BONUS: Finding Mr. Christmas: Episode 6 Reactions! (Feat. Alonso Duralde & Dave White)

[00:00:05] Hello everyone, it's Alonso Duralde and Dave White. Welcome to Deck The Hallmark's coverage of Finding Mr. Christmas. This is episode 6. Anyway, it's the Rachel Boston one. So we're down to the final four.

[00:00:23] Jonathan, no, five. Jonathan, Elijah, Hayden, Blake, Ezra.

[00:00:30] Yes, they're all number one in our hearts. So, for the, for the, the, the festive, the whatever, the crafty, you know that first part. They had a trivia competition. Here we go, Alonso.

[00:00:50] "'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a...'

[00:00:56] The moose.

[00:00:58] That's right.

[00:00:59] You win.

[00:01:00] Okay, next question.

[00:01:01] Not all the questions were idiotic.

[00:01:03] In what country did the Christmas tree originate?

[00:01:07] That, for example, not a renisterio nose.

[00:01:09] Can you guess?

[00:01:11] I knew that it was Germany.

[00:01:15] Because I listened to the Christmas past podcast.

[00:01:18] Who wrote the Hanukkah song?

[00:01:21] Don't look at my notes.

[00:01:22] Stop looking.

[00:01:23] I watched the episode.

[00:01:24] I knew the answers.

[00:01:25] You forgot, though.

[00:01:26] They watched the episode, too.

[00:01:27] We don't have to go to the episode.

[00:01:27] You forgot.

[00:01:28] You don't know that they watched the episode.

[00:01:30] This is true.

[00:01:30] Maybe they're just relying on us to watch it for them.

[00:01:34] Heaven help you all.

[00:01:36] Adam Sandler wrote the Hanukkah song.

[00:01:38] Who is Mariah Carey?

[00:01:39] Mariah Carey is Mariah Carey.

[00:01:41] What is an eggnog?

[00:01:45] Where is Frosty the Snowman's nose?

[00:01:49] Well, okay, that one, that's kind of a trick question.

[00:01:52] I think as people...

[00:01:53] Too late.

[00:01:54] Happy Christmas or Merry Christmas?

[00:01:58] Stop it.

[00:01:59] When are chestnuts?

[00:02:03] What is the other name for poinsettia, according to Jonathan?

[00:02:09] Poor Jonathan.

[00:02:10] Here's the thing.

[00:02:11] Oh, no.

[00:02:11] Not poor Jonathan.

[00:02:12] No.

[00:02:12] Okay.

[00:02:13] No, sorry.

[00:02:13] I was saying, sorry.

[00:02:14] Poor Hayden, I was going to say.

[00:02:15] Poor Hayden, because Christmas traditions are very sort of nationally specific.

[00:02:20] And, you know, he's from Australia.

[00:02:24] Yes.

[00:02:25] And he's not entirely sure what's going on with this stuff.

[00:02:28] So, what does he know from a poinsettia?

[00:02:30] It's one million degrees in Australia on Christmas.

[00:02:33] Exactly.

[00:02:33] They're all wearing shorts and surfing.

[00:02:36] Yeah, yeah.

[00:02:38] Okay, where were you going with this?

[00:02:39] No, that wasn't just...

[00:02:40] Oh, that was it.

[00:02:41] Why would he know what a poinsettia is?

[00:02:43] You know?

[00:02:44] I'm sure there's a lot of Australian traditions that we don't know about.

[00:02:46] Here's my favorite part of the trivia challenge.

[00:02:49] What's that?

[00:02:50] It was conducted by, and I've already forgotten her name.

[00:02:54] Oh, right.

[00:02:55] From EW.

[00:02:56] The woman who used to do the American Idol videos at Entertainment Weekly.

[00:03:01] Yes.

[00:03:02] Which means she is still employed by Entertainment Weekly like 20 years down the road, having survived

[00:03:09] every kind of cut.

[00:03:12] I defy any of the contestants on this show to last that long.

[00:03:16] Yeah, at any job.

[00:03:17] At any job.

[00:03:18] Especially in the media right now.

[00:03:20] Are you kidding me?

[00:03:21] She's the last person standing at Entertainment Weekly.

[00:03:24] Everybody we ever knew at EW got led to ages ago.

[00:03:27] I was thrilled to see her back.

[00:03:29] So, yeah, she's a survivor.

