Mistletoe Murders: Peril of the Belles (Hallmark+ - 2024) ft. Alonso Duralde

[00:00:00] Hi, I'm Brian and I love Hallmark plus Chris, what did we call it? Chris Mysteries. I'm Dan and I despise Hallmark plus Chris Mysteries. I'm Alonso and LA is having a week, let me tell you. And this is the Deck The Hallmark Podcast. Deck The Hallmark, it's this podcast. Friends host this podcast. We hope you like this jolly podcast. Oh boy. Hello everybody.

[00:00:37] Happy, Merry Christmas to you. Alonso, it is great to see you and I will just say, you know, typically we do this thing where we act like we came in early on Monday. On Monday. We're not going to do it. We're not going to do it because, you know, there's a whole situation going on in Los Angeles. Alonso, you are obviously safe because you're with us, but you did have to checker pattern. That's right. Yes. Yes. But you did evacuate. And so I'm not going to do this thing on Monday where I'm like, everything's great because I don't know what I'm going to do.

[00:01:07] I don't know what's going to happen in the next day. It is an unfolding situation. Absolutely. But it is great to see you and a pros pro who in the midst of crisis has all his podcast gear, which is great. I know what my priorities are, you know, so it's like, did we, did we get, you know, do I have my passport? Yes. That I bring my little camera thing so I could talk to you guys. Yes. Also, Alonso's go bag includes a microphone and a ring light.

[00:01:35] That's right. Ready to go. I, uh, Alonso, it should speak volumes to how much people love you that we were people reached out, not just in the double decker community, just random people that listen to the show reached out on Facebook messenger and Instagram messenger to ask and to confirm that you were safe. Several people in Canada were like, is Alonso safe? Like we have to protect Alonso at all costs. We couldn't agree more. So there you go.

[00:02:01] Thank you. Everybody who has reached out. I got a lot of messages myself. Jack's, uh, texted me from Africa. So, you know, wow. Yeah. Well, we're going to get an inch of snow. So same. Everybody is just as dire here. No one is even checked. If the ice comes, I'm just telling you, if, if the power goes out again, you may hear everyone scream in the streets. Yeah. Yeah. If we, if we get any, if we get any, if we get any ice, forget about my wife who like my parents live up here in a

[00:02:31] 1700 square foot house. And my wife looked at me and she goes, Daniel, if the power goes out, we're taking the dogs, we're taking the kids and we're going to your parents' house. I can't do it again. And I was like, I don't know if I'm with you. Yeah. I'm sure your listeners in Michigan are like rolling their eyes at this, but no, in the South ice is a very, very big deal. If we get four inches of snow and a half inch ice, we are in some big trouble. We'll see tomorrow at this time.

[00:02:57] So that's right. Atlanta, your, your old neck of the woods is in the snow ice area as well. So it could be an interesting weekend here. Get out of the way now before the deckies. That's exactly right. Because you have one chance to see Alonzo Duraldi in formal wear and it happens in a week and a half. Alonzo, have you given it any thought as to what or who you are wearing, if you will? And I don't want you to give it away, but I want to know if you've given it thought.

[00:03:25] Let's just say that, you know, it turns out the LA film critics had to postpone their awards dinner, right? Getting ready for that. Dave and I were sort of like digging through the closet and realizing, oh, we haven't worn a tie since before the pandemic. So it's been a thing of just sort of like rooting through and figuring out what still fits, what still works.

[00:03:46] And so it will be something hopefully memorable, but, but yeah, it will, it will be my, my first outing even trying, you know, to look, you know, like dressy in a good long while. Well, if, if you can't find anything, we could always, when you get here, we could do a vlog of us going out and picking out tuxes, do a montage. Yeah. We'll do the whole makeover sequence that you see in all the movies. It'll be a whole thing. Don't tease me with a good talk.

[00:04:15] Did you hear about the scandal that we ever came here at the office? I heard there were some voting shenanigans. Yeah. The insurrection that we conquered here. Yeah. It was unbelievable. We stopped the steal. Mayor Daley's numbers were like more than the population of Chicago, apparently. Listen, the first week of January is always tough. And we have figured it out and, but we are working on the investigative series about it. Yeah. Where we're doing all the interviews. We stopped the steal, but we've got more to do. We've got more. So I got more to share.

[00:04:43] I do want to say real quick, I do very much appreciate the concern from all over the place that we were okay. But I think that people don't quite understand like how large Southern California is because a lot of times the worst stuff that you see on TV is happening so far from us. Like we barely register that it's happening.

[00:05:05] This one, however, when the fire broke out in Runyon Canyon, which is pretty close to our house, that was when we were like, you know, maybe that whole evacuation thing we talked about earlier, let's do that. Yeah. Yeah. Because normally it doesn't affect you guys, but that, that is. Yeah. It's usually like way off, like on the coast in the coastal communities or way off somewhere else. But this is, this is massive and it got into a lot of different parts of town. And I, and I do know like our, our friend of the show, Cameron Matheson, unfortunately lost his house.

