TGI – Episode 611 “Santa’s Little Helpers”

Summary

Pod Meets World: Episode 611 – “Santa’s Little Helpers” Summary

Release Date: May 1, 2025
Podcast: Pod Meets World
Hosts: Danielle Fishel, Will Friedle, Ryder Strong
Original Episode Air Date: December 11, 1998
Directed by: Lynn McCracken

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Episode Overview

In Episode 611 of Pod Meets World, titled “Santa’s Little Helpers,” hosts Danielle Fishel, Will Friedle, and Ryder Strong delve into a holiday-themed episode of the iconic TV series Boy Meets World. Released originally on December 11, 1998, this episode centers around the characters Cory and Topanga Matthews navigating Christmas traditions, unexpected reunions, and personal growth.

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Detailed Recap

Plot Summary

The episode begins in the student union where Mr. Feeny oversees holiday decorations. However, conflict arises when the janitor removes the Christmas tree, citing "University policy" and promoting "Happy non-denominational holidays." Cory (Will Friedle) finds himself unable to celebrate Christmas as planned after a flight mishap prevents him from meeting his parents in the Bahamas. Enter Eric (Rider Strong), who takes up a job as a mall Santa to earn $12 an hour, offering holiday cheer while harboring his own deeper motivations.

Throughout the episode, various storylines intertwine:

• Shawn and Angela’s Reunion: Cory and Topanga inadvertently rekindle the relationship between Shawn and Angela, leading to emotional confrontations and unresolved feelings.
• Eric’s Santa Duties: Eric balances his responsibilities as Santa with his personal life, ultimately deciding to adopt Tommy, a child seeking parental love.
• Corey and Topanga’s Relationship: The hosts explore the dynamics of Cory and Topanga’s engagement, highlighting their deep bond and the comedic hijinks that ensue during the holiday season.

Key Moments:

• Eric as Santa: Eric’s portrayal of Santa involves humorous interactions, such as him playing video games while dressed as Santa and his humorous take on holiday gifts. For instance, at [29:28], Eric quips, “I have gifts. I signed them up to dress up for the holidays just like me,” showcasing his playful side.

• Cory and Topanga’s Dynamic: The hosts discuss the strong bond between Cory and Topanga, emphasizing their ability to navigate complex emotions and maintain their relationship amidst external pressures. At [25:12], Danielle remarks, “These storylines of angsty relationship Cory and Topanga stuff bonded us as people,” highlighting the depth of their relationship.

• Shawn and Angela’s Conflict: The episode builds tension around Shawn and Angela's unresolved feelings, culminating in their heartfelt reunion under the mistletoe. Danielle reflects on this at [62:49], noting, “Sean admits, I don't know what I want. I'm so confused,” illustrating the emotional weight of their relationship.

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Hosts' Analysis and Discussion

Character Development and Story Arcs

The hosts engage in a critical examination of the episode's character arcs, particularly focusing on Eric’s role as Santa and the evolving relationships among the main characters. Will Friedle expresses his appreciation for the comedic elements, stating at [20:10], “I just enjoyed it for 22 minutes,” acknowledging the episode’s light-hearted nature.

Ryder Strong offers a deeper analysis of the narrative structure, questioning the consistency of character motivations. At [22:16], he muses, “They have a special way of making you feel like your plans are the only ones in the world that matter,” critiquing how Eric’s actions sometimes lack underlying conflict or growth.

Humor and Scriptwriting

The hosts commend the episode’s humor, particularly Ben’s (unknown in transcript) comedic timing and interactions. Danielle highlights the playful banter, saying at [37:57], “It was just so much fun,” emphasizing the chemistry among the cast members. However, they also point out moments where the humor may not have resonated as intended, especially concerning sensitive topics like orphaned children.

Emotional Resonance and Themes

Will Friedle reflects on the emotional aspects of the episode, noting at [25:40], “I'm watching the show differently,” suggesting that his perspective has shifted from merely viewing it as a TV show to appreciating the collaborative effort behind it. Danielle adds, “We have a tree that alternates. We have lights that alternate. You can do whatever you want,” discussing how personal experiences influence their perception of Christmas traditions depicted in the episode.

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Notable Quotes

• Will Friedle: “[05:08] I think it's the farmer.”
  Reflecting on the ambiguity of the song "Bingo," showcasing his analytical side.

• Danielle Fishel: “[20:10] I just enjoyed it for 22 minutes.”
  Highlighting her appreciation for the episode’s entertainment value.

• Ryder Strong: “[22:16] They have a special way of making you feel like your plans are the only ones in the world that matter.”
  Critiquing the narrative focus on Eric’s character.

• Will Friedle: “[25:40] I'm watching the show differently.”
  Indicating a deeper appreciation for the behind-the-scenes collaboration.

• Danielle Fishel: “[37:43] He said we could still hang out, though.”
  Commenting on the evolving relationships and character interactions.

• Ryder Strong: “[62:50] Miss. Very quickly.”
  Emphasizing the swift developments in Shawn and Angela’s relationship.

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Final Thoughts and Conclusion

In wrapping up Episode 611, the hosts reflect on the strengths and shortcomings of “Santa’s Little Helpers.” They appreciate the comedic moments and the deep bonds between characters like Cory and Topanga but express concerns over certain narrative choices, such as the underdeveloped conflict in Shawn and Angela’s reunion and Eric’s portrayal as Santa lacking substantial character growth.

The hosts also touch upon their personal experiences and how revisiting Boy Meets World allows them to reconnect with their past and each other, fostering a sense of nostalgia and camaraderie. Danielle anticipates upcoming episodes with enthusiasm, hinting at continuing storylines and unresolved cliffhangers that promise further exploration of the beloved characters.

Overall, Episode 611 serves as both a heartfelt homage to the original series and a platform for the hosts to engage in thoughtful discourse about character development, storytelling, and the enduring impact of Boy Meets World on their lives and careers.

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Conclusion

Episode 611 of Pod Meets World provides an engaging blend of episode recap, critical analysis, and personal anecdotes from the hosts. By dissecting “Santa’s Little Helpers,” Danielle, Will, and Ryder offer listeners both nostalgic looks back at the beloved series and insightful commentary on its narrative and character dynamics.

Transcript

[Danielle Fishel]

It's Danielle Fishel, Ryder Strong and Will.

[Will Friedle]

Friedle from Pod Meets World.

[Danielle Fishel]

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[Will Friedle]

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[Ryder Strong]

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[Danielle Fishel]

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[Ryder Strong]

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[Danielle Fishel]

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[Will Friedle]

So as we oftentimes discuss here on our lovely podcast, we get pretty. Pod meets World. Yes, thank you. In case people didn't know what it.

[Danielle Fishel]

Was, in case you're not confused, if you're listening to Pod meets World, who played Topanga? I am top. We.

[Will Friedle]

We try to get in depth with our, what I like to call PSC or pre show chatter. And today's PSC is going to be no different because this is one that sparked a conversation at dinner the other night that then brought waiters and everybody else into the conversation.

[Danielle Fishel]

Oh.

[Will Friedle]

So I'd like to bring this to my two best friends, but they're out of town this week, so I'm bringing. Thank you very much.

[Danielle Fishel]

Hey, you got me. You got me.

[Will Friedle]

There was a farmer who had a dog and Bingo was his Nemo. Is Bingo the farmer or the dog?

[Unknown]

Oh.

[Danielle Fishel]

It'S the dog.

[Will Friedle]

But it starts, there was a farmer who had a dog and Bingo was his Nemo. So isn't the song about the farmer?

[Ryder Strong]

Yeah, I'm going farmer.

[Danielle Fishel]

I think it's still the dog.

[Ryder Strong]

I mean, Bingo is the name for a dog.

[Will Friedle]

Right.

[Ryder Strong]

But then everybody's name was like Michael and Bob.

[Will Friedle]

But that's my question is, would the whole song then change if it was There was a farmer who had a dog and John was his name. Oh, then is it clearly about the farmer and is just changing the name then change the whole who the song is about? That's. That's what the question. Because then another waiter would walk by and be like, no, it's gotta be the dog and that.

[Ryder Strong]

I mean, I just, I just. Somebody has to like open a place called like Bingo's Farm, right? And it's the name of the farmer.

[Danielle Fishel]

The farmer. I think it's the farmer.

[Ryder Strong]

I like, I like.

[Will Friedle]

It's the farmer farmer too.

[Ryder Strong]

A dude named Bingo. Like, that's a cool.

[Will Friedle]

And I feel like this farmer now for what a hundred years has been like, wait a minute.

[Danielle Fishel]

It's a song about me.

[Will Friedle]

This song was about me, dude.

[Danielle Fishel]

Right, right.

[Will Friedle]

My dog's name was Jeff. Like, why? You know, that's. That's my question.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah, okay. Well, I think it's the dog, and Ryder thinks it's the farmer.

[Ryder Strong]

We're getting deep, guys.

[Will Friedle]

That's what I'm saying.

[Danielle Fishel]

What do you think it is, Will?

