November 10, 2025 • 26 mins
It’s back, mystery lovers! Mistletoe Murders Season 2 has officially arrived, and Girls Gone Hallmark could not be more thrilled. One of Hallmark Channel’s greatest mystery series returns with more intrigue, more danger, and yes - more tension between Emily Lane and Detective Sam Rivera after that explosive season finale reveal. Episodes 1 and 2 waste no time pulling us back into Chimera’s chilling web, raising questions about who can be trusted and whether sparks or secrets will define Emily and Sam’s next chapter. Buckle up, because this holiday season’s sleigh ride through murder and mistletoe is already off to a gripping start. Let's dive into Mistletoe Murders Season 2 Episodes 1 - 2.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
This is a bramble Jam podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Welcome to Girls Gone Hallmark, a Hallmark review podcast. I'm
Megan and I'm a longtime Hallmark fan.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
I'm Wendy. I'm a former Hallmark hater.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Today we're discussing Mistletoe Murders Season two, episodes one in
two Cold War, which originally aired on the Hallmark Channel
on Friday November seventh, twenty twenty five, and is currently
available for.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
Streaming on Hallmark Plus.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Currently available for your viewing pleasure are our social media accounts.
We are Girls Gone Hallmark on Instagram and TikTok.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
Hey. If you guys want more from us Megan and
Wendy and maybe a little less Hallmark, I encourage you
to come visit us on Patreon, Patreon dot com, slash
Megnan Wendy, where we drop four new episodes per month for.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
A what for the bargain basement price five bucks. That's it,
and you get to keep the lights on over here.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Yeah yeah, it's super helpful for us, like behind the scenes,
paying for running the show here. But you know, enjoy
the crash out. Listen to Megan and Wendy meltdown in
real time. We are struggling this season.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
I would also encourage you if you would like to
hear your name on a future episode of Girls Gone Hallmark,
you should email us your thoughts on Mistletoe Murders, on
the movies, on whatever you're watching on Hallmark, Girls Gone
Hallmark at gmail dot com and we may just read
your email in a future mailbag episode.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
Yeah, we got one on the calendar coming up, coming
up soon. We do so get you here thoughts in
I'm dying to hear what people think about Mistletoe Murders
Season two.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
Well, let's kick off our talk of season two of
Mistletoe Murders with a synopsis of episodes one and two.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
Okay, so this is how I'm going to do it,
because the synopsis is different for Part one and part two. Okay,
so part one the episodes are called Cold War Part
one and Part two. Yes, right, okay. Part one. After
a year of avoidance, Emily and Sam reunite to solve
the disappearance of a high school chess coach, triggering echoes
(02:29):
of Emily's past. Violet hopes to attend the Winter Dance
with her crush. Part two, Emily goes undercover at the
school to solve the chess Coach's murder. Tensions rise when
Sam suspects the Violet's date and the Winter Dance turns
into a game of cat and mouse with the killer.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
Ken cooperis the creator and writer of Mistletoe Murders. Has
forty four writing credits to his name, including eighteen episodes
of the hit series Hudson and Rex. Mistletoe Murders was
adapted from an addio podcast series and fun fact. Ken
is the writer on another Audible mysteries series called Middlebridge Mysteries.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
Yeah. I was like, I wonder if he's trying to
sell that to Hallmark too. Bring it on over. I
looked it up. It has it has a good voice
acting cast. Somebody familiar. Oh Eric McCormick. Oh. Eric McCormick
is one of the voices on that podcast series. Melanie
(03:28):
Orr directed both episodes one and two, with thirty one
directing credits. She also helmed the final two episodes of
last season. Her other work includes Children Ruin Everything, Sullivan's Crossing,
The Spencer Sisters, and much more. Sarah Drew plays Emily
Lane outside of Mistletoe. The last time we saw Sarah
on Hallmark was in Branching Out. From twenty twenty four,
(03:50):
she starred in some of our all time favorites like
Guiding Emily and One Summer She Needs to Be More Right. Yeah. Yeah,
I was kind of surprised at that note that we
haven't seen her since Branching out'en busy making these series.
I mean six episodes, it's basically three full movies. Yeah,
I think of it. I get that. I was also
looking at her IMDb. She has a lot of other
(04:12):
work she's doing outside of Hallmark, So go get that bag,
soa true. Peter Mooney plays Sam Wilder. Peter has forty
nine acting credits and has appeared in Hallmark movies such
as Retreat to You and Fly Away with Me.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
Sierra Marilyn Riley plays Sam's daughter, Violet. Mistletoe is her
biggest project to date, though she did appear in the
series Motorheads.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Which I think got canceled. Bummer Gene Yune returns as
diner owner Sue. Gene has ninety acting credits, including attentive
voice work for several animated series. She also voiced the
character of Sue for the Audible series Hey.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
Lara Amersay also returns as Emily's friend June. Lara has
thirty acting credits and will appear in the upcoming We
Met in December, starting Nie Mader and Autumn Racer. Kylie
Evans appears as Brooke. Kylie is probably best known for
her longtime role as Stephanie on Goodwitch. She also voiced
the character of Brooke on the Audible series. David Hewlett
(05:14):
plays Famous Ray. David has one hundred and twelve acting credits,
with previous appearances in Hudson and Rex as well as
Murdoch Mysteries.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
Special guest star Benjamin Airs appears in episodes one and
two with one hundred and seven acting credits. We Last
Saw been in a Christmas Angel Match a few weeks ago.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Quincy Kirkwood appears as young Emily slash Grace. She has
six acting credits, with her other biggest project being Why
the Last Man from twenty twenty one.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
Colton Stewart plays fellow student Kyle. He has thirty two
acting credits and has starred in fifteen episodes of the
series My Life with the Walter Boys. He also voiced
the character of Zach.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
On the Audible series Look At All These Characters who
are doing double duty now. Jamie Thomas King plays the
vice principal with thirty three acting credits. You might recognize
him from shows like Brilliant Minds, Elementary and Call the Midwife.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
Mikey Silkin plays the chess coach, Mister Henley. Mikey is
a fresh face for Hallmark, but has appeared in any
ten of Hallmark adjacent Christmas movies.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Mistletoe Murders was filmed in and around Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Let's take a quick break and we'll come right back
with our first impressions. Hey, Wendy, what is your first
impressions of Mistletoe Murders Season two?
