‘The Santa Clauses’ Chapter 1 Recap: ‘EverythingNow’ is Not ‘Good to Ho’
Santa, Mrs. Claus, and Bernard are back with a new Disney+ original spinoff of The Santa Clause and, in Santa’s own words, it’s Santastic. Unfortunately, Christmas spirit is in short supply — and his list is smaller than expected. Here’s our recap of the first episode of the limited series, titled “Good To Ho.”
Tim Allen returns as Santa Claus for the Disney+ original series, ‘The Santa Clauses’
Tim Allen is back as Santa Claus, even if Grace, EverythingNow CEO Simon Choksi’s daughter, says he’s kind of “over.” Paper mail? Only delivers once a year? Even if some tech is outdated, this beloved character has Christmas magic up his sleeves — and in his sleigh.
This year, Santa’s list was extra short and he decided to visit Sara, the soy milk enthusiast from the first Santa Clause film, for answers. Unfortunately, Sara is much older, binge-watching Judge Judy from her parents’ couch, and forgetting about the magic of Christmas. That is, until Santa whips out her favorite childhood toy: a Polly Pocket.
He wished Sara a Merry Christmas and tapped his nose to leave but then… his magic stopped working. Santa couldn’t go back up the chimney, and after jiggling the lock, just went out the front door. The magic reserves in the sleigh were dangerously low and he was, as the chapter title states, not “good to ho.”
Santa Claus might need a vacation
Meanwhile, at the North Pole, Mrs. Claus helped her son Cal with his VR headset. Her daughter, Sandra, wanted to spend time with a furry friend and noted her mother needed her own identity. (And a first name that isn’t her “before” name — Carol.)
After returning to the North Pole, and dancing to a strange version of “Elves Just Want to Have Fun,” Santa talked to his wife about his magic mishaps. He didn’t want anyone to worry about the drop in holiday cheer, but at 65 years old, Mrs. Claus mentioned he could possibly retire.
He decides to see a doctor, who says a loss in magic could result from children not believing in or needing Santa anymore. With less than a year until Christmas, Scott Calvin decided to get out of shape… quickly.
Even though he lost 10 more pounds, the doctor permitted him to fly on Christmas Eve. The Naughty and Nice check proved to be a problem, though. He couldn’t label a child with ADHD as naughty. Also, even using the word naughty was problematic.
Head elf Noelle is worried about Santa faltering and brings that to Santa’s favorite elf, Noel. Could Santa losing his magic mean that all the elves disappear, too? They decided to keep a close eye on the situation.
Santa’s list (and waist) shrunk more the following Christmas Eve
Before Santa could say “ho ho ho,” it was Christmas Eve again. A few more names were missing from the list, but Santa was ready for his first stop. On TV, there were problems with EverythingNow who, unfortunately, had shipping problems delivering everything now.
After landing on another house, Santa confessed to Noel that the world’s got him down. He grabbed his sack to go down another chimney when he was thrown from the roof and knocked unconscious, a chilling parallel to how Scott became Santa in the first place.
New episodes of The Santa Clauses premiere weekly on Disney+. Until then, The Santa Clause and The Santa Clause 2 is available on the streaming service.
