Pour The Wine, It's Rom-Com Time

Hallmark's Mistletoe Murders S2: E1 & E2 - Cold War Pt.1 & Cold War Pt. 2

• Garry & Amy

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Garry & Amy head back to Fletcher’s Grove on this episode of Pour the Wine, It’s Rom-Com Time, diving into the Season 2 premiere of Hallmark’s Mistletoe Murders! The two episode arc returns with Cold War Parts 1 & 2, delivering a chilling mystery when the local high school chess coach vanishes without a trace. Emily (Sarah Drew) and Sam (Peter Mooney) reunite to investigate, doing their best to solve the case and survive their undeniable chemistry. Childhood flashbacks open the door to new clues but keep enough secrets in play to keep us guessing. If you love clever mysteries, smart storytelling, and a slow-burn romance that could melt an icicle, this series is for you! 

Send us an email to pourthewineitsromcomtime@gmail.com! We'd love to hear your thoughts!

Music from #Uppbeat

https://uppbeat.io/t/abbynoise/mood-of-summer

SPEAKER_02:

Welcome to Pour the Wine. It's romcom time where we'll sip some wine. Hey. And review all things rom com on the Homework channel. I'm Amy.

SPEAKER_00:

And I'm Gary.

SPEAKER_02:

And boy, did we have a busy weekend. Did we not?

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, we did.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh my gosh. I don't even. So we got we're we're those people that decorate early, as you can tell by the background on Gary's frame. Um, we do decorate early because we like to enjoy the season, you know, for a couple months. We we start right after Halloween. We got the outside done. Well, you got the outside done.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Well, eight o'clock Halloween night when Halloween is over, we turn the lights on outside.

SPEAKER_02:

That is not a lie. That is absolute truth.

SPEAKER_00:

I mean, you only get too much.

SPEAKER_02:

But it's only the lights, it's only the lights on the house. We don't have the outside stuff out yet. We just we just flip the switch on the lights and and so it begins the holiday season. Right. And in fact, this year we got a couple text messages from neighbors like, Oh, we're so excited. We love it. Turn on your light. So it's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_00:

Because we have so many kids in the neighborhood, it's just a fun thing to do for them. We do I really enjoy watching them walk by at night and seeing the smiles and uh everybody being happy, and we have a countdown uh out there, and we sure do. And the neighbors just come by and they look at it every night and it's like, ooh, 40 something every night, right? So it's a fun time.

SPEAKER_02:

It is, it is cool. And so we got the out well, you got the outside done, and then we worked all on the inside. And if you know when you decorate, everything is like it's so fun at first, but then it's like a chaotic mess. And we don't, we actually don't have a lot of clutter around. Right. Right. Um, and so we're not, you know, I wouldn't say we're like OCD about it, but we just we just don't. We just don't have a lot of clutter and oh, in the middle of decorating, it's so hard sometimes. We just can't wait to get the bins put away and all the stuff where it needs to go. And so we're almost done. All we have left to do is what? Do the trees, I think.

SPEAKER_00:

Just decorate the trees. Yeah. But you know, you came up with a good idea this year, which is once we get all the boxes and bins down from the shelves in the garage, yeah, we we move the cars out and we just lay it all out on the garage floor, and then we take all the the decorations out of the out of the bins and out of the boxes and then bring them into the house. That is true. We were just getting tired of like the glitter being all over the floor inside.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, we have some things with glitter foam, some holiday decorations, indoor stuff. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

So you came over to get that too this year, and it really worked. It worked.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, we did good. We left all the bins in the garage and just yeah, that worked.

SPEAKER_00:

All I did was blow it. I got the blower and I blew it right out the garage door.

SPEAKER_02:

What all the well all the glitter and well, the glitter, just the glitter. We picked up the styrofoam and stuff, but or vacuum it up. We have a vacuum out there, but yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

It was a good idea.

SPEAKER_02:

So good times, and we were exhausted, but we were able to watch our countdown to Christmas stuff this weekend on Hallmark. So we were so excited that Mistletoe Murder season two started this weekend. We watched season one. We were late to the party. Um, it did air, it originally aired what December of 2024 on Hallmark Plus season one did, and we watched it over the summer, right? Yeah, we watched it over the summer on Hallmark Plus, and we were really excited. It was sort of like when we were in the middle of it, we saw that it got renewed for season two, which was great, and we were really excited then. So, and then we rewatched when it just aired on Homework Channel, and now we were super excited to see the first two episodes of season two.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, yes. Here we are getting ready to review it.

SPEAKER_02:

Here we are. We're gonna be reviewing Cold War parts one and two. They both originally aired on the Hallmark Channel on Saturday, or Saturday, I'm so used to saying Saturday, on Friday, November 7th, right? Do I have that date right? Yeah, yeah, on the Hallmark channel, and they are streaming right now on Hallmark Plus. And if you miss them, go and watch them.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, and we have to let you guys know this is our first video podcast.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes, yes, we didn't even mention that.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, no, it's our first one.

SPEAKER_02:

Cheers to that. I'll take a sip to that.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, let me take one too. Cheers to a successful first video.

SPEAKER_02:

There you go. We decided to dive into well, you decided I have a face for radio.

SPEAKER_00:

So I wanted to, you know, put a face to the voice, and what better way to do it than video?

SPEAKER_02:

Then video. We'll see. We're having fun with it so far.

SPEAKER_00:

But you know, if you still want to listen to us on Apple or Spotify, we will still have the auto audio portion of it. But for the video, it's gonna be listed on YouTube at Pour the Wine. It's rom com time, so you can find us there. Okay. Give us a review. Let us know how this first video is. Let us know. That would be great. Leave a review. Appreciate it.

SPEAKER_02:

On what? On YouTube?