Speaker 1 (06:39):
Cold War? The tension between Emily and Sam could power
the Christmas lights in Fletcher's Grove. I love it.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
My first impression is we're back, baby, and dare I
say better than before? Do you think it's better than
season one? It's as good, if not better?
Speaker 1 (06:54):
Right, and usually you know, like the sophomore slump not here,
not here, no slumping' in Fletcher's growth. Yeah, I almost
think it's a smidge better. I think so too. The
story alone, I thought was better amazing. Let's get into
the likes. Let's get into the likes. Let's get into
the well.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
In my first impression, I was just so glad to
be back in Fletcher's Grove with these characters. As it's
like Bam, Sue Bam, Emily Bam Sam bam Brooke.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
I was like, yes, we're back. Yeah, I was happy too.
I want to reference Kim Cooperis wrote us an email
back in September. Yeah, after we had reviewed season one
during our summer school series. Yes, which is so nice,
like a creator and writer just like randomly emails us.
(07:43):
He listened to our podcast review. I get a little
like nervous when that happens. He wrote a very nice email.
But what he did include in the email that stands
out to me. He said, based on some of your wishes,
I'm very excited for you to see what we get
up to in season two. And I was like, what
were my wishes? And the only thing that I can
(08:04):
keep going back to was I need more background on Emily. Yeah,
and we got it, yes, in these two episodes, and
I freaking love it. I do think that's my biggest
wish too, that we start to peel back.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
Some of these layers. And I just loved the emily backstory,
she's Grace, she's in boarding school. We see the origins
of the alter ego Chimera. But then then that begs
more questions, right because when they reveal that to be
her hacker name, her coding name, yeah, I was like,
(08:41):
wait a minute, Emily is not Kimera. So did you
jump to the conclusion that her boarding school buddy.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
Let me explain my thought process here. Yes, So we
get to the very end of episode two, and that's
when we learn that she's made up this name Chimera, right, yes,
both these episodes twice, okay, And I couldn't help but think.
I was like, is she is she the builder of
this monster? Like? Was this her project? And somehow like
(09:16):
whatever Kaymera is in terms like whatever it morphs into,
did somebody run with that? Yeah, because clearly she's the
original creator of it in some form, and now there's
someone else behind it, right, I do agree it is
probably that boy that she befriends and who she's involved
(09:37):
with obviously in high school. Like they're showing too much
of him, like to not let this play out. And
even at the very end of the episode where she's
in her voice over she's talking about she's never escaped
her past, and to me, I'm like, we're gonna see
the teenage boy is going to be like the villain
(10:00):
I believe in current day. I'm very curious. I'm very curious.
I just want to I just want it all right now.
And you know, I feel so bad. I don't I
can't remember the name of that character, and I don't
we didn't have him listed in our His name is Aaron. Aaron. Well,
let's let's let's talk more about what we liked in
this episode.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
Okay, Look, I was so happy to see Ray Aka
I can't help but call him Jonesy because that's what
you call him, cruising down the halls of the high
school as a sponsor of the chess team. And then
you and I talked about this great tie in with Sam.
We talked about this off mic Sam goes to him
for some off book investigation. Yeah, and I love that
(10:38):
they present it as like everybody kind of knows that
Ray plays on the edges of.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
The law, right, and that line at the end.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
Where Ray's like, let's talk compensation and Sam's like, how
about I just not arrest you.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
Great. I'm worried though. Is Sam trying to get information
from Ray about Emily? Well, those codes that he takes
were from Emily's home.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
Oh, he picks up the paper. So she drops a paper.
At one point it slides under her couch. We see
that happen. Then when Sam comes over, he notices it,
picks it up, and she says, oh, those are just
some codes.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
I have for the store.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
But he had secretively taken a photo of it now,
which he then takes to Ray. So, yes, he is
trying to get information.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
Well, that makes me worried. Ray, you cannot sell out
our girl Emily, right, But he doesn't know. I know,
I know. It makes me nervous. It makes me nervous
because Emily trusts very few. She trusts Ray. I mean,
obviously Ray doesn't know. I don't believe Ray know is
like the extent of Emily's background. She says, Game recognizes Game,
(11:52):
he knows that there's more to her than meets the eye.
But I don't think anybody in this town knows a
lot about Emily, including Ray's just gonna like walk right
into this and like not realize he's handed Sam the
keys to Emily's identity.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
Mmm.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
I gotta tell you. I love that we learn Emily
has these chess skills. Hmmm, because I like the symbolism here.
