Noel (Devin Bright) and Betty (Matilda Lawler) are trying to determine if Santa (Tim Allen) and Mrs. Claus (Elizabeth Mitchell) are safe but the rest of the elves are frantic over the precarious situation that their bosses have gotten themselves into. Even though Betty is back, she is still on leave, and Noel is still head elf. Thinking everything is safe and back to normal, the elves are dismayed to see Magnus Antas (Eric Stonestreet) and his gnome sidekick Olga (Marta Kessler) are riding in the sleigh celebrating their victory.
Knowing that they are headed straight for the North Pole, a decision is made to shut down the entrance vortexes, but Noel stops that order. The Head Elf proclaims that if Magnus and Olga want a fight then they can come and get one.
Scott and Carol appear in front of the Santapolis. Searching for Cal (Austin Kane), Carol is shocked to see Cal has been turned into a nutcracker. Demanding her husband fix this, Scott advises that they take him to La Befana (Laura San Giacomo) instead. Noticing that Kris (Gabriel Iglesias) is also taped to the wall, he comes to and is shocked to see Scott. A memory brings Kris back to his childhood when he first saw Scott in the role of Santa while delivering a canoe to a young Kris. (Nice connection to the movie franchise and giving viewers a chance to connect with Kris more.)
Excited to see Santa and Carol, Kris tells them about Magnus and Olga. They tell Kris about the dastardly plan by Magnus, and Kris apologizes. Kris tells Scott that if he needs a sleigh then he has an extra one. Scott uses some Santa magic to make Kris’ artificial reindeer come alive. While Carol is impressed by his abilities, Kris asks if he can come with them on the trip. Worried that this may fail, they tell Kris that may not be able to protect him. Imploring them to take him with them, Kris is excited that he gets to be part of the magic.
Betty leads the elves to safety but separates from them because she knows that if she stays with them, everyone is in danger. Planning to finish what she started several centuries ago Betty takes off to hatch her own plan.
Magnus and Olga land in the North Pole, and the Mad Santa can feel his power growing. Olga summons the gnomes, but Magnus has no desire to listen, because all he wants is his amulet. Magnus did leave an axe for Olga to use to take her revenge on Betty.
At La Befana’s cabin, Scott, Carol, and Kris enter to find the witch and Sandra (Elizabeth Allen-Dick) in a frantic state. Sandra and La Befana discuss the intricacies of spell casting, but Carol interrupts them and tells them that Magnus is back, and that Cal has been turned into a nutcracker. She asks the witch to change him back to a human.
La Befana doesn’t know how to change him back, and points to her failure at fixing the Easter Bunny, but is interrupted by Kris as he fawns over meeting the legendary La Befana. Carol is having none of the sidetracks and wants everyone to focus. La Befana tells them that Sandra is a more powerful witch and she is the perfect person to transform him back.
La Befana tells them that if Sandra can get the amulet, she can change Cal back, assuming they get to the missing amulet before Magnus. The gnomes are marching in, and Magnus is taking stock of what has happened in the workshop. (I laughed way too hard at Magnus’ joke about how everyone knows the Earth is flat, after he looks at a globe.)
Scott leaves to get dressed for battle with Magnus, Sandra and Carol go look for the amulet, and Kris is just excited to be at the real North Pole. On the frozen ground Betty and Olga engage in combat. Scott enters his office to find Magnus at his desk. They taunt each other (which leads to a funny gag) and the battle between gnome and elf continues outside.
Scott and Magnus argue over the placement of objects and how Scott’s changes are bad according to Magnus, while the Mad Santa thinks Scott is just terrible. (The fact that they argue over whose belly is better, may seem juvenile, but it is quite funny when it’s Allen and Stonestreet dueling in their wordplay.)
Betty and Olga are fighting to the extreme while Carol and Sandra are frantically searching for the amulet. Carol advises her daughter to try and tap into the magic to find the missing item. While the girls search quickly, Magnus insults Scott’s beard with a terrible quip comparing it to flavorless cotton candy.
The battle on the snow grows fierce as Betty and Olga crash through the roof of the workshop, and the gnome army arrives. Thinking his help has arrived Magnus orders them to attack, but the gnomes have a different plan. They are here to support Scott. Thanks to Noel’s brilliant leadership, his appeal to the gnomes has got the army to take Scott’s side thanks to a moving speech about the power of Christmas. He convinces them to let go of their grudge and move on in the spirit of good and Christmas.
Kris walks into the room and tells them all that he feels like there is an amulet vibe, but he can’t see it. Carol and Sandra rush back because she knows what the amulet is. The mug that Scott has been drinking out of for years is Magnus’ all powerful amulet. Knocking Scott off his feet, Magnus is filled with Santa magic.
