All Episodes

July 20, 2023 45 mins
This week Kerri and Jenny take on another Hallmark classic, A Royal Christmas.  Lacey Chabert, a prince, a made up country, and Jane Seymour?!? This can't be beat.  This movie originally aired in 2014 and also stars Stephen Hagan. 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. Hi, I'm Carrie. We're best friends and
new moms. We're also the ogs of Hallmark Christmas movies.
That's right. 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 2 (00:20):
We are the Hallmark junkies.

Speaker 1 (00:39):
We're back, and I'm so excited. We have another rewatch.

Speaker 3 (00:44):
Yes, a very good rewatch or a very popular rewatch,
we should say.

Speaker 1 (00:47):
Yeah. I mean, if you're not going to talk about
a CCB movie, you got to talk about a Lacey
Shaver movie. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (00:55):
And a Royal movie which this ticks posts those boxes.

Speaker 1 (01:00):
Yeah, that's right. Now. You previously, in real life did
not like royal movies. I would say that is still true.
I am not a fat While I am a huge
fan of Hallmark movies, mostly Hallmark Christmas movies, the subgenre
of Royalty within those movies I do not love, and

(01:20):
I royalty in general. I don't know what it is
about these movies. Yeah, the trope of royal exactly. I
love royal movies and I especially love this one.

Speaker 3 (01:31):
This one, I will say, of the Royal movies, it
is one of the better ones, probably because Lacey's in
it and Jane Seymour is in it. But again, just
not my thing.

Speaker 1 (01:42):
Not my thing. I want real royal drama. Yeah, wouldn't
that be cool if like William and Princess Catherine were
in a movie Princess of Royals. Yes, I would probably
buy the rights to.

Speaker 3 (01:56):
However I could get that movie like in my life
or I don't know how you would get a Hallmark
movie like that besides the DVD you bought me that once?

Speaker 1 (02:04):
Ten did we still watch? Oh? Yeah? Oh yeah? So
what should we talk about? First?

Speaker 3 (02:12):
Let's do our first segment. Picture it, as we know,
named after our favorite golden girl who tells great stories, Sophia.
So let's just give our little synopsis in our picture
it segment.

Speaker 1 (02:22):
Yeah, we're gonna do a real quick one picture it
Philly twenty fourteen. Surprise, Lacey Shabert's boyfriend is actually the
Crown Prince of Cardinia made up country Auvi. She has
to go spend Christmas with him and his mom, played
by doctor Quinn medicine woman Jane Seymour also former bond

(02:44):
girl who dislikes Lacey Shabert. Poor Lacey doesn't fit in
even though everyone else likes her, and she stays true
to herself.

Speaker 3 (02:53):
Oh whatever.

Speaker 1 (02:54):
Lacey and Prince Leo break up. On Christmas Eve, Lacey
flies home to Philly with the permission of Queen Doctor Quinn.
Leo ends up proposing to Lacey and they get married,
and it's Christmas and everyone lives happily ever after.

Speaker 3 (03:11):
That is the standard Hallmark ending, but very happily ever
after in this one, because we actually get a wedding we.

Speaker 1 (03:17):
Do with I read this somewhere Lacey wore her actual
like Lacey Shaver wedding dress in that final scene. That
is a good fun fact. I did not know that.
I remember reading or hearing it, but now I don't
know if it's true, but I'm going to think of it,
go with it.

Speaker 3 (03:34):
Yeah, that is Lacey's real wedding dress. Yeah, you heard
it here for a word. All right, So let's do
a little deeper dive.

Speaker 1 (03:44):
Let's do it, all right.

Speaker 3 (03:45):
Picture it Philadelphia, twenty fourteen, a very snowy end of
December in Philadelphia.

Speaker 1 (03:53):
I already have to interject something. Go ahead, Okay. First
of all, I'm from Pennsylvania, but I'm from the other
side from Pittsburgh has the same climate as Philly, though
it usually does not snow in December. Yeah, it does
not snow that much and it never looks that pretty. Also,
when it snows in cities, people clear sidewalks so that

(04:15):
you can walk. Now, I'm not just saying that about
this movie. I'm going to say that about every single
movie Hallmark, Major Motion picture anything. No one understands how
snow actually works.

Speaker 3 (04:29):
It's going to snow so pretty. I just want the
pretty part of snow.

Speaker 1 (04:32):
Yeah. Well, with all of that said, I would love
to walk down that South Philly street.

Speaker 3 (04:36):
Yeah, yeah, South Philadelphia. Emily Taylor born and raised just
like Fresh Prince, and she's in a cute little apartment
and opens her door. I love her apartment. It's very cute.
So there's a knock at Emily Taylor's door and we
find the decoration delivery man delivering some decorations from Walmart.

(04:56):
How do you know they're from Walmart?

Speaker 1 (04:58):
A little bit of.

Speaker 3 (04:58):
Product placement at the very beginning in this movie.

Speaker 1 (05:01):
Yeah, I was into it.

Speaker 3 (05:02):
Yeah, but Carrie, if you thought this was a real
decoration delivery man. You were bamboozled because it's actually Emily
Taylor's boyfriend coming over for a stack of pancakes for breakfast.

Speaker 1 (05:14):
Those pancakes look good. They do look good.

Speaker 3 (05:17):
After a little breakfast, he tries on the newest creation
of clothing that she's made, because we find out she's
a seamstress slash clothing designer. We also meet Emily's bff, Tony, Right, Tony, Yes, Tony.

Speaker 1 (05:31):
I like Tony. I would kind of like Tony to
have a spin off.

