All Episodes

August 3, 2023 41 mins
This week we are back in Garland, Alaska watching A Cozy Christmas Inn.  This time Jodie Sweetin takes on Andy Holliday...the same Andy Holliday from Christmas Under Wraps.  We discuss why it kind of feels like that time Stephanie Judith Tanner got the ad gig that DJ Tanner was auditioning for. This movie originally aired in 2022 and also stars David O'Donnell and Bill Murray's brother. Need to talk about even more baking montages and snowball fights? Connect with us today! Instagram: @hallmarkjunkies Facebook: @hallmarkjunkies Kerri: @authorkerri Jenny: @mrs.chanandler_bingg  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi. I'm Jenny.

Speaker 2 (00:01):
Hi, I'm Carrie. We're best friends and new moms. We're
also the OG's of Hallmark Christmas Movies.

Speaker 1 (00:08):
That's right.

Speaker 2 (00:08):
We've been watching these movies since long before they became
a Christmas juggernaut, and now we're here to talk all
things Hallmark with you because we know you're watching too.
Sit back, relax, and get your Hallmark on.

Speaker 3 (00:21):
We are the Hallmark Junkies.

Speaker 2 (00:40):
Ho ho ho. The Hallmark Junkies are back. We have
Carrie and Jenny and you know who else is back,
Bill Murray's.

Speaker 1 (00:49):
Brother, Brian Doyle Murray correct, yes, yeah, or Santa Claus
or Frank Holliday.

Speaker 2 (00:57):
That's right. We are back today and we are here
to talk about a cozy Christmas Inn, or as we
call it, Alaska Christmas. Doctor Part two Garland strikes back, Yes.

Speaker 1 (01:09):
Slash the death of doctor Lauren Brunell.

Speaker 2 (01:12):
She didn't die, but we think she did. It was
a death to us.

Speaker 1 (01:16):
And this movie is extra interesting because not only was
it Doctor Lauren Brunell Hallmark Classic CCB no longer with Andy,
but her sister from Full House, Jodi Sweden, played love
interest at the right and that.

Speaker 2 (01:32):
Really confused my mom. She called me just to tell
me about it.

Speaker 1 (01:39):
It is confusing.

Speaker 2 (01:40):
It is because she felt like, really, not only was
Andy cheating on Lauren, but with Lauren's sister.

Speaker 1 (01:49):
It did seem like Lauren's sister. Yeah, Stephanie Judith Tanner.

Speaker 2 (01:53):
Man remember that episode of Full House when Stephanie Judith
Tanner gets at the commercial the donna Joe Tanner after, Yeah,
take that all over again.

Speaker 1 (02:02):
It really is. Yeah, it felt wrong, but I was
still excited for it.

Speaker 2 (02:07):
Yeah, me too. Shall we get into it all?

Speaker 1 (02:12):
Right? Here we go picture it. Seattle, twenty twenty two.
Meet Erica McNicol, a junior real estate executive working in
a big evil high rise building in a big evil city. Correct. Sharon,
her big bad boss, a real estate tycoon, gives Erica

(02:33):
an important job. Erica needs to help Sharon convince the
owner of a cute inn in a cozy little town
that's all about Christmas to sell that inter In exchange,
Erica will get her Christmas, which which is the EVP position.
Sharon read about this in in an in flight magazine. Interesting, yes,
and don't you know what? This deal can't be done remotely.

(02:54):
Erica has to fly to the Garland into experience an
old fashioned Alaska Christmas. Erica was going to go visit
her family over Christmas, but that EVP position is calling
and too bad. So sad, Erica calls her friend Stephanie,
owner of Stephanie's restaurant. I think that was a little
not to her right, Maybe I think it was. So

(03:16):
here's what they discussed. The inn is in Alaska, Garland, Alaska.
The oh Andy is in Garland, Alaska. Who's Andy? That's
Andy from Christmas under wraps. Erica and Nichol's ex boyfriend.
Uh oh, this is trouble. Let's go see our old
friend Andy. He's at said Garland inn checking in guests.

Speaker 2 (03:40):
Wait, I got to go back to when they're talking,
when Erica and our friend are talking about it and
they call her boss, right, who do they call?

Speaker 1 (03:49):
Oh, they get a call from Claire, who is is
Frank's executive.

Speaker 2 (03:53):
Yeah, and their executives. They're like standing, both of them.
They're on speaker and they're in the middle of a
crowded restaurant.

Speaker 1 (04:03):
But I mean, she owns it, she can do what
she wants.

Speaker 2 (04:05):
I mean that's probably true, but still weird and spoiler
alert it's gonna happen again in this movie. I'll bring
it up. Yeah, Erica really likes to stand and talk
on speakerphone.

Speaker 1 (04:16):
Which is one of my biggest pet peeves.

Speaker 2 (04:18):
Don't get me started on that.

Speaker 1 (04:20):
All right. Back to Garland Inn, a very cute restored building.
There's a fire pit, there's an observatory slash silo slash planetarium.
Maybe it was very interesting. Andy also writes a great
blog because that's Garland for you. After checking in the guest,
Andy calls his dad. That's right, Frank Holliday of holiday shipping.

Speaker 2 (04:42):
Frank Holliday aka Bill Murray's brother in real life. Put
down the cookies, Frank, but seriously, this time, put the
cookies down. You've already had a heart attack.