SPEAKER_00:

On YouTube. And also if you're just listening to it, you can give us a review on Apple or Spotify.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

And the other social medias, Facebook, Instagram, Blue Sky, X, Y, Z, whatever.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes. Oh, what'd you say? XYZ. He's here all night, people. He's here all night.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, I am.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes, definitely head over to the socials. We would love it if you would, you know, like, follow, and now I guess subscribe. I'm not that knowledgeable about YouTube, but right, like subscribe to the channel. We would really appreciate it. We're having so much fun doing this, and we just we actually love what we're doing, the reviews. So, um, and if you do too, we would just really appreciate you, you know, giving us stars on um some of the what is it, the podcast platforms.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes.

SPEAKER_02:

Like Spotify and Apple Podcasts, and leave us a review. We would be very, very grateful.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, and so subscribe to us on YouTube and like us, and you know, you'll get notified when you we release new stuff. And hopefully this is a good thing.

SPEAKER_02:

Right. Well, hopefully it is a good thing. Not hopefully, it is a good thing. You can also send us an email to pour the wine is romcomtime at gmail.com. Shoot us an email and let us know your thoughts about mistletoe murders or anything homework related. We'd love to hear from you. And we might read it one day on the podcast. Maybe. Who knows? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

And now it's video.

SPEAKER_02:

So and now it's oh yeah. And now it's video.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, it is. So you want to tell us who's in this one?

SPEAKER_02:

I would love to tell you. So what we'll do, what we like to do is we'll talk about um all of the main characters at first, and then moving forward when when we review episodes three and four and five and six, we won't, you know, talk about all of them in detail like we do today. But if there are new actors and actresses, which there tends to be in mistletoe murders because there is a different mystery every two episodes, right? Right. Um, we'll we'll add those people in. So that's kind of where we're starting. So returning, of course, is Sarah Drew as Emily Lane. Her other hallmark work includes Branching Out, Guiding Emily, and Christmas in Vienna. I first saw her in a TV series, I think it was on the WB called Everwood, which I absolutely loved, and I have to get you to watch.

unknown:

Yes.

SPEAKER_02:

You've never seen it, right?

SPEAKER_00:

No, I have not.

SPEAKER_02:

No. So she played Hannah Rogers in 38 episodes, and this series also starred Treat Williams, Emily Van Camp. You know who she is, right?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

From Revenge and what was the doctor show she was in? Uh not the good doctor.

SPEAKER_00:

I can't remember.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh gosh, I should remember because we did watch it. Um Resident. It also starred, yes, The Resident. Yes, that's right. Yes, you're right. Gregory Smith, Chris Pratt was in Everwood, and Scott Wolf was in Everwood.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay.

SPEAKER_02:

Of course, Sarah is largely known for playing Dr. April Kempner on Gray's Anatomy from 2009 to 2022.

SPEAKER_00:

Ooh.

SPEAKER_02:

Ooh, you said, ooh. And you know, when I was doing a little research on her, um, IMDB also had that she actually wrote and produced three Christmas movies for Lifetime in 2022, 2023, and 2024. Wow. And she will be in the upcoming biop of Jimmy Stewart called Jimmy, where she plays Hedda Hopper. And Hedda is the famous gossip columnist from that time. She was real popular in like the 40s and 50s. So we're really, I'm looking forward to seeing that movie. Oh Jimmy Stephen. Oh my gosh, you love Jimmy Stewart. So we're we're excited about that.

SPEAKER_00:

Can't wait for that one.

SPEAKER_02:

Peter Mooney returns as Sam Wilner. His homework work includes Retreat to You and Fly Away with Me. And we love him as Sam, don't we? The detective. Fly Away with me. Oh boy. Okay, we're gonna be singing. Sierra Marilyn Riley plays Violet Wilner. Um, she was in season one of Mistletoe Murders, and that was her hallmark debut. She is Sam's daughter, right? She has two other acting credits. One is for a short, and the other is four episodes of the Amazon Prime series Motorheads. Which we have not seen.

SPEAKER_00:

I really impressed with her acting skills.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, and for really not having that many acting credits, she's she's really good in this in this series. I like her. Yeah. Oh, really? In a Hallmark movie or just in general?

SPEAKER_00:

Just in general.

unknown:

Oh, cool.

SPEAKER_00:

I think that's how good she is.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. Kylie Evans returns as Brooke Carmichael. Kylie is best known to Hallmark fans as Stephanie Borden on good on the Good Witch series, which was another series that we really loved. Didn't we love that series? She voiced, she actually voiced Brooke in eight episodes of the podcast series Mistletoe Murders. Okay. That's interesting. Uh from 2022 to 2024. Yeah, I think that's pretty cool. Laura Amherse Amhercy plays June Hubble. She is a veterinarian and one of Emily's good friends. Laura was in last year's Operation Nutcracker and 2022's Christmas in Toyland for homework.

SPEAKER_00:

And you know what? I'm glad they brought her back.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

This season. I wasn't sure.

SPEAKER_02:

We weren't sure. Remember, you and I were talking about that. We were wondering who all I mean, we knew Sam and Emily, right? And I was pretty sure Brooke would be back, but we weren't sure about the other characters who all would return.

unknown:

Right.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, I think we felt like Sue would be back. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

Huh?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. She's such a good character for Emily. Yeah, it's a it's like her girlfriend.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

She she talks to Violet, she talks to Sam, but the personal stuff, you you need another adult.

SPEAKER_02:

You need someone else out, yeah. Right. Outside of that.

SPEAKER_00:

And I'm glad they brought her back.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. David Hewlett comes back as Ray. He is Emily's sort of um underground sidekick. Ray. Right. Like he's Ray Ray. Yeah, I want to say Ray Ray. He has over a hundred acting credits. And I I think Mistletoe Murders was his homework debut, I believe, after looking through all of them and IMDb. He was recently in 10 episodes of the Apple Plus series C. C.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay.

SPEAKER_02:

C, you see?

SPEAKER_00:

You see.