Speaker 3 (05:34):
I could see that Tony didn't play as big a
part as I had hoped in this movie.

Speaker 1 (05:38):
Yeah, all right.

Speaker 3 (05:39):
So next we see Emily showing up at work at
which is her dad's shop. Tony also works at this shop,
and while they're all just kind of getting set to
live into work, Leo shows up for the day, Leo
being the boyfriend that just ate stack of pancakes.

Speaker 1 (05:53):
I would just like to say two things. Number one,
I was watching this with my mom and she noticed
that they did kiss it beginning Lacey and Leo, and
like that's bold even though they're in a relationship. Also,
Lacey Shavert drinks coffee and there's definitely not coffee in
her mug. There might be marshmallows because that thing is light. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (06:17):
That happens a lot. Yeah, that bothers me a lot
in these movies. I would think you just put water
in or soda or something coffee. Yeah, So Leo shows
up at the shop. We find out that he just
completed his MBA and he's looking for a job. But
a call interrupts this little discussion and Leo has to
take to call outside, and it just seems like a
bit of a heated conversation, ending with Leo saying all right,

(06:39):
I'll be there, but with a much better accent because
he's from Cordinia, made up country where they talk like
they do in England. So Emily and Leo go to
dinner that night because he needs to tell her something.
They go to a fancy restaurant and Leo breaks the
news that he can't stay for Christmas due to air
quotes a family thing.

Speaker 1 (07:00):
But you know what, it's implied that this is a
big deal, this dinner, like she's getting something special to wear,
Like this is big, like you have to meet me
for this dinner. He doesn't even pick her up, like
she just walks up and like knocks on the window.
I don't know they are a progressive couple. Yeah, yeah,

(07:22):
I don't like it. Like he also doesn't pull out
her chair, you know, it's not their thing, or stand
up and like smoochy, smoochy again. He was nervous though
he did have big news to break. I feel like
you're on his side here.

Speaker 3 (07:34):
I well, maybe I thought he just said he couldn't
go to Christmas due to a family thing. And Emily's like, oh,
I understand, she.

Speaker 1 (07:40):
Didn't even know what the family. She was like, okay, fine, But.

Speaker 3 (07:44):
He breaks the I guess surprising news that he's actually
a prince, Prince Leopold of Cordenia, heir to the throne.
He then pulls up a picture of himself in his
prince outfit. She freaks out a little bit, rightfully so,
but he says he had to keep his identity a
secret while studying abroad. That was the deal he made
to have no bodyguards or handlers. But his mom is saying,

(08:08):
you need to be home for Christmas, and he is going.

Speaker 1 (08:11):
Does she ever or anyone ever say why, Like was
there something special or she just like missed him?

Speaker 3 (08:17):
I think she just wanted him backs he finishes MBA
and she had plans for him to marry somewhat royal
from Cordinia. Okay, yeah, okay, so Lacey is actually Lacey. Sorry,
Emily is actually going to Cordina with Prince Leo. Prince Leopold,
not Leo. Sorry for Christmas. Next shot, we're in Cordinia, which,
fun fact, is actually Bucharest, Romania.

Speaker 1 (08:39):
Oh yeah, they filmed there.

Speaker 3 (08:40):
They filmed on site in Bucharest. It's a beautiful castle.
I was wondering how they built that set, what was
really like kind of better than Hallmark set standards. Found
out it's actually on location. And we meet Queen is Adura,
who is played by Jane Seymour, and she is so
rude to her staff. We find out multiple staff has
quit because of her, and really the only of her

(09:02):
staff that kind of even can stand up to her
get through to her is Victor, the head butler.

Speaker 1 (09:07):
Love Victor.

Speaker 3 (09:08):
Yeah, so Emily and Prince Leo are on the way
and Emily is wearing a what I can only call
deflated disco ball on her head.

Speaker 1 (09:19):
I call it magic because I know you don't like it,
but I love it. It's a sparkle beret that I
would assume she made it's but is it a beret.
It's like a beanie kind of. It is like a
deflated beret. But it's amazing and.

Speaker 3 (09:36):
Has she has the most beautiful hair, and they made
her wear.

Speaker 1 (09:39):
That disco ball. It's so bad. It's just it's so bad.
I love it, and I hope you get me one
for Christmas. I'm going to find you one. I used
to have one that was kind of similar. I didn't
make it, though, because I'm not a designer.

Speaker 3 (09:51):
So Emily and Leo arrive in Cordenia and they try
to get the guards to smile.

Speaker 1 (09:57):
Obviously, Okay, wait, I have two things really important. Nope.
Three number one. I was like, why is this staff
so small? Like this is like the castle like with
the queen. But I was just thinking about it, as
you said it, like they can't keep staff because she's
mean some Maybe that's why, because when you expect like

(10:19):
way more staff, I.

Speaker 3 (10:20):
Would, they had something like one hundred and nineteen rooms,
although I think that Victor said at one point they
had like seventy five staff, So maybe it was really
just a budgetary decision to have such small.

Speaker 1 (10:30):
Staff, maybe only certain staff gets to stand on the steps. Yeah, yeah, okay,
that makes sense. That's number one. Number two the bit
with the guards who can't smile because that's their job.
It's been done a million times and I have never
liked it. I don't want it in any movie. They
can't smile, that's their job, Like, why are you messing

(10:50):
with these people? Number three, and this is actually important
across all Hamewark movies. Let us look at the luggage
that people bring when they go on trips. Now, I
know I really shouldn't talk because I am not a
light packer, and I think that people who brag about
being light packers are stupid. Like, so you don't pack

(11:11):
a lot, like there's no oscar for that, right, But
in these movies, you have like a carry on, which
you probably flew private so or first class at least,
where you can actually bring luggage that you know you
don't have to pay for it. Okay, whatever, Let's say
you bring carry on, but then you're pulling out ball gowns, shoes,

(11:31):
multiple pairs of large platform type shoes, yeah, coats, sparkle
berets that are deflated, Like I need people to show
up with the luggage that I would have.