[Will Friedle]

I think it's the farmer.

[Ryder Strong]

Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

Think it's a farmer, too?

[Will Friedle]

I do. I think this guy has been overlooked now for, like, a century. This poor farmer, Farmer Bingo, who worked his off.

[Ryder Strong]

And is he related to Old McDonald? Like, are they. Is it, like, Old McDonald's son? So it's Mc Bingo McDonald's. He's Bingo McDonald.

[Will Friedle]

Bingo McDonald, first of all, is the.

[Danielle Fishel]

Greatest name I've ever heard in my life.

[Ryder Strong]

Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah. Old McDonald had a farm and. No, wait, how does old Madonna. Now I'm confused.

[Ryder Strong]

Me too.

[Danielle Fishel]

Old McDonald had a farm. E I, O, E I, E, I, O.

[Will Friedle]

That's what it is. And on this farm, he's the one who had all the chicks and all the dogs.

[Danielle Fishel]

He has all the stuff. Yeah, but.

[Ryder Strong]

But Bingo is his son who's next door with his farm, and he's got a dog that nobody knows the dog's family.

[Danielle Fishel]

McDonald's. Bingo McDonald.

[Will Friedle]

Bingo McDonald.

[Ryder Strong]

Bingo McDonald.

[Will Friedle]

I didn't know if it sounds more porn or more like Highlander character. Like I'm Bingo McDonald.

[Ryder Strong]

Like, I don't know which one it is.

[Will Friedle]

Which one sounds better? Oh, bingo McDonald's is the greatest. I think.

[Danielle Fishel]

I think we need to have our own Chubby's Pop up, but instead of Chubby's, it's just called Bingo McDonald's and we serve all the animals on the farm except dog.

[Will Friedle]

Oh, I love that. Oh, it's such a great way to start. Well, are we still gonna do the Chubby's Pop Up? I think we still should do it.

[Danielle Fishel]

No, it's one of the 50 ideas we toss out into the third house.

[Will Friedle]

We're gonna have to do that in between doing episodes of our sit.

[Ryder Strong]

Any one of us could run a restaurant if any of us had, like, any ability to. To, like, make a restaurant or pop. Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

There's got to be a way. Got to be one of our listeners whose name is, like, Pop Up Jim, and that's what he does and so.

[Danielle Fishel]

Not the name of his business.

[Will Friedle]

His name is Pop Up Jim.

[Ryder Strong]

Dog's name.

[Unknown]

Guys, there was a guy whose name was Pop Up Jim and he had restaurants.

[Ryder Strong]

That would be great.

[Danielle Fishel]

Oh, my God, pup.

[Will Friedle]

I don't know. I Again, hard hitting. I get it. I know sometimes I go philosophical, but.

[Danielle Fishel]

It was important to get into this class. I'm glad we had this. I'm really glad we had this psc.

[Will Friedle]

He needed some in depth psc. Just the way it is.

[Danielle Fishel]

Welcome to Pod Meets World. I'm Daniel Fischl.

[Ryder Strong]

I'm Bingo Strong.

[Will Friedle]

And I'm his dad, Will. You are Ryder Strong.

[Danielle Fishel]

I am Danielle. You are right, he is Will. These are my two best friends, and you're gonna stay that way. How dare you?

[Ryder Strong]

A I M E O E. And I'm Topanga. I'm writer Str.

[Danielle Fishel]

We're derailed.

[Ryder Strong]

We've derailed.

[Will Friedle]

We have. It's official. Yikes.

[Ryder Strong]

That's official.

[Danielle Fishel]

Someone sent me. My friend Brooklyn sent me an Instagram post the other day that was just like some funny screenshots between people. And one of them was like, hey, thanks for, you know, I had a really great time with you tonight. And the response back was like, yeah, me too. And the other person wrote back, so are we a letter A? And then Fischl. My last name? And the person was like, huh? And they were like, you know, are we official? The person's like, I'm sorry, I'm very confused. And he's like, will you be my girlfriend? And so then another one that was on there that made me laugh. Laugh way more than the official. Of course she sent that to me because I'm official. But the one after that was somebody saying that they wanted to be Manga Moose. And the person was like, what? What is Manga Moose? And they were like, you know, like, I only sleep with one person at a time.

[Will Friedle]

Mango.

[Danielle Fishel]

I love the mango Moose.

[Will Friedle]

It's like, oh, I love the one I saw that made me laugh that I couldn't stop thinking about was just said, guy colon. You know, it comes to a point in a relationship where you've seen the other person's butthole more than they've seen it, and I think that's really special. Priest. And Sally has decided to write her vows as well. It was just like I laughed for two days.

[Danielle Fishel]

Oh, gosh. Okay, well, welcome to this episode of Pod Meets World. It is our Season 6, Episode 11 recap of Santa's Little Helpers. It originally aired Da San December 11th. Writers Strong's birthday in 1998.

[Ryder Strong]

So I turned 19.

[Danielle Fishel]

Wow. The synopsis. While celebrating Christmas, Cory and Topanga accidentally bring Shawn and Angela back together, while Eric takes a job as a mall Santa and finds a higher calling. It was Directed by Lynn McCracken.

[Will Friedle]

Yes.

[Ryder Strong]

Oh, nice.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

You have heard us talk about her brother, Mr. Jeff McCracken, ad nauseam on this podcast. We love him. We love Lynn. This was. Was this her first episode of directing ever?

[Ryder Strong]

Yeah, Ever, ever. Television. I don't know, but she was our stage manager for the entire first season and maybe half second season before Steve Hafer. So. Before Steve's having a baby.

[Danielle Fishel]

Before Steve's having a baby. Right. Lynn was our stage manager.

[Ryder Strong]

Yeah. So she really set the tone for our show and our backstage and all of that and then kind of disappeared and we didn't see her for a long time until she came back to.

[Will Friedle]

Direct this, which sucks because she was like one of the first people I met when I came out here and was just so sweet, so welcoming and controlled. The scene set the tone for our show. She really did.

[Ryder Strong]

Yeah, she was wonderful.

[Danielle Fishel]

Michael and everyone else involved in the decision making was really good about giving people an opportunity to direct on this show. Yeah, we've talked about Rusty directing. We've talked about, you know, Fred. He gave Fred his first opportunity to direct. Lynn. Steve Hafer. So.

[Ryder Strong]

And I feel like these last couple seasons we had a lot of first time directors, a lot of actors trying it out or people that were in other positions. We had Mickey.

[Will Friedle]

Mickey Dolenz came on. Didn't. Also style from Mr. Mack. Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

Oh, right. Jerry Levine.

[Will Friedle]

Jerry. And Jerry Levine came on.

[Ryder Strong]

Jerry Levine. Yeah, he came and he ended up. He's been a full time director basically ever since.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah, but he did. I mean, a lot of these people have. That we just named. Steve Hafer went on to be a full time director. Yeah, like a lot of people went on. Lynn has done like 30 episodes of TV. So, you know, quite, quite a lot of people who started their careers with us. This episode was written by Laura Olsen and Patty Carr and guest starring Penny Bay Bridges as the young Santa visiting Lucy. She began her career playing Michael Jordan's daughter in Space Jam and then in the movie Nothing to Lose with Martin Lawrence. She would also appear in Clint Eastwood's True Crime and Mario Van Peeble's Badass has lots of S's in it with an exclamation point.

[Will Friedle]

Well, it's Mario Van Peebles.

[Danielle Fishel]

She is also the niece of Diff'rent Stroke star Todd Bridges and her dad was an actor as well. If you guys want to feel old, she has a beautiful young daughter herself now.

[Will Friedle]

Oh, man. Yeah, it does make me feel old.

[Danielle Fishel]

Then we have the legendary character actor Patrick Cranshaw as the Penbrook custodian best known as Blue from old school, as in you're my Boy Blue.

[Will Friedle]

You're my boy Blue.

[Danielle Fishel]

A role that would catapult him into pop culture infamy. His distinctive old man look landed him in movies like Pee Wee's Big Adventure, Bonnie and Clyde, Sgt. Pepper's lonely hearts Club Band, Best in Show, Bubble Boy, and the list goes on and on.

[Will Friedle]

Craig, he was 24 when he did our episode. That's how much old man character he looks like, right?

[Danielle Fishel]

He's just so good at it.

[Will Friedle]

Typecasting all the time.

[Ryder Strong]

Leeds wasn't available for this week. Too busy knocking broccoli.

[Danielle Fishel]

Exactly. Unfortunately, Crenshaw died in 2005 at the age of 86. So, yeah, 2005. This was 98. This was seven years. He was 79 here.

[Will Friedle]

Okay.

[Danielle Fishel]

And then we have J.B. gaynor as Tommy. J.B. started his career at just seven years old, appearing on shows like Frasier, Mad about yout, and Party of Five. This is just the first of three Boy Meets World episodes. He would reprise this role in a memorable and almost constantly viral scene on Girl Meets World.

[Will Friedle]

Yep.