You know, she's playing chess when everybody else is playing checkers.
It just it lends a lot to how smart she is. Yeah,
And I don't know if we've I mean, obviously last season,
(12:30):
like we realized like she's smart, she's good at like
solving keyses and like whatever. But now we learn like
she's a coder, Like she's got she's this computer whiz,
and she's got an analytical brain and peeling back the
layer it makes her dangerous, makes her super dangerous. How
happy were you to see Benjamin Ayer's in the cast
(12:50):
this episode? Oh my gosh, let me tell you. When
his name came up on the screen as special guest Star,
I was like what what? I was so excited. Yeah,
I was so excited. I was a little bit worried
because I assumed he was gonna be in the bad
guy and I was like, I don't want him to
be the bad guy. Huh. I like the twists at
the end, I mean, he's still did like something bad
(13:13):
that there were consequences for it, but because it was
not the murderer.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
No, I wrote, I am glad he was mildly bad
and not murderously bad.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
Yeah, yeah, but good job. Like that feels like Hallmark
Mystery one on one that like they misdirections.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
Yes, yeah, that's scene at the end at the dance
when Violet goes to her locker and it's like multiple cuts,
so we see her get the note, then we cut
back to feet and then we cut to the vice
principal and then we cut to Benjamin Yerrs as the custodian.
That's great right there, Yeah, because you're like, who is it,
what's gonna happen, Where's she gonna go? Where's Violet?
Speaker 1 (13:48):
Who's gonna get her? Great?
Speaker 2 (13:50):
Perhaps the standout of these two episodes for me is
the Emily and Sam relationship. The tension is so good.
I feel like they're the pull and the poll. Yeah,
they're giving us just enough to keep us fully invested
in the relationship. Sam when he comes to her house
and basically says, I'm having a hard time with.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
This, it's so good. Their relationship is complicated, and I
like that it's complicated, and we see like play out
in these two episodes where in my opinion is like
he needs her mm hmmm, and he like realizes he
needs her. He gets to another full realization obviously when
(14:32):
he says to her at the end that Violet can
work at the shop, like he realizes like she will
protect Violet. But then back and forth of he wants
to protect his daughter. He's fearful of Emily. He doesn't
know who she is, he has a file on her,
but he's still very much flirty with her.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
Yes, and she with him, And it seems like he
really wants to believe that she's not the bad guy here,
but that she has the potential of bringing danger which
would then affect people around her.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
Right, what I need from him? Like I in my opinion,
I was like, oh, he just sees her as the
bad guy, but he also needs to respect her boundaries
of I don't want to talk about my past, like
it is not for you to know, and he needs
to accept that. I would not be able to accept
(15:27):
that knowing that there's information out there. She has no
identity as Emily Lane. She doesn't exist as Emily Lane.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
So that would be so hard for me as Sam
to say like, Okay, I'm just gonna let it go.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
You couldn't, of course not now I know he'sn't rock
in a hard place. What else did you like? More
on Emily and Sam. I love their bicker. I love
their banter. They vibe totally. It's fun to watch. At
one point, she says to him, you're keeping tabs on me,
and I was like, oh, I love this like so much.
I love like she him out on it. There was
(16:02):
also a scene where she goes to him. They're talking
about like the chess teacher and blah blah blah blah blah,
and like she gets giddy almost that he lets her
like he opens the door for her to like help
solve the case. Yeah. I love all that. I just
love it, you know who. I also love Violet remains
(16:22):
an MVP for me. I am so happy that we
have a well rounded, realistic teenage character who has her
own stories. Yeah. Notice though, remember last year big part
of the season was like her mom being in a
different like city.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
And he's not the source of conflict. Yeah, yeah, she's
going to grow up and leave now.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
Yeah, And I love it And I love that Emily.
I was thinking about this. I was like, is Emily
a mother figure to her? No, I feel like she's
more of like a big sister confidant instead. I love
this relationship. Yes, Sam says, you have been there in
ways that I could not. Yeah, love it. You know what?
I also really liked. I thought the costume mean in
(17:08):
this episode was really good. Emily wears a tan polka
dot blouse that I just loved so very much personally
for me. But I also really loved Violet's dress for
the damn oh, I loved her dress. I loved it.
I showed it to my own seventeen year old who
like scoffed at it because like she would never that's
not the vibe. That ball gown look isn't really the vibe. No,
(17:32):
it's more of like an idealistic of what you would think.
But I loved it. I thought it was so cute,
and these little flats that she was wearing, I just
I thought it was And the whole like slow dance
with the boy in the parking lot of the police
station when it's snowing, I just those are the kinds
of things that you think high school's going to be
(17:54):
like and then it's not, but like romanticizes it. I
loved it so much. We didn't talk a whole lot,
but I did enjoy the missing teacher mystery here m.