SPEAKER_02:

Jean Yoon plays Sue Shin Sheen. I think she was in Homework's Christmas with Holly and Cancel Christmas. She was also on the Audible podcast series Mistletoe Murder. She voiced the character Sue on that podcast. That's pretty cool. All right. So newbies for the for for what what am I where am I? For episodes number two. All right. For episodes one and episodes two, episode number two. Jamie Thomas King plays Richard Leland. He is the vice principal. This is Jamie's Hallmark premiere. He was in an episode of Brilliant Minds and two episodes of Murdoch Mysteries. He was also in 14 episodes of the Showtime series The Tudors. Ooh, that we have not seen. Nope.

SPEAKER_00:

No.

SPEAKER_02:

No, no. Mikey Selkin plays Tim Henley. He is the chess team coach, right? The coach of the chess team. This looks like his Hallmark premiere. A few of his more than two dozen acting credits include holiday rom coms for other production companies, which is still cool, right? Designing Christmas and A Chance for Christmas. He was also in an episode of House.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, okay. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

We loved House. Yeah, he probably was young. Well, yeah, he was obviously younger. The one and only Benjamin Ayres makes an appearance in the first two episodes as Hollis. He is the high school janitor, I guess.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, he is.

SPEAKER_02:

Right. We just saw him in a Christmas angel match with Megan Ory. Last year in 2024, he was in the Santa class, Happy Holidays from Cherry Lane, Santa Tell Me, Lovin' Jane, Paging Mr. Darcy, and True Justice Family Ties. Whew. Just to name a few.

SPEAKER_01:

That's a lot.

SPEAKER_02:

Some of his other hallmark work includes Miracle in Bethlehem, PA, Pennsylvania, Our Christmas Mural, and a Blue Ridge Mountain Christmas. Pretty cool. Yeah. He's also Drew Godfrey in the Chronicle Mysteries movies, which we have not seen any of those, which we probably should watch more of the mysteries.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. I mean, if they're anything like this one, I'm game.

SPEAKER_02:

Game on, right?

SPEAKER_00:

Game on.

SPEAKER_02:

Quincy Kirkland plays young Emily, aka Grace, spoiler alert. That's another name. This is her Hallmark debut. It looks like she will be in at least the next two episodes as well, which is pretty cool. So we're gonna see more of Emily as a teen, right? She has a handful of credits, including eight episodes of the series Why The Last Man.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay.

SPEAKER_02:

Colton Stewart plays Kyle Granger. He is a friend of Violet and he is on the chess team. Mistletoe Murders is his Hallmark debut. It looks like he also will be in at least the next two episodes. He's in the popular Netflix series My Life with the Walter Boys, which we watched the first season of that. Remember? Uh-huh. We haven't watched the second season yet. I think there's only two seasons so far. He was also in the Netflix series Lock and Key. And I saw he was in Disney's Disenchanted, the sequel to Enchanted. Remember with Patrick Dempsey? Yeah, he was in that. It's pretty, pretty cool. Gage Monroe. Yeah. Gage Monroe plays Shane. He is another one of the high schoolers. He's on the chess team as well. For Hallmark, Gage was in an episode of The Good Witch. And Christmas with Tucker. He was most recently in three episodes of the Netflix series Wayward, which I think is on Netflix. It's a newer series. I think that dropped relatively recently. Evan Hasler plays Aaron, a Aaron, as I like to say.

unknown:

Okay.

SPEAKER_00:

A Aaron.

SPEAKER_02:

Aaron. He is a classmate of young Emily. He has a few acting credits, and this is his Hallmark debut. Um, a few of his other films include You Gotta Believe and The Art of Christmas. And finally, Van the Vanessa Jackson plays is it do they say Mila or Mila? Mila Banc, I think it's Mila. Mila Bancroft. She was a former what chess team prodigy for the high school. And then she became the coach of the competition.

SPEAKER_01:

Right.

SPEAKER_02:

Right, the comp uh competitive high school. This is her Hallmark premiere. She was also in two episodes of Netflix's Lock and Key and the series Working Moms. She was also in five episodes of Star Trek Discovery.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, wow. You know, this is a a lot of uh first for uh for a lot of several of them, yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

That's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, it's awesome.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, the uh let's see, Mel Melanie Orr directed the first two episodes of this season, yay, and will direct the final two episodes of this season, yay, yay, and what a great job. Yes, yes, we did these first two, really, really good. She also directed the final two episodes of the first season. She does have over 30 directing credits, but I could not find other hallmark work. So she may have some. I just couldn't find it.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay. Looking through the little list, right? Looking through the list.

SPEAKER_00:

Um, she directed 19 episodes of the CD uh series Children Ruin Everything, which they do sometimes. And seven episodes.

SPEAKER_02:

But it's a funny title. I like the title.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, it is. It is. And that's why I said what I said.

SPEAKER_02:

I know.

SPEAKER_00:

I know and seven episodes of Hulu series, The Hardy Boys. Oh, pretty cool. The Hardy Boys.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, yes.

SPEAKER_00:

I like it. It was written by Ken, is it Cooperus or Cuparis? I think it's Cooperus, right? And Amanda Lowe. Cooperus, I think. Cooperous. In addition to creating, writing, directing, and producing the podcast series, Mistletoe Murders for Audible, Ken also wrote the first two episodes. Audible?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, I think it's audible.

SPEAKER_00:

Did I say audible?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. Well, you're used to audio, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Um the first two episodes of the season, um, one in the first two episodes of season two. He has over 40 writing credits, but I didn't see again any other hall uh work for Hallmark. He does have a new audio audible.

SPEAKER_02:

I know. It's so easy to say too. I know.

SPEAKER_00:

Audible series out called Mid Bridge, Middle Bridge, which is uh is also mystery. Um follows Violet as she goes off to college. Oh, that's interesting, right?