[00:05:33] He's the only one that I know that has had that happen. But, um, it's tough. It's, it's crazy to see like just from afar watching the news. It's, it's, it's like, I can't even really comprehend it. It's just, it's wild. Even for a city that is this old Testament for the, you know, fires and floods and mudslides and earthquakes. Volcanoes with Tommy Lee Jones. Yes. Yeah. Whatever. Yeah. Exactly. When, when the La Brea tarpits explode, this is like next level even for Los Angeles. So we're going to be dealing with this for a while.

[00:06:03] That geographical thing is a lot like how people think that if you live in South Carolina, you live at, like, if you're not near us, like people in Canada are like, oh, I heard something about the Carolinas. And they just think it's all. Yeah. It's the Carolinas. You know, I heard about something that happened, you know, in Raleigh. Something happened in Kentucky. That's right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. We have Eps 3 and 4. Yeah, we do. Known as Peril of the Bells. Fantastic.

[00:06:31] And they bring that song in at the end. So kudos to them. Fantastic. Yeah. Those episodes dropped on the Hallmark Plus, which, again, you can add now to your Philo account. Watch us. Philo Deep Dive is back. You can get Hallmark Plus. Lots of reasons to have the Philo. Some people think that this time the Philo with the Hallmark is just for the holiday season. It's no sir, no matter. No sirree. It is all year, all fun. You're going to watch those Irish movies.

[00:07:01] That's exactly it. You get it. You get it. Stop selling. November 14th and 21st is when these episodes dropped, and it went a little something like this. The episode kicks off back in the shop, and Christmas is in full swing now on the date. I don't know when it is, but Christmas tree lighting is coming up, so you do the math. Emily hears some Christmas carolers, and she gets pretty excited about this. She's always dreamt of being a choir.

[00:07:32] Yes. And so she goes out, and she's just kind of enjoying herself, kind of. The lead singer, Debbie, who's doing a solo, she's making some choices, you might say. Then suddenly a giant sleigh falls on her, and we're like, oh my gosh, she got pancaked to death. She's gonzo. She's not. She is not dead. It actually fell in the perfect way for her to not be injured at all.

[00:08:01] So, it's dope. Cut to Emily waking up once again from a crazy dream about her past life. She grabs some coffee, opens up a briefcase, and she looks at a picture of what we assume is her family from a past life. She grabs a USB drive that's going to shield her identity while she does some searching on the computer. She's trying to track down someone known as Chimera.

[00:08:31] Chimera. Chimera. Yeah, and that's the person that is responsible for the thing with the explosion. They are responsible for the thing. No, no, no. Back at the store, Emily is greeted by Brooke Carmichael, who is part of the choir, also known as the Bells.

[00:08:47] And she wants to put up a flyer for the concerts at the Christmas Tree Lighting and tells Emily that some of the Bells think that this accident that happens is not so much an accident at all. Because some other things have been happening, including the death of a member. Clara's dead. She was killed in a hit and run, though. It's not related necessarily to the choir. No way.

[00:09:14] But it's a coincidence at the very least. So Emily goes to check out the sleigh that fell, which Sam is also looking into. He suspects that, you know, he's not sure, but he's wondering if something was going on. And she looks at the sleigh and she's like, yep, this is nefarious because the way that this is, it's not supposed to fall. This whole thing. So she's convinced.

[00:09:36] So she decides that the best course of action is to audition to join the Bells so that she can keep an eye on them and kind of begin to poke around, sleuth a bit. She is going to rely on Violet, Sam's daughter, to lock up the store and she gives her a key to do so. I'm sure that nothing will go wrong in regards to the key.

[00:09:59] After practice, she talks to a guy named Lance who is bummed, very bummed about Clara because she was the key to their success. He insists that the other members were jealous of her. She sees Clara's husband, Adam, leaving the diner. So she goes to talk to him. He says that he knows for a fact that Clara was murdered by the Bells and he drives off.

[00:10:25] At the next practice, Debbie begins gasping for air and her EpiPen isn't in her purse, which she had just complained had been moved. She ends up surviving again. Good Lord, Debbie. Sam pulls Emily aside and formally asks her for her help. He wants her to keep an eye on Debbie. Why Debbie? Why would Debbie be a suspect or someone to keep an eye on?

[00:10:54] Well, apparently Debbie was a person of interest, a suspect, if you will, in the hit and run case, but they didn't have quite enough evidence to bring her in. Is it possible that she's faking these murder attempts to try to prove that she wasn't the one who killed Clara? Because why? Someone's attacking me. So clearly I wasn't the one that was attacking. So it's a whole thing. The next day, Debbie comes into the shop to thank Emily for saving her life. Emily gets right to work asking her prying questions.