I thought it was a good hook, and I thought
it was suspenseful, suspenseful, but wolf like the dude was
(18:15):
buried under submit at school was dark. I agree, you know.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
I was thinking this town, as does every one of
these mystery based series, they just solve every problem with murder,
but the murder was actually kind of an accident.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
Yes, you're right, You're right in this case. The murder
I've had completely forgotten that a hook to the back
of the head kind of grewesome totally. I was like
when they showed that. But I do agree with you
that they did develop the mystery really well. I liked
I thought they were pointing at some very you know,
the other coach, the other.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
Coach, the custodians, simply because he kind of exists in
the shadows and is always around. Then you've got the
vice principal with his son. I liked the motivation that
the vice princip was trying to cover for him, trying
to take the wrap for his son.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
I have one like super random thing. HM. Sue's Diner
is to me, Luke's diner from Gilmore girls. I love
that this is the only place in town, like you
have breakfast here an also happy hour.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
Yeah, when Emily and June go out and they're just
in Sue's diner, yeah, but in a glass of wine.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
I thought, well that's kind of nice. I know. I
was like, I want to I want to go to
Fletter's Grove, Like, I can they make this as like
a visit like a fan fan What is that called,
like a fan activation? Yeah, that's the word pop up.
I think that would be so fun if they had
like Emily's store and Sue's diner and the police station,
(19:42):
a police station, I don't know, Famous Raise, Electronic warehouse,
whatever he has. Anyway, My final like is I just
liked the end that we Violet gets. Violet gets her
normal feedback, like everything that she wants. She wants to
work back at the store. Obviously, Sam sees that Emily
saves the day and maybe all is right in the
(20:06):
world of Fletcher's Grove. I doubt it's going temporarily though,
but I'm here for it. Well, what did you wish for?
I didn't love the twists of the vice principal and
his kid. Oh a little bit messy. Kind of made
me like think that it was a little bit unbelievable.
This vice principle is so mad that he threatens the
(20:29):
teacher because his son might not get into college or whatever.
I'm like, hold your children accountable for doing bad things.
I guess it's kind of believable. I guess then saying
it out loud, that parents today want to blame somebody
else in their own children. Indy, you know the other thing.
And I told you, and we just talked about it
(20:50):
a little bit. I needed Sam to trust Emily's instincts,
but I see where he can't. That's all. I have
very few wishes. I thought it was a really really
good two episode start to the series.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
Yeah for me, really, it's the timeline jump is a
little bit confusing is the wrong word. But we end
it's Christmas Eve, we fast forward ten months. Not a
whole lot has changed, right, other than Violet's working at
the diner. Were to believe that Emily and Sam have
been keeping each other at arm's length.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
For all of this time.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
Yeah, with all of this tension, I get that we
need to be back in the holiday timeline.
Speaker 1 (21:30):
So I'm gonna let it go. But did you catch
the the note about like having to let Violet go
during the slow time of Yes, I did, I did.
That's really it. Let's talk to you to see that. Okay,
we talked about it for a second. But the locker
scene in the high school where Violet's putting her jacket
(21:50):
away chilling. Yes, it's a dark hallway. I don't know.
It just gave me like, oh, I was nervous those
high school feelings again, Like that's doesn't feel safe to
walk around a dark high school.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
No, speaking of high school feelings, when Emily goes to
the high school for the first time, she walks past
a group of girls and they mad dog her.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
I didn't notice, and I just thought, that's why I'm
afraid of teenage girls. Teenage girls are super scary and
we both have fun. Yeah, and I'm not afraid of
our girls, they're nice. No, I'm afraid of their friends
me too. Yeah, what were you going to say about
the high school? When Emily's snooping around the office of
the vice principal, Like, that's my biggest night I have
(22:29):
nightmares about that, like being caught in somebody's house while
I'm like snooping for something. All those things made everything
feel heightened while I was watching this, and that's that's
my own personal baggage that I bring into it. But
I thought it was well done. Yeah, I'm always afraid
they're gone. It caught. Yeah, I have a couple of
quick things.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
How is Emily both running the shop without any additional
employees and coaching the chess team in the afternoon.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
Maybe they close for during crime outnoon shopping hours.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
I don't know and would like to call out. I
talked before about when Sam comes to Emily's house to
thank her for helping Violet. There is an almost kiss
moment there.
Speaker 1 (23:08):
This is so good. It rings on the smoochometer just
for the tension. It's like you could tell that they
have to pull away from each other. Yes, it's so.
It feels unbelievable that they would have kept each other
at Arm's Lane for so many months. Yeah, so small.
They're hiding frous She's only place. Brook is everywhere you go. Yeah.
(23:30):
I had to laugh at one point with the rival
chess teacher. She hired a boyfriend who attack like her competitor.
I was like Tanya Harding, but make it chess right,
it's exactly what I think about Chess. But that's all.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
Well, shall we rate this pair of episodes as if
it were its own self contained movie?
Speaker 1 (23:50):
Okay, we can do that. I can't remember if we
did it on our original run. I think we did.
I could be wrong. Well for me, I mean, it's
up there, I'm gonna say it's five stars, like this
is a this is fantastic, this is a fantastic series.
So the same thing happened to me.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
This is why I think we rate them because I
think I did the same thing last time that I'm
doing this time. In my mind, I'm like, this was
this was great. I have no complaints, minyl quibbles, just
because I want something to talk about. But really, I
thought it was so good. But I did this last
season where I thought, well, I want to give it room,
what if it gets better? So in my mind, I'm like,
(24:26):
it's four stars, but it's also five stars, right, I
hear you. I'm going to give it four stars just
so we have room to groove.