Carol, Sandra, and La Befana enter the room only to learn that Magnus has the amulet. Olga is walking through the toy shop amazed at what she sees. Betty follows her and tells the gnome that if she wants a toy sword, she could make one right there. Showing Betty her skill, Olga explains that every time a gnome tries to make something fun, they end up making something useful, like a printer toner cartridge. (A laugh out loud moment for me.)
Magnus openly mocks Scott and tells him that he is the lesser Santa. Scott doesn’t even know what his own son wants. Telling him that he failed humanity, and his own son, Magnus proclaims that’s why he is back as Santa.
Scott hatches a plan that Sandra could tap into everyone’s own Christmas magic to turn Cal back into a human. While Magnus fights the power of Sandra, the group joins hands and plants their own magical memories with Sandra. Success brings back Cal and he grabs the amulet from Magnus.
Magnus knows he is defeated, and if Scott is going to turn him into a nutcracker, the Mad Santa asks him to do it quickly. However, Scott has other plans. He tells Magnus that there is good in him, it may be very deep inside of him, but Magnus was right about what Cal wanted.
While Betty shows Olga the joy of making toys, she tells her gnome enemy that it doesn’t make sense for the two of them to fight each other. Scott and Carol find that Magnus has put himself in jail so that he doesn’t hurt anyone else ever again. Magnus breaks down and tells them that he doesn’t know what to do.
Scott encourages the Mad Santa to think about the joy he had in his career. Magnus then tells them that he had pure joy when he was onstage at the Santaopolis. Kris then joins the conversation and tells everyone that the park was better with Magnus. Despite the threats, it was the best time of his life. Kris and Magnus form a partnership for the park.
Later that evening, Scott surprises Cal with an early Christmas present. Scott hosts a prom for Cal at the North Pole and Riley (Ruby Jay) is there waiting to dance with him. The teens are happy to be together again, and Cal learns that Riley was convinced to give him another chance thanks to his father.
Scott explains that he plans to be Santa for a long time to come. He frees Cal from the immediate commitment to be the next Santa so that he can have a life and perhaps one day he may wish to become Santa. At the prom, Olga gives Magnus a gift and he is amazed to see that it is a shoehorn. Both agree that they need to separate.
Kris takes the stage, loving every moment he spends in the North Pole. As Carol and Scott talk about the loss of letting Cal go, Carol informs her husband that she has been compensating by getting over involved in Sandra’s life. Scott thinks this is a great idea. Scott tells La Befana that he wants to get her reinstated to legendary status, but she declines, and tells Mr. and Mrs. Claus that she is more interested in teaching Sandra. They also learn that Sandra changed the Easter Bunny back to his normal status.
Carol and Scott meet with Noel and Betty, where Betty informs them that she must get back to her leave. Scott encourages Noel to join Betty and take their long overdue honeymoon. Carol gets emotional about the great things Betty and Noel have done and tells them if they choose to stay in the real world that is their choice.
Seven months later at the Santapolis, Magnus and Kris are headlining a major show, and performing a rendition of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” to great fanfare. Scott and Carol are in attendance with Cal and Sandra.
Once again Scott and his family save Christmas and keep the magic going.
Review:
The Santa Clauses is meant to be a fun whimsical story that doesn’t take itself too seriously and relies on the comedic timing of its lead Tim Allen. Allen is funny, pays homage to the character and its place in Pop Culture.
Elizabeth Allen-Dick and Austin Kane are perfect in the role of Sandra and Cal. Elizabeth Mitchell is without a doubt the best modern version of Mrs. Claus, and the view of the North Pole and the magic of Santa is brilliantly displayed.
Eric Stonestreet as the villain is perfection. The final episode wraps up the story neatly, as it should. The Mad Santa can’t win, and Scott could never transform him back to a nutcracker. Of course, Tim Allen is going to remain as Santa Claus. He’s perfect in the role.
What I enjoyed most about the show was that it didn’t take itself too seriously and allowed viewers to have some fun with the mythical characters. The story of Santa is meant to be pleasing and joyful, and thankfully viewers get a heartfelt story.
Eric Stonestreet was perfectly casted as Magnus Antas, and I would enjoy watching a spin-off of his character with Gabriel Iglesias.
While the show wraps up with this episode in a neat little Christmas bow, I’m surprised we didn’t see Gabriel Iglesias’ Kris take over the role of Santa. I initially thought that he was being set up for the role, and as the season transpired, I felt like the show would end with Scott retiring and Kris taking over. After all, he has the perfect name, and he loves Christmas. I was hoping for it, but perhaps that is a plot point further down the road.