[Danielle Fishel]

And then Jake Saxon as Edgar. Did you know that Jake's first real role was as little boy in the movie Trojan War?

[Will Friedle]

That's how I know him. I was sitting there watching and I was like, wait. I even said to Sue, I'm like, these look so familiar to me.

[Ryder Strong]

That's so cool.

[Will Friedle]

Okay.

[Danielle Fishel]

All right.

[Will Friedle]

So we were in a movie together.

[Danielle Fishel]

His first job he ever had. Okay. He also appeared on Beverly Hills 90210, Mr. Show, Star Trek, Voyager, Charmed, and podcast favorite Hang Time. But he left the business in 1999. And Dorian Wilson as the mall manager. Dorian is best known as Professor Stanley Ogilvy from UPN sitcom the Parkers. He also was Chandler's boss on Friends and appeared on the early HBO adult comedy Dream On.

[Will Friedle]

He was awesome on all of those.

[Danielle Fishel]

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[Danielle Fishel]

So before we jump into our recap, does anyone have any overall thoughts they'd like to share?

[Will Friedle]

I'll start if you want.

[Danielle Fishel]

Okay, go for it.

[Will Friedle]

I loved it.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah, I did.

[Will Friedle]

I think I'm to the point of I saw so many moments in this episode of just us trying to make each other laugh and entertain each other That I just let everything else go.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

I'm like, Eric is Santa with little kids. Great.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah. I love that.

[Will Friedle]

You know, Ben is hysterically funny in. Once again. He did several things that I just kept rewounding and were laughing my ass off. And I just kind of let everything else go. And I enjoyed it for 22 minutes.

[Ryder Strong]

Yeah, but you kind of had to let everything else go. Yeah, there wasn't much else there.

[Will Friedle]

No, it's true. But again, Bill Daniels reading Something for Christmas and all. It was all little moments. I was like, fine.

[Ryder Strong]

This episode is a vibe. This episode is like a nice, relaxing vibe. It's a holiday thing that I really like. Like, I was kind of like, yeah, just turn the Christmas lights on and let's chill out. Like, there's not much story.

[Will Friedle]

No.

[Ryder Strong]

Like, I don't care about Shawn and Angela. I'm sorry. I'm one half of that couple, and I just didn't care.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Ryder Strong]

But I like seeing they've let it go. They just do long. Who cares? The story. All. Both stories were just kind of like, really? Is this even a story? How does Eric, like. Eric doesn't.

[Will Friedle]

Doesn't. Just.

[Ryder Strong]

He doesn't really change that much. Like, you have this monologue to God. But I was like, but you've already. You're already doing all the right stuff.

[Danielle Fishel]

Like, I know.

[Ryder Strong]

Eric's already got a heart of gold. Like, he doesn't need to learn anything. He's not being mean to anybody.

[Danielle Fishel]

So none of it made any sense.

[Will Friedle]

No.

[Ryder Strong]

And. And Shawn and Angela do love each other, so there's no conflict.

[Danielle Fishel]

I don't know.

[Ryder Strong]

But it was a nice vibe. Like, I just want to. Glass of wine?

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, A glass of wine next to a Christmas tree. Nothing wrong with it.

[Danielle Fishel]

I know. I agree with both of you. I didn't even allow myself to overanalyze anything pertaining to the story. I just went, right, we need to have this conversation about what's going to happen now that we know that Shawn and Angela both love each other. I find it shocking, truly, that. That Sean still doesn't know what he. What he wants and.

[Ryder Strong]

Nonsense. It's nonsense.

[Will Friedle]

See, I.

[Ryder Strong]

The most annoying character ever.

[Will Friedle]

I think I know, but I think I know the reason why they're doing it. And I think we get to it later. And they allude to it at the beginning where he says, your dad's disappeared again. Just that Sean. I know.

[Ryder Strong]

Lean into it. Have Sean express some of that. They will eventually be in a relationship because. And instead, it's just I think they do eventually.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

Also, I would love to know a little bit more about what does cause him fear. Does he think he's gonna be like his dad and he's gonna always leave? Because honestly, he's been nothing but present in. He's always been. He's never gone anywhere. Much to Ryder Strong's dismay. Sean was like, write me off this show. Write me off this show. And they're. You are loyal. So, you know, like, he's not going anywhere.

[Will Friedle]

Well, you were reading Didgeridoo all the time and doing all that stuff, so, yeah, angst.

[Danielle Fishel]

But I. Everything out of my mouth should just.

[Ryder Strong]

Be me, like, running my hands through my hair going angsty. Angst. It's like, I'm not saying anything. My character stands for nothing. It's so weird.

[Will Friedle]

We've also said this. We've brushed on this a number of times, but I'd like to once again point out Trina is really good.

[Danielle Fishel]

So great.

[Will Friedle]

Trina's a really good actor. And I don't know if I was fully aware of how good she was because I never worked with her. Which we make a joke about in this. We full on make a great joke about in this episode.

[Danielle Fishel]

Oh, my God.

[Will Friedle]

And that was the sad living. And we know that was us 100%.

[Ryder Strong]

I never see these guys.

[Danielle Fishel]

That's just us messing around with each other, dying. Also, I was trying to figure out what I say. I'm like, what do I say?

[Ryder Strong]

What do you say? Because you're talking like, I can't hear you. But that was us just screwing with each other all week. We're like, let's make this a thing. Let's make this.

[Danielle Fishel]

Let's make it a thing. Because here we are, the two story lines, A and B storyline crossing at the door.

[Ryder Strong]

I mean, how much Ben was having so much fun this season. This season. Ben. Ben arrived as like a. A confident actor in a different way.

[Will Friedle]

And you can.

[Ryder Strong]

I mean, I just. This is the Ben I remember the most. He's like, this is. Ben is just having the best time. He is having so much fun playing this character. And we are just dying with Ben.

[Danielle Fishel]

And I in the student union when we realize. And he snaps and I stand up. I remember those moments of us just playing, like. And it is so much fun because the mind meld that writer you and Ben had. Ben and I also had from being in all the. You know, all the. When you think about how funny it is that I do really think all those storylines of angsty relationship Cory and Topanga stuff bonded us as people. Not even just the characters, but they bought it. Bonded us in a way that we had a shorthand.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

And it was so much fun. It was so much fun to watch.

[Ryder Strong]

It is really nice to have Cory and Topanga played for comedy, to have that, you guys doing hijinks and having your own. It's a very corry Sean dynamic finally. And it's, you know, it's. It's really nice to see. Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

I've had this shift, though, that I think is going to affect the rest of my rewatching the episodes, which is. I'm not really watching it as a TV show anymore. I'm watching it as us working together.

[Danielle Fishel]

Right.

[Will Friedle]

And so I'm seeing the changes in us as people. And the little mouth turns that Ryder does that I recognize from 100ft away. And us ad libbing and us having fun, and it kind of. I'm like, just watching the show differently. And so this last night finished. And you're right, or you're 100% right, like, nothing happened at all, really. And I just didn't care anymore. Yeah, I just didn't care. It was fun for me to watch you all and us together, and that's what it was.

[Danielle Fishel]

Also, I have officially entered the Danielle is dating Lance era. And so for all for the next. For the rest of this season, you'll probably see a really happy, like, giddy Danielle. Yeah, unless it. Unless the episode calls for something else, you'll probably see a really, like, I.

[Ryder Strong]

Don'T know, sexually frustrated, I was gonna say.

[Will Friedle]

Or like six or seven months in, you're gonna start seeing it. Slightly confused. Danielle.

[Danielle Fishel]

You know the truth. I. I said this, though, the truth of that was I probably would have been more of that had I also not been such a late bloomer that the. The safety of that was perfectly fine for me. I was like. I was. I was perfectly comfortable. Did it eventually confuse me? Yeah, maybe by prom night, I was a little confused.

[Will Friedle]

I remember having a couple conversations with you about that.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah. But, like, also, it was okay. It was okay. So, anyway. Okay, here we are jumping into our recap. We start in the student union. We've got a Christmas episode. Is singing oh Come Ye Faithful in Latin.

[Will Friedle]

In Latin. That can't just be the song. It's got to be. Feeney's got to be singing in Latin. You have me at Latin.

[Danielle Fishel]

Gleefully places a tiny Christmas tree near Jack and Rachel. Also, Rachel is wearing a shirt that reads Snow Bunny.

[Will Friedle]

Does it really even see that?

[Danielle Fishel]

It Says snow bunny across the chest.

[Ryder Strong]

It was a. That was a. Get back to the ski. Ski.

[Danielle Fishel]

Gotta get back to.

[Ryder Strong]

That's where all the hot women are, man.

[Danielle Fishel]

That's where they are hot women.

[Ryder Strong]

They're just ski bunnies.

[Danielle Fishel]

They're everywhere.

[Ryder Strong]

Just gotta get them on the. Gotta get on the slopes and oh.

[Will Friedle]

My God, I didn't even notice that my brain is now such a thing. Officially not seeing stuff like that anymore. Like, just like I can't see it anymore.