[00:11:23] Debbie claims that she doesn't even have a car anymore. So, you know, she's not driving anywhere. I ain't driving. She had it hauled away months ago. Emily was like, oh, did you use Adam? Did Adam haul it away? And she's like, Adam doesn't like me very much. He showed up at my house late one night demanding that I tell him who in the bells Clara was having an affair with. And she insists that if she was having an affair, everyone would know about it.

[00:11:50] There's not a secret like that could be kept in the bells. So Emily calls Sam basically saying, hey, Adam thinks that Clara was having an affair. That kind of sounds like motive for murder. So they go to his house, but he's not there. On the way back into town, they find his truck has gone off the road, but Adam is nowhere to be found. So they call on a search and rescue team to search the woods because if he's out in the woods, into the woods, he couldn't survive the night in this cult.

[00:12:20] Emily heads back to her shop and she sees a masked man leaving the store. She tries to chase him down, but he loses her. She has to call the police and Sam comes to check it out. And she's like, was it locked? And she's like, absolutely, it was locked. No doubt in my mind. At the next Bell's rehearsal, the leader, Vera, who is like kind of like conducting and whatnot,

[00:12:45] says that Debbie won't be making it to the Christmas tree lighting, so she's going to take her place. It is clear that Brooke is upset about that. Debbie eventually shows up to practice, though, and tries to sing the solo, but she can't. Vera says, you can't do this. And they get into a little bit of a fight. And Debbie's funding has gone down a little bit. And she's like, that's why you're taking my solo away. It's a whole thing.

[00:13:11] Vera insists that her money can't buy her the solo. And Debbie leaves. Emily figures out that the key was stolen from violence by a punk kid. So she goes to scare that kid straight. And he admits it. And it's a great moment. Doesn't really matter to the case, but it's a great moment. Later, she goes to poke around at Adam's place. She sees a covered car and a few other cars that are basically identical.

[00:13:42] And they're all the car that struck Clara. And so he had been getting every car that he could possibly find that matches the identity of that. She finds one that is covered. And she smells bleach when she lifts up the cover. She goes back to the trunk. And she cuts her hand as she's trying to open it up. And when she does finally open it up, it is Adam. He is dead.

[00:14:08] Later, while she's talking to Sam, she remembers something that happened earlier. Vera had a Band-Aid on her hand in the exact place that she also got a cut. And she said, oh, it's just a paper cut. That's empirical proof right there, man. That's exactly right. But the cut is exactly the same. And so Sam goes to pick Vera up to talk to her. They test her blood. It matches the blood on the trunk door. That's tough. So he begins to question her, pressure her.

[00:14:36] And it comes out that Clara was going to leave the Bells for another group. Vera was hurt by this because she basically mentored Clara into becoming this star and was hurt by that. So grabbed Debbie's old car, hit her, whole thing.

[00:14:56] And so when Adam said that, she was like freaked out because Adam goes and she tells her that he knows that it was Debbie. And she's like, it wasn't Debbie. So I got to figure this out. And so she goes to drug him. And by the time, she can wipe the car, do the whole thing. She didn't mean to kill him, but he got in his car post-drugs and then he swerved off.

[00:15:25] And so when she found him, she threw him in the trunk of the car that she had cleaned. Yes. But the crime is solved. But she remembers, however, that Adam was in charge of the electricity, the wiring of the Christmas tree, that Adam was actively trying to kill Debbie. And so she thinks that he was planning something for that night. So she gets there just in time as the bells are singing. And Brooke is now singing the solo in front of the microphone.

[00:15:54] She goes and she pushes Brooke out of the way just in time because as they light the tree, it causes a surge of power to run up the microphone and it catches on fire. She would have died. But Emily saves the day. Sam is impressed by this. And they have a heart to heart. And she begins to open up about her past or at least the past that she's able to share about. And she gets back to her place. And suddenly her computer screen shows a message that says,

[00:16:21] I know that you're there and I'm going to find you. And that, my friends, was Mistletoe Murderers, Peril of the Bells. We did it. Let's take a break. We're going to come back. We're going to break these two episodes down. This one movie down. Here on Deck the Hallmark.

[00:16:50] Welcome back, everybody. We're talking Mistletoe Murders. We're talking Eps 2 and 3. Sorry, 3 and 4. Yeah, well, here we go. Because I know how to count. You got it. That's right. Let's get to the hot take. So we're going to share exactly how we felt about these things. Let's start with you, Alonzo. Alonzo, what did you think about the Peril of the Bells? You know, this was actually pretty fun.

[00:17:17] I like, you know, so often I think in Hallmark movies they try and present, you know, these sort of picture-perfect small towns. Everybody gets along and we're all going to band together to save the gazebo or whatever. And so I love that if you want like backbiting and, you know, ish talking and gossip and resentments, like, yeah, the choir. That's where you're going to find that action. And they do.