Speaker 3 (11:43):
Yeah, they don't ever slut with a lot of fluggage. Yeah,
maybe they just want to be cute. It's like clown luggage.
It's like a clown car for your stuff. That's all
I got. Well, after Emily and Leo try unsuccessfully to
make the guard smile, they meet the Queen and and
Leo introduces Emily as his girlfriend, and the Queen is

(12:03):
not amused because Emily is a commoner. Yeah, and the
Queen has a little bit of alone time with Leo,
and she says that she was never fully informed about
Emily and that he was supposed to marry the Duchess Natasha.

Speaker 1 (12:16):
Right, But you know that comes after Emily meets Queen
doctor Quinn's dog, which we never see again. So I
don't know what that dog did to piss off doctor
Quinn medicine woman. But that dog is not in the
rest of the movie. Yeah, it was Gi just of
a cameo. Yeah, I think that's weird.

Speaker 3 (12:35):
So Emily is sent to the Gold Room, which is
the room farthest from Leo in this one hundred and
nineteen room palace.

Speaker 1 (12:42):
And this time we.

Speaker 3 (12:42):
Also found out that butler. Victor grew up with the Queen.
His dad worked for Queen Isidora's dad, and then he
you know, followed in his dad's footsteps. Emily now goes
through her first dinner with the Queen. The Queen really
tries to throw a curveball to Emily, so she gives
her this traditional dish that she's to hate, but Emily
loves it. She also, at dinner tells the Queen that

(13:05):
she is a tailor and an aspiring clothing designer, and
the Queen is really not impressed, especially because Emily said
she designed hoodies. Court you know, would never be seen
in a hoodie.

Speaker 1 (13:16):
Even though you always need a good hood hoodie, you do.

Speaker 3 (13:19):
But I feel like Project Runway. If someone's like I
design hoodies, maybe they don't get on.

Speaker 1 (13:23):
I don't know. I think they would get on, but
they probably wouldn't win. Also, that dinner didn't have any appetizers.
I mean they went right into the main course. Where's
the salad or like calmary?

Speaker 3 (13:38):
Maybe that was all on that plate. It was a
large plate of food. Yeah, something to think about. Though
hopefully they had dessert. Probably not, because I know any appetizers,
we only get dinner in Cordinia. Post dinner, Leo gives
Emily a tour of the castle. They go to the
weapon room and Leo decides to teach her how to fence. However,
there is a bit of an error in Emily's fencing skills,

(13:59):
seeing that she just learned them, and she throws a
sword into an heirloom painting of what looks like is
a past queen that actually resembles Queen a Isidora.

Speaker 1 (14:08):
Why is that painting in that room?

Speaker 3 (14:10):
I don't know, it's odd. Maybe I don't know how
they decorate castles though.

Speaker 1 (14:14):
Maybe they're like redecorating, so they just have it there
temporarily because I feel like you would put that somewhere
nice or like a sitting room or a parlor.

Speaker 3 (14:21):
It depends, I guess, not like who that person actually is,
if they're important, maybe they've bought in a war. Probably not,
but maybe we don't know. Well, there was that big
war with Cordinia the eighteen hundreds. I'm remembering my history.

Speaker 1 (14:37):
Right.

Speaker 3 (14:38):
That night, it rains a little bit and Emily wakes
up and she decides she's hungry and is going to
find the kitchen. She again goes through the weapon room,
and after the incident earlier, she still picks up a
sword and decides to pretend again that she's in a
sword fight.

Speaker 1 (14:54):
Okay, have you ever been to a castle.

Speaker 3 (14:57):
I mean I've toured them, Yes, yeah.

Speaker 1 (14:59):
Can you imagine picking up a sword or anything? No,
getting in a palace like I wouldn't even pick up
like a coaster, because it's probably like the coaster of
King Edward the eighth.

Speaker 3 (15:12):
Especially if I had damage to painting, which by the way,
looked fine the second time she entered the weapon they've
already had fixed it. But if I had been fencing
and by accident gouged a painting of a past royal,
I probably wouldn't be touching a sword now in the
same room. I probably wouldn't even walk through that room again.
I'd pretend like, oh what happens that I don't know
what happened, I was never in there.

Speaker 1 (15:32):
Well, I also probably wouldn't be walking around because it's
like thundering and lightning and there's one hundred nineteen rooms.

Speaker 3 (15:38):
I don't really like the dark, probably don't know how
to get to the kitchen now. The next morning, we
go to breakfast and Emily shows up in jeans and
whereas Leo and Queen is ad Dora are inple like suits,
you know, dress fancy, fancy, very yeah. Yeah, they are
formal ware for breakfast. Emily shows up in jeans. She's embarrassed,

(15:59):
but Leo's like, no, no, I really wanted you to wear
jeans because I don't like wearing the suit. Next, they
go out for the day. He tries to go incognito
wearing a hat and sunglasses.

Speaker 1 (16:08):
We all know that's not.

Speaker 3 (16:09):
Going to work, but they stop to buy a tree
from Poppy, who we find out is an orphan at
the Saint Francis School. They go to buy the Charlie
Brown tree and Leo decides to buy all the trees
and they go to kiss in this market, but somebody
finally recognizes that it's Prince Leo oh, and they have
to book it back home. Natasha then shows up. We've

(16:34):
heard of her, this is the first time we meet her.

