouble. You know, I just I like that because sometimes teens are good, you know. I mean they have their moments, but but they there are good kids out there, and I just I just loved that moment and I love her as a character. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

It was almost when he when he got the gave her the socks, it was almost that serendipity moment.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. When he oh well, maybe, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Now I do love Mistletoe Murders, but serendipity is one of my favorite movies. So I was she drops the glove, you mean, and yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

I was gonna say the same thing. I just like how Violet's character has grown and they've given her a relationship now.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

And she's really falling into that part and developing it. And it's it's really coming off on on the camera really well.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

So that's why I said she'd probably she's probably when she gets a little older, she'll have a leading role.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Yeah, or maybe she'll end up behind the scenes. I you know, you never know.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, that's true.

SPEAKER_00:

I mean yeah, in front and behind, you know, she may end up directing and executive producing like Sarah Drew. I mean, that'd be cool. Yeah. See where she goes.

SPEAKER_01:

So out of five ornaments, how many are you going to hang on the tree?

SPEAKER_00:

As a combo for both episodes, yes, I would we'll do one ornament. Um, I would probably do a four and a half.

SPEAKER_02:

Yep.

SPEAKER_00:

I really liked these two. I thought they were I mean, I liked the first two episodes also, but I really this one, you know, kind of sunk my teeth into. I just really enjoyed this one. What about you?

SPEAKER_01:

I'm giving it a four and a half, too. A four and a half, possibly. Yeah. Very well written.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes.

SPEAKER_01:

So is that a wrap?

SPEAKER_00:

That is a wrap.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, thanks for listening.

SPEAKER_00:

Thank you for listening. And be sure to follow us wherever you get your podcasts and on all the social medias, including YouTube. So you don't miss a thing. Until next time. Cheers. Cheers.