Speaker 1 (04:54):
He is eating cookies, but it's okay. It's his busy season.
And Frank is actually the main investor in the Garland
in and they talk about Garland's financial status, which is
a big thumb's down, and they talk more importantly about
Frank's cooking eating, which is a bigger thumb stone. Back
in Seattle or because having dinner with Stephanie, who thinks

(05:14):
that this is all fate after all, Andy was the
man that made Erica set the bar so high that
she's the pickiest woman in Seattle. Eric disagrees. And anyway,
last she heard, Andy was dating that doctor.

Speaker 2 (05:26):
That a doctor. Yeah, that would I like that. Her
friend says, what she has this great quote. I wrote
it down. It doesn't cost you anything to believe. And personally,
I would love to live in a world with a
little magic in it.

Speaker 1 (05:40):
That's very healty. That is deep. Stephanie is deep. She's
also very invested in Erica's love life because she's apparently
done some research into doctor Brunel and she knows that
she's now doing surgery at a hospital in San Francisco.

Speaker 2 (05:57):
Oh what wait? Does that mean Alaska doesn't have a doctor?
That's what I would presume, because remember they didn't have
one for a year.

Speaker 1 (06:05):
Yeah, and then doctor Brunell pieced out allegedly.

Speaker 2 (06:09):
So do you think that's why Frank is eating the
cookies again?

Speaker 1 (06:12):
Probably? You know, he doesn't have anyone check up on him.
Erica still has some second thoughts, but ultimately she decides
to go.

Speaker 2 (06:20):
Yeah, but you know what already in this movie, I
have to say, the decorations were way better than in
twenty fourteen. Yeah, I mean even her computer monitor was decorated.
I don't know if you caught that.

Speaker 1 (06:31):
Yeah, she and she had to hide the fact that
she was decorating from the tycoon Sharon Sharon Ferris.

Speaker 2 (06:36):
What Sharon Ferris wants Sharon Ferris kids, that's.

Speaker 1 (06:38):
Right, all right. Well, next, our friend Frank is giving
Andy a call to give him the news about the
real estate investment firm that he's working with, because he
wants Andy to sell so that he can take over
the holiday shipping business. But you see, Andy, he wants
to accomplish something first on his own, but he's decided
to consider the offer as a responsible businessman. This is

(06:59):
like deja v This whole storyline from Christmas under wraps.
In this time. Erica has now made it to Anchorage.
She takes a truck. That's right. She travels to Garland
by car two hours two hour drive if I remember correctly,
Garland was three hundred miles away from Anchorage adjacent. Yes,
so I did quick math and he was driving a

(07:21):
one hundred and fifty miles per hour to get her there.
That's amazing that you did that. Martin is the town
taxi driver. And also the printer of the Garland Star.
He wears two hats. They make it to the Garland
Inn and we confirm that Erica is not wearing the
proper boots.

Speaker 2 (07:37):
That yeah, those boots are like pointed out a lot.
But again that was really in the first movie as well.

Speaker 1 (07:42):
Another de ja vous moment. Erica goes inside the inn
and quite inexplicably, Andy is there with Christmas sweater stuck
over his head.

Speaker 2 (07:52):
Look, I didn't know what was going on because I
think I like turned to get my drink or something,
and so like his sweater on his head. I was like,
what is happening?

Speaker 1 (08:02):
And he doesn't have an enormous head or anything, and
it was just a regular adult Christmas sweater.

Speaker 2 (08:08):
Yeah, I didn't get that.

Speaker 1 (08:10):
I didn't either, But Erica saved the day pulled the
sweater down over his head.

Speaker 2 (08:14):
And as far as meet cute skill, I mean they
could they could have went further.

Speaker 1 (08:19):
It was an awkward reunion and Erica cuts straight to
the chase. She explains to Andy the situation with her
boss that they're trying to buy the inn and ask him, hey,
are you open to an offer to buy this in?
Andy's a little bit wary. He put his heart and
soul into this inn. He also sold his plane, which
is why I guess Martin now has to drive one
hundred and fifty miles per hour to get someone there.

(08:39):
But the inn is underperforming, they table it for a
few he shows her to her room. He also points
out her boots and tells her, you know that those
probably aren't the best. Yeah, Stephanie, the friend back in
Seattle has a sixth sense, and she must know that.
Erica read up calls her to get the goods, and

(09:02):
the goods are that Andy looks good. Erica also says
she loves the end. It's gorgeous, but she doesn't think
Andy can make it what Sharon, her boss, would make it.
Then again, she'd be buying it out from under him.
Stephanie's like, whatever, Erica, You've been in a rut lately,
and you need to be open to whatever comes your way.
Erica decides to make the best of it, go out

(09:23):
for some food, maybe a cappuccino, but U runs into
Andy and he's like, hey, there's no coffee shops in Garland,
So they end up going to Hattie's Diner. Together.

Speaker 2 (09:33):
They do like the New Hattie's Diner.

Speaker 1 (09:35):
Yes, and they carry skim milk and the blue and
pink sugar, which you would be happy about, I know. Yeah.
After dinner, on the walk home, Erica cuts to the
Chase again, this time about their relationship. She asks why
you decided to go back to Garland when they dated,
and he's just not sure.

Speaker 2 (09:50):
I don't know if you noticed this too when they
were Erica and Andy are walking together. It's real snow,
and you can tell it.

Speaker 1 (09:57):
I wrote that down. I loved it.

Speaker 2 (09:59):
You could tell it was real because her hair gets wet, yes,
and his as well. Then I realized, because I have
been complaining about the lack of actual snow in these
movies for years, like decade. Then I thought, maybe that's
why they do it so your hair doesn't look.