Speaker 1 (16:36):
She shows up.

Speaker 3 (16:37):
She's definitely vying for Prince Leopold, and she wears a
lot of red, which is what Queen is a Door wears.
I think Queen is Dora kind of sees her as
a young version of herself.

Speaker 1 (16:46):
Oh yeah, in fun fact, because Duchess Natasha looks a
lot like Queen she does after Quinn and I found
out that is actually Jane Seymour's daughter.

Speaker 3 (16:56):
Oh I think I did know that. I totally forgot.
That's a good fun fact.

Speaker 1 (17:00):
Yeah, and then I was like, oh, well that makes
a lot more sense now.

Speaker 3 (17:03):
It does make sense. Yeah, they got good genes in
that family.

Speaker 1 (17:07):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (17:08):
We go to dinner that night, Prince Leo and Emily
show up a little bit late. They walk in, there's
baronesses and duchess count the countess and then she's like,
oh and this is Emily Taylor from South Philly. She
really just like tries to make her feel bad about herself.
She also sees Leo by Natasha and Emily far away

(17:28):
by I think the barrenness of Newberry, where Emily makes
one of her many faux paus in the movie. This
baroness is publishing a children's book, so Emily is like, oh,
is this because of the children.

Speaker 1 (17:40):
That you have?

Speaker 3 (17:40):
And she's like, we actually can't have children. Emily also
tries to taste the soup, but it's a finger bowl. Okay,
just I think where you just dip your fingers a
royal circles.

Speaker 1 (17:51):
She picks up like she thinks it's soup, and she
picks it up and drinks it from the bowl. If
you thought it a soup, you get a spoon.

Speaker 3 (18:00):
Probably, and I would probably wait for the cues of
others being like, oh, it's time to eat the soup.

Speaker 1 (18:04):
Great. And also, why are so many people in movies
confused by a lot of silverware? Like haven't they seen
Pretty Woman? Because I think they came out in nineteen
ninety where they explained the silverware. I still get confused
by silverware. I just start from the outside in.

Speaker 3 (18:18):
Oh yeah, yeah, I know that. But if I'm setting
a table, I still get confused by where every car
Oh okay.

Speaker 1 (18:23):
But like also, yeah, you're right, take social cues, just
copy like Dutchess in Aria who she wants everyone?

Speaker 3 (18:30):
Yeah, Galina I think was her name, so Emily, I
don't know. She really tanked that night and afterwards she
decides to go just put a face mask on. Call
Tony and Leo comes in and he tries.

Speaker 1 (18:44):
To console her.

Speaker 3 (18:45):
I guess this is the next morning because he I
think he brought her coffee and stuff. No, maybe it
was tea. I don't know, I think he doesn't need coffee.

Speaker 1 (18:52):
Yeah. She was like, I can't have any more tea. Yeah,
and it's a hot commodity, this coffee.

Speaker 3 (18:58):
That day, the Queen's heading out out for a horse
ride and going through her shush well with butler Victor,
that's good, thank you, And we find out the Queen
actually went through a very similar thing as Leo, where
she wanted she was in love with I guess, you know,
a peasant and wanted to run away with them, and
her father was like, no, because of your duty to
the crown, you must marry someone of appropriate lineage. I

(19:22):
guess this is where the Queen is kind of stubborn
about this as she sees her own life in it.

Speaker 1 (19:26):
Which is interesting because you kind of think maybe she
would be like, I remember going through this, Yeah, I
don't know. She's like, ah, this is the way it is.
It is.

Speaker 3 (19:35):
It kind of happened on the crown too, so maybe
all queens feel that way, you know, sample size of
one or two. Here Natasha shows up for the ride
as well, again just looking like a young version of
the Queen. Leo shows up for the ride and Emily
does not know how to horse ride, so she wears
her disco ball hat and hangs out with the stats
and the baroness shows up Gillina and they go shopping

(19:59):
in the Christmas market and they see Poppy again and
Poppy hits it off with Galina, and since Leo bought
all the Christmas trees, they only have reese to sell.
Emily decides, since she's a seamstress though, to help them
out and somehow decides to cut up the table cloth
and make scarves for them to sell.

Speaker 1 (20:18):
It's a weird shape scarf and.

Speaker 3 (20:21):
Also you could not make scars that quickly.

Speaker 1 (20:23):
Yeah, I don't know, I can't sell at all, but yeah.

Speaker 3 (20:26):
Because in the Queen's pack day. She then drives by
and Poppy hands the Queen a scarf that they had just.

Speaker 1 (20:32):
Made, which is super sweet. I like that moment.

Speaker 3 (20:37):
Next we see Leo and Emily walking the castle grounds
and they find a cute little church and they talk marriage,
but Natasha does kind of bargein and ruin that moment.

Speaker 1 (20:48):
Thanks Natasha, and they're already married. Leo and Natasha they
got married when they were oh yeah.

Speaker 3 (20:55):
Like a fake marriage kid thing. Yeah, but Natasha tries
to pretend it's real. Please Natasha, Yeah please. So Leo
and the Queen have to go out for you know,
shaking hands of benediction, that type of thing. So Emily
and butler Victor have a little bit of time together,
and he decides to prepare her for the Christmas Ball,
this big event that happens every year at the Castle.