[Danielle Fishel]

Jack asks what he's doing and Feeny explains that one of his favorite duties as high school principal was overseeing holiday decorations. You know when you. When you apply for a job as a principal, one of the first things they ask you is to see your lookbook. Your lookbook of holiday inspo.

[Ryder Strong]

Can I see your Pinterest?

[Danielle Fishel]

Where's your Pinterest?

[Will Friedle]

Your Pinterest, your Christmas. Plus you said duties, which is great.

[Danielle Fishel]

Duties. So he's carrying on on the tradition here. Rachel admires the tree until someone dismissively plucks it off the table. It's the janitor. And he threw it into the trash bin. Feeny asks what he's doing and the janitor calmly responds. University policy. Happy non denominational holidays.

[Ryder Strong]

It's a war on Christmas joke. Can you believe it? What is?

[Danielle Fishel]

They won't let us say Christmas.

[Ryder Strong]

They're taking the price.

[Danielle Fishel]

I had a question. Defeated, Feeny asks Jack and Rachel if they're going home for the holidays. And Rachel says no. And Jack says he was supposed to meet his parents in the Bahamas, but somehow the airlines messed up his ticket, which means he's stuck there. Then Santa bursts through the door. Ho ho ho. Merry Christmas. Though it's pretty obvious. He pulls his beard down to reveal his face. It's me. It's Eric.

[Will Friedle]

It's me.

[Danielle Fishel]

Feeny plays along and genuinely admires Eric's holiday spirit. But Eric reveals his true motive. What I got is $12 an hour and a 15 discount at Stuckey's department store. And a job where I get to sit on my butt all day. Hey, it's kind of like your job. Feeny stares at him wide eyed. $12 an hour? I wish. Then he walks away in a huff. Eric tells Jack and Rachel that he has gifts. He signed them up to dress up for the holidays just like him. He flirtatiously hands Rachel a Santa hat. Mrs. Claus. Then he aggressively throws a green pointy hat at Jack. Elf boy. Rachel is ecstatic. She planned on spending Christmas depressed over her ex boyfriend. But now she gets to be Mrs. Claus. Jack waves his hat in Eric's face. I'm not gonna be an elf. I was depressed about not going to the Bahamas. This green pointy hat is really gonna push me over the edge.

[Ryder Strong]

So this is the second family Bahamas trip that she has not been able to go on.

[Danielle Fishel]

Correct.

[Will Friedle]

Because he's family, loves the Bahamas and Rachel cannot get over her boyfriend. She. It's like at some point you're like, dude, it's now been six years. Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

Ser.

[Will Friedle]

I wanted to be you.

[Ryder Strong]

Really?

[Will Friedle]

You were gonna spend Christmas with your ex boyfriend does that.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah, I know. We don't know how long they were together, do we? I'm sure we said please don't send us your emails. I'm sure they said it. We do know. I don't remember. I don't think they did.

[Will Friedle]

I don't think they did.

[Danielle Fishel]

It was 30 years. That's why it's like half the time. Half the time. Half the length of time you're together. That's how long it takes to go.

[Will Friedle]

Is that how long it takes?

[Danielle Fishel]

Wait, that's what they say. That's. Yeah. So if you were together, for you.

[Will Friedle]

First of all, who are they? Would be the first thing I would ask.

[Danielle Fishel]

Ask. It's they and it.

[Will Friedle]

And where does this math equation come from?

[Danielle Fishel]

I don't know. But they know it and it's right. I'm sure the one that taught me.

[Will Friedle]

What was the other thing you said?

[Danielle Fishel]

The best way to get over somebody is to get under somebody else.

[Will Friedle]

You have to wait a year for that. Wait, do you wait a year for that?

[Danielle Fishel]

No, we help speed it up. Yeah. If you do that, it's like half that time. So it's a half life. It's like six months.

[Will Friedle]

Oh my God. I don't understand the math.

[Danielle Fishel]

I'm just making it up as I go based on what they say.

[Will Friedle]

Really? It seems scientific.

[Danielle Fishel]

But Rachel convinces him it'll be fun. She puts the hat on his head and giggles about how cute he looks. Once she walks away, Eric taunts him. Plus you're only going to be making like five bucks an hour. Jack wonders why he's getting ripped off. And Eric points out the obvious. I'm Santa, you're just an elf. Read your Bible.

[Ryder Strong]

Good line.

[Danielle Fishel]

Good.

[Will Friedle]

That's a great line.

[Danielle Fishel]

Whenever we make a joke about the Bible.

[Ryder Strong]

The Bible.

[Danielle Fishel]

It's so funny.

[Will Friedle]

It works. Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

Writers reading the Bible as read the Bible. So funny.

[Will Friedle]

Corey grabbing it next to the to the stand. But when he was going to have sex for the first time, just Reading this book like it just always worked.

[Ryder Strong]

Bible jokes.

[Danielle Fishel]

Funny Bible jokes.

[Will Friedle]

1. One joke, but gets another. Thank you very much. See what I just did?

[Danielle Fishel]

Thank you very much. They all leave just as Corey and Sean are walking in mid lecture, Sean adding a purple scarf to his leather jacket. Cory's asking his best friend, the dorms are closed. Your father's missing again. Real throwaway line there. Just toss that in. Why wouldn't you come to my house for Christmas? Sean says it's because he hates being the third wheel. But Corey points out he's been the third wheel with him in Topanga for so long, he thinks of them as a tricycle at this point. Without their third wheel, what would they be? Sean responds, a bicycle.

[Will Friedle]

Bicycle. With a little. Little uptick of your mouth.

[Danielle Fishel]

So cute. Sean agrees to go with Cor Corey and thanks him for the offer. Then Topanga and Angela walk in. Topanga and Sean say hello, leaving him face to face with Angela. They give each other an awkward embrace, and Sean leaves. And Angela warns Topanga, maybe you should ask Corey if it's okay for me to hang out with you guys this Christmas. Topanga reminds her that since they are engaged, Corey's family is her family. Plus, Angela's dad is stationed halfway around the world, so she can't spend Christmas alone. Is this just inviting random. I know, yes.

[Will Friedle]

But also just inviting random people to Christmas.

[Danielle Fishel]

I couldn't believe it, honestly. It was like, this is just as bad as Topanga was for the Topanga Christmas episode.

[Will Friedle]

Seriously, I'm just gonna invite random people to the Matthews house.

[Danielle Fishel]

They're my family now. We're engaged. But this is the first time we mentioned that Angela's dad is in the service. Right?

[Ryder Strong]

Right.

[Danielle Fishel]

Okay, so this is planting a seed so she can't spend Christmas alone. Angela agrees to spend the holiday with them, thankful for the offer. She leaves to pack her bags, and Cory runs up, excited to give Topanga the news. There's a change of plans, and their first Christmas is an engaged couple. He explains, since Shawn's bunking in my room. Then he does a weird thrusting move and says, sex is off 50 times.

[Will Friedle]

Because just he does, like, two shoulder thing and then goes back to the. The sex is. Even just the way he says sex. It is such a great comedy beat. Oh, God, it's funny.

[Danielle Fishel]

It's so funny and so unsexy in the funniest way possible.

[Ryder Strong]

So much. He was so much.

[Danielle Fishel]

So much fun. Topanga, somehow unmoved by the thrusting, focuses on the fact that he invited Sean and She invited Angela. Corey shouts, who said you could invite Angela? Valid question.

[Will Friedle]

Thank you. Valid question.

[Ryder Strong]

It's my family.

[Danielle Fishel]

Now she's gonna kill me. Topanga starts to freak out as well, but then they both realize, why would Angela want to kill him? And why would Sean blame her? They both know something the other doesn't. So Topanga convinces him that on the count of three, they'll say that thing aloud. They count down in unison. One, two, three. But Cory's the only one to blab his secret. Angela's still in love with Sean. Corey's pissed at her for tricking him, but Topanga is so happy to hear this. It's so fun. I hate that. Corey explains he was sworn to secrecy, and he needs to hear what Topanga knows. Topanga blurts out that Sean is also still in love with Angela. Corey gasps, Yay. Plus, Topanga reveals that he wrote that poem for her after they broke up. Corey yells out another yay. In response. Topanga adds, the only reason he said he was over her is because he thought she was over him. Corey only smiles this time, and Topanga wonders, why didn't he say yay? Corey says, he doesn't want to be predictable.

[Will Friedle]

I don't want to be predictable.

[Danielle Fishel]

Topanga sternly reminds him that they can't tell Shawn or Angela they know the truth. So Corey tells her the plan. They tell them Domingo lightly slaps him and makes him promise their friends will do this on their own. Corey screams, what kind of cockamamie is that? It's Christmas. They love each other. They're staying at my house. This thing is out of our hands. He's having so much fun, and it's becoming.

[Will Friedle]

He's like nine different people in one line.

[Danielle Fishel]

I know.

[Will Friedle]

He's an old Jewish man. He's.

[Danielle Fishel]

They love each other.

[Will Friedle]

Feminine. He's just keeps going through all these different little girls. Yes.