Speaker 1 (10:13):
Yeah, I do love the real snow, though I did too.
Erica goes on the walk the next morning, she runs
into Ed, the owner of Garland General. She also goes
over to Hattie's Diner for some breakfasts. Both Ed and
Hattie bring up that Andy will have to give up
this end to take over the holiday shipping business. At
some point, Erica heads back to the inn, runs into

(10:33):
Alana and Oscar. They're the end's only guests.

Speaker 2 (10:37):
Wait a minute, I think it was Alana who had
that great quote about magic. Oh, I think it was.

Speaker 1 (10:44):
It might be because they when she runs into Alana and Oscar,
they're at the magic mailbox. Yes, yes, And the magic
mailbox is where you can put a letter inside and
it goes directly to Santa And so they decide they
want to air on the side of face. They're they're
putting a letter.

Speaker 2 (11:00):
In for Santos. So that makes more sense, doesn't cast
you anything to believe that's right.

Speaker 1 (11:05):
Later that evening, Erica is starting out an inventory to
work on the inns valuation, and she runs into Andy
in the kitchen, the kitchen that doesn't have any workers
or provide group service.

Speaker 2 (11:16):
And I don't even think it had lights on. Really.

Speaker 1 (11:19):
She prepped him a pasta dish though she learned to
cook from Stephanie, and she's like, you know what, I
was tired of takeout frozen food, even if I was
cooking only for one person. And Andy's like, are you
cooking for only one person? And she's like, yeah, I am.

Speaker 2 (11:34):
Alerty flirt, flirt, yeah.

Speaker 1 (11:36):
Erica asks him about the doctor Lauren. He says Lauren
decided to leave San Francisco and take a fellowship, which
again we're wondering do they have a doctor. This is
never asked, so we don't know. A text from Sharon
interrupts their talk. Sharon texting because of course she wants
to know about the status of selling the in so
Erica has to go back to the end and she
tells Andy, hey, you could walk away with a lot

(11:56):
of money. Yes, ballpark. So she writes a town on
a napkin, which that was funny because they were the
only two people in there and she couldn't just tell
it to the amount talks Andy. He causes Dad Frank
to tell him he's going to.

Speaker 2 (12:08):
Think about it, which is, you know, is interesting in
this movie that every time Andy wanted to talk to
his daddy face timed him.

Speaker 1 (12:14):
I was upset about that, Yeah.

Speaker 2 (12:16):
Because I mean, obviously we know there's probably some scheduling
conflict with Bill Murray's brother. Yeah, but within this world,
he's just down the street.

Speaker 1 (12:23):
Yeah, it's odd, but it is his busy season. Maybe
he doesn't have time.

Speaker 2 (12:27):
Yeah, I don't know.

Speaker 1 (12:27):
Ye. Well, they make their way over Andy and Erica.
That is to the retractable roof observatory to stargaze. Erica
almost falls, but Andy catches her. It's very cozy in
there and they kiss.

Speaker 2 (12:43):
You know what, there's something very romantical about like stars
and astronomy and that silo, which, by the way, I
thought that was a great idea, Like you have an
empty silo, what do you do with it? Oh?

Speaker 1 (12:55):
I was thinking he built it, like I wasn't thinking
it was an empty silo.

Speaker 2 (12:59):
He renovated it, they say that at some point, and
he made that for her.

Speaker 1 (13:03):
Oh see, I thought like he renovated the inn and
then built an observatory just because he really wanted an observatory,
because we know he likes the northern lights too.

Speaker 2 (13:11):
He does, and he can't fly and see the many
parks the observatory. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (13:17):
Well, Stephanie and Erica talk on the phone again. Erica
admits to the kiss and that the spark is still there.

Speaker 2 (13:23):
I thought it was a good first kiss.

Speaker 1 (13:24):
I thought it was a decent first kiss.

Speaker 2 (13:26):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (13:26):
Next up, Erica gets a gift from Andy, boots and
jeans lined with flannel, which Erica puts on immediately. Also,
for those of us who were keeping counting, me. Winter
jacket number two makes an appearance in the movie.

Speaker 2 (13:39):
Oh no, I was tracking this too. I was going
to talk about it later. But yeah, tiny luggage. I
think I got to three. Yeah, three winter coats and
a gi Normo scarf. It was the biggest scarf I
had ever seen in my life. I don't even remember
her wearing a scarf.

Speaker 1 (13:55):
I remember her always being outside and being like, where's
your scarf and gloves?

Speaker 2 (13:58):
Yes, I thought that too, But then later in the
movie this ginormous scarf and next time you rewatch it,
you will notice it, and you're like that Carrie, she
was right.

Speaker 1 (14:08):
I'm convinced they have Mary Poppins bags where you can
just keep pulling things out.

Speaker 2 (14:12):
Well, I need to find out where they got them,
ABC or something I don't know.

Speaker 1 (14:17):
Puts those on, the boots and jeans and winter jacket
number two immediately and runs into Andy, who apologizes for
kissing her, which I didn't quite get, and she says
it's okay, but it probably shouldn't happen again. Andy's like,
is this because I was a bad boyfriend? He's like,
She's like, no, No, you're a wonderful boyfriend. But I
could tell you were hiding something and I just wasn't
sure what it could be.

Speaker 2 (14:37):
So did he leave Seattle because his dad Santa Claus,
and he had to go back to take over the business,
which he doesn't do.

Speaker 1 (14:46):
Yeah, that's what I got out of it, But that.

Speaker 2 (14:48):
Doesn't really make sense.