Speaker 1 (21:17):
It's a big deal. This is like, I mean, this
ball is and I can every king agree this is
what Leo should have been doing. But he teaches her
how to waltz, he teaches her how to curtsy, and
then she also gets the dress that the Queen wants
her to wear to the Christmas Ball. And it's it's
just heinous. It's really really bad. Also, Victor has his

(21:38):
first high five. Oh yeah, so's thretched. I found odd.
Really they don't high five in Cordinia. Nope, Like, no
one over there, no one that the Victor has ever
met has high fived him. I don't know.

Speaker 3 (21:52):
So you make up a country, you make up the
rules in this country. Leo also confide to Victor again
in the weapon room, that he is going to propose
to Emily after the Christmas Ball. Again, why are we
in the weapons room for this convo? I think they
only had access to certain others.

Speaker 1 (22:11):
I mean it's like, maybe do in the living room,
maybe even outside in the garden.

Speaker 3 (22:16):
They probably have my twenty living rooms in this place.
So we go to the Christmas Ball and Lacey has
had two I guess I don't even alter can you
even call redo her entire dress? Because it was so ugly.
But by the time of the Christmas Ball, which looks
super fun, she has redone the whole dress. It's a
different dress. I personally, it's not my taste.

Speaker 1 (22:38):
I loved it, but she did redo it. Okay. I
feel that I suspend a lot of belief with these movies.
I mean one has to. Yeah, I believe more in
Coordinia as an actual country than I believe in that
ball dress, that ball gown, like there is what there

(23:00):
looks nothing like that. No, that's ridiculous. Yeah, I might
have liked the other dress better. I don't know if
you've ever seen What a Girl Wants with Amanda Bynes
Oh yes, oh yeah, okay, Well she does the same
thing where she's given a dress and she has to
make it beautiful. But in that movie, she notices underneath
the dress, the liner, and so the dress that she

(23:22):
as that yeah, is basically the liner. That's not what's
going on here. No, it's a brand new dress. And
she gets the entrance that of course she deserves. There's
a staircase she walks down. She wows everyone. She is
just gorgeous, and there's a lot of people there. There's
of course socialites, royals. Poppy is there with Galina and

(23:44):
her hubby, checking out the dessert table, and Poppy actually
looked really cute. I thought she did.

Speaker 3 (23:49):
Leo then asked Emily to dance, and he of course
thinks that she can't because he never taught her how.
But she shows off her waltzing skills. Thank you, Victor,
and Emily I think, goes to talk to someone and
Natasha then steals him and she makes him dance with her,
and the whole crowd stops to watch. So Lacey's like,
I'm out of here, and she goes to hang with
the staff again and teach them how to make hogies.

Speaker 1 (24:14):
Hogies, for those who don't know, are subs.

Speaker 3 (24:17):
From Philadelphia, right. She makes them with Mutton. I have
actually never had mutton.

Speaker 1 (24:21):
I don't know that I ever want to have mutton.

Speaker 3 (24:23):
I don't even know what it is besides mutton chops
being those things?

Speaker 1 (24:27):
Is it lamb? I don't know. It's a bad name
for the hit us up on social media at Hallmark
Junkies if you a know what mutton is? And bee
have ever eaten it? Yeah?

Speaker 3 (24:41):
While they're making these mutton hogies, the Queen actually walks in.
She fires Olivia and I don't know his name, but
the other guy that started with Olivia on the spot
on Christmas Eve.

Speaker 1 (24:52):
Yeah, not cool.

Speaker 3 (24:54):
And actually Natasha then starts to have a change of mind.
She suggests to the Queen that maybe she's not met
for Leo, but the Queen isn't having it.

Speaker 1 (25:00):
And that's when I really start liking the Duchess.

Speaker 3 (25:03):
Yeah yeah, and this is where she turned definitely. The
Queen then really just gives it to Emily. She says
she shouldn't she's not cut out for royal life, she
shouldn't be with Leo. Emily along there, Yeah yeah, And
then Emily sees Leo and Natasha together again and she
has had enough. She leaves. The Queen is really pumped

(25:23):
that she left, but Victor kind of reprimands her, and
that's when I first realized that Victor and the Queen
likely next year, that they may be worth in love.

Speaker 1 (25:33):
In the past.

Speaker 3 (25:35):
And Leo chases Emily and she says she's planning to leave.
He really tries to stop her, and in fact, he
asks her to marry him.

Speaker 1 (25:42):
Yeah, and you know what, she's like, massively upset, like
she's crying. Yeah, she's changed out of her altered life. Yeah,
and it's like she's like that upset, but he still
goes through with the proposal, like read a room.

Speaker 3 (25:54):
Feels like the last ditch thing, like, don't leave here,
here's what I was actually going to do tonight. But no,
he says he'll renounce his title to stay with her,
and she's like, no, no, this is your life. I
have a different life, and she parts. She goes back
to Philly.

Speaker 1 (26:08):
Yep.

Speaker 3 (26:09):
The Queen then realizes, well, Emily, you know, she had
an impact on all of the staff here, and she
she stayed true to herself, and maybe I didn't stay
true to myself when I didn't stay with Butler Victor
in the past, right, And she realizes that she made
a pretty big mistake. Yeah, the Queen then actually tells Leo, Yep,
I'm made a mistake.

Speaker 1 (26:31):
And puts on her red Furst suit. I love that,
right me?

Speaker 3 (26:35):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (26:35):
Yeah, I wish I could wear stuff like that. Me too.
I have home places to wear it too. There's nowhere
we could wear it to record. I wish she knew that.
I love that. Where are we going to get red
for suits?

Speaker 3 (26:48):
Though?