[00:03:31] Unfortunately, I have forgotten her name.

[00:03:32] She's not going to give up.

[00:03:33] Okay, so then there was the Star Quality Challenge.

[00:03:37] And who won the trivia challenge?

[00:03:39] Elijah.

[00:03:40] Elijah won the trivia challenge.

[00:03:42] So, he got to pick the order they went in.

[00:03:45] For the Star Quality Challenge.

[00:03:46] The Star Quality Challenge, but he made himself go first.

[00:03:48] Correct.

[00:03:49] Because whatever.

[00:03:50] But he also got a little extra me time with Ali Larder.

[00:03:54] Not Ali Larder.

[00:03:55] Ali Liebert.

[00:03:56] Sorry.

[00:03:57] Ali Liebert.

[00:03:58] Ali Liebert was in Final Destination.

[00:04:01] Obsessed.

[00:04:02] Also that.

[00:04:03] The best Beyonce.

[00:04:04] The best Beyonce.

[00:04:05] It's true.

[00:04:06] Yeah.

[00:04:06] Okay.

[00:04:06] Sorry, dream girls.

[00:04:08] Yeah.

[00:04:10] Ali Liebert, who is a well-known Hallmark actress and director.

[00:04:14] Who, by the way, why did her character not come back for the Three Wiser Men and a Boy movie?

[00:04:20] I ask you.

[00:04:21] The other two romantic interests did.

[00:04:23] Maybe scheduling conflicts.

[00:04:24] Maybe.

[00:04:24] Maybe she's very busy as a director.

[00:04:27] Could be.

[00:04:27] You don't know.

[00:04:28] I feel like they did her wrong.

[00:04:29] You don't know what's happening.

[00:04:30] I don't.

[00:04:31] You can only conjecture.

[00:04:32] It's true.

[00:04:33] I do know that she directed all of the Star Quality Challenges where the guys had a kiss-off scene with Rachel Boston.

[00:04:44] Yeah.

[00:04:45] And they all had to say the word snickerdoodle, so that was fun.

[00:04:47] That was good.

[00:04:48] My favorite moment was when Jonathan Bennett, in that whole thing, my favorite moment was like, you guys go rehearse.

[00:04:54] We're going to go prank call Lacey Chimere.

[00:04:57] That was funny.

[00:04:57] And my first thought was, make it Candace Cameron Bure, and then you'll be on a something.

[00:05:02] Oh, you think he's got her number?

[00:05:05] I think he could find it.

[00:05:06] Maybe.

[00:05:07] I bet he used to have her number.

[00:05:09] Maybe she changed her number.

[00:05:10] Maybe.

[00:05:11] She changed a lot.

[00:05:12] Wouldn't the prank call to her be better?

[00:05:14] Well, ideally, yes.

[00:05:15] It would be better.

[00:05:16] It would be like the guys on Mad Men prank calling Peggy about the apartment.

[00:05:20] Right.

[00:05:21] But he's got Lacey in her phone.

[00:05:23] In his phone.

[00:05:23] You know how it is.

[00:05:25] So, yeah.

[00:05:25] So, they all do this scene in front of a fire pit, and everybody wants to cry,

[00:05:31] but nobody actually does cry.

[00:05:32] Uh-uh.

[00:05:33] Untrue.

[00:05:34] Falsehoods.

[00:05:34] You're spreading.

[00:05:35] Who cries?

[00:05:36] Who cries?

[00:05:36] Here's the deal.

[00:05:37] Ezra cries after.

[00:05:38] No.

[00:05:39] Ezra got all wet-eyed and choked up and was giving it exactly, I think, what it needed.

[00:05:46] Mm-hmm.

[00:05:47] Because he was tapping in.

[00:05:48] This is actually quite serious.

[00:05:50] He was tapping into the feelings of grief for his dead sister.

[00:05:54] Yes.

[00:05:55] And.

[00:05:55] Which, after a season of hearing about Hayden's dog, that's like a genuine moment.

[00:05:59] And yet, people get very upset about their pets.

[00:06:03] I understand.

[00:06:03] Yeah.

[00:06:04] Just because we don't have pets.

[00:06:05] They bring it up a lot.

[00:06:06] They do.

[00:06:07] He gave a squeaky toy.

[00:06:08] That's not his fault.

[00:06:09] That's editing.

[00:06:09] He gave a squeaky toy to Rachel Boston.