[Danielle Fishel]

It's so funny.

[Will Friedle]

It is just random. And so Ben and God, it's funny.

[Danielle Fishel]

Topanga desperately asks him, you won't interfere?

[Ryder Strong]

I'm really cur. I really want to. Like, how did this translate to people? Like, because to me, it's all in jokes. Like, to me, I am seeing Ben as an actor. Take. You know, because these lines are very witty. Like, the back and forth is very witty, but actually could be played just kind of deadpan. Like, the way it's written. It's funny enough to just be like, I don't want to be predictable. But when Ben is doing all this extra work, I feel like it's for Us.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yes. It's rehearsal Ben. It's rehearsal Ben. Yes.

[Ryder Strong]

And yet it must have also translated to the audience because everyone loves his performance. So, like, it's. I don't know. Cause it's real.

[Will Friedle]

It's him.

[Ryder Strong]

I can't imagine turning on my TV and seeing this guy without knowing him. Like, I just don't know. There must have been. I'm so curious what that was like, because all out see is Ben and. But I guess that's what was coming across. Like, people must feel the way about Corey that we do about Ben because there's all these weird little lilts and in jokes and things and that those layers added up to. It's so. It's so interesting. So good. It's so funny. It doesn't really make sense, but it's so funny.

[Will Friedle]

But it's.

[Ryder Strong]

Yeah, but.

[Will Friedle]

Oh, it's great though.

[Danielle Fishel]

At some point during this, Ben snaps and I jump up. Like, things like Pavlov's dog just. It's in.

[Will Friedle]

He's like, pointing to your spot, like, where you're supposed to be.

[Danielle Fishel]

Where I'm supposed to be. And. And. And I remember us, like, doing those things. And then the way we stand up and he puts his arm around me and he says, it's way too early to tell. And then we fall back onto the couch together. It's. It was just so much fun.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

So then we're in the. Matthew's living room. Topanga, Cory and Angela walk in as Allan is decorating the tree. Corey admits they've brought a few extra people and Allan says he'll get the sleeping bags.

[Will Friedle]

Well, thank God we still have the wilderness store they're coming from.

[Ryder Strong]

Isn't like, the tree supposed to have, like. It's supposed to be an aluminum tree and we don't get it on Christmas Eve.

[Danielle Fishel]

That was important for one episode.

[Ryder Strong]

They got to drive to Canada. What is it?

[Will Friedle]

Jesus. Not anymore.

[Ryder Strong]

But then we also have, like. What's the. The popcorn thing.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yes. Bringing popcorn. They used to.

[Will Friedle]

Of course. Sure.

[Ryder Strong]

You strung popcorn. Really?

[Will Friedle]

I mean, yeah, Back in, like, elementary school and stuff like that. Of course. You'd string popcorn.

[Ryder Strong]

Yeah, yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

It's a good part.

[Ryder Strong]

It's fun.

[Danielle Fishel]

It's fun. It's fun.

[Will Friedle]

It's for the Christmas.

[Danielle Fishel]

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[Ryder Strong]

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[Will Friedle]

Sunny days by the pool with my shirt on.

[Danielle Fishel]

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[Will Friedle]

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[Ryder Strong]

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[Danielle Fishel]

But we're focusing on my favorite, the wax strips. It makes for the easiest wax ever and it lasts up to four weeks, all while minimizing hair regrowth and most importantly, saving me time. I have a podcast to record, a little League practice to watch, and a bedtime of 8.30pm Nair is an actual life savings.

[Will Friedle]

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[Ryder Strong]

The triple S. You heard the man. Get ready for summer. Buy Nair wax strips at Walmart, Walgreens or CVS.

[Unknown]

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[Danielle Fishel]

I was like, prosciutto, give it to me.

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[Danielle Fishel]

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[Danielle Fishel]

As he leaves the room, Shawn walks in from the kitchen. He apologizes for taking so long and then stops in his tracks when he sees Angela.

[Will Friedle]

Oh no.

[Danielle Fishel]

She tries to play it off cool, saying she didn't know he was coming. Corey tries to explain, Topanga didn't tell me she invited Angela and I didn't tell her I invited John. Huh? Naughty. Angela whispers under her breath. Corey, I'm gonna kill you. Corey assures her it was an innocent mix up and begs her not to leave. Shawn will Think it's because of him. Meanwhile, Shawn whispers to Topanga through gritted teeth at the other end of the room. I can't believe you did this to me. Topanga responds, what do you want me to do? She can't stay here because you're secretly in love with her. Corey and Angela walk over, and Corey tries to make things less awkward. We're all friends. Friends who secretly love. Topanga punches him, and Corey readjusts the holidays. And all that matters is that we're together, no matter how we really feel about each other. Topanga punches him again and he complains in pain. Why do you always have to hit. This is gonna be rough. But we see Shawn and Angela both put on brave faces now in the mall. Santaland, Eric's new festive seasonal gig. He's dressed in a Santa costume, surrounded by Christmas decorations, but playing a video game and yelling, Die. Die. Die Dead. Nearby, Jack is dressed as the elf, and Rachel is in her Mrs. Claus outfit.

[Ryder Strong]

Why couldn't we have an actual Game Boy? It had to be like a bizarro Game Boy.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, we probably weren't allowed to use it.

[Ryder Strong]

Why not?

[Will Friedle]

I don't know. Who owned Game Boy. Nintendo.

[Ryder Strong]

Right.

[Danielle Fishel]

Okay. So did that have. I wonder if they just weren't a sponsor of ABC or.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, I don't know if you're allowed to use, like, straight up. I mean, it's the same reason we couldn't eat Cheerios. We had to eat Cheerios.

[Ryder Strong]

Right?

[Will Friedle]

You know, stuff like that. So it's probably the same thing.

[Danielle Fishel]

Jack asks Eric what he's playing. Susie shops a lot. Jack calls him a freak, but Eric insults him back. At least my shoes don't point up. Rachel chimes in. If I wanted to hear two people fight for Christmas, I would have spent it with my ex boyfriend. Give this girl something else. Anything. Give her anything. Does she not have any family? It's just the ex boyfriend was the only person she had in her entire life.

[Will Friedle]

Yep. And a snow bunny shirt.

[Danielle Fishel]

Right. She took that well because in the.

[Will Friedle]

Future episode, she ends up marrying her the. The ex boyfriend. So she goes back to him anyway.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Ryder Strong]

Really? Yes.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah. Right.

[Ryder Strong]

Then she goes to class, she wears robes, and she's tall.

[Danielle Fishel]

She's a snow bunny.

[Ryder Strong]

And she's a snow bunny.

[Danielle Fishel]

And she has an ex boyfriend she's obsessed with.

[Ryder Strong]

She's got a lot of depth.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah, right. Then a little boy runs up while Santa is still playing his video game. Ho, ho, ho. Hold up one second. I'm almost on level two. Two.

[Will Friedle]

It's been.

[Danielle Fishel]

Then he screams, die, die, die, dead. Jack the elf suggests, why don't you put the game down, Santa? Mrs. Claus adds, There's a little boy that wants to sit on your lap. Eric finally lifts the boy onto his lap for a picture to be sent to his grandma. Then she'll send him a check. Santa, Eric suggests, after she sends the check, tell her she forgot it works every time. Well, there you go.

[Will Friedle]

Did you. Do you guys notice anything really weird about the entire Santa thing?

[Danielle Fishel]

No, not anything out of the ordinary.

[Will Friedle]

They're putting kids on my lap. She's then taking a Polaroid and keeping the Polaroid.

[Danielle Fishel]

So who is the picture for?

[Will Friedle]

The entire time she's like teaching smile and then putting it next to her. The kid walks away. It's like, are we keeping these for our. Some weird scrapbook for ourselves? Like, what is actually happening here?

[Danielle Fishel]

They come back later when they're developed to pick them up.

[Will Friedle]

They're Polaroids.

[Danielle Fishel]

I know, but it takes at least a minute and a half for it.

[Will Friedle]

To hand the kid the Polaroid. I'm like, seriously going, who are the pictures for? Why are we keeping these? What's happening?

[Danielle Fishel]

I thought the same. I did think of it and I was just like, whatever, it's fine. We take.

[Will Friedle]

Taking these pictures for.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah, it was very strange in my mind. My justification was that it was like a modern day system where the. You take the picture and it prints out a copy, but also a digital copy gets sent. And so they're going to, they're going to pick up a digital copy and you're getting the board.

[Will Friedle]

Nope.

[Danielle Fishel]

Rachel takes a picture of the two and the little boy turns on the charm. Well, hello, Mrs. Claus. No, no.

[Will Friedle]

And then actually sexually assaults her. He grabs her butt.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yep.

[Will Friedle]

Yikes.

[Danielle Fishel]

She rolls her eyes and as the kid leaves, he pinches her butt.

[Will Friedle]

Yikes.