[00:17:43] So, yeah, I kind of like, I mean, you would think she was joining the mob the way people are like, oh, you're not in the Bells, are you? You know? So, yeah, that I thought was a lot of fun. You know, I like this sort of going back and looking at this again, I kind of like the slow unpacking of what we learn about Sarah Drew's character and who she is and where she comes from and what drives her, like why a Christmas store and all that kind of stuff.

[00:18:12] So that's been fun to watch. So, yeah, I mean, it's, you know, I read a thing once. There's actually like a, there's a kind of a collection of academic writing about Hallmark Channel movies. Of course there is. And somebody sort of breaks down the mysteries and how it always turns out that it's like, it's never like the working class person and it's never the rich person.

[00:18:42] It's usually somebody in the middle who is aspiring to be rich and doing something terrible because of it. And so that'll get you through most of these figuring out who done it. And it kind of applies here, too. Yeah, I thought that this one was really fun. And everything I said last week about Sarah Drew remains true. She's so good in this. And the narration is really fun. The narration's great.

[00:19:08] The little things that she adds in these short little gaps, it's really fun. And it makes me very happy because it's one of those things that I feel like there's been other times where Hallmark has done, like, hey, we're going to do narration. And then there's like half of the movie or runtime of something that it just doesn't have it. And then it's like, oh, yeah, we were doing this thing. And so they do it consistently throughout this. And I really like it. And I think that her and Sam have wonderful chemistry. I thought the whodunit in this one was really fun as well.

[00:19:41] And what we heard was that it gets better as it goes on. And I think that is proving itself to be true. I enjoyed this one and the mystery of it more than I enjoyed the first one, partly because the bells were really fun and they had some fun characters. But also I just felt like the little, to your point, Alonzo, the breadcrumbs they were revealing along the way, what it was keeping me at least really engaged. And so I appreciated that.

[00:20:07] But I did, you know, the howdunit didn't love all like the explanation of it and the paper cut and the thing. But overall, really, really good. I really enjoyed this. Dan? Yeah, a lot of my feelings for the first one, I would just amplify those. This is better. I mean, it is definitely better than the first two. I, the mystery was fun.

[00:20:31] I think there's a lot of contrivances with this mystery and with some character actions and motivations that are just bonkers crazy. But the fact that I get to there means I cared enough to invest. So that's a big deal. And I did. I did. It was a fun, backbiting choir, fighting over the solo, begrudged, you know, husband of this wife.

[00:20:56] Like, all of that, even though it's really silly how it all comes together, all of that worked. And there's kind of a triple twist at the end where it's like, no, it was not that person. It was that person. And oh, no, the thing's still going to happen. And then you get easily the best five to seven minutes of this thing, which is Sarah Drew's performance at the end of this episode. This movie, excuse me, where she finally like opens up to somebody against her better judgment.

[00:21:25] And becomes vulnerable and talks about what she hopes for her life and does it in a little bit of coded language, but does it sincerely and honestly and very intimately. And I think that moment at the end carries this thing a long way. I mean, even if the mystery is bad, it ends with Sarah Drew and her narration and that ending scene. You almost can have a bad mystery and it would be on par with the previous movie.

[00:21:56] But because the mystery is entertaining, does it make sense? No, but it's entertaining. And so I had some more weight. What's in this one than I did in the last one, but I had a lot more fun in this one than I did in the last one. And I'm more on board now than I was before. It's time for all the feels where we talk about what in this episode gave us feels. Alonzo.

[00:22:21] I admire the fact that Sarah Drew is, I guess, doing her own singing here, but that they don't Jessica Lound is it. Like in her movies, I was like, oh, wow, you're amazing. And here everybody's like, sure, yeah, fine, whatever. And so I love the fact that this was not like a reverse engineered thing for everybody to talk about what a great singer Sarah Drew is,

[00:22:47] but for her to sort of gamely play along with the premise of the episode and have everybody kind of tell her, yeah, okay. I've never bought more someone that says, I've always dreamed about being in a choir, which is one of the dumbest lines of all time. But then showing up for a choir 30 years later and only being okay because they've not put any time into it. I thought it was exactly what it should have been. And I'm even willing to forgive the, I always wanted to be in a choir line after we get that final scene,

[00:23:14] because then you do get this idea of like her childhood was disrupted. It does help. It does help because it really, what she's saying is, is I've always wanted stability, but. Yes. You know, unlike this, unlike this movie was, it would have you believe choirs are pretty easy to find and join. This is also true. Like even if she grew up in the foster program, they could have still worked in a choir. You can't, like I was a part of two choirs as a kid against my will.

[00:23:43] Like I had to be in two choirs. So like you can't, like choirs are there, there for the taking. But I know it's about stability. Yeah, that was my main one. Listen, I, as far as potential murder weapons go, that sleigh was wonderful. The Santa sleigh thing that fell down before it fell down, you really get to look at it.