Speaker 1 (24:32):
You give it like an A. That's right, I give
it an A with room for it to be an
A plus. I hear you. I totally I'm on board
with that.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
Thank you for listening to this episode of Girls Gone Hallmark,
a Bramble Jam podcast. If you want to give us
five stars, please do that, drop those ratings and reviews
and we'll be back next time with more Hallmark reviews.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
Goodbye bye. All right friends, before we go, just a
quick heads up, you're about to hear some ads. These
little gems help us keep the show running and the
Hallmark love flowing. So do with that info what you will,
(25:19):
Grab a snack, hit the skip button, or maybe just
maybe listen in and discover your new favorite product. Byetta
(26:12):
Sa
This is a bramble Jam podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Welcome to Girls Gone Hallmark, a Hallmark review podcast. I'm
Megan and I'm a longtime Hallmark fan.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
I'm Wendy. I'm a former Hallmark hater.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Today we're discussing Mistletoe Murders Season two, episodes one in
two Cold War, which originally aired on the Hallmark Channel
on Friday November seventh, twenty twenty five, and is currently
available for.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
Streaming on Hallmark Plus.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Currently available for your viewing pleasure are our social media accounts.
We are Girls Gone Hallmark on Instagram and TikTok.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
Hey. If you guys want more from us Megan and
Wendy and maybe a little less Hallmark, I encourage you
to come visit us on Patreon, Patreon dot com, slash
Megnan Wendy, where we drop four new episodes per month for.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
A what for the bargain basement price five bucks. That's it,
and you get to keep the lights on over here.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Yeah yeah, it's super helpful for us, like behind the scenes,
paying for running the show here. But you know, enjoy
the crash out. Listen to Megan and Wendy meltdown in
real time. We are struggling this season.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
I would also encourage you if you would like to
hear your name on a future episode of Girls Gone Hallmark,
you should email us your thoughts on Mistletoe Murders, on
the movies, on whatever you're watching on Hallmark, Girls Gone
Hallmark at gmail dot com and we may just read
your email in a future mailbag episode.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
Yeah, we got one on the calendar coming up, coming
up soon. We do so get you here thoughts in
I'm dying to hear what people think about Mistletoe Murders
Season two.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
Well, let's kick off our talk of season two of
Mistletoe Murders with a synopsis of episodes one and two.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
Okay, so this is how I'm going to do it,
because the synopsis is different for Part one and part two. Okay,
so part one the episodes are called Cold War Part
one and Part two. Yes, right, okay. Part one. After
a year of avoidance, Emily and Sam reunite to solve
the disappearance of a high school chess coach, triggering echoes
(02:29):
of Emily's past. Violet hopes to attend the Winter Dance
with her crush. Part two, Emily goes undercover at the
school to solve the chess Coach's murder. Tensions rise when
Sam suspects the Violet's date and the Winter Dance turns
into a game of cat and mouse with the killer.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
Ken cooperis the creator and writer of Mistletoe Murders. Has
forty four writing credits to his name, including eighteen episodes
of the hit series Hudson and Rex. Mistletoe Murders was
adapted from an addio podcast series and fun fact. Ken
is the writer on another Audible mysteries series called Middlebridge Mysteries.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
Yeah. I was like, I wonder if he's trying to
sell that to Hallmark too. Bring it on over. I
looked it up. It has it has a good voice
acting cast. Somebody familiar. Oh Eric McCormick. Oh. Eric McCormick
is one of the voices on that podcast series. Melanie
(03:28):
Orr directed both episodes one and two, with thirty one
directing credits. She also helmed the final two episodes of
last season. Her other work includes Children Ruin Everything, Sullivan's Crossing,
The Spencer Sisters, and much more. Sarah Drew plays Emily
Lane outside of Mistletoe. The last time we saw Sarah
on Hallmark was in Branching Out. From twenty twenty four,
(03:50):
she starred in some of our all time favorites like
Guiding Emily and One Summer She Needs to Be More Right. Yeah. Yeah,
I was kind of surprised at that note that we
haven't seen her since Branching out'en busy making these series.
I mean six episodes, it's basically three full movies. Yeah,
I think of it. I get that. I was also
looking at her IMDb. She has a lot of other
(04:12):
work she's doing outside of Hallmark, So go get that bag,
soa true. Peter Mooney plays Sam Wilder. Peter has forty
nine acting credits and has appeared in Hallmark movies such
as Retreat to You and Fly Away with Me.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
Sierra Marilyn Riley plays Sam's daughter, Violet. Mistletoe is her
biggest project to date, though she did appear in the
series Motorheads.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Which I think got canceled. Bummer Gene Yune returns as
diner owner Sue. Gene has ninety acting credits, including attentive
voice work for several animated series. She also voiced the
character of Sue for the Audible series Hey.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
Lara Amersay also returns as Emily's friend June. Lara has
thirty acting credits and will appear in the upcoming We
Met in December, starting Nie Mader and Autumn Racer. Kylie
Evans appears as Brooke. Kylie is probably best known for
her longtime role as Stephanie on Goodwitch. She also voiced
the character of Brooke on the Audible series. David Hewlett
(05:14):
plays Famous Ray. David has one hundred and twelve acting credits,
with previous appearances in Hudson and Rex as well as
Murdoch Mysteries.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
Special guest star Benjamin Airs appears in episodes one and
two with one hundred and seven acting credits. We Last
Saw been in a Christmas Angel Match a few weeks ago.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Quincy Kirkwood appears as young Emily slash Grace. She has
six acting credits, with her other biggest project being Why
the Last Man from twenty twenty one.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
Colton Stewart plays fellow student Kyle. He has thirty two
acting credits and has starred in fifteen episodes of the
series My Life with the Walter Boys. He also voiced
the character of Zach.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
On the Audible series Look At All These Characters who
are doing double duty now. Jamie Thomas King plays the
vice principal with thirty three acting credits. You might recognize
him from shows like Brilliant Minds, Elementary and Call the Midwife.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
Mikey Silkin plays the chess coach, Mister Henley. Mikey is
a fresh face for Hallmark, but has appeared in any
ten of Hallmark adjacent Christmas movies.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Mistletoe Murders was filmed in and around Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Let's take a quick break and we'll come right back
with our first impressions. Hey, Wendy, what is your first
impressions of Mistletoe Murders Season two?