[00:06:11] That's editing.

[00:06:12] He gave a squeaky toy to Rachel Boston.

[00:06:14] And that was, you know.

[00:06:16] Whatever it takes, actors.

[00:06:18] Poignant, I guess.

[00:06:18] Do what you need to do.

[00:06:19] So, anyway, and a good director will tell you in a heartbreaking moment, almost cry without actually going there.

[00:06:26] Right.

[00:06:26] Which is what Ezra did, I think, actually, based on what we saw.

[00:06:31] See, because what we see and what we're told are kind of like two different things.

[00:06:35] Because they're like, oh, Hayden did the best job.

[00:06:37] And I'm like, I thought Ezra did the best job.

[00:06:39] But that's not.

[00:06:41] Yeah.

[00:06:41] Apparently, it's not for me to judge.

[00:06:43] It's all in, how many cutaways to Jonathan and Melissa Peterman do they have of them looking impressed at the monitor?

[00:06:50] Right.

[00:06:50] That's what the show is telling us, even though we don't really get to objectively figure out ourselves.

[00:06:55] I missed that.

[00:06:55] I did not miss, however, Jonathan forgetting his lines.

[00:07:01] It's not Jonathan Bennett.

[00:07:02] Contestant Jonathan.

[00:07:03] Yes.

[00:07:04] Jonathan gets his lines, which are basically like Merry Christmas.

[00:07:08] And then.

[00:07:09] Well, there's more to it than that, Dave.

[00:07:10] Blake sort of like kind of fumbling and stumbling all the way through.

[00:07:15] Yeah.

[00:07:15] And then not getting sent home.

[00:07:19] Nope.

[00:07:22] Jonathan tossed his cookies.

[00:07:24] Blake.

[00:07:24] Literally.

[00:07:25] Blake, bless his heart.

[00:07:26] I don't think he's an actor.

[00:07:28] And so I.

[00:07:29] But technically, none of them are except for Elijah.

[00:07:33] That is also true.

[00:07:35] Hayden, however, pulls out the stops, kicks out the jams.

[00:07:40] He did.

[00:07:40] That gives us an American accent.

[00:07:43] Kind of Canadian.

[00:07:44] A little Canadian.

[00:07:45] But you know what?

[00:07:45] He's trying to be a Hallmark actor, so that's not a bad move.

[00:07:48] Right.

[00:07:49] For his efforts, the director, Ali.

[00:07:52] Vivert.

[00:07:53] Said that he made brave choices.

[00:07:56] And I'll tell you, I know what that means.

[00:08:00] I know what brave choices means.

[00:08:03] Not necessarily a compliment.

[00:08:04] Yeah, that is polite actor speak for woo.

[00:08:08] That was a decision.

[00:08:10] The American accent, though, not terrible.

[00:08:12] No, no.

[00:08:13] It was like, okay, it's an American accent if you live in northernmost Minnesota.

[00:08:19] Sure.

[00:08:20] You know what I mean?

[00:08:20] It's kind of like Ewan McGregor has done worse.

[00:08:24] Oh, yeah.

[00:08:25] He totally has.

[00:08:27] You know who hasn't done worse, though?

[00:08:29] Lady Mary.

[00:08:31] Oh, yeah, no.

[00:08:32] She can knock it out.

[00:08:33] She can do all kinds of American regional accents.

[00:08:36] It's crazy.

[00:08:38] American accents for Australians is like a superpower that they all seem to have.

[00:08:42] Like, even not actors.

[00:08:44] True.

[00:08:44] People who live in Australia can just do American accents.

[00:08:47] Yeah, like, I mean, Rachel Griffiths on 60 Under.

[00:08:50] You forget she's Australian.

[00:08:51] Yeah.

[00:08:52] You forget Rachel Griffiths is Australian.

[00:08:54] You forget Toni Collette is Australian.

[00:08:56] You forget Anthony LaPaglia.

[00:08:58] Anthony LaPaglia.

[00:08:59] You never think about him being Australian.

[00:09:00] Yes, you always forget that he's Australian.

[00:09:02] All these Australian actors.

[00:09:04] I don't even talk about, like, Mel Gibson, who's lived here so long.

[00:09:07] Sure.

[00:09:08] His accent is gone.

[00:09:11] But, yeah, those folks, what is it that they have?

[00:09:15] What secret do they possess that they can do these American accents?