[00:24:09] All I was thinking was, I hope it falls in my arms so I can put it on my house next year. I loved it. And I would like, I would like it. If somebody can point me in the direction of that Santa's sleigh. I do have a question though. Sure. Are we meant to understand that the sleigh falling was indeed sabotage or was it? It was one of my what the hallmarks. They never really circled back to that. Yeah. I have to believe that dude, Clara's husband was trying to kill her there.

[00:24:39] I have to believe that because he tries to kill her with the poison and he's going to try to kill her with the microphone. And that like, that's his first attempt. So I have to believe that it's on purpose. If not, that's wacky new, new. Like that's crazy. Okay. Sorry. Now we're really unpacking. We think that, that Adam tried, Adam poisoned her. So Debbie is, he believes that Debbie killed Clara. That's what he believes. And so he puts the bee pollen in the throat spray, but how?

[00:25:09] Where I don't get how that happened. I don't know how it happened either, but the guy is a junk guy, an electrician and a catch all. So we're supposed to believe that he like, and so I think he just keeps upping the ante. What if we have the sleigh fall? What if I poison the only things, the spray? What? All right. I'm just going to electrocute her. Like that was how I took it. It is all like, who can say for sure? Yes. Because it's like, all we really have with the poison is her being like, I could have swore I put my purse over here.

[00:25:38] I mean, if the sled is not, is accident, then Sarah drew should have minded her own business. Like the only reason the whole story happens is because Emily goes, no, this is foul play. If she doesn't do that. Based off of the way that this is mounted or whatever. It has to be. And I guess because Adam's like trying to hurry him up for hauling it away, he's worried about evidence. Exactly. Yeah.

[00:26:06] The how doesn't click in, but the mechanics of it, of like why he would do it and the motive does. Yeah. Dan, anything? Yeah. I, two, one, I would say that after that, uh, sleigh falls and, uh, Peter Mooney's character and Sarah drew's character are kind of arguing about the necessity of pursuing an investigation there.

[00:26:28] It was very, and I said something similar in the first one of these, but I just want to reiterate that maybe the best thing this movie does is, or this series does is it was so refreshing to have both of these leads have a point of view that makes sense. And they are justified in having, and I know that sounds like a small thing, but we're talking about Hallmark.

[00:26:51] And so when she's insisting that this is foul play, she's drawing on her years of spy training and whatever she's been doing and it doesn't sit right with her and it makes sense. And this small town police officer is drawing on his years of being a police officer to go, Hey, there's not enough here. Like we've got things to do. There's not enough. And neither one of them are wrong. Right. And I just appreciate it.

[00:27:19] I appreciate the fact that you don't go into that going, why is the cop so stupid? Or why is Emily so stupid? They both have a legitimate POV and it's, it's nice that they're both right. Neither one of them are wrong. Slays fall all the time. Slays fall all the time. And then also my feels was the fact, how mad are you if you're Adam though, about the sled? Like that felt like that couldn't have fallen in a worse way for me. That's tough. That whole thing is a weight. But it is tough. You're right. I love it though. Yeah, of course you do.

[00:27:49] I'm also very happy that even though I said it was in the box, my theory that someone out there knows her and is going to, is coming to find her and is going to tell her in some cryptic way happened this week. So I was, I was ahead of the mistletoe murders and I was very, very proud. We don't know for sure that nunchucks aren't in the briefcase. Nunchucks. It could be. They could numb you. You couldn't feel a thing. And then the nun comes out of the wall. I will say this. I want to bring up Shelby's comment.

[00:28:17] Choirs aren't easy to find if you're looking for one not in a church. That's not a bad point, Shelby. So if you're, if you've always wanted to be in one and, but you know, like Marvin Harry, they drive by a church and you're like, I'm not going in there. I'm not going in there. You know, because of her past, she doesn't want anything to do with it. Or she just doesn't, or she has a bad experience with the church. Could be myriad of reasons why not to go in church. And so then if you've always wanted to be in choir, I would love to be in a secular hand choir, but I don't know if those exist. You just, what you said was an oxymoron.

[00:28:45] You cannot play handbells in a choir and not play Christian music. I think that's required. But also my thing is, is that as a child, even though your childhood was not stable, like there is so, you know, it's hard to keep your kids out of that stuff. And we, Aaron did a quick search and found a Greenville choir immediately. Like it took under 10 seconds.

[00:29:12] So I just, that her saying, I always, I'm trying. When I was little, I dreamed of joining a choir one day. It gets 10% of a pass because she just wanted a normalcy. I dream. It gets 90% of write a better script, please. That's what it gets. So there you have. I think you're just mad about the choirs you were forced to be in. And so you can't even wrap your head around the idea that somebody would willingly put themselves into that. The people that had to hear it are mad too. Yeah, oh, you said it. You said it.