[Danielle Fishel]

She gasps at the audacity. Then the mall boss runs up and says, a busload of kids from St. Mary's just arrived. They are children without parents and no money at all, if you know what he means. The three of them nod until the boss angrily explains, they're not gonna buy anything, so get rid of them as fast as you can.

[Ryder Strong]

Now. This did not land. Like, this did not work. The audience didn't laugh.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah. They're like, what?

[Ryder Strong]

And I feel like it's an issue of casting. Like, this guy is like perfectly likable and you want to cast somebody who's awful. Yeah. You want to grab the second you see the person. You're like, ugh. I don't like that guy. But this guy walks in, you're like, oh, he's a normal mall guy. He's an owner boss, right? You're like, fine. So it's like bad casting. Like, you should have cast somebody who like, they walk in, they have a look on their face and they're just like, yeah, I don't like. You know. And instead, because the joke just doesn't work, you're like, you're this crass.

[Danielle Fishel]

Also, any one line before this to make us not like him, if they had just had him at the top of the scene, instead of it being about the video game, they have him saying something nasty about the little snotty nosed kids in the line. Then the next time you see him, you're like, oh, this joke jerk.

[Ryder Strong]

Yep.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah. Orphans are very rarely funny, by the way.

[Danielle Fishel]

It's a hard thing.

[Will Friedle]

It's a tough joke to break into.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah. He spots the kids and sneers, here come the little darlings now. He quickly puts on a smile and acts like he's thrilled to see them. Now with their heartstrings tugged, Santa. Eric suggests they give these kids a little extra attention. Mrs. Claus and the elf agree. Eric lifts Lucy, the first little girl, onto his lap. When asked, Lucy says she doesn't know what she wants for Christmas. But then Lucy spots Eric's Susie Shops a Lot game. Santa suggests that she might want one of those. But Lucy seems sad. I never got anything I asked Santa for. Eric hands her the game. I don't think you were asking the right Santa. Lucy exclaims, wow, you really are Santa. She gives him a big hug and Mrs. Claus captures the moment for him to keep forever. Once Lucy leaves, Eric shows his excitement to Rachel. He really is Santa. Jack is amazed that Lucy really believed in them. Eric admits, I love being Santa. It's not just putting on the suit and getting the superpowers and everything. I mean, so funny.

[Ryder Strong]

Such a great throwaway line.

[Danielle Fishel]

I mean, I made her happy. He's got the photo to prove it. Okay.

[Ryder Strong]

Actually, what is going okay, this storyline. Okay, so here's the pitch, right? The pitch was, oh my God, we gotta have Erica Santa. It's a Christmas episode. What are we gonna do? One of the writers is like, oh, Erica Santa.

[Danielle Fishel]

And he gets in over his head.

[Ryder Strong]

Okay, great. But he wants to be Santa, enjoys being Santa, keeps wanting to be Santa. Like there's no story. There's like, it's like the way to set it up is like he takes the job of Santa because he Wants the money and actually doesn't want to do it and that. But they. It's like they keep writing against the actual story. So. Because Eric is so likable and Eric is so lovable. Eric is good with kids. Like, all the things that would make this a story they can't write to, I think. So it's just Will in a suit story.

[Danielle Fishel]

I think the story, though, is actually more about, like, how we think you can solve a. You can. Like, he thinks he can solve this problem by buying gifts. Say, oh, wouldn't Christmas be wonderful if all the kids had a gift under the tree? And. And. And he manages to make that happen by stealing.

[Ryder Strong]

But then the conflict of the stealing never pays off. Like, I kept waiting for, like, his parents to.

[Danielle Fishel]

No, but the conflict is when the kid looks you in the eyes and says, I want a mommy and a daddy.

[Ryder Strong]

Right? And you can't buy them, and I.

[Danielle Fishel]

Can'T do that for them. And that's then when he says, what more can I be doing? I could be donating my time on weekends to be a big brother to these people.

[Ryder Strong]

Right? But that's not a problem. Like Eric.

[Danielle Fishel]

But first he's gonna kidnap a kid.

[Ryder Strong]

No, but I mean, like. But every step of the way, there's no. There's no conflict. Like, literally, Eric would just hear the kids say that and be like, I will give you everything. Because he keeps doing it. So we have to monologue to God for a crisis that doesn't exist, and he has a crisis about being Santa. That isn't a crisis here. Like, it's like the character doesn't turn. It's just. It's just more of Eric doing more of the same thing he would have done anyway. So there's no actual turns in this storyline. It's weird. It's. It's like they kept writing against the very thing. And I know what happened. They kept writing these storylines and these plots, but then it was like, well, we can't have Eric actually feel that way, or he's too likable. So, yeah, it's weird. It's like the character doesn't actually change. Doesn't do anything. Doesn't fit the storyline that he's going through. It's a weird. I don't know. It doesn't.

[Will Friedle]

But I'm just like, Santa.

[Ryder Strong]

But you're Santa and you can. Superpowers.

[Will Friedle]

Exactly.

[Ryder Strong]

What's the thing? It's fine. Like, it's just you. It's a vibe. It's a vibe. We're just hanging out with you.

[Danielle Fishel]

Eric tells elf boy to go buy toys for all the kids with Santa's. Santa's dad's credit card. Jack wants to contribute too. He's going to use use his Bahamas trip money to help. Rachel wants to help too, but she doesn't have any money, so she'll just help Jack shop. The next kid gets on Santa's lap, and Eric is happier than ever. We transition to later in the day with the very last St. Mary's Kid meeting Santa. Eric reaches into his big red bag for a present, but there's none left. So he just gives her the bag, which luckily, she's happy about. It's the end of the day, and the three Christmas workers are all a little more appreciative than before. But then Eric takes it up a notch. He tells Mrs. Claus and his elf that they're just getting started. He will not rest until every needy kid gets what they want for Christmas. Rachel tells Eric that no one expects that of him. But Eric asks, then why were they sent to me? But they're out of money. They've done all they can. But Eric won't accept that. They just need to get more creative. Rachel doesn't get it. How are they supposed to get creative? Jack shakes his head. Oh, you shouldn't have asked him that.

[Will Friedle]

That set it up.

[Ryder Strong]

Eric's gonna get crazy, but nothing's gonna happen.

[Will Friedle]

Hey, we don't know that yet.

[Ryder Strong]

I know, but I kept being like, oh, now he's gonna get in trouble with his parents. Mr. Feeny's gonna get here's a bunch of fruitcake and presents and go. Okay, no problem.

[Danielle Fishel]

Well, then we're in the Matthews living room. Eric is still wearing his Santa outfit and stealing presents from under the tree. He's even taking the entire stockings off the fireplace and putting them in his big red bag bag. Then Feeny walks in holding an array of individually wrapped fruitcakes. He wasn't able to give them to his new colleagues, so they had to go somewhere. Eric happily will take them around Christmas. They run out. Run out in don't give me fruitcake. They run out. Apparently, the tradition is to run out as fast as humanly possible.

[Will Friedle]

We're still not good at that accent.

[Danielle Fishel]

For the record, apparently the tradition at Pembroke is to beat it out of town as fast as humanly possible. But he's excited to partake in the sacred tradition of hanging his Santa ornament on the Matthews tree. But just as he goes to find it, Jack accidentally hangs it himself. Jack apologizes and Feeny's disappointment is palpable. But he decides.

[Ryder Strong]

Jack and Feeny interaction twice now this episode.

[Will Friedle]

It started with Jack and Feeny and I. So in the beginning, I just. I occasionally will throw out little lines at the screen of how I wanted it to be. And it should have just been when Jack stands up and goes, hey, Mr. Feeny. Feeny, you know. What are you doing? I just wanted Feena to go.

[Ryder Strong]

What.

[Will Friedle]

What was your name again?

[Ryder Strong]

Which one are you?

[Will Friedle]

The first time, second time we've spoken in the nine years we've been.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah. Jack apologizes and Feeny's disappointment is palpable. But he decides he can just find a substitute. He picks up a shiny, meager red ball and sarcastically praises it. How special. Eric's ready to go. All aboard for Santaland. And Amy objects. It's Christmas Eve Eve. Alan adds, we were going to spend this together as a family. But Eric is focused.

[Ryder Strong]

Christmas Eve day. Why doesn't she say that?

[Danielle Fishel]

Because it's Christmas Eve night now.

[Ryder Strong]

We have to go to get our tree.

[Will Friedle]

I love how you say Christmas Eve day like it's such a weird thing.

[Ryder Strong]

I know it's a weird thing.

[Danielle Fishel]

Nobody do it for Christmas Eve day.

[Ryder Strong]

No one says that.

[Will Friedle]

Just collecting Polaroids. That's how we do it.

[Danielle Fishel]

As he heads out with Mrs. Claus and his elf, Corey and his friends are just getting back.

[Will Friedle]

It's just us messing around.

[Ryder Strong]

Us. Yep.

[Will Friedle]

All week. All week long.

[Ryder Strong]

We just had to pass each other. And we decided to make a huge deal. And like.

[Danielle Fishel]

And we are ad libbing.