SPEAKER_02:

Uh yeah, I think the title's Middle Bridge Mysteries.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, Middle Bridge Mysteries, yes.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes. Sorry about that. Yeah, that's right. Yeah, that's a pretty cool concept. So he wrote another podcast.

SPEAKER_00:

It's like a spin-off, right?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, that's pretty cool. With Violet character. Maybe that's where it's gonna go with mistletoe murders eventually down the road. Well, I have some. Hopefully, we have a few more seasons first, right?

SPEAKER_00:

I hope we do.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Um, Amanda has writing credits for each episode on season one, as well as the first episode in season two. She also has a writing credit for Middle Bridge Mysteries. So there you go. They're working together.

SPEAKER_02:

They work well together. Yeah, that's pretty cool. Yeah, that's awesome. Hey, it's working.

SPEAKER_00:

Just as good as this one, you know?

SPEAKER_02:

I'm sure it will be. I'm sure it will be. Maybe we should listen to that first.

SPEAKER_00:

Ooh, you know what?

SPEAKER_02:

You know, and then I mean, we didn't listen to the podcast series first, but people have told me, go listen to it now, you know, because we didn't want to ruin it once we when we started it.

SPEAKER_01:

Right.

SPEAKER_02:

Like, oh, we don't want to spoil any surprises, but I think we could go listen to it now. It'd be pretty interesting.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. I think.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

I think we should. Sure. So is it time to drop the synops?

SPEAKER_02:

Sure. Do you want me to drop, should I drop both part one and part two?

SPEAKER_00:

I think so. Oh. Since we're reviewing both, why not just do it?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. So we are going to be reviewing both because there is like a two-episode arc, right, for this for this series. So episodes one and two go together, three and four go together, and they all have underlying ties of the main characters. But there is a mystery that or a murder that happens in the first episode, and then it is solved in the second episode, which is really cool. Really, really cool. So, all right. So, part one, the synopsis is Emily and Sam reunite after a year apart to investigate their chess coach's disappearance, stirring Emily's memories while Violet dreams of going to the winter dance with her crush. That's a pretty good description, actually.

SPEAKER_00:

It is.

SPEAKER_02:

Sometimes they're very short. Like, wow. Uh, part two, the synopsis is Emily investigates the chess coach's murder from inside the school while Sam worries about Violet's date. At the winter dance, a deadly chase unfolds with the killer.

SPEAKER_00:

Ooh, dungeon.

SPEAKER_02:

Dun dun dun. In a small town. It is oh boy, yes. There wasn't murder.

SPEAKER_00:

So we will probably have some spoilers in this. So if you haven't seen the first two parts of Mistletoe Murders Cold War, I would suggest stop the video now. Go and watch the two parts, come back and enjoy our video, our first video review.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes. Yes. Yes, that's very good. So pause now. Yes. If you haven't seen it and you want to watch it and you don't want any spoilers.

SPEAKER_00:

Correct.

SPEAKER_02:

Because we are likely to do that. Even if we say we wouldn't, we would probably accidentally do it anyway, I feel like.

SPEAKER_00:

So well sometimes it's kind of hard to talk about something without giving somebody certain things away.

SPEAKER_02:

Right. Right. Right. So all right. So how do you want to normally we've you know when we reviewed the first season, we did like a recap and review. We kind of reviewed the whole episode because we did singular episodes. We did episode by episode. Um, and now that they're airing together, we're putting the reviews of both episodes that arc together together in our review. Right. So should we talk about what the mystery is first? Yeah, that's the first one. That's going to go from one to the next. Okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. So this particular episode picks up where last season left off, and it has to do with a the disappearance of the chess teacher. Right. Right. In this case, it's a coach. I want to say club, but it's a couple of things. I do too.

SPEAKER_02:

The whole time I was taking notes, I wanted to say chess club.

SPEAKER_00:

It's a team, a chess team.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

And um, yeah, and then you know, they're they're looking into what happened and why he disappeared. So right.

SPEAKER_02:

So we have the teacher who we meet kind of right away. Right. And he sort of, we see him kind of he's really nice at first, and Violet really likes him, but then he kind of argues with one of the students, right? Shane, and then so you kind of see some discourse, and then you're not sure, and then he goes off, and then he goes home to find a note on his door, and we don't know what the note says, but then he speeds off and he goes away and he disappears.

SPEAKER_00:

Right.

SPEAKER_02:

With a suitcase. With right, with a suitcase. He throws in his car and he leaves, and you immediately know that that is going to be the mystery. Although I will say, when it first started, I wasn't sure who was going to end up dead.

SPEAKER_00:

Right.

SPEAKER_02:

I wasn't sure if it was going to be him or not.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

And it turns out it was.

SPEAKER_00:

Spoiler alert.

SPEAKER_02:

Spoiler alert. Well, it's in the description, you know, in the in the um, in the synopsis for episode two. Right. So that is what Emily and Sam end up investigating is his murder.

SPEAKER_00:

Right. And you know what I enjoy is I enjoy the way Emily goes about getting information from people. She's so good at psychologically getting them to talk to her and telling her things. And then she goes running to Sam and gets Sam to actually do the investigation part.

SPEAKER_02:

To do right, things that he can do that no one else can, or she wants to bounce stuff off of him and talk to him and see what he knows, and she's trying to get information. Right. Um, yeah, yeah, it's pretty it's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_00:

And the other funny thing apart uh about all of this is the fact that they're really not talking to each other because of what happened in the last season, but it's so funny to watch them because they have to work together, right? But they still have some unresolved issues to work out.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, I think so. Do you want to go back then and talk about revelations of the characters?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, let's go ahead.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Let's do it.

SPEAKER_02:

Um, yeah. So so we talk, we just talked about what the actual mystery is, right? Um so part of the revelation is it like you mentioned, it does pick up right where it left off. Sam and Emily are in under the mistletoe. He what finds out she's not who she says she is, right? Right. Because he's been investigating her, right? And someone has told him to stop, right? Didn't someone tell him to stop investigating? So it literally picks up right there, which I thought was great. I wasn't sure if we were gonna start there or if we were gonna start, you know, in the future, right? With time have gone on, which which they end up doing, but I thought they handled that really well.