Speaker 1 (14:49):
Yeah, they get back to the end. Eric's like, hey,
you know, you really don't have to sell and He's like, well,
actually I might have to because I'm a broke. I'm
a broke I'm a broke out of a pouncil use
this place, and if things don't change before Christmas, which
is six days away, we're not going to make it.
This is a lot for Erica. She has to think
about it. So what does she do? She takes walk

(15:10):
to Hatties and Martin is at Hatties. Erica sits down
and she debriefs him on the status of the sale,
and you know, he says everyone should have a chance
to appreciate the Christmas magic that Garland has to offer,
and the light bulb goes off Erica, what's her idea?
We had to wait for the ad break to find

(15:32):
next up. Erica and Andy are brainstorming at Hatties and
they decide, oh, they're.

Speaker 2 (15:36):
Not just brainstorming. Erica is once again standing up in
the middle of a restaurant talking to someone.

Speaker 1 (15:43):
Restaurant being a place with three table, and she's pacing
as she comes up with her brilliant idea. Yeah. So
their idea is that they need to sell the location
like a hotel in New Orleans would sell Marty Gras
or the Jazz Best. They're going to set Christmas. They
decide they're going to up the ante. They're gonna have

(16:03):
a Christmas mixer on the twenty third. They're going to
have a Seacrest Sanna gift exchange on the twenty fourth.
And then what will happen, Carrie, is the locals will
come and then they'll post about it on social media.
Problem solve tons of people come to the Garland and
this is a full proof plan. I think we can
both agree.

Speaker 2 (16:23):
I have comments, but I'm going to say them.

Speaker 1 (16:25):
Okay, I just want to say though, if that's all
it takes, I do think I could run a successful.

Speaker 2 (16:30):
In Also, you know, in my other life where I
have that day job and work in social media, marketing
and communications, I have a lot of fun. It's I
feel like I've been doing it wrong some time.

Speaker 1 (16:44):
All right, Well, we make it to December twenty third,
and Andy has a surprise for Erica. He has built
a coffee shop in the end for her. So that happens?

Speaker 2 (16:56):
Was it there just what? Or did he build it
that dit night before?

Speaker 1 (17:00):
Well?

Speaker 2 (17:01):
Did he get the elves to help it?

Speaker 1 (17:03):
Probably? I mean just four days ago he was saying, Hey,
I'm broke and I'm gonna lose this in It seems
that in four days he both secured the money and
had time to build a coffee shop so that Erica
could get the very first Scarland cappuccino. Erica can't enjoy
the the cappuccina for too long, you know why. The

(17:23):
mixer's coming up. The guests start arriving and Erica makes
her grand entrance in the Allmark Kroon red party dress. Yep, yep,
she looks great. The mixer has happened. Look great she did. Yeah.
Hattie and Erica gets to talking, and Hattie's like, you know,
you and Andy should be together and it's just going
to take a little bit of hard work. And Erica's like,

(17:45):
you know, I think I need to take a break
to think this over. She goes to the fire pit
outside and this is Carrie when the Third Winter Coat
picks the appearance, but I know she had no gloves
and no hat on. At this point either Andy comes
out to join her. We talk about the end. She's like,
you know, my favorite spots are this fire pit and
the observatory and he's like, well, they used to be
my favorite. She's like, used to be He's like, well,

(18:07):
once you leave, they won't be my favorite anymore. And
so Erica says, this is a gift of Magi situation,
being the story where the wife sells her hair to
buy her husband a watch chain, but he sold his
watch to buy her a hair cot.

Speaker 2 (18:22):
I love gift of the Magi.

Speaker 1 (18:24):
Yeah, I want to discuss this with you because I
don't think the way she explained it was either okay,
I'm glad because I really had to think that, and
she also explained it differently two times. But anyway, yes
she did. Eric gets a call from Sharon, and Sharon's
putting her foot down. She wants the end by Christmas Eve.
She breaks it down. She gets the end. Erica becomes
of the vice president.

Speaker 2 (18:45):
I'm pretty sure that's not okay. Yeah, many things about
this working relationship are not okay?

Speaker 1 (18:52):
No, yeah, Sharon, Sharon's tough Yeah. Anny comes back in
from a walk. Everyone's left the end except for Hattie,
who's cleaning up and he finds a letter from Erica.
She has decided to leave for Seattle in the morning,
and she's staying at the Holiday House for the.

Speaker 2 (19:05):
Night, which makes zero sense. I feel like maybe they
cut a scene out from the movie because she's staying
with missus Holiday, who not only is Andy's mom the
person that you're having the conflict with, but she's never
met her. But maybe there was a scene where they
did somehow meet and just really formed a bond.

Speaker 1 (19:23):
You're right.

Speaker 2 (19:23):
It was like, why is that? Or just stay in
your hotel room in the empty in like what is
going on?

Speaker 1 (19:30):
Erica calls Stephanie to break the news. She tells her
about the Gift of Magi story, again, explaining it differently.
This time. It doesn't make sense this one time, I
think it made less sense. And Stephanie's like, listen, you
missed the point of that story. The story is about
love and selflessness. Stop listening to your head, yes, and
stop listening to your head, start listening to your heart.
So Erica does what anyone would do next, and she

(19:52):
goes to leave a letter for Santa in the magic mailbox.

Speaker 2 (19:56):
I could do that. I would have done that first day, though, Please,
you gotta make sure he gets in time.

