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brightknightie) wrote2012-12-13 09:10 pm
brightknightie) wrote2012-12-13 09:10 pm
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Holiday Episodes
Do you have a favorite holiday episode? If so, what makes it a favorite?
Any television series, any holiday, but it must be a regular episode (e.g. FK's "Be My Valentine") not a special (e.g. Black Adder's Christmas Carol). (I realize that's a bit tough on some UK shows, with their different traditions about holiday airings, but... my post, my parameters.)
It always seemed strange to me that Highlander had so little holiday content in all its six seasons and successors. There's a nineteenth-century US Independence Day celebration in the flashbacks of "Obsession," and a 1980s New Year's Eve party in the flashbacks of "Revenge is Sweet," and a Prohibition-era one in the flashbacks of "Bless the Child," I think, but that's all I know off-hand (though admittedly I'm not nearly as good with the later seasons as the early ones; isn't "The Stone of Scone" set at a holiday, too? and what about the "Deliverance" flashbacks?). Holidays are threads running sideways through time, binding the years together; surely that's something worth touching on with such long-lived characters.
My favorite holiday episode, however, doesn't come from one of my best-beloved series: FK, HL, YB, BSG, BatB... No, it's "The Man in the Fallout Shelter" from Bones. Now, I adored that show's first season; it sung to me. The second season changed, becoming another story altogether; swiftly, nothing remained to speak to me, never mind sing, and I walked very sadly away. But in the middle of their first season shines this gem. Long story short and spoilery, the main cast is quarantined in the lab over Christmas; under the simultaneous pressures of having all their plans disrupted and breathing a potentially deadly contagious pathogen, personal tidbits and personality quirks emerge for every character. How do you face Christmas, and how do you face death? At the same time, of course, they work to solve a mystery, and in this case the case richly parallels Brennan's own scars -- then, just being revealed to the audience -- of unexplained abandonment. The layers of resonance are as vivid as a flashback; the holiday sharpens their cutting edges. I left that series as it left me... but that one episode can still make me laugh and cry.
Any television series, any holiday, but it must be a regular episode (e.g. FK's "Be My Valentine") not a special (e.g. Black Adder's Christmas Carol). (I realize that's a bit tough on some UK shows, with their different traditions about holiday airings, but... my post, my parameters.)
It always seemed strange to me that Highlander had so little holiday content in all its six seasons and successors. There's a nineteenth-century US Independence Day celebration in the flashbacks of "Obsession," and a 1980s New Year's Eve party in the flashbacks of "Revenge is Sweet," and a Prohibition-era one in the flashbacks of "Bless the Child," I think, but that's all I know off-hand (though admittedly I'm not nearly as good with the later seasons as the early ones; isn't "The Stone of Scone" set at a holiday, too? and what about the "Deliverance" flashbacks?). Holidays are threads running sideways through time, binding the years together; surely that's something worth touching on with such long-lived characters.
My favorite holiday episode, however, doesn't come from one of my best-beloved series: FK, HL, YB, BSG, BatB... No, it's "The Man in the Fallout Shelter" from Bones. Now, I adored that show's first season; it sung to me. The second season changed, becoming another story altogether; swiftly, nothing remained to speak to me, never mind sing, and I walked very sadly away. But in the middle of their first season shines this gem. Long story short and spoilery, the main cast is quarantined in the lab over Christmas; under the simultaneous pressures of having all their plans disrupted and breathing a potentially deadly contagious pathogen, personal tidbits and personality quirks emerge for every character. How do you face Christmas, and how do you face death? At the same time, of course, they work to solve a mystery, and in this case the case richly parallels Brennan's own scars -- then, just being revealed to the audience -- of unexplained abandonment. The layers of resonance are as vivid as a flashback; the holiday sharpens their cutting edges. I left that series as it left me... but that one episode can still make me laugh and cry.
no subject
Having said that ... I'm having trouble, off the top of my head, coming up with examples of holiday episodes that really stand out in my head. Community did some fabulous ones. I think their animated Claymation Christmas episode was the best of all their holiday episodes, somehow managing to make an utterly ridiculous premise plausible -- one of the characters hallucinates himself into a version of the Rudolf the Rednosed Reindeer "island of misfit toys" Christmas special, and his friends try to play along with his delusions and get him out (while appearing as Claymation characters to him and us). Like the best Community episodes, it was genuinely moving as well as funny, as the characters come to recognize their own "island of misfit toys" qualities and band together to save their friend not from an external enemy, but from his own depression and fear of abandonment. Community also does great Halloween episodes; oh, and Buffy used to do fantastic halloween episodes, too, especially the one in which everyone's Halloween costumes became real, which is still one of my favorite episodes in the entire series. (I am not that fond of Halloween as an actual holiday, but I love seeing what TV shows do with it.)
Community Christmas and BtVS Halloween
But oh, BtVS's second-season "Halloween"! Excellent choice! That is a spectacular holiday episode, using the holiday customs to pry at the characters, digging into character-specific fears and wishes, while also flipping up the bed ruffle on what's generally under the holiday itself in our culture. And all-around well-written, directed, acted, costumed... Thanks for recalling it!
no subject
Of Christmas-related episodes, I fondly recall the season 2 finale of Black Harbour (if I recall that correctly). It ended with Nick decorating the tree after recovering from a self-inflicted accident and realizing that his ex-wife whom he still loves has moved on to a life of her own. I liked the sentimental feeling and the signal of hope. Not sure if I recall all this correctly, I haven't watched it for a while.
As for US shows, with the dubbing delay, Christmas episodes usually happen to air in summer over here. I recall watching a holiday episode of Smallville in the middle of summer. It makes it hard to really like them when you're so far off the Christmas mood. LOL
This is probably off topic regarding your post, but I do have two favourite holiday movies I watch regularly before Christmas: Little Lord Fauntleroy with Alec Guinness and A Child's Christmas in Wales with Nigel Bennett.
By the way, I love your new icon! Very fitting for the season.
Black Harbour Christmas Episode
And thanks for your kind comment on the new icon. It was the fourth or fifth variation on that scene that I tried. I liked the one of Nick and Daniel embracing, but it didn't have the package in it, which was the whole point for this icon. :-)
Re: Black Harbour Christmas Episode
Oh, you didn't? It's such a wonderful show. And it's entirely to blame that I fell in love with Nova Scotia. Such beautiful scenery. You really should watch it.
>And thanks for your kind comment on the new icon
You're welcome. I like that all of the trio are present in the icon.
I just remembered another holiday episode. The final episode of season 5 from Murdoch Mysteries is set on New Year's Eve. It's called Twentieth Century Murdoch as it's the New year's eve in the year 1899. It seemed to offer the solution of the 4-season-long struggle of Detective Murdoch to be united with his love interest. But since there's a 6th season on the horizon which will begin airing in January, I'm sure there will be further obstacles to overcome before they can consummate their love.