Speaker 1 (06:39):
Cold War? The tension between Emily and Sam could power
the Christmas lights in Fletcher's Grove. I love it.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
My first impression is we're back, baby, and dare I
say better than before? Do you think it's better than
season one? It's as good, if not better?
Speaker 1 (06:54):
Right, and usually you know, like the sophomore slump not here,
not here, no slumping' in Fletcher's growth. Yeah, I almost
think it's a smidge better. I think so too. The
story alone, I thought was better amazing. Let's get into
the likes. Let's get into the likes. Let's get into
the well.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
In my first impression, I was just so glad to
be back in Fletcher's Grove with these characters. As it's
like Bam, Sue Bam, Emily Bam Sam bam Brooke.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
I was like, yes, we're back. Yeah, I was happy too.
I want to reference Kim Cooperis wrote us an email
back in September. Yeah, after we had reviewed season one
during our summer school series. Yes, which is so nice,
like a creator and writer just like randomly emails us.
(07:43):
He listened to our podcast review. I get a little
like nervous when that happens. He wrote a very nice email.
But what he did include in the email that stands
out to me. He said, based on some of your wishes,
I'm very excited for you to see what we get
up to in season two. And I was like, what
were my wishes? And the only thing that I can
(08:04):
keep going back to was I need more background on Emily. Yeah,
and we got it, yes, in these two episodes, and
I freaking love it. I do think that's my biggest
wish too, that we start to peel back.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
Some of these layers. And I just loved the emily backstory,
she's Grace, she's in boarding school. We see the origins
of the alter ego Chimera. But then then that begs
more questions, right because when they reveal that to be
her hacker name, her coding name, yeah, I was like,
(08:41):
wait a minute, Emily is not Kimera. So did you
jump to the conclusion that her boarding school buddy.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
Let me explain my thought process here. Yes, So we
get to the very end of episode two, and that's
when we learn that she's made up this name Chimera, right, yes,
both these episodes twice, okay, And I couldn't help but think.
I was like, is she is she the builder of
this monster? Like? Was this her project? And somehow like
(09:16):
whatever Kaymera is in terms like whatever it morphs into,
did somebody run with that? Yeah, because clearly she's the
original creator of it in some form, and now there's
someone else behind it, right, I do agree it is
probably that boy that she befriends and who she's involved
(09:37):
with obviously in high school. Like they're showing too much
of him, like to not let this play out. And
even at the very end of the episode where she's
in her voice over she's talking about she's never escaped
her past, and to me, I'm like, we're gonna see
the teenage boy is going to be like the villain
(10:00):
I believe in current day. I'm very curious. I'm very curious.
I just want to I just want it all right now.
And you know, I feel so bad. I don't I
can't remember the name of that character, and I don't
we didn't have him listed in our His name is Aaron. Aaron. Well,
let's let's let's talk more about what we liked in
this episode.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
Okay, Look, I was so happy to see Ray Aka
I can't help but call him Jonesy because that's what
you call him, cruising down the halls of the high
school as a sponsor of the chess team. And then
you and I talked about this great tie in with Sam.
We talked about this off mic Sam goes to him
for some off book investigation. Yeah, and I love that
(10:38):
they present it as like everybody kind of knows that
Ray plays on the edges of.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
The law, right, and that line at the end.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
Where Ray's like, let's talk compensation and Sam's like, how
about I just not arrest you.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
Great. I'm worried though. Is Sam trying to get information
from Ray about Emily? Well, those codes that he takes
were from Emily's home.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
Oh, he picks up the paper. So she drops a paper.
At one point it slides under her couch. We see
that happen. Then when Sam comes over, he notices it,
picks it up, and she says, oh, those are just
some codes.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
I have for the store.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
But he had secretively taken a photo of it now,
which he then takes to Ray. So, yes, he is
trying to get information.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
Well, that makes me worried. Ray, you cannot sell out
our girl Emily, right, But he doesn't know. I know,
I know. It makes me nervous. It makes me nervous
because Emily trusts very few. She trusts Ray. I mean,
obviously Ray doesn't know. I don't believe Ray know is
like the extent of Emily's background. She says, Game recognizes Game,
(11:52):
he knows that there's more to her than meets the eye.
But I don't think anybody in this town knows a
lot about Emily, including Ray's just gonna like walk right
into this and like not realize he's handed Sam the
keys to Emily's identity.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
Mmm.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
I gotta tell you. I love that we learn Emily
has these chess skills. Hmmm, because I like the symbolism here.
You know, she's playing chess when everybody else is playing checkers.