Speaker 1 (20:02):
Christmas Eve morning turns out overnight Erica had a change
of heart and she handed off the account to her colleague.
She now thinks she's going to lose her job because
she's not prioritizing work over everything else in her life.
And Faith is like, sit down, and we got to
talk a little bit. First off, you don't want that
job anyway, if that's the case. And second, let's talk
about the family and what we do for a living.

Speaker 2 (20:23):
We're not privy to that.

Speaker 1 (20:24):
Yeah, presumably it's about Frank maybe being Santa. Maybe Right,
Andy's back at the end and he calls Frank and
he's like, listen, if I'm going to take over holiday shipping,
it's got to be when I'm ready because it's all
about joy and magic. And Frank's like, hey, I realize
the inn is your dream while holiday shipping is my dream. Again,

(20:47):
this is just like same as the first movie. Yeah,
the Christmas Eve Gifts exchange is here. The whole town
turns out.

Speaker 2 (20:54):
And there were gross looking sugar cookies if you noticed,
I did not those who haven't listened to some of
our other pods. Jenny and I despise the fact that
there are only either sugar cookies or gingerbread men, and
they always look gross.

Speaker 1 (21:08):
Erica walks into the gift exchange. I've beknownst to Andy,
and what do you know? The last two gifts? Erica, Andy,
they chose each other, so they go outside by the
fire pit to open the gifts. Andy gives her her gift,
which I think he should apologize for because he named
a star after her, which I think is quite possibly
the worst gift you can like, you cannot you can't

(21:28):
buy a star like It's just not a thing. It's
a fake gift, Whereas she framed the article about the
Garland ind from the in Flight magazine, which I actually
thought was a very thoughtful gift. Erica tells him that
she quit her job because she's tired of working her
life away. She informs his money bags that the Garland
own was not for sale and she's going to stand
Garland with Andy.

Speaker 2 (21:49):
They have a second chance, and we get an end
of movie kiss happy ending. Wow, that was amazing. It
was amazing, A lot to unpack. Yeah, this is Hallmark Junkies,
and we'll be back after this break.

Speaker 1 (22:15):
All right, Carrie, one to five CCBs, How do you
rate the movie?

Speaker 2 (22:19):
I'm going to give it two and a half CCBs.

Speaker 1 (22:23):
WHOA, that's low.

Speaker 2 (22:24):
Now, and there are reasons I would have given it
something higher, and I'll talk about that in a little bit.

Speaker 1 (22:29):
Okay. I actually really liked it, just because I loved
all the big plot holes that made no sense, and
it was very Christmasy. I like Garland, so I probably
would have given it like four and a half. Wow,
what I'm taking off one full star because of what
they did to doctor Lauren Brunell. So now we're a
three and a half. I think I'm also going to

(22:51):
take off another point two five stars because of the
laziness of this repeating the exact same storyline with holiday shipping.
So now we're at three point two five all right,
all right, let's get into our next segment for Free
for All. Why don't you start us off with one
of your thoughts?

Speaker 2 (23:09):
All right, I have a lot of thought, Okay, so
I'm gonna say that overall, I liked this movie. And
this is where I'm going to kind of try to
explain my rating, is that I would have really liked
it if it wasn't a sequel to the first movie,
because not only was do I not like sequels in
general unless they're continuing stories, but this was like a
very beloved movie.

Speaker 1 (23:31):
It was their highest rated premier ever, so it's still yeah,
I believe that was like something like six million or
something like that. Wow.

Speaker 2 (23:39):
And so like, what I don't understand is why they
used Andy as the lead. They could have just used
anyone else from Garland and started a whole Garland series
that we do with Evergreen, and I would have loved that.
I would love a Garland series. There were definitely a
lot of plot holes, but overall I did actually like it. Yeah,

(24:00):
that's my first thought. I'm going to talk about some
other some other things. There was an OsO Hallmark moment.
You actually touched on it in the synopsis, and I
think the moment when Erica opened the barn doors in
her red dress oh theirs, Yeah, well kind of, it's
kind of both. It was a plast moment and an
OsO Hallmark moment because they'd like to do that, you know,

(24:23):
at the top of the stairs on my ball gown.

Speaker 1 (24:25):
I actually loved that moment too. And I loved that
dress particularly because I think often in those moments, if
you're in a dressed down type town like Garland, they're overdressed.
But I thought hers was actually fit the fit the occasion.

Speaker 2 (24:41):
Yeah, it was kind of more of a casual dress,
but nevertheless, and I thought his reaction to her was
very magical, and I just thought she looked so great.

Speaker 1 (24:49):
I like it.

Speaker 2 (24:50):
Okay, what do you have gone on?

Speaker 1 (24:52):
Okay? So my first thought is one thing I do
like about this series. They have a great supporting cast.
They have a lot of character that you get to know.
We have Hattie this time, we had Martin. We had
Claire Frank's executive admin Slash Andy's cousin, right, that was Jill.

Speaker 2 (25:10):
Jill.

Speaker 1 (25:10):
Jill was oh Joy, I'm sorry, it was Joy. That
was his cousin. We had Brian Doyle Murray. I though,
was upset that he was only you know, on he
was never actually like in any scenes with anyone. I
am wondering what happened to Rudy, what happened to Billy
and Wyatt?

Speaker 2 (25:26):
Yeah? Really in general did go under shar and the boss.

Speaker 1 (25:32):
She was great. So I do like that about this
movie is that you kind of like meet these other
characters and they they're not just one line character in
the movie.

Speaker 2 (25:41):
I don't know much about telescopes, do you.