SPEAKER_00:

So you start there, excuse me, and and no, yeah, kind of and they transition into 11 months down the road.

SPEAKER_02:

Right. So then you and you can kind of see the two of them, they're not they don't really hate each other, but Sam has just become cautious about her. We see that uh Violet isn't is no longer working at under the mistletoe. She is working at Sue's Diner, right? So because Sam didn't quite, he didn't really trust Emily because he he doesn't know who she is. He doesn't know, he knows her background is, you know, something not great if she's hiding from something. Um, so he doesn't really want Violet around her, which is kind of sad for Violet, but Emily phrased it as, you know, what we haven't been that busy and during the downtime, I really have to let you go. I can't afford to keep you, or you know, whatever. Right. So, but that's already happened. You kind of pick up there where you see Violet working at Sue's diner, which I thought was kind of cool. You know, in a small town, you go from one of the stores to the next, right?

SPEAKER_00:

And then the other interesting thing is Sue herself, I think her character has evolved because she's not as hard.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes, I had that in my notes also. And I am so glad you brought that up. And we do not talk about our reviews for the most part. I mean, we might say we might laugh out loud and then we obviously both think a certain part is funny, you know, or something or whatever. But um, we try our best not to talk about it because we want it to be fresh for the podcast, right? Like we want to have fresh reactions to each other's reactions. So I'm so glad you said that.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, because it it just seemed like in the first season she was like, if you're not gonna eat, get off, you know, that type of attitude. But this season they kind of toned her down a little bit and not enjoying it.

SPEAKER_02:

Um I think I I literally had in my notes what happened to Sue. Like, what did she? She became nice. What happened to her? She softened up.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, she did. She did.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, we'll see if that stays, but it's just it was kind of funny. That's so funny you brought that up. But yeah, but yeah, so Sue is uh Sue is definitely she's changed. She's changed, she's changed. Why is she being so nice?

SPEAKER_00:

In a good way, yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

In a good way, yeah, yeah. And then so uh I guess some other revelations we you know find out that Emily's really good at chess.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, right?

SPEAKER_02:

We find out she's a really good chess player. Um go ahead.

SPEAKER_00:

I was just gonna say, and that's another funny thing, is she's always inserting herself into like clubs or teams, like because she wants to know what's going on. Yes, and it's so funny that she does that, and she's really good at doing it.

SPEAKER_02:

She is, she is. Well, what's in this particular, you know, in these episodes, she has been asked to be the coach because the chess coach has died, or actually disappeared at first and then died, right? And she's resisting it. She's like, no, no, no, I don't want to be the coach, no, no, no. And then she's like, Whoa, wait a minute, I can get in the mix, you know, and she kind of well, between her and Sam, you know, she's like, I, you know, you need me at that high school, you know, it's like you need me on that wall. Like, um, and then he's like, Well, it would take too long, and she's like, I have an idea because she knows she's been asked to be the coach. Right. So you're right, she inserts herself that way, and it's like innocently, yeah, according to everyone else.

SPEAKER_00:

Right. Right. And and another interesting thing is d during one of those sessions with the kids, she was telling them to use the pawns because that's the name, you know, you use them as pawns. And it kind of goes with this throughout the story of using people to get what you want or to get answers out of out of them. Yeah. So I thought that was very interesting. Uh yeah. The way they wrote.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, that's a really good point, also. And she, you know, we have a flashback of her as a teenager. So that's another revelation that comes out right in these in these two episodes is that we get to see her as a teen, sort of in her element. She's at a private school. And she's probably what, a fresh. I don't know if she's a freshman or right.

SPEAKER_00:

They really don't like it.

SPEAKER_02:

They really don't say. And then she, you know, she kind of walks in and she's new and and she kind of is like, hi to these other girls. And you know how girls are. These two girls, mean girls, are standing there and they kind of give her a look as as girls. I don't know why girls do that, but that is just how we are sometimes. Um, but they're not very welcoming of her. Right. And then, you know, we're introduced to someone else.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes.

SPEAKER_02:

A Aaron, Aaron. She meets, she meets um another, another kid in her class, and he's got a computer, and that really intrigues her. And you can kind of see, and that's where, you know, we have the connection of where she's really good with computers and everything in the present day. And we see that's where, you know, she kind of starts to talk about it with this, with this other, with Aaron, right? And they become fast friends, and he ends up giving her the passcode to get into the computer lab.

SPEAKER_00:

Right.

SPEAKER_02:

So she can join the what did they call it? The coding club or something.

SPEAKER_00:

The coding club, something like that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. So now we know she's super smart. We already knew that, but you know, she's already a baddie in our eyes. But um well, it yeah, so you have that revelation.

SPEAKER_00:

I love how they did the backstory on this because we really didn't know much in the first season of how things came about. And they really revealed a lot of things. And it's interesting because you sit there and you watch every little thing that they do, like numbers, pictures on a wall, you know, books, all this other stuff. You you you're trying to go, oh, is that a clue? Is that a clue? Is that a clue? Yeah. And sometimes you get caught up in it and you're like, what did he say? And you got to go back, rewind it, and listen to what they were saying because you probably missed something else.

SPEAKER_02:

But that's true. I mean, everything matters, right? Even the Greek mythology book matters.

SPEAKER_01:

Right, right.

SPEAKER_02:

You know, comes comes back around. So it just the writing is so, so good. And and the way the characters are woven. I mean, even Brooke, when she kind of comes in, you know, I was waiting for her to come back into this episode. And it was really cool when she comes in because we, you know, you know, Brooke is what? The gossip, right? Like she knows all the information. If you want tea, she's the one you go to. And that's exactly what Emily does, right? You know, and is and it their interaction is so funny too, because Emily's kind of like, you know, I what do you know about the high school? You know, and Brooke is basically like, what do you want to know? You know, and it's just like, what do you know about these people? And I just I love that her character, they're still building on that part of her character and using it so skillfully in the storyline. That's what I love. And about this.