[00:09:19] Because we sit around and try to do Australian accents all the time.

[00:09:22] And we fail all the time.

[00:09:24] We fail consistently.

[00:09:25] Yeah.

[00:09:26] In a way that would make Australians upset at us.

[00:09:28] Yeah, no.

[00:09:29] Australian listeners still in Oli and I for like, please stop.

[00:09:33] My ears are bleeding.

[00:09:35] But, you know, I listen to Christmas Potting,

[00:09:37] and then I just have that voice in my ears for a while.

[00:09:40] Yeah.

[00:09:40] Now, my favorite part of the breakup scene was the fact that instead of,

[00:09:48] I wish that somebody had just gone off book.

[00:09:51] I wish somebody had just.

[00:09:52] No, improv was last week.

[00:09:54] Instead of saying.

[00:09:54] Yeah, but they could.

[00:09:55] Listen.

[00:09:56] You could still go and really impress the judges.

[00:10:02] Obviously, the man in the scene was meant to be, you know,

[00:10:08] connected to the bad real estate development.

[00:10:11] Right.

[00:10:11] And he was like, oh, but we're in love and we're dating.

[00:10:14] She's like, not anymore.

[00:10:16] We're not.

[00:10:16] And so I think what would have been funny in that line after she said,

[00:10:20] in that moment after she said, not anymore,

[00:10:22] he would have said, fine then.

[00:10:23] We bought that place out from under you.

[00:10:25] Ha ha.

[00:10:26] Ha ha.

[00:10:27] Good luck with your eviction and a happy new year.

[00:10:30] Yeah.

[00:10:30] In jail.

[00:10:31] Do you know why people don't go off book in Hallmark movies?

[00:10:35] They have 15 days to shoot the whole thing.

[00:10:38] That's why.

[00:10:39] Okay.

[00:10:40] Anyway, goodbye, Jonathan.

[00:10:42] You're done.

[00:10:43] Yes.

[00:10:43] We are left with Elijah, Hayden, Blake, and Ezra.

[00:10:46] I am going to guess that next week, if it were me, I'd be like,

[00:10:51] I'm sorry, Blake, Wrangler jeans or no Wrangler jeans?

[00:10:55] Ha ha.

[00:10:56] Yeah.

[00:10:58] He's, I don't think he's long for this.

[00:11:00] Elijah wins this whole thing.

[00:11:03] I don't know how we avoid that.

[00:11:04] Elijah wins this whole thing.

[00:11:06] It seems, that seems inevitable.

[00:11:07] Like he's coming into this with such chops.

[00:11:10] Yeah.

[00:11:10] But, you know, anything can happen.

[00:11:12] The Happy Holidays poster came out and they put with two doggies on it.

[00:11:16] Doggies.

[00:11:16] Because Hallmark is keeping it on the hush.

[00:11:18] Yeah.

[00:11:18] Who wins Finding Mr. Christmas?

[00:11:20] Doggies.

[00:11:21] So, we don't even know how many episodes are left.

[00:11:22] Two, I guess?

[00:11:24] Like, I assume there's going to be.

[00:11:25] Two, three.

[00:11:25] Next week.

[00:11:26] And then there's a final three.

[00:11:28] But.

[00:11:28] We don't know what's happening.

[00:11:29] We don't know.

[00:11:30] Yeah.

[00:11:31] But, oh, did you guys watch Bake Off?

[00:11:33] That was, that was a finale.

[00:11:34] This show is like Bake Off if nothing happened.

[00:11:38] Ha ha ha.

[00:11:38] Ha ha ha.

[00:11:41] So, so is Jonathan Paul Hollywood and Melissa is Prue?

[00:11:47] Yes.

[00:11:49] That could work.

[00:11:50] Yes.

[00:11:50] All right.

[00:11:50] Anyway, whatever happens, we'll be back next week with more.

[00:11:53] Thanks for watching and Merry Christmas.

[00:11:55] Sure.

[00:12:03] You're about to hear some ads that help keep the lights on here in the old studio.

[00:12:08] Thanks for listening or don't listen.

[00:12:11] It's really up to you at this point.

[00:12:13] It's at the end of the show.

[00:12:14] I mean, you're listening to me.

[00:12:16] Hi.

[00:12:17] But here they come.

[00:12:18] I promise they're coming.

[00:12:19] Yep.

[00:12:19] Here they are.

[00:12:20] Happy day.