It just it lends a lot to how smart she is. Yeah,
And I don't know if we've I mean, obviously last season,
(12:30):
like we realized like she's smart, she's good at like
solving keyses and like whatever. But now we learn like
she's a coder, Like she's got she's this computer whiz,
and she's got an analytical brain and peeling back the
layer it makes her dangerous, makes her super dangerous. How
happy were you to see Benjamin Ayer's in the cast
(12:50):
this episode? Oh my gosh, let me tell you. When
his name came up on the screen as special guest Star,
I was like what what? I was so excited. Yeah,
I was so excited. I was a little bit worried
because I assumed he was gonna be in the bad
guy and I was like, I don't want him to
be the bad guy. Huh. I like the twists at
the end, I mean, he's still did like something bad
(13:13):
that there were consequences for it, but because it was
not the murderer.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
No, I wrote, I am glad he was mildly bad
and not murderously bad.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
Yeah, yeah, but good job. Like that feels like Hallmark
Mystery one on one that like they misdirections.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
Yes, yeah, that's scene at the end at the dance
when Violet goes to her locker and it's like multiple cuts,
so we see her get the note, then we cut
back to feet and then we cut to the vice
principal and then we cut to Benjamin Yerrs as the custodian.
That's great right there, Yeah, because you're like, who is it,
what's gonna happen, Where's she gonna go? Where's Violet?
Speaker 1 (13:48):
Who's gonna get her? Great?
Speaker 2 (13:50):
Perhaps the standout of these two episodes for me is
the Emily and Sam relationship. The tension is so good.
I feel like they're the pull and the poll. Yeah,
they're giving us just enough to keep us fully invested
in the relationship. Sam when he comes to her house
and basically says, I'm having a hard time with.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
This, it's so good. Their relationship is complicated, and I
like that it's complicated, and we see like play out
in these two episodes where in my opinion is like
he needs her mm hmmm, and he like realizes he
needs her. He gets to another full realization obviously when
(14:32):
he says to her at the end that Violet can
work at the shop, like he realizes like she will
protect Violet. But then back and forth of he wants
to protect his daughter. He's fearful of Emily. He doesn't
know who she is, he has a file on her,
but he's still very much flirty with her.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
Yes, and she with him, And it seems like he
really wants to believe that she's not the bad guy here,
but that she has the potential of bringing danger which
would then affect people around her.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
Right, what I need from him? Like I in my opinion,
I was like, oh, he just sees her as the
bad guy, but he also needs to respect her boundaries
of I don't want to talk about my past, like
it is not for you to know, and he needs
to accept that. I would not be able to accept
(15:27):
that knowing that there's information out there. She has no
identity as Emily Lane. She doesn't exist as Emily Lane.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
So that would be so hard for me as Sam
to say like, Okay, I'm just gonna let it go.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
You couldn't, of course not now I know he'sn't rock
in a hard place. What else did you like? More
on Emily and Sam. I love their bicker. I love
their banter. They vibe totally. It's fun to watch. At
one point, she says to him, you're keeping tabs on me,
and I was like, oh, I love this like so much.
I love like she him out on it. There was
(16:02):
also a scene where she goes to him. They're talking
about like the chess teacher and blah blah blah blah blah,
and like she gets giddy almost that he lets her
like he opens the door for her to like help
solve the case. Yeah. I love all that. I just
love it, you know who. I also love Violet remains
(16:22):
an MVP for me. I am so happy that we
have a well rounded, realistic teenage character who has her
own stories. Yeah. Notice though, remember last year big part
of the season was like her mom being in a
different like city.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
And he's not the source of conflict. Yeah, yeah, she's
going to grow up and leave now.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
Yeah, And I love it And I love that Emily.
I was thinking about this. I was like, is Emily
a mother figure to her? No, I feel like she's
more of like a big sister confidant instead. I love
this relationship. Yes, Sam says, you have been there in
ways that I could not. Yeah, love it. You know what?
I also really liked. I thought the costume mean in
(17:08):
this episode was really good. Emily wears a tan polka
dot blouse that I just loved so very much personally
for me. But I also really loved Violet's dress for
the damn oh, I loved her dress. I loved it.
I showed it to my own seventeen year old who
like scoffed at it because like she would never that's
not the vibe. That ball gown look isn't really the vibe. No,
(17:32):
it's more of like an idealistic of what you would think.
But I loved it. I thought it was so cute,
and these little flats that she was wearing, I just
I thought it was And the whole like slow dance
with the boy in the parking lot of the police
station when it's snowing, I just those are the kinds
of things that you think high school's going to be
(17:54):
like and then it's not, but like romanticizes it. I
loved it so much. We didn't talk a whole lot,
but I did enjoy the missing teacher mystery here m.
I thought it was a good hook, and I thought
it was suspenseful, suspenseful, but wolf like the dude was
(18:15):
buried under submit at school was dark. I agree, you know.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
I was thinking this town, as does every one of
these mystery based series, they just solve every problem with murder,
but the murder was actually kind of an accident.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
Yes, you're right, You're right in this case. The murder
I've had completely forgotten that a hook to the back
of the head kind of grewesome totally. I was like
when they showed that. But I do agree with you
that they did develop the mystery really well. I liked
I thought they were pointing at some very you know,
the other coach, the other.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
Coach, the custodians, simply because he kind of exists in
the shadows and is always around. Then you've got the
vice principal with his son. I liked the motivation that
the vice princip was trying to cover for him, trying
to take the wrap for his son.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
I have one like super random thing. HM. Sue's Diner
is to me, Luke's diner from Gilmore girls. I love
that this is the only place in town, like you
have breakfast here an also happy hour.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
Yeah, when Emily and June go out and they're just
in Sue's diner, yeah, but in a glass of wine.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
I thought, well that's kind of nice. I know. I
was like, I want to I want to go to
Fletter's Grove, Like, I can they make this as like
a visit like a fan fan What is that called,
like a fan activation? Yeah, that's the word pop up.