SPEAKER_00:

The funny thing with her is she too kind of gets Emily to do things that she wants to get Emily to do. So she needed somebody to help with the Yeah, that's true. I guess it was the ball and and the lights and stuff like that. And Emily's like, You already uh volunteered me, didn't you? And she's like, Yep, sure did.

SPEAKER_02:

Yep, sure did. You're already on the list. Yeah, to be like the chaperone.

SPEAKER_00:

You know, Emily's, you know, using her to get information, and you know, she's using Emily to get some work done.

SPEAKER_02:

So yeah, yeah. And can we um we kind of glossed over it, but I just want to go back to Violet for a minute, which I really I think, you know, throughout both episodes, she is she's like, Hey, can I come back to under the mistletoe? Like she really just so sad. Yeah, it was sad, but it was also just telling of I think Violet's relationship with Emily, because you know, Violet's mom isn't there. She's not dead, but she doesn't live there anymore, right? Like she's she has a relationship with her, but she just doesn't, she's she doesn't live there anymore. And I really think Emily views her as like a mother figure, you know, and even talks to her about personal things.

SPEAKER_01:

Right.

SPEAKER_02:

And I just I so I think that that is developing also is that their relationship, and it was, you can see she just wanted to be with Emily. Like it, I I think it was, yeah, she loved working in the store, but it was about being there with Emily because Emily was such a good confidant of hers, really. You know, someone she could talk to, someone she could bounce things off of when she was having issues with her dad. Yeah, yeah, mother figure, or at the very least, a big sister, you know.

SPEAKER_00:

Right. And it was it was unfair to Emily, um, because she had to come up with these different excuses why she couldn't hire her back. And I felt, come on, Sam, step up and let your dog what's going on, come on, you know. That's not fair to Emily. You know, Emily, other than not telling you who she is or what her past was about, really has treated your daughter like uh her daughter.

SPEAKER_02:

So well, and you could really see, I mean, you can see I can understand Sam's perspective, you know, at first and everything. That's why I liked that they didn't really. We went to they started off where it ended last season, and then they went to 11 months later. And I liked that they were talking to each other. Now they weren't close and they weren't, but but they weren't like enemies. Like he didn't hate her. And he even, I think he says something like that, doesn't he, in this episode? Like, you know, I'm still trying to wrap my brain around what all of this means, you know, and he even gives in a little bit to having more of a relationship with her, not necessarily romantically yet, but just you know, allowing her in a little bit because he knows, because you know, there's the one scene where she says, you know, I wish you would see me for the person I am today, not wondering what I was before, because who I am today you can trust, you know. So I I thought there were that was that was pretty cool too.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, well, I mean, he he and you can see it. It's it's an unspoken love between them two.

SPEAKER_02:

That you know, and what love is that what you said? I think it's love.

SPEAKER_00:

They they dig each other, right? For lack of a better word, dig, but dig. I I feel like um when they do get together or finally get together, hopefully, fingers crossed, um, it's gonna be huge, right?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, yeah. And their their banter started to come back, you know, when when he says he's you know he's found something, and she's like, What'd you find? Was it a finger? Was it an ear? I mean, it was just so cute. That was a funny scene. Yes, that was really, really cute. They were in the high school there or where they were, but she's like, What'd you find? You know, and it's just so that's reminiscent of the Emily, you know, the Emilyisms, right? And then she and then he used her name as a verb, which I thought was so great.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, she was like, Did you just use my name as a um?

SPEAKER_02:

He's like, You Emily'd your way in or whatever. And she's like, wait a minute, did you just use my name as a verb? I thought that was so cute. So, so cute. Yeah. Was that the same scene? I don't even know.

SPEAKER_00:

Um, yeah, because they were walking down the school hallway, I think. Because she's always at the at the high school, and he's always wondering why she's at the high school. And every time she has to explain, well, you know, I'm dropping off some some uh decorations that Violet wanted me to bring. Right. Or I'm coming to the house. She did have an excuse. She did have an excuse to be there. It was a legitimate excuse. So she had legit. And then she's ducking down behind, you know, cabinets and stuff, and she's like, What am I doing? I'm here legitimately, you know. She hiding from the city.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh, that's right. She did. You're right, you're right. But so we have go ahead, I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_00:

No, I was just gonna say also that now Violet has a love interest, which I think was a was an interesting uh twist on things.

SPEAKER_02:

So right. And you and so who Violet sort of is crushing on is another a fellow chess player, right? And um he's also possibly a murder suspect for part of it, you know, which I'm glad he ended up not being the murderer, spoiler alert. Um Kyle, right? Is that yes, Kyle, yeah. Yes, yes, Kyle. Um, so I was glad that they didn't make him a part of that.

SPEAKER_00:

Right.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, well kind of left poor Violet. Let's let her have something, you know.

SPEAKER_00:

I know.

SPEAKER_02:

Like let her have some. So in the background, you have um we also have sort of a revelation of Sam finding a piece of paper at uh Emily's house and it's got coding on it, and Emily plays it off, but not before Sam has taken a picture of it. And that's where Sam goes to Ray. Ray, right? He knows would be able to find out, and Ray ends up giving Sam a file about the coding that's on that paper, and basically says, you know, it's related to a famous hacking group, right? Like famous hackers or something.

SPEAKER_00:

And I wonder what that group's name is gonna be.

SPEAKER_02:

I don't know. Well, Sam asked, Sam tries to get out of him, and he's just like, read the file. Yeah, you know, and then of course later you find out that it's Chimera. Yeah, and we also find out where Chimera got its name, although we're not sure why that hacking group got that name, right? Right. We're not there yet. So you do there is a revelation about Chimera. Do you want to tell it? Or do you yeah?