Speaker 1 (25:43):
No.

Speaker 2 (25:44):
I used to really like Astronomy when I was like
a child, but I really don't remember much from it.
But I know telescopes don't tend to see that part.
I have to get like a really fancy schmancy one.
They said that they see Uranus. They did, Yeah, it
was a Neptune and I think it was Urinus. That's
what I wrote down. And I'm like Uranus, like as

(26:05):
in the far away planet, Like that has to be
a really powerful telescope, right, like.

Speaker 1 (26:11):
One of the giant ones that.

Speaker 2 (26:12):
Then it just made me wonder, like he sold his
plane to get the money for this in to redo
the inn, Yeah, maybe not spend it on a super
powerful telescope that can see Uranus. Maybe put that molah
into some advertising or if you are going to spend
your money on that, that's what you advertise, like have

(26:32):
like we yeah we have a planet rain.

Speaker 1 (26:38):
From the end, not hey, we have a secret Santa Exchange.
But hey, you can actually see the farthest away planets
and you don't have to like go to a telescope
in Chili to see it.

Speaker 2 (26:51):
Yeah, you have anything else because I got a whole bunch,
a whole bunch of stuff.

Speaker 1 (26:56):
Okay, can we talk about the gift of magic? I
thing a little more like, Okay, let's break it down.
So we went through what the actual gift of Magi
story is. She explains it the first time, she's like, well,
if if he sells the inn, then he loses the end,
but I get a promotion, And I think if and
then if I give up on selling the in, then

(27:20):
I don't get my promotion, but he gets to keep
the end, which is a close, but I don't think
it's the exact same. It would be more like if
she quit her job to go work with him, but
then he sold the end to somebody else because he
wanted her to have her job, so then they're both kind.

Speaker 2 (27:37):
Of out, like the material thing has to be gone, right.

Speaker 1 (27:41):
And then the second time she explained it, it was
like she wins on both times she was like, yes.

Speaker 2 (27:46):
I remember thinking that. I was like, wait a minute,
you're the big winner here.

Speaker 1 (27:49):
Yeah, like, either way, it doesn't work out for Andy.
But that's when she was explaining, it's Stephanie and that's
why Stephanie's like, you don't know what you're talking about.
And I like that. They tried to incorporate that, but
it really did it work.

Speaker 2 (28:00):
Yeah, there was a movie many many years ago, a
Hallmark movie called Gift of the Magi, and somebody who
was on full House Stephanie had a friend on full
House in the later years.

Speaker 1 (28:12):
Gia, Oh yeah that on Fuller House. Oh okay, well
she not that I watched heard. I mean, I just
like friends about it.

Speaker 2 (28:22):
Gia is on it and she's newly married and she
has a camera and photographer. But they're really poor, like
they've just gotten married. They're young, and he likes to
work on old cars. And then he sells his car
so he can buy her a lens, a special lens
for her camera, and she sells her camera so she
could buy him a steering Wolfer's car.

Speaker 1 (28:41):
Right that word that word, Yeah, but this one it
didn't work.

Speaker 2 (28:46):
Pivoting, she noticed Hattie's green tinsel vest. No, she's wearing
a vest made out of tinsel and it's amazing.

Speaker 1 (28:54):
I was gonna say, I could see you wearing something
like everything I needed. And then Christmas, would you choose
the green tinsil vess or the red first suit that
Queen Isidora Wells wears every Christmas?

Speaker 2 (29:07):
Neither. I would choose the sparkly beret the lacys that
you hate.

Speaker 1 (29:11):
That's the worst that I've ever seen, but I'll never
see it, like if it gets tall and it was.

Speaker 2 (29:16):
It wasn't definitely not U unless you're burning it or something.
Let's talk about Andy, how about that? Okay, Andy, I'm
not sure why they chose him again as the lead
on two counts. One is because just pick somebody else
in this town. The other one is the way they
made Andy's character in this movie was really different than
what he was in the first movie. In the first movie,

(29:38):
he was kind of a confident guy, like he was
doing what he liked, which was like being a handyman,
because he liked he said he liked seeing different people
every day and being in different places, and he was
very sure of himself. And in this movie he was
kind of a bumbling wooss, like you can't even get
a sweater off. Also, when we last left. He was
going to start helping at holiday shipping, changed his mind. Yeah,

(30:01):
and you know, because Frank had eat himself into bad health.
But so what happened between the two movies.

Speaker 1 (30:08):
Was fairly new. I don't know how long it took
him to restore it, but yeah, it doesn't seem like
you would have been doing that for the last eight years.

Speaker 2 (30:14):
Who knows. And I wonder how long ago Lauren left,
like how long she said.

Speaker 1 (30:18):
It was to do the residency, because he said she
just couldn't commit, So I'm assuming it was soon after
and I just hate that.

Speaker 2 (30:24):
Yeah, I know, all right, whatcha got?

Speaker 1 (30:26):
I know, we talked a lot about the plot holes,
which I particularly love. I think they enhanced the movies,
and so I think we talked about the coffee shop,
how it happened in three days. At one point he
told Frank he was going to get alone, but we
knew that he was overdue on all his bills and
he had spent all his money, so I don't know
how he would actually get alone.

Speaker 2 (30:46):
That was like maybe the banks up there are different
and I'm here.