I think that would be so fun if they had
like Emily's store and Sue's diner and the police station,
(19:42):
a police station, I don't know, Famous Raise, Electronic warehouse,
whatever he has. Anyway, My final like is I just
liked the end that we Violet gets. Violet gets her
normal feedback, like everything that she wants. She wants to
work back at the store. Obviously, Sam sees that Emily
saves the day and maybe all is right in the
(20:06):
world of Fletcher's Grove. I doubt it's going temporarily though,
but I'm here for it. Well, what did you wish for?
I didn't love the twists of the vice principal and
his kid. Oh a little bit messy. Kind of made
me like think that it was a little bit unbelievable.
This vice principle is so mad that he threatens the
(20:29):
teacher because his son might not get into college or whatever.
I'm like, hold your children accountable for doing bad things.
I guess it's kind of believable. I guess then saying
it out loud, that parents today want to blame somebody
else in their own children. Indy, you know the other thing.
And I told you, and we just talked about it
(20:50):
a little bit. I needed Sam to trust Emily's instincts,
but I see where he can't. That's all. I have
very few wishes. I thought it was a really really
good two episode start to the series.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
Yeah for me, really, it's the timeline jump is a
little bit confusing is the wrong word. But we end
it's Christmas Eve, we fast forward ten months. Not a
whole lot has changed, right, other than Violet's working at
the diner. Were to believe that Emily and Sam have
been keeping each other at arm's length.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
For all of this time.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
Yeah, with all of this tension, I get that we
need to be back in the holiday timeline.
Speaker 1 (21:30):
So I'm gonna let it go. But did you catch
the the note about like having to let Violet go
during the slow time of Yes, I did, I did.
That's really it. Let's talk to you to see that. Okay,
we talked about it for a second. But the locker
scene in the high school where Violet's putting her jacket
(21:50):
away chilling. Yes, it's a dark hallway. I don't know.
It just gave me like, oh, I was nervous those
high school feelings again, Like that's doesn't feel safe to
walk around a dark high school.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
No, speaking of high school feelings, when Emily goes to
the high school for the first time, she walks past
a group of girls and they mad dog her.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
I didn't notice, and I just thought, that's why I'm
afraid of teenage girls. Teenage girls are super scary and
we both have fun. Yeah, and I'm not afraid of
our girls, they're nice. No, I'm afraid of their friends
me too. Yeah, what were you going to say about
the high school? When Emily's snooping around the office of
the vice principal, Like, that's my biggest night I have
(22:29):
nightmares about that, like being caught in somebody's house while
I'm like snooping for something. All those things made everything
feel heightened while I was watching this, and that's that's
my own personal baggage that I bring into it. But
I thought it was well done. Yeah, I'm always afraid
they're gone. It caught. Yeah, I have a couple of
quick things.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
How is Emily both running the shop without any additional
employees and coaching the chess team in the afternoon.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
Maybe they close for during crime outnoon shopping hours.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
I don't know and would like to call out. I
talked before about when Sam comes to Emily's house to
thank her for helping Violet. There is an almost kiss
moment there.
Speaker 1 (23:08):
This is so good. It rings on the smoochometer just
for the tension. It's like you could tell that they
have to pull away from each other. Yes, it's so.
It feels unbelievable that they would have kept each other
at Arm's Lane for so many months. Yeah, so small.
They're hiding frous She's only place. Brook is everywhere you go. Yeah.
(23:30):
I had to laugh at one point with the rival
chess teacher. She hired a boyfriend who attack like her competitor.
I was like Tanya Harding, but make it chess right,
it's exactly what I think about Chess. But that's all.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
Well, shall we rate this pair of episodes as if
it were its own self contained movie?
Speaker 1 (23:50):
Okay, we can do that. I can't remember if we
did it on our original run. I think we did.
I could be wrong. Well for me, I mean, it's
up there, I'm gonna say it's five stars, like this
is a this is fantastic, this is a fantastic series.
So the same thing happened to me.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
This is why I think we rate them because I
think I did the same thing last time that I'm
doing this time. In my mind, I'm like, this was
this was great. I have no complaints, minyl quibbles, just
because I want something to talk about. But really, I
thought it was so good. But I did this last
season where I thought, well, I want to give it room,
what if it gets better? So in my mind, I'm like,
(24:26):
it's four stars, but it's also five stars, right, I
hear you. I'm going to give it four stars just
so we have room to groove.
Speaker 1 (24:32):
You give it like an A. That's right, I give
it an A with room for it to be an
A plus. I hear you. I totally I'm on board
with that.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
Thank you for listening to this episode of Girls Gone Hallmark,
a Bramble Jam podcast. If you want to give us
five stars, please do that, drop those ratings and reviews
and we'll be back next time with more Hallmark reviews.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
Goodbye bye. All right friends, before we go, just a
quick heads up, you're about to hear some ads. These
little gems help us keep the show running and the
Hallmark love flowing. So do with that info what you will,
(25:19):
Grab a snack, hit the skip button, or maybe just
maybe listen in and discover your new favorite product. Byetta
(26:12):
Sa
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