[00:29:41] I wasn't the only one required to be in there. It was a bunch of us. It was a bunch of us in that church one and the school one for that matter. Let's take a quick break. We'll come back. We'll get to the way one, the what the hallmark here on. Take the hallmark. I hope you're doing well. We're talking mistletoe murder, the peril of the bells. We're at the wait what part of the show.

[00:30:11] So we're talking about what in these episodes made us go wait what. And I'll start with you, Alonzo. So I have a longstanding practice as a male film critic to not talk about women's appearances. Because I think there's a terrible history of that. And it's beside the point. You hear that, Dan? What? Just catching strays over here for no reason. We're having fun, aren't we? Yeah. I think this falls under the category of costuming. So I'm going to bring it up.

[00:30:41] Debbie's wig is a hate crime. It is, as my friend Tony would say, it's one thing to take the wig out of the box. But you've got to shake it. You know? Like, it is. It's so terrible. It just screams wig from the next county. Maybe that's how she survived the sleigh falling on her head. Yeah. You know, the wig has a special power. The wig was an extra line of protection. That's right. Yeah. Whew. All right.

[00:31:07] So we have established that Emily is like super spy, you know, Sidney Bristow. She's Sidney Bristow. You're right. Yes. She is alias. She can't chase down a teen perp in a balaclava. Like, one Christmas tree knocked down and, oh, she's out of the game. Like, no. She's rusty. She's rusty. She's got to, you know, reflex those spy muscles. Clearly. Yeah. Because, like, if the local high schoolers could outrun her.

[00:31:35] I knew it was the brother before they zoomed in on the picture. Well, you know, Roger Ebert had a thing that he called the law of economy of characters. Yes. Yeah. Exactly. The brother's the only one left. You see that guy pull up in that car and explain that he's the guy that can drive people places. And you pretty much, and then you see that he's white. And then you're like, all right, well, I've got him. And he's a jerk, you know. So, yeah. That's all done.

[00:32:01] And we hear a lot about the viral video of Brooke singing the solo so badly. And that's why they never want to give her the solo again. But we never get to hear it. Uh-oh. I want to know. I want the details of just exactly what did Brooke do. Because, look, I'm sure, much in the same way that, like, the Happy Holidays asks us to believe that two dogs lying next to each other is going to become viral video. Oh, it's going to be good stuff.

[00:32:26] If you are a bad singer in a local small town choir, I think you have to hit a certain level for that video to really get out there into the world. What I got from the video is that she never sang. That's what I got from the video. Did she, like, freeze? Yeah. Like, they kept waiting for her. And they're doing, they're kind of, like, on a loop in the background. Like, when are you going to do it? That's just sad.

[00:32:51] Um, and so that was my take on the clip of the video that we saw is that she never actually, she never actually sang. It all, it all seemed a little bit, uh, uh, a little coy. I wanted, I wanted a full detail for the, give me a full screenshot of that video. Uh, and then finally, um, and I, now that I say this out loud, I realize maybe it's not a wait, what, but I would think that if you have a choir at a tree lighting, the choir sings.

[00:33:21] And then they light the tree and then maybe the choir sings again, but does the choir sing while the tree? I never, that's what they did in this town. This is the first one. And we've watched hundreds of these where the tree lighting is not its own thing, but attached to a song of some sort. That is a more than fair way. I've never seen it before. It is no countdown. We're just going to, when, when you hear this note, that's what's happening. It seems to me like the mayor has something to say. Yes. It's a whole thing. It's a countdown.

[00:33:51] It's a big deal. Or, you know, if they're going to sing during, they would be singing Oh Christmas tree, right? Yeah. Of course. Of course. Um, so when the, uh, sleigh that I mentioned, uh, was falling, Dan and I were like, Oh my gosh, someone do something. Nobody does one. Someone do something. Please. Or cause they like, here's some noise first and they look up and then, and then it begins to, they don't do anything.

[00:34:21] And Debbie doesn't do anything. Debbie doesn't do anything. Debbie doesn't do anything. But I'm like, you know, I'm like, let's see how this plays out though. Because it could be that the whole choir's like, you know, in on it. That's right. That's why they didn't do anything. They all take one step back. Yeah. That's right. No, it just turns out everyone was frozen. Turns out they're bad friends. That's right. There's no, like, you could have just grabbed her coat. Nobody even reaches for her. It's like, well, and maybe they know about the wig. Maybe they know like, it's going to be fine.

[00:34:50] She's got the wig. We're good. Uh, it's literally impossible to kill her while she's wearing wig. We know that that's like something that's been proven. And so maybe they know it, but, um, since none of the people in the choir are the ones responsible for this, they're just bad friends and bad, bad choir. An entire group of people stands completely motionless as a giant fixture falls upon someone. No one does anything. No one screen. Nothing. Yeah.