Speaker 1 (30:52):
We talked about the luggage and how she fit. I
guess if she wore a coat. She would have fit
two winter coats in that luggage, and why she would
bring three winter coats and then one bad pair of boots.
We talked about the mixer and the gift exchange and
how that would bring in tourism. I think one thing
I have that we didn't talk about was like I
just didn't get the timing of the inn. Like it

(31:12):
seemed to have literally just opened, So how is it
already featured in a magazine? It was the first two
guests ever that he was booking, So how are they like, Oh,
this is just like they kind of made it seem
like it was chronically underperforming and if he didn't do
well in like six days, it would be over. And
I'm like, so you're that strapped for cash that you

(31:33):
just opened your hotel and it has to do good
in a matter of like ten days.

Speaker 2 (31:36):
And everybody in town seemed to keep saying, like, no one.

Speaker 1 (31:39):
Ever stays there. Yeah, but it wasn't open. I was
very confused about the end, But I did love that.
I loved that none of it made say in was beautiful.
It was nice. I thought it might be a little
more decorated, honestly, really hm.

Speaker 2 (31:53):
Wow. Wow.

Speaker 1 (31:55):
Like the room when she went in there was two trees,
but one was like a miniature tree. I really thought
it would be over the top decorated.

Speaker 2 (32:02):
I mean, well, speaking of the inn as a non
business person myself, even I know it's a bad decision
to buy and in in the middle of Alaska. I mean,
it's not like Garland is a town that's on the
way to see like the Bearing Straight or whatever it's
up there. Yeah, and I don't think I like in
the first movie, it seemed like they really didn't want

(32:24):
people to come to garl Slash.

Speaker 1 (32:26):
It was maybe like a secret town where Santa lived. Yeah,
maybe Sandy.

Speaker 2 (32:30):
And I think Hattie says, like, we make it hard
for people to get up here. Plus like Andy sold
his plane, which apparently was the only way to get there,
So now people have to drive at one hundred and
fifty miles an hour, as you point it out, for
two hours. So it's like, what made you want to
buy the Like, who's going to this end?

Speaker 1 (32:50):
People don't even go to Garland. But you know what
do I know? I was an English major. It seemed
like a bad business decision to me too. And if
you're that short on cash too, then open up the
first coffee shop ever in town.

Speaker 2 (33:00):
Yeah, I have a big question for you. What happened
to the town's big Christmas Eve festival.

Speaker 1 (33:06):
That's a great question because I did notice again that
Christmas Eve Santa was leaving pretty late to make it
to any kid. But yeah, there was really no reason
he was leaving that late. He didn't have to.

Speaker 2 (33:18):
And also that that Christmas Eve festival was all the
rage in the first movie. They were very concerned about
Rudy and they talk about it the whole movie. But
then they have at the end the gift exchanges on
Christmas Eve when they would have the festival. You know
what would have made more sense is if they moved
the festival into the inn, oh to help really drum

(33:38):
up their imaginary social media. But you know they didn't.

Speaker 1 (33:42):
Oh.

Speaker 2 (33:42):
I do have another burning question.

Speaker 1 (33:44):
Hm.

Speaker 2 (33:44):
Remember how we loved Lauren's clothes in the first movie? Yes,
whose clothes were better, Lauren or Erica?

Speaker 1 (33:51):
Tough because I actually did like Erica's wardrobe, but there
was only one outfit of hers I didn't like. That
was the super sized sweater when she was not the
giant orma scarf. I didn't noticed the scarf.

Speaker 2 (34:00):
I watch this scarf, but.

Speaker 1 (34:03):
I really liked it. And I also thought I compare
her to CCB just because you know, they were sisters
and they were both in this movie. And I liked
that she wore work appropriate clothes when she was at work,
whereas CCB tends to wear Christmas party dresses to work
in her movies. And I really, yeah, I really liked

(34:24):
her wardrobe a lot.

Speaker 2 (34:25):
I think I'm gonna stick with Lauren Brunell. I liked
both of theirs. Yeah, I've been thinking about this question
for a couple days, and I yeah, I think I'm
gonna go Lauren.

Speaker 1 (34:34):
This is a toss up. I didn't think about it.

Speaker 2 (34:36):
But that red dress that Erica wears, really, I mean
that puts her really high.

Speaker 1 (34:41):
On go with Erica.

Speaker 2 (34:43):
But what do you guys think out there? So why
don't you go to our social media at homemark junkies
on Instagram or Facebook let us know who wore it better?

Speaker 1 (34:52):
All right, I have one more question for you too. Yeah,
I think neither of us buy this whole Doctor. Lauren
Brunell went back to San Francisco.

Speaker 2 (35:00):
Nah, she didn't.

Speaker 1 (35:01):
What do you think actually happened to doctor Brunell. I
have two working theories.

Speaker 2 (35:05):
Oh my god, tell me.

Speaker 1 (35:06):
Okay, First, Rudy kicked her by accident and they had
to kind of like hide it. She either had permanent
brain damage or maybe she died from it, because Rudy
wasn't in this one either, and we know he was beloved, yeah,
as was doctor Brunell. So okay, that's one and my
second one, which I think might be more plausible, Stephanie

(35:28):
had something to do with it, because why would Stephanie
have known that her best friend's boyfriend from like college
ish time was in San Francisco doing like clearly she
was researching this woman clearly.

Speaker 2 (35:42):
And I'm all about like Facebook stocking people, But why
would you just go and do that?

Speaker 1 (35:48):
Yeah, your friend, there's no reason, right, And it's like
it's not her ex boyfriend, it's her friend's expo. She
just knew way too much and she was always calling
and she's like, no, this is fate. You're supposed to
be together. So I think maybe she was behind the
scenes being like, let's kidnap doctor Brunell. Let's tell Andy
that she went back to do surgery in San Francisco.
Let me go talk to Sharon and let me get

(36:09):
this deal working, because Erica is going to be with
Andy and that's my life's purpose. Those are my theories.