Speaker 1 (26:49):
Oh? I don't know. Maybe we can make them. We
can alter them. You can alter something else, like Emily. Okay,
all right, add that to the list. So the Queen
decides in this period that she's going to be with Victor,
her true love. Victor is her Camilla Parker bowles, Oh
my god. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (27:09):
So cut back to Philly where it is still snowing.

Speaker 1 (27:12):
And I'm assuming Christmas night, but they're all hanging out
in the shop.

Speaker 3 (27:17):
Well yeah, maybe Emily's father really isn't the best employer then,
but they're all still working for mister Taylor. Emily's pretty balmmed.
Tony and her dad are trying to console her, and
what do you know, Leo pulls up. Oh my god,
he proposes again, and she starts to say, no, no,
your mother would never have this, and the window No.

(27:39):
The door opens and guess who walks out? Queen Doctor
Quinn has her hair down. She looks so beautiful.

Speaker 1 (27:47):
I love her hair. I hope I look like that
when I'm a little older.

Speaker 3 (27:50):
I already don't look. There's there's no che She the Queen,
then with her luscious hair, says no, no, you have
my support. So she says yes. And the last scene
we find them getting married in that cute small chapel.

Speaker 1 (28:12):
Which is where Leo really wanted to get married, not
the like super big Westminster.

Speaker 3 (28:17):
Yeah, which the final scene there is a kiss and
the guards smile.

Speaker 1 (28:21):
I actually really like that moment that they smile, even
though I hate everything with trying to make guards move,
it's just cute. And it's snowing.

Speaker 3 (28:31):
It is snowing in Cordinia, which is a miracle.

Speaker 1 (28:33):
It's like it hasn't happened in forever. No, No, do
you think it's supposed to be the same Christmas week
or is it a one year later?

Speaker 3 (28:41):
I know I think it's the same Christmas week because
I always thought the timing was crazy, like how are
they already getting married?

Speaker 1 (28:47):
I in many of these movies, I always hope it's
a year later, but I don't think it is, no,
but it should be.

Speaker 3 (28:54):
It's very hallmark for it to be like that week though. Yeah,
things happen fast and I love it, and.

Speaker 1 (29:02):
That is the movie.

Speaker 3 (29:04):
That is the movie, Carrie. How would you rate this
movie one out of five? CCB's obviously standing for the
Queen Candice can remember.

Speaker 1 (29:12):
I I am gonna give it and I do like
to do you know, decimal points in mine, but I'm
going to give it a four. I would have given
it higher literally a month ago, until you know, you
and I talked about it, and we'll discuss that in
a bit. Okay, yeah, what would you give it?

Speaker 3 (29:34):
Well, now that you bring the decimal thing up, so
I was gonna give it a three, but I'm going
to go two point seventy five.

Speaker 1 (29:40):
Oh no, yeah, two.

Speaker 3 (29:42):
Point seven five, And that is just because I don't
like the royal person your things, and I think the
one I would give a three is the I can't
remember it's what it's called, but they get snowed in
near Boston and they have the pajama parties every year
at this town I love. I would probably give it
lower if it weren't for the great cast, though, I

(30:04):
just it's the royal thing, isn't for me.

Speaker 1 (30:06):
I like the casting too, and I think that Lacey
Shavert and Leo have very good chemistry, Like I believe
them that they've been dating for a year.

Speaker 3 (30:14):
Yeah, the Hallmark Junkies podcast will be back after this
short break.

Speaker 1 (30:29):
So should we move on to our free for All?

Speaker 3 (30:31):
Let's move on to Free for All. This is just
you know, any other thoughts we had on the movie
that did not come up as we were discussing it.
Do you want to start with the thought that you had?

Speaker 1 (30:40):
I do. I would like to first talk about the ballroom. Okay,
I don't. I hadn't noticed this until this last viewing,
but the ballroom when it's not the ball honestly looks
like a senior center reck room. It doesn't.

Speaker 3 (30:55):
As soon as you said that, I started to realize
that that's right, or maybe like a middle school cafeteria
with like a stage, yeah.

Speaker 1 (31:03):
Where you just like move the tables to the side.
And then also I few notices at the ball they
just have glasses of wine that are just like out
on a table, as if you are at middle school
with d ns and there's like punch sitting out you
could just grab ra and go. I don't know. I
don't feel like in a palace that that's how the

(31:24):
wine would be distributed. Yeah, but I don't know because
I've never been to a palace ball on Christmas eve
me either. Right. And actually, while we're talking about wine glasses,
they drink their orange juice at Breakfast out of wine glasses.
I think I'm gonna start doing that. I like it.

Speaker 3 (31:41):
If I drank orange juice, I would, but I only drink.

Speaker 1 (31:43):
I don't drink orange juice either, but I drink water.

Speaker 3 (31:45):
Okay, I do drink water. I could do that with Breakfast.

Speaker 1 (31:48):
And Crystal Light, and that's not a product placement, like
I honestly like crystal Light, and I will drink it
out of a wine glass.

Speaker 3 (31:53):
I've drank that since high school.

Speaker 1 (31:55):
Oh my god, it's still good.

Speaker 3 (31:57):
All right, here's my first thought. Unless just talk about
the prince first. I want to say I think he
was so perfectly cast as a prince. I really just
thought it was believable that this guy could be the
prince of a made up country. I like that, but
as a actual character in the movie, I had many
issues with why he didn't prepare Emily correctly for meeting

(32:20):
his family exactly.

Speaker 1 (32:22):
So let's just.