SPEAKER_00:

So we we get another flashback with Grace, right? Emily, aka or aka Emily, and she's actually now part of the coding class, which is run by um what is her name? I can't remember her name. The teacher? Yes, oh I don't remember Mrs. Cambridge. Okay. Um so and to to come back or to back up a little bit, Emily takes the numbers, she goes into the lab without the teacher actually knowing. And the teacher comes in and is like, what are you doing? And she goes, Why are you coding a chess game? And she's like, I'm not try coding it, I'm trying to make it harder. And so that you know, piqued the interest of the teacher to allow Emily to be part of the coding team. And then the one of the scenes or one of the flashbacks is they're all in in class and they're giving out usernames, which I thought was was pretty interesting, you know, because all you know hackers have these, you know, names, and hers was Chimera.

SPEAKER_02:

I only know a few, right?

SPEAKER_00:

Famous ones, and she came up with Chimera, which I I you know I looked up, excuse me, but it it it's interesting because it has to do with Greek mythology and which is what she says, yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

She has that book.

SPEAKER_00:

And it's just uh, you know, a bunch of animals that are put together to create, you know, one being. So I thought it was really interesting because it goes along with the story.

SPEAKER_02:

It does, it really does.

SPEAKER_00:

But it has double meaning too, because there were some things that were saying it means like twins. Um, but oh chimera? Yeah. Oh, that's so I thought it was very, very interesting, and I'm glad they finally told us where it came from.

SPEAKER_02:

Where the name came from. We just don't know how it gets associated with the famous hacking group, right? Like they take it from her.

SPEAKER_00:

Right. So, you know, it's it's like uh some of this stuff that I found, it was like a she-goat. Um like a head of a lion, body of a goat, and a tail of a snake or a dragon.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh, right, because she said it was a bunch of different animals, right?

SPEAKER_00:

And it's like being an organism that has two different sets of DNA. And there was an example of when twins are in a womb and they swap cells. It it was you can go down a rabbit hole.

SPEAKER_02:

You went out. I was just gonna say, I didn't know you looked all that up. That's crazy.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, that's I wanted to see what it was about, but well, there's meaning behind everything, right? Like well, that's what I was saying. You if you're not paying attention, you're gonna miss a whole bunch of stuff and the meanings behind them.

SPEAKER_02:

You know, what's cool about that is it's an actual word that actually means some, it's not some made up, you know how they make up different countries they're from, like in a Hallmark movie or something, you know. But this is like an actual word, and they're using what it means as part of the story. Right. So that's that's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. So we finally get that revelation. Yeah. So that's cool.

SPEAKER_02:

Did we miss any others that you can um no? I'm trying to think of other big revelations. I think we talked about them all. I mean, we could, you know, the the the mystery part of it all, and again, if you haven't seen it and you don't want to hear this, pause and then come back. Um, or you know, listen and then go watch. Um, so the mystery part of it all, you have the chess coach, right? Um, the coach at the chess team, Tim, he finds out that Shane, the vice principal's son, was actually making money writing essays for other students and selling them. And of course, that could be cause for expulsion.

SPEAKER_00:

Um and loss of a scholarship.

SPEAKER_02:

And loss of a scholarship. And he goes to talk to Tim goes to talk to the vice principal. Um why am I his name is escaping me right now, the vice principal's name. But um, so Tim goes to talk to the vice principal about it and they begin arguing. Shane comes in and sees the arguing, right? And then he kind of pulls Tim off of his dad, who's the vice principal, and throws him and he hits like a coat rack.

SPEAKER_00:

Coat rack. Or something right in the back of the head.

SPEAKER_02:

Or yeah, yeah. So first of all, I was like, ew. Second of all, ew. Um, so it was accident, but then they covered it up and and all of that jazz. That's that's what you find out. And we didn't even talk about Benjamin Ayres's character, Hollis, the janitor.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, we were gonna get to that. That's another revelation. Yeah, go ahead. And let me just say he did a great job of playing. He was so good. I I really enjoyed watching him do the scene. Yes. And um, so he's always around the chess club, the chess team, right? Yes, he's always cleaning up. So you're thinking, okay, he's probably really good at chess, right? And at some point we're gonna find this out. Yes. Well, Emily's always talking to him, and she wants to, because you know, Emily, she's like, You're a janitor, so you know a lot of things that are going on at school. And he's like, Well, I tell you what, if you play me in chess, and if you win, I'll tell you what you want to know. And if I win, and I can't remember what she said that she would do, but she ends up winning, anyways, and he tells her, he tells her about the night of the disappearance that uh the coach's car was still in the parking lot, but then it was gone. Yeah, that's right. So a lot of things went on, but the revelation with him come to find out, is dun dun dun dun dun dun tell the folks.

SPEAKER_02:

Tell them he is actually Kyle, the one who Violet has a crush on. It's Kyle's dad, but Kyle doesn't know it. And he's worried that because Kyle's grades were slipping, and he was worried uh Hollis was worried that Kyle wouldn't be able to get the scholarship, the chess scholarship that he needed to go to college.

SPEAKER_00:

Right.

SPEAKER_02:

So he was trying to scare the coach, I guess. He was the one who left the note. He put he took his he took the coach's dog, but didn't harm the dog. Right. Thankfully. Thankfully, right. Right. No pets were harmed in the filming of this episode. So um, yeah, so there's there's some confusion, not confusion, but you know, Emily starts to think it might be Hollis, who actually was the one who killed Tim because she's you know come across all these revelations, and it finds and then you find out that he wasn't the one, and it's when Emily is talking to Hollis that they hear Violet scream because she has gone with the principal into his office with the vice principal to use his phone.

SPEAKER_00:

Because she got one of the letters too.