Speaker 2 (36:17):
Wow, maybe many. Maybe Erica did something like really amazing
for Stephanie like back in the day. Yeah, and she's like,
this is how I'm going to repay her.

Speaker 1 (36:26):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (36:27):
You know, I thought for a minute that Sharon, the boss,
Sharon Ferris, was gonna come back and that she knew
also about Andy and this great love and she had
set this all up. Because it really again makes no
like business sense to want this hotel unless you've found
out that it is the North Pole and Santa is

(36:48):
real and lives there.

Speaker 1 (36:49):
Yeah. Like now, yeah, it didn't really make sense. All right?
Should we move to our last segment.

Speaker 2 (36:55):
Let's do it all right?

Speaker 1 (36:57):
Romance one oh one. First part is our resident romance
author giving insights into this movie and this episode. I
have a question for you, Oh tell me. Okay, So
we know that a lot of these movies are actually
based on romance novels, a lot of the Hallmark movies
in general, this one, unless my research failed me, is

(37:17):
actually not and so my question for you is, do
you think this would make a good book.

Speaker 2 (37:22):
It's funny because when I watch these movies like you,
I enjoy the gaping plot holes because it's just great.
I enjoy them as right. And my editor would never
let me. Well, she wouldn't have loved me to have
done any of this. But I was really thinking about
it because then of course I start rewriting it in
my head. And like I was thinking when I was

(37:44):
watching it, like this inn is beautiful, and unlike you,
I thought it was decorated beautifully for Christmas, And so
I was thinking that maybe, like because Erica's big idea
of how to save this in and get more people
there is to make it more Christmasy. But it's already
like three days before Christmas. So I was thinking they
should have started the movie in like July or even

(38:07):
the beginning of fall, and the inn should have looked
like crap, like you know, like the inn could have
been in disrepair. It had no Christmas decorations up. So
maybe the town then comes together helps him finish all
the renovations. They all decorated. It could have been great
decorating montages. They had a small montage in this one.
I mean because I just feel like my editor would
have been, like, it's three days before Christmas, and to

(38:28):
get to Alaska typically takes like a day or two,
so especially going the one hundred and fifty miles an hour,
So no, that doesn't work. But speaking of air, because
great idea to help Andy druma business. Again, it just
doesn't make any sense because you're gonna you're gonna market
something right before Christmas, like she wants to put that
big ad out and it just none of it makes

(38:48):
any sense. But you know, I'm sure many a CEO
have thought. You know, business is dwindling, revenues down. You
know what, we need more Christmas decorations, We need a mixer,
I need a gift to change. So yeah, so there's that,
and then I mean the romance in general, Like again,
I so this romance is a second chance romance, which

(39:09):
is one of my favorite tropes. For a writer. It's
an easier plot to write because you have two characters
who already have a past, so when you start to
write it like, you already have something to start with,
Whereas when you have two people that are just meeting
for the first time, you have to build up that
that chemistry between them. So I love that. But again,
like the whole Lauren thing, unless you killed her off,

(39:32):
it's really not going to work. So I think to
answer your question, yes, I think this could be a book,
but it would have needed massive changes. It would be
a lot of revisions.

Speaker 1 (39:40):
Okay, I mean I think that makes sense. I do.
I think the plot holes were big, but I do
love them in this movie. Yeah, all right, last question,
do you think this couple's going to make it?

Speaker 2 (39:51):
Well, we found out we were wrong in Alaska Christmas
Doctor Part one. We thought that Lauren and Andy would
be together, and you know what, I still think they are.
Maybe maybe there's two like reality, like alternate realities, like
a JJ Abrams movie. I don't know. I'm gonna have
to say yes, I think they're still together because somebody
has to end up with this guy. Is he coming
back next years boycotting?

Speaker 1 (40:13):
If he does. I agree with you. I do you
think they're going to end up together? But to believe that,
I just have to forget about doctor Lauren Brunell, which
is hard. She's one of my favorite characters. If I
forget about that, I can say that I think they
would work. I do think they were a good couple together.

Speaker 2 (40:32):
Well, I think we just went through Alaska Christmas Doctor
Part two, Garland strikes back.

Speaker 1 (40:37):
Slash the death of Doctor Brunell.

Speaker 2 (40:38):
I guess.

Speaker 1 (40:41):
It was a fun one. It was. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (40:43):
Let us know again online at Hallmark Junkies. What you
guys thought about this movie and did it make you
think differently about the first Alaska Christmas Doctor movie?

Speaker 1 (40:52):
And if you have a minute, please remember to subscribe
to our podcast and give us a little review, a
nice one hopefully, yes, of course, anything else.

Speaker 2 (41:03):
I think we're good. I can't wait to talk to
you guys next time.

Speaker 1 (41:05):
All right, Well, this is Jenny Saint Cheers.

Speaker 2 (41:07):
And this is Carrie saying we'll see Yinn's later. Merry Christmas.

Speaker 1 (41:14):
Allmark Junkies is a part of the Seneca Women Podcast
Network and iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, check out
the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to
your favorite shows.
Advertise With Us

Popular Podcasts

Dateline NBC

Dateline NBC

Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com

Stuff You Should Know

Stuff You Should Know

If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.

The Breakfast Club

The Breakfast Club

The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy And Charlamagne Tha God!

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.