[00:35:20] It was wild. Nothing. Yeah. Um, uh, and then I was just like the car, the car, let's talk about the car. Right. So the car, uh, he, uh, Adam finds the car. Yeah. Brings it back to his place. He's like, got him. Got him. Debbie's car. I know what we're, I'm going to be able to figure this out. And, um, so, so Vera goes. That's right. And it's like, all right, I got to get rid of my prints. Cause I know they're on this car.

[00:35:49] And so she cleans the car. That's right. And then she figures out that he's dead. She drugs him and then she finds him dead. Correct. And so she puts him. This is one of the dumbest things of all time. Is that your understanding, Alonzo? She puts him in the trunk. In the trunk. Yeah. Because I thought she cuts her. Of the car that she just spent cleaning. That's right. But her prints would have been on the car anyway because she drove Debbie to the hospital.

[00:36:16] But what I know, but after she, after Debbie is gone, she finds the car at Adam's place. Right. So the car is there and she realizes. Right. But what I'm saying is. She couldn't. Yes. She has an alibi. She has a reason for why she would have. She drove Debbie's hospital in Debbie's car so she wouldn't need to clean the hospital. So it's dumb that she cleans it in the first place. Yeah.

[00:36:40] And then she cleans it and then decides to store a dead body in the car that she has wiped clean of evidence. That will dispel suspicion. That is like worst criminals in America level. Yeah. That's terrible. Yeah. Yeah. Like I couldn't believe it. Dan. Yeah. I also had a real big problem with the whole cut thing. First. Have you heard about the first one? It's the deepest. That was my understanding.

[00:37:10] So Vera's cuts a little bit. So clearly Vera and Emily were wearing the same gloves with the same padding because their cuts, you know, Emily's wearing gloves that she loves that are very much. She cuts her hand in a very specific place. So basically she then brings the cop in Peter Mooney's character in to bring Vera down to the station for questioning based upon and only because they both have a cut on their

[00:37:38] hand in a, in a similar location. Listen, I, I'm not Johnny Cochran. I can tell you right now, my client is not going anywhere near you because she has a cut on her hand that could be from literally anything. Like it literally anyone I know, I would tell them, don't go to the police station. I don't even care if you did it. Don't go to the police station. Oh, like when a police officer asks you to remove a bandage, tell them to come back with a warrant. Yeah. It's called the bill of rights. Mofos.

[00:38:08] Like, are you kidding me right now? Her cut is the exact same color and length, size, everything of my cut. She did it. There's no other place with sharp things. What? I was almost done with this movie when we had her put a body in the back of a cleaned, you know, car and then get arrested for having cut. Well, the good news is you could have been done with just part two because there are episodes. That's right. That is good. So you could have still enjoyed the first part.

[00:38:37] That's very good. That was brutal. Let me tell you what else is brutal. There's a scene. I don't know if I've ever gone from the highest of highs on a movie to the lowest of lows in this movie when Emily decides she's found out that it's this kid who has broken to her store with the key. And she says in the narration, I'm not going to let the cop like I'm not going to take him to the cops. Like, I don't think that's right. I'm like, you know what? Good for Emily. Like, good for Emily for being like, this kid doesn't need a record.

[00:39:06] This is something that isn't in the purview of the police. I can deal with this and it's great. And I was like, awesome. And instead she gives him lifelong trauma. She decides he doesn't need to go to the police. He needs to be strangled with a seatbelt. Probably has some burns on his neck to remind him that every time he sits in the driver's seat of a car, he could die. It's called scared straight, Dan.

[00:39:36] Emily is like, the police? F those guys. I'm going to be a lot more humane about this. I'm going to strangle him with his seatbelt. I'm going to strangle him with his seatbelt and then he'll know. Then he'll know. That is terrifying. Instead of getting this guy a slap on the wrist from the police, she gave him trauma forever. Yeah, that little punk's going to come correct now. That is absolutely brutal.

[00:40:03] What else is brutal is learning that the warehouse that blew up that she's in her flashback is in the warehouse district. A little on the nose. Couldn't think of anything else or call it nothing. It was in the warehouse. This is the district. We actually gerrymandered the whole thing. So it's all warehouses. Only one guy actually gets a ballot to vote for warehouse district. That's right. This one guy who owns all the warehouses, he's voting for the warehouse district.

[00:40:31] And then lastly, she has the gall to say, I have one employee, but please apply. I may need a second employee for the summer rush. She can do Christmas with just her and one employee. But July comes around, going to need to double up. This town gets it. Going to need to double up. You want to get it early. Yeah. That's all I got. It's time for what the hallmark is where we wonder what could have been. Maybe have some clarity questions we still have. Alonzo, what are you still wondering about after seeing this one?

[00:40:59] I wonder what the ratio is regarding how many murders have to take place before your small town choir disband. Well, that is similar to mine. Mine was more specific, but I like that one. Mine was, Debbie's still showing up, huh? Debbie gets a sled chucked on her. She's committed to the bed. Then gets her own throat spray poisoned.