Speaker 3 (32:23):
Say you're not a prince. When you bring your girlfriend
home to meet your family, you prepare them, you give
them a little insight into how your family is. I
would think that is on steroids when you were actual
royalty heir to the throne and you're bringing home someone
who has never been a part of that lifestyle and
only found out about it a day ago. Also, and
it's Christmas. Yeah, he did absolutely none of that. And

(32:46):
I know the premise here is that he liked that
she wasn't a part of that world and that she
didn't have that in her background and didn't act like that.
But still, your mother is not happy that she's coming.
She wants you to marry Dutchess No Tasha, so you
need to tell her a little bit about the customs,
what she should be wearing. He just let her go

(33:08):
in completely blind. And to me, the straw that broke
the camel's back was the breakfast where he showed up
in his suit and Doctor Quinn was wearing her gorgeous
I probably read or white kind of formal wear, and
Emily showed up in her dungarees. It was so bad
and I was so angry at him. He's like, no,

(33:28):
I wanted you to show up in jeans, but like, yeah.

Speaker 1 (33:31):
You would think too, like protocols would have been yes,
just like.

Speaker 3 (33:36):
You know, if you want to show up in your jeans,
go for it, but this is what we usually wear
to breakfast. I mean many examples. Yeah, I mean I
love this movie. I have loved it since I first aired.

Speaker 1 (33:48):
But when you said that and I started like rewatching it,
I was definitely seeing nex For me. It's actually that
first moment when he meets or when Lacy Shabare meets
Queen doctor Quinn, and it's first of all, on the stairs,
which would never happen. It would be in some formal
room and she's like, what do I call her? And

(34:09):
he's just like, I don't know. I call her mom.
It's like, okay, well you're in your twenties, so I
think that you know what other people call her. It's yeah,
I kept thinking too, Like the first time I brought
my husband home for Christmas, I definitely remember having a
conversation like, here's the traditions we normally do. You know,
here's some of that stuff.

Speaker 3 (34:30):
It's just the kind thing to do, right. Yeah, it
really frustrated me about him that he did that.

Speaker 1 (34:38):
Yeah, I mean that's actually a really big one. I
did to think what else I kind of found, Oh,
we should talk again about the decorations because just like
our last movie, this was twenty fourteen, so it really
Hallmark hadn't done like gone Banana Sauce yet with their
Christmas decorations. And it's a palace which I feel would
have very tasteful decorations at Chris time, probably a lot

(35:02):
of antique like historical stuff. What they have is strings
of gold tinsel that you can get at Walmart and
that we used to get at Walmart back in the
early eighties, so I guess that's vintage for them now. Also,
there's no tree skirts around any of the Christmas trees,

(35:23):
and that really bothers me. Notice that. Yeah, it's weird.
But they did have the Christmas market, Yeah they did.
It was a cute little town too.

Speaker 3 (35:32):
Okay, I have another one for you. I know that
one could say that the plot lines to many of
these Hallmark movies aren't very believable. No, no, But my
question is, let's say Cordinia were a real country and
he were real next in line.

Speaker 1 (35:49):
To the throne.

Speaker 3 (35:50):
Is it really plausible that in this day and age
he spends let's say an NBA is like two years
right full of in Philly doing an MBA. She dated
him for one year of that and she never like
googled Leo James Leopold Cordinia, no one ever figured out

(36:10):
who he was like with social media, with googling people,
I mean, is it really plausible that he or even
if you're next in line to the throne, that you
go there and no one, no handlers, nobody goes with you.
I just I don't know that this could happen. And
I know again you know the movies where you inherit

(36:33):
a reindeer farm, also maybe not that plausible. But I
just don't know about this, and I just don't know
if this could happen.

Speaker 1 (36:40):
That's a good point. I hadn't really thought about it,
Like you do google people, or you do follow them
on social media, And if I was dating someone who
didn't have social media, that's actually a bigger red flag.
Then if they put weird stuff on social media, doesn't
have social media, does he? No, he doesn't actually now
that you're saying that. Sorry, any you're not weird. And

(37:05):
Leo James has something account why I've married Leo James.
Maybe he's a prince. Oh what country? Though? I think
he's probably somewhere like more like northern Europe like those
isn't northern Europe like Iceland? Yeah, a lot of people

(37:26):
want to go to Iceland. Side note, I would love to.
I don't know. I think I would maybe I don't know,
but yeah, I just am back to I'm just not
believing it, like in the way, oh I'm not believing
that dress. Yeah, because I'm not. Here's a small one
for you. Did you notice the fountain? No, they have

(37:48):
a fountain outside of the palace. It's disgusting like that.
I know it's winter and like usually you just drain
a fountain. They didn't, and it's it is gross. It's
not working and the water is like putrid. I did
not notice that. Yeah, so I'm trying to think if

(38:08):
there's anything else that I really noticed. Besides, you know,
once again, we have a movie that does not understand
time zones. Because when Lacey Shabt calls Tony the BFF,
Tony's like up and working but Lacey Shabert has just
woken up in her room. Would you pick up on that? Yeah,
it's morning. So let's say it's eight am in Cridinia,

(38:32):
it should be middle of the night in the US. Yeah,
good point. Yeah, I didn't even pick up on that. Well,
that's what happens when you see a movie two hundred times. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (38:43):
My last one is there's a lot of things in
this Hallmark movie that are not standard Hallmark. We had
the fact that there was no baking or decorating montage.
We had the fact that the couple started out the
movie together and ended the movie together.

Speaker 1 (38:58):
Yep.