[Ryder Strong]

We are ad libbing.

[Danielle Fishel]

And we are.

[Will Friedle]

Hey, what's going on?

[Danielle Fishel]

And the only thing that makes it passable to be able to be aired on TV is because. Imagine if we didn't act excited to see each other. And it's Christmas Eve night. It's Christmas Eve. It's an Eve.

[Ryder Strong]

It's Jesus. It's the day.

[Danielle Fishel]

It's Christmas Eve evening. And we are passing each other in the door. And what if we didn't?

[Will Friedle]

We just walked by each other.

[Danielle Fishel]

Just ignore the corners.

[Will Friedle]

Crisscross applesauce. That's.

[Danielle Fishel]

Are they in a fight? Do they.

[Ryder Strong]

What if we just gave each other dirty looks as we walk? I'm sure we did, too at some point.

[Will Friedle]

We did that. Y. I'm sure we did that at one point. But just. It's just. The last thing you hear is just Ben just going, never see those guys.

[Ryder Strong]

It's the greatest.

[Will Friedle]

Oh, it's just us having fun.

[Danielle Fishel]

I loved it.

[Will Friedle]

I loved it.

[Danielle Fishel]

It makes me laugh. So I literally watched it, like, five times trying to figure out what I say, and I can't figure it out. I'm trying to read my lips, but. But maybe if I turn off the volume. I didn't do that. I. Maybe if I just turn off the volume and read my lips. But, like, trying to read my lips and hearing I never see those guys at the same time, it's like, oh, I can't figure it out.

[Ryder Strong]

So great.

[Will Friedle]

So great.

[Danielle Fishel]

Amy asks the kids how ice skating went, and Corey cheekily responds, yuletides of fun, mom, but who knew it would be couples only? And then I did think for one second. Wait, what? You. There's a. There's a skating place that has a rule that the only people allowed on the ice get off the ice unless you're a couple.

[Will Friedle]

Well, you know, that's. They do. Here's the thing. They did that in roller skating.

[Danielle Fishel]

Well, they had a couple's dance or.

[Ryder Strong]

They have one song.

[Will Friedle]

Did you remember? Like, you'd hear the guy going, all right, ladies and gentlemen, it's couples skate now. Couples skate.

[Ryder Strong]

But it's one song.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, maybe it's just a long song.

[Ryder Strong]

I actually just thought about that because I remember it was one Moment in Time by Whitney Houston, and I had to get off, and I was so in love with Lindsay Cheerhardt, and I did not get to skate with her. Why couldn't you skate with Lindsay Ghart.

[Will Friedle]

Who, by the way, is a completely fictitious person you just made up.

[Ryder Strong]

But no, she was my first girlfriend. I mean, but we never talked to each other.

[Danielle Fishel]

Wait, I'm sorry. What?

[Ryder Strong]

What?

[Will Friedle]

You also had a good grade. Four and third grade. Okay, all right, third grade.

[Ryder Strong]

Maureen was actually the one who came to me and told me that Lindsay Cheerhard liked me. So that's how Maureen and I, like, met and started talking in third grade.

[Will Friedle]

But Lindsay ended up marrying the message.

[Ryder Strong]

We went. Went. We didn't say go. We went. We. You go with somebody. That's what it is.

[Will Friedle]

Going out?

[Ryder Strong]

No, we're just going together for, you know, a couple of weeks or whatever.

[Will Friedle]

But you never spoke to her?

[Ryder Strong]

Nope. She was too shy to talk to me, so I would talk to Maureen. So that's why Marine and I ended up.

[Will Friedle]

So I'm curious. You never spoke to her. I'm guessing you didn't kiss. You didn't do anything. So we passed. How were you going?

[Ryder Strong]

We passed.

[Danielle Fishel]

No declaration of saying.

[Ryder Strong]

Everyone in school knew that we were going to get together.

[Will Friedle]

But you never spoke.

[Ryder Strong]

No. And then. Yeah, I remember. And And I just. I was just listening to Whitney Houston with India, and I was hearing one moment in time, and I was like, oh, yeah, I remember the skating rink, the roller skating rink, and. And the couples dance and just feeling. Feeling all the feels for Lindsay.

[Will Friedle]

See, that's why this is real.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

That's why this is real.

[Danielle Fishel]

This is. Did you then break up? Did you have to stop going?

[Will Friedle]

No, they're still together.

[Danielle Fishel]

The number of fingers you have to offend officially end it. Oh, my gosh, Writer. You are. You have too many. You. This is a problem. This is illegal.

[Ryder Strong]

I know.

[Will Friedle]

Well, think about it. You're literally putting the same effort into the relationship now that you were in the third grade, so you're essentially still together.

[Ryder Strong]

One moment in time.

[Danielle Fishel]

Topanga reiterates to Sean, I didn't. I swear. Then she wants to have a word with Corey. She insists that he stays out of that.

[Ryder Strong]

This.

[Danielle Fishel]

But Corey explains, when you and I broke up, Shawn did everything in his power to get us back together again. With gritted teeth, he whispers, it's Christmas. Can you think of a better gift than doing the same for them? Topanga now grits her teeth to respond. I know your intentions are good. Just don't push so hard. Corey sighs. All right, I'll be more subtle. Allan comes barreling into the room holding a bowl. Who wants to string some popcorn? Corey can't hold it in. He shouts at the top of his lungs, shawn and Angela with his fizz. Hands down, Sean and Angela. Oh, God. He grabs the bowl, and Morgan tries to tell him, I always string the. But before she can get it out, Corey throws a few kernels at her. He hands the popcorn over to Sean and Angela.

[Will Friedle]

Was that her whole part this week? Did she say, I always string the. And that's it?

[Danielle Fishel]

Does she speak?

[Will Friedle]

I don't think she says anything else the whole week.

[Ryder Strong]

Poor Morgan.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, I felt she.

[Danielle Fishel]

And she gets cut off.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, literally.

[Ryder Strong]

It's really funny, though. Just throws popcorn at her. Oh.

[Danielle Fishel]

Shawn breaks the silence with Angela. So, you and me stringing popcorn. They both reach their hands into the bowl and then quickly pull them out. It's awkward, but they're being respectful. Sean smiles. I'm not sorry that we're spending Christmas together. She agrees. I'm not either.

[Ryder Strong]

I just want to see Cory be funny. Like, why are we.

[Will Friedle]

I know.

[Ryder Strong]

I was like, God, Ryder, you're such a downer. Just like any. I mean, like, it's not.

[Danielle Fishel]

It's just.

[Ryder Strong]

I don't care. You just feel all the energy evaporate. And it's like, just listen to me recap. I'm like, go quick. Just go quick. Just get to the next scene. Jesus.

[Danielle Fishel]

Meanwhile, Alan announces that the tree is ready. It's time for him to light it up. Corey, not so subtly, says Sean and Angela. The tree looks so much better from right up here. And points to the staircase that just happens to have mistletoe hanging right above it. What's that? Mistletoe. Sean looks at his goofy friend, who's giving him a big thumbs up. Could he be any more obvious? Angela agrees. Like the ice skating and caroling weren't bad enough. Sean wonders, what's he think? A little holiday spirit. We're just gonna fall into each other's arms. On cue, Alan turns off the lights and the beautiful Christmas tree glows. Sure enough, Sean admits it's beautiful. And Angela looks into his eyes and sighs. I love Christmas. In the glow of Christmas, they finally kiss. Topanga and Corey watch them and smile.

[Ryder Strong]

Kiss.

[Will Friedle]

Miss. Very quickly. Sorry, gonna go off on a tangent, but it led to a discussion in our home last night. Cause I grew up a certain way and Susan grew up another way. Colored Christmas lights. Yay or nay?

[Ryder Strong]

I'm a yay. And my wife, too. Let me do it.

[Will Friedle]

Thank you. Same. You and I will live together with our own Christmas lights.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yes.

[Ryder Strong]

Yes, yes.

[Will Friedle]

Thank you.

[Ryder Strong]

I love colored Christmas lights.

[Will Friedle]

Thank you.

[Ryder Strong]

I want. And my wife thinks it's cheesy. And I'm like. And tat. No. Give me the big bright light lights. I want it to be you.

[Will Friedle]

Thank you, Danielle.

[Danielle Fishel]

I agree with both of your wives. Except since I've had kids having kids, I see Christmas lights through their eyes now. And you're right. Like, yes. Classy. Christmas is boring. Come on. I get it. White is beautiful. The white. The white lights and you can. And it glows off the silver and the gold and the. Whatever bright multicolored Christmas lights scream Christmas.

[Will Friedle]

Thank you.

[Danielle Fishel]

Thank you. We. We have a tree that alternates. We have lights that alternate. You can do whatever you want. And. And my kids usually pick it. And they pick like sometimes the slow blink colored ones, sometimes they pick the ones where just a couple of them go on and off. Outside our house, we do red and we do red and white alternating on our fence. And then on the house, we do all white. But I'm thinking this year we switch it up and do big multi color.

[Will Friedle]

My wife is 100 wrong. And please don't tell her I said that.