[00:41:26] She's only like the attempted murder only happens when she's with the choir. And she, after the second attempt of murder by someone she believes in the choir, she comes back for a third one. I couldn't believe it. She came to get that solo and she's not going to throw that away. Debbie, you got to stay home. It's not about the doctor. It's just about your safety. Sweet, Deb. Listen, you got to sing. Debbie's got to sing. Don't make her sing. Don't make her sing.

[00:41:56] So, Violet is left in charge of the store a lot in this movie. And she's left in charge of locking up, right? But then she loses key. She loses key. But then apparently she's also still able to lock up without key. Because they make a point of Guy finding key and using key to open the door.

[00:42:23] Is her store only a little boy? Doesn't have deadbolt. Because if you can lock it from behind, no problem. But then why would you need the key at that point? Because Sarah Drew does a whole big thing about going, you ready for a key? Like, you get the key. Yeah, but maybe you would still need it in the morning to unlock it. Alarm code also. Yes. Correct. Yes.

[00:42:47] But is her store only single lock that she could lock on her way out without key? She would have been able to get back in. But then she, yeah. I don't know. Interesting. But the fact that the door was still locked and the guy needed the key to break in, or at least is what we're told, leads me to believe that she was still able to lock the door. So I don't know. I don't know. Well, I think that the day that he does it, Sarah Drew locks up, but she loses key in back of car.

[00:43:16] He grabs key and unlocks the door that Sarah Drew had locked. So between her locking, losing the key, she never had to lock it. Oh, that makes sense. That, what he just said makes sense. Great. Wonderful. I like that. That's wonderful. My other one is, these two try even less to make this not a movie than the first two. I honestly am like, and thrilled that these exist. I love how bothered you are by this. I just, why are, like, I understand all of it.

[00:43:44] But if you want me to think it's serialized television, make it serialized television. Like, make, make the episodes. There have been shows that have done things. Not like, well. Maybe it's a two episode arc. Maybe it's three episode arc. Yes, but episodes tend to stand on their own. I mean, in the first one, we get an explosion tacked on for before episode two. Episode three, it's nothing. It just credits roll. And I was just like, okay, all right, we'll go.

[00:44:14] We'll go to the next one. I say good, good forum. Yeah. I mean, I guess if this leads, if this is the gateway to them actually doing it, then I'm thrilled. And also, I'm now committed enough to these two leads that I want to see more of this. Yeah, they're great. So I'm not, clearly I'm not that mad about it, but it's just very puzzling when you just, you threw three Jane Mysteries up there in three weeks. Right. But you made people wait six weeks for this. And if you watched episode three and the credits just started rolling, you had to wait a week

[00:44:44] for episode four. You'd just be like, why did I even do, I should have just waited two weeks. Like, there's no, there's no beginning, middle, and end of any kind. I mean, it doesn't make any sense. Yeah. Like, Holidays, which we'll get to, has a structure that requires it to be episodic. Love it. But yeah, this one, you can already tell that they're ready to go for when this November rolls around and Hallmark Mystery touts the premiere of, you know, Mistletoe Murders, Terrell of the Bells, you know.

[00:45:12] And so, yeah, they're not even really faking it very well. It doesn't bother me. I love it. I say bring it on. I wish they were all like this. Way to make up for it. Nicely done. The Wheel of Cheese. We did it, everybody. Congratulations to us. We'll be back tomorrow with Polar Opposites. Is that the next movie? Is that the movie we're doing? Yep. Polar Opposites. Frozen Fish. That's exactly right. From what I understand, there's only one place that you can hear Alonzo Duraldi rank his

[00:45:40] top and bottom five or ten movies. Don't know. Who can say. From 2024, Countdown to Christmas. And it's by joining Bramble Jam Plus. That's exactly right. That's exactly right. That's the one way to hear it. You want it. That's right. You want it. You want to know. You need it. That's right. You need it. Alonzo evacuated for this. That's right. He brought his podcast gear for this. He brought all the gear. He brought the gear. Let it not be in vain. Bramble Jam Plus. Bramble Jam Plus. Come hang out. We'll be back tomorrow with another one. Until then, maybe the first to wish you a Merry Christmas.

[00:46:10] Deck the Hallmark is a Bramble Jam podcast. It's produced by Aaron Shea. What? For more information on Deck the Hallmark, you can go to DeckTheHallmark.com. For more information on the Deck the Hallmark family, you can go to BrambleJamPlus.com. Deck the Hallmark is presented by Philo TV. For a free trial of Philo, go to philo.tv slash DTH. You're about to hear some ads that help keep the lights on here in the old studio.

[00:46:38] Thanks for listening or don't listen. It's really up to you at this point. It's at the end of the show. I mean, you're listening to me. Hi. But here they come. I promise they're coming. Yep. Here they are. Happy day.