Speaker 3 (38:59):
We have the fact that there was an actual wedding.
We had the first kiss very early on in the movie.
We also had a kiss in the final scene of
the movie. So I did appreciate that about this movie,
that there was just they kind of went outside their
little box, especially their twenty fourteen box, which we know
has expanded a lot like that. I like sloaded it

(39:20):
has in a good way, in a good way. But
that's my last thought. Yeah, shall we move to our
final segment? I think so Romance one oh one, where
our resident romance author give maybe what's in her head
about the.

Speaker 1 (39:35):
Movie well as the resident romance author. So you know,
there are definitely structures to romance novels. These homework channel
movies have basically the same structure because they're based on
usually romance novels, right a lot of times an actual
book that has come out, right okay, And when you

(39:57):
pick up a romance novel or you turn on a
homemark movie, you know that you're going to have a
happy ending mm like spoiler alert, they are getting together.
That is how this is going to end. But before
you get to that happy ending, there has to be
a dark moment. It could also be called the black moment.
It could be called the all is lost moment. I

(40:19):
like to call it the dark moment, and that's the
moment when all is lost and you think, oh my god,
this couple that I know is going to end up
together might not end up together. Yeah, And so I
wanted to bring it up because something I hear a
lot from romance readers is sometimes they don't believe the
dark moment. Like sometimes the dark moment is not super.

Speaker 3 (40:43):
Dark, as in, it's not really like something you see
driving this couple apart.

Speaker 1 (40:49):
It's just too light for that they could seriously have
a conversation and like clear it up. So an example
would be, you know, you have a couple getting together
and she sees the hero talking to some other woman.
Oh right, Yeah, she has insecurities maybe because of past relationships,
and she's like, well, I can't stay with this guy,

(41:11):
and they could just have a conversation. He'd be like,
that was my cousin, Like calm down. So that would
be kind of an example of not a good dark moment.
What I like in this movie is that that's a
good dark moment because we're not dealing with something that
could be overcome with a conversation. It's more something that

(41:31):
this is their lives and who they are, Like he
is a crown prince of a country. He can't get
rid of that, and he has an obligation to his
people and his mom and the country. And Lacey Shavert
is herself and I like that aspect of the movie
that she goes through and she's always herself and as
Jane Seymour tells us, true to herself as even down

(41:54):
to the jeans at breakfast exactly. I mean, not just
the fact that she wears the things or drinks water
from the finger bowl, but she really shouldn't be with him.
They have to figure out a way to overcome that standard.
So I like the dark moment. This is all to say,
I like the dark moment in this movie, and as
you're watching these movies, I think everyone should think about that, Like,

(42:16):
do you have that moment even if it's just like
a split second where you're like, oh my god, they
might not end up together even though you know they're
going to end up together. Yeah, unless there's a sequel,
then maybe they won't.

Speaker 3 (42:27):
If they don't end up together, is it then not
considered a romance?

Speaker 1 (42:31):
Correct?

Speaker 3 (42:31):
Okay? So then like a movie like The Breakup with
Vince Fawn and Jennifer Andson, that's not an actual rom com.

Speaker 1 (42:39):
No, okay, I mean we classify it as a rom com,
but yeah, it doesn't have a happy ending.

Speaker 3 (42:44):
You know what else I was thinking the other day doesn't. Well,
the couple that I thought should end together doesn't is
my best friend's wedding. Yeah, it's maybe the first one
I could ever think of where it's like, oh, a
couple doesn't end up together.

Speaker 1 (42:57):
But that one still yet has like sort of an
uplifting end.

Speaker 3 (43:00):
Oh, yeah, because she seems fine that they're not together.

Speaker 1 (43:03):
Yeah, but a romance novel, they that couple has to
end up together for it to be a romance. And
again there's there are some exceptions like series, but ultimately
at the end of the story, they are together. They're together. Okay. So,
and it's the same also for Hallmark movies. That's what
makes them better, part of what makes the magical and amazing.

(43:26):
That's why you want to watch them. Right, That's what
I got for you this week. All right, Well, let's
get to our last question. Do you think this couple
will make it? Yeah? I do. I think that they're
going to have some trouble though with things over the years.
I mean, there's going to be a lot of acclimating
to different lifestyle. And I wonder about her dad, like, well,

(43:48):
he moved there, but then he has, you know, this
shop that's been in their family forever. I don't know,
but I do think that they will stay together.

Speaker 3 (43:57):
I I go back and forth on this one, and
it's precisely because of what we talked earlier that he
just took no time to prepare for anything, which I
think speaks to questions I have about the relationship, but
they do seem like a good couple, and it does
seem like everybody kind of had a change of heart.
It seems like everybody has now accepted her, which will

(44:18):
make the whole preparing thing go a little bit easier.
So I could see them making it. That said, if
we see in the tabloids about a royal divorce in
let's say ten years, I wouldn't be totally shocked.

Speaker 1 (44:31):
Okay, that's fair. Yeah, I also want to know more
about Poppy. Clearly, clearly the adoption went through, when she
lived happily ever after. I would just like more on
that story. And that's sweet. It was sweet. Yeah. Well,
I think we did it. I think we went through
the whole movie. Yay. I'm very proud of us, and
I hope that everyone enjoyed the movie. If we missed

(44:51):
anything or you have additional comments, please reach out to
us on Facebook or Instagram at Hallmark Junkies. And if
you like this podcast, please make sure you subscribe and
give us a little writing. That would be fabulous.

Speaker 3 (45:05):
Yes, obviously the highest rating possible.

Speaker 1 (45:08):
You know what. We should also thank Seneca Women and
iHeart podcasts. This is Jenny saying cheers, and this is
Carrie saying We'll see y In's next time, Mary Christmas.

Speaker 3 (45:23):
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.