SPEAKER_02:

Right. Because she got one of the letters in her locker and she and it scared her, obviously. And so she's gonna call her dad, but while she's doing that, Shane, the other her the other teenager comes in and basically tells his dad, yeah, vice principal's son, yeah, and admits what happened, and she gets scared and they try to trap her there. And she screams, and she screams, yeah, yeah. So she's terrorized for some of it, right? Violet, and then at the very end, she actually gets to dance out in the parking lot.

SPEAKER_00:

And you know what was funny is when they started dancing and then the cop cars drove off. I'm thinking, did did everybody leave them to there?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, I think you did actually say that out loud. You said are they gone? And I literally was like, did they because they just had a they just solved a murder. What are they doing?

SPEAKER_00:

But no, Sam and Emily were sitting on the hood of their car um watching them, which I thought was really, really cute.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, it was a great way to end the episode. I think that's where it ended, wasn't it?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, with them with them dancing, with with uh Violet getting Kyle up to dance.

SPEAKER_02:

Right, right. Or at the very and then is it after that that we see Sam looking at the file and he sees Chimera?

SPEAKER_00:

Right.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. Dun dun dun. Sam is looking at Ray's report. Ray Ray's report.

SPEAKER_00:

Ray, Ray's report.

SPEAKER_02:

So it's gonna be it's gonna be interesting to see for the next two parts. Uh, where where it goes from here. I mean, we'll have a brand new mystery, of course, a brand new murder to solve. And then we have all of the underlying, we'll hopefully get more revelations about Emily.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes.

SPEAKER_02:

About Emily and Sam. And Violet is now back working at Under the Mistletoe. Yes, because right.

SPEAKER_00:

She kind of goes there and just these ways.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, so she's there. So it's gonna be it's gonna be a great season. I'm really I'm looking forward to it. And we only have four more episodes, right?

SPEAKER_00:

No, if it's anything like these two episodes, it's gonna be a great season. It's gonna be really, really good, especially with the flashbacks to when Grace where Emily was in school and how that how that group came about. So I'm looking forward to that.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, it'd be very, very cool. So, what was your tinsel top moment of the two episodes if you had to pick one?

SPEAKER_00:

I you know, I I would have to say Violet in and how much her character has grown in this because she she's taking the initiative, she's not waiting, she didn't wait for Kyle to ask her to the ball. She just got Kyle up to dance. Just uh that was my tinsel top moment, just her in general, her character and how she was.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

What about you?

SPEAKER_02:

She well, my tinsel top moment would probably be there's a moment between Emily and Sam. When Sam goes to Emily's apartment, it might be when he finds the the coating.

SPEAKER_00:

Um right on the floor, yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

On the floor, and Emily asks him to put the star on the tree.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

And they and their hands kind of touch, and you can just feel the electricity right between them. And then he's like, then he puts the star on, and then they both, it's cockeyed, and they both kind of, you know, their heads kind of both go to the right. I just thought that that was really cute. I I just like that moment. So the sparks are still there, and we know hope something else is gonna happen between the two of them.

SPEAKER_00:

You know, the more he finds out, maybe in this town, the Yeah, there are.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, the one was accidental, though.

SPEAKER_00:

You know, I know. This one was accidental accidental.

SPEAKER_02:

Can we I I just need to say this too, the name of the episode, right? Cold War, the name of these two episodes. I feel like I was a little let down by that. Because the first season we had um, you know, poison in a pear tree.

SPEAKER_01:

Right.

SPEAKER_02:

Uh Peril of the Bells, Death of a Humbug. I thought those are really good. And then we get like Cold War. So I I don't know. I'm kind of we'll see how it goes from here.

SPEAKER_00:

Um, yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, we're not really doing gears on this one, but yeah, yeah. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, it was kind of interesting the name itself. Cold War. So yeah, I agree with you.

SPEAKER_02:

So how many ornaments? Oh, go ahead.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, I was gonna give it a few. Um I I'm gonna give this.

SPEAKER_02:

I'm gonna give How many ornaments out of five would you give it?

SPEAKER_00:

I'm giving it a five.

SPEAKER_02:

I'm giving it a five, really.

SPEAKER_00:

You're giving it a five. Sorry.

SPEAKER_02:

A combo, a combo, right? For both.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, for both.

SPEAKER_02:

For both episodes. I'd go like a f a solid four. I thought it was really good. Okay. Um, yeah, I'm gonna save my five. I'm gonna harbor my five.

SPEAKER_00:

See, mine they might all be fives for me.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh, maybe. I don't know. Mine's maybe. I mean, four is really good.

SPEAKER_00:

No, uh four is really good. Yeah, I just enjoyed how much they released in in these two episodes.

SPEAKER_02:

So like the clues that you got throughout and yeah, there's probably a lot more. Like if we watched them again, I bet we would pick up a lot more, maybe.

SPEAKER_00:

I think so. I think so. So is that a wrap?

SPEAKER_02:

That is a wrap, Jack. I think that's pretty good.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, well, you know what? Let's tell the people. Thanks for listening, and I'll just read our first video.

SPEAKER_02:

We hope so. Our very first video.

SPEAKER_00:

First of many. Um, also be sure to follow the podcast wherever you listen so you don't miss one of these now.

SPEAKER_02:

All the places.

SPEAKER_00:

All the places at Pour the Wine It's Roncom Time on YouTube and give us a rating. Like us, give us a review. We would really appreciate it.

SPEAKER_02:

We would really, really appreciate it.

SPEAKER_00:

And if you're not watching the video, you can catch us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. So you can give us reviews.

SPEAKER_02:

Anywhere, anywhere you podcast, really. Right. Other places too. And yeah, leave us a review. Stars are good, stars are always good. We're always appreciative and grateful of those as well.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes.

SPEAKER_02:

So shall we wrap it up? Till next time.

SPEAKER_00:

Till next time. Let me get my glass.

SPEAKER_02:

Cheers.

SPEAKER_00:

Cheers.