[Danielle Fishel]

We'll keep it a secret.

[Ryder Strong]

Are you gonna win this argument.

[Will Friedle]

No, it's not about what she told me last year. She goes, if you want to do colored lights, you can put colored lights in the tree. But I saw a single tear roll down her cheeks.

[Danielle Fishel]

She's like, if you want to break. If you want to break my heart.

[Will Friedle]

Exactly. And she didn't say it like that, but that's what she meant.

[Ryder Strong]

Right, right.

[Danielle Fishel]

And so here's what I recommend. Get another tree. So we. We have. We have a big tree, and then we also have like a. A small tree. But I, for a while in my house, had a regular. Before I was married, I had a regular tree, and then I had an all white Christmas tree. And it was every. All the ornaments were white, all.

[Will Friedle]

When you lived by yourself, you had two Christmas trees.

[Danielle Fishel]

Correct.

[Ryder Strong]

Wow.

[Will Friedle]

Wow.

[Danielle Fishel]

Life is good. When I lived alone, I was gonna say thank you.

[Ryder Strong]

So much free time, Christmas Tre.

[Danielle Fishel]

So much free space. Oh, my God. A whole house to myself.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

Christmas trees in every room. Yeah. So do another tree. Do a tree. Do a Will tree. Your wife likes a Charlie Brown tree. You do that. Get a second tree.

[Will Friedle]

Okay.

[Danielle Fishel]

And decorate it however you want to see.

[Will Friedle]

I'm just gonna put it in front of her tree.

[Danielle Fishel]

You can put it in your room. Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

Oh, she'd love that. That.

[Danielle Fishel]

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[Will Friedle]

Barbecues, sunny days by the pool with my shirt on.

[Danielle Fishel]

No unwanted hair. No one wants that. So we're here to remind you about Nair, the number one hair removal brand, the gold standard in the field.

[Will Friedle]

You can't go wrong with any of their products. They have the new luxe wax for less. Wait time in between waxes or the.

[Ryder Strong]

Dermatologist tested body and shower creams free of dyes, parabens, phthalates and sulfates.

[Danielle Fishel]

But we're focusing on my favorite the wax strips. It makes for the easiest wax ever and it lasts up to four weeks, all while minimizing hair regrowth and most importantly, saving me time. I have a podcast to record, a Little League practice to watch, and a bedtime of 8.30pm Nair is an actual lifesaver.

[Will Friedle]

You can achieve salon quality results at home, leaving you with stress free, soft, silky skin. Or as I like to call it.

[Ryder Strong]

The Triple S. You heard the man. Get ready for summer. Buy Nair Wax strips at Walmart, Walgreens or CVS.

[Unknown]

This is Jenna Ashkowitz and Kevin McHale from and that's what you really missed.

So we both got the same delivery ding dong at our door the other day from Dietz and Watson. Did I not tell you immediately after that we were podcasting that I literally ripped into the package and was eating the spicy cheese and the prosciutto and.

[Danielle Fishel]

I was like oh that prosciutto.

[Unknown]

Give it to me.

I was so excited.

So Dietz and Watson has been handcrafting premium meats and artisan cheeses for over 85 years. They're family owned and operated and by.

That we mean their family is on the floor every day ensuring everything goes above and beyond their quality, above all else standards.

And even if it's slower or if it's inconvenient, it's the only way they know how to do it it.

And they never cut corners. Ever. They do things the right way, even if it's the hard way.

And they're transparent about what goes into their food and what doesn't.

They know. Good taste doesn't need a long list of ingredients.

They stick to what matters, like using the fewest, highest quality ingredients to craft their meats and cheeses. Simply made. Simple as that.

Visit Dietz and Watson.com the right way to learn more about the Dietz Difference.

[Danielle Fishel]

The name of this product is the Active Cash Credit card from Wells Fargo. That's a lot of name, but it's also a lot of card.

[Will Friedle]

It earns unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases, whether it's buying tickets to the game with your mom or grabbing a coffee with your dog. Purchases big and small earn unlimited 2% cash rewards.

[Ryder Strong]

No limits, no categories to track, just straightforward rewards that keep adding up.

[Danielle Fishel]

So you might stumble a bit while saying it, but paying with it will make you stumble upon so much more. Shopping, dining, Cooking, gardening. You get the idea.

[Will Friedle]

Let's say it together.

[Danielle Fishel]

The Active Cash Credit card from Wells Fargo earns unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases. You know what? It does have a ring to it. No, seriously, try saying it out loud. The Active Cash Credit card from Wells Fargo.

[Will Friedle]

Ooh, that sounds nice.

[Ryder Strong]

Learn more@wells Fargo.com ActiveCash terms apply for.

[H]

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[Danielle Fishel]

Later in the Matthews living room, Corey and Sean are making some adjustments to the tree ornaments. And Corey can't stop grinning at Sean. You kissed Angela. Shawn begs him not to make a big deal out of this, but Corey reminds him it is a big deal. Shawn isn't sold. Not this time. She's over me. We're over each other. Why won't you let this go? Corey finally blurts out. Because Angela's still in love with you. She didn't want to break up with you in the first place. And I know you wrote that poem because you still love her. Shawn isn't thrilled. He's concerned. How do you know that Corey gets flustered? Someone told me. I mean, no one told me. I mean, I didn't say anything. He quickly begs, please don't take me to Topanga. Sean immediately pushes Corey toward the girls. I want to know what's going on. Shawn interrogates Topanga. What did you tell Corey? Topanga's eyes widen. So Corey comes clean to Angela. I told Shawn that you still love him. And I know Topanga was telling you that Sean still loves you too. Angela cuts him off. What? Corey, now shocked, looks at Topanga. You didn't tell her anything, did you? Topanga shakes her head. Corey lets that sink in, then suggests that now's a good time. Angela's not laughing. Somebody better start talking. She looks at Shawn. I think it should be you and me. Shawn agrees. Let's get out of here. Corey tries to stop them, but they slam the door in his face. He asks Topanga, I couldn't see their faces. Did they look angry?

[Ryder Strong]

Was he mad?

[Will Friedle]

Was he mad?

[Danielle Fishel]

Was he mad? Topanga gives him an angry look of.

[Ryder Strong]

Her Student Union dad.

[Danielle Fishel]

I know. I don't know, because there's 42 people.

[Will Friedle]

In a very small home. There's no place anymore.

[Ryder Strong]

We could go to our dorm rooms. Like, we have dorm rooms. Like, what?

[Danielle Fishel]

I know. Well, we've. Yeah. I don't know.

[Will Friedle]

You know what? Might have been cute. I know it's kind of ridiculous, but if you did it in, like, the tree house, right?

[Danielle Fishel]

I mean, there's still tree houses in there.

[Ryder Strong]

In the backyard.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, in the side yard. So.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

I don't know.

[Danielle Fishel]

I know, because then you come back to the house. You don't even, like, choose to stay at the side yard. Why do you go all the way to the station? How far is the student union?

[Will Friedle]

Do you think everybody has a car?

[Ryder Strong]

Teleportation. Sitcom. Teleportation.

[Danielle Fishel]

You borrowed Corey's car.

[Ryder Strong]

Okay, we only. We only have a car when it becomes a problem, right?

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Ryder Strong]

It gets a driver's license or a car breaks down and we have to take the subway.

[Danielle Fishel]

Also, I did think it was very interesting you didn't talk at all about the relationship until you arrived at the Student union. Yeah, because you walk in, you're like.

[Will Friedle]

Okay, the 45 minute drive, we're not even gonna discuss anything.

[Ryder Strong]

But also, like, what is the problem?

[Danielle Fishel]

What is Sean?

[Ryder Strong]

Why is Sean not ready to commit? Does he want to be dating other people? Like, there's no reason. So, like, when he has the moment of kissing Angela, it's like, what are you overcoming?

[Danielle Fishel]

What is the.

[Ryder Strong]

We don't. It's just.

[Will Friedle]

It's supposed to be about his parents, but they never. They never ever address it. I think that's what it is.

[Ryder Strong]

You could make it. I don't know.

[Will Friedle]

Cause they throw in a nugget about her dad, and they throw in a nugget about your dad, and both your families are eventually gonna be, why? And if everybody serves, that's what happens later.

[Ryder Strong]

That's like the great deep motivation. But what is Sean saying actually, like, it's nonsense.

[Danielle Fishel]

Especially cuz the.

[Will Friedle]

I'm not ready.

[Ryder Strong]

I'm not.

[Danielle Fishel]

The last time he spoke about it, he was like, listen, I made a mistake. I thought I want. I thought I wanted to be free, but I just miss her. I think about her all the time. So the last time we saw him, he was like, that was a mistake. And now he's like, but I don't know if I want to fix it.

[Ryder Strong]

Yeah. Yeah. I don't. Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

I don't know that I want to change the mistake.

[Ryder Strong]

Yeah. Drama for the sake of drama. I mean, that's the. It's melodrama. It's the definition of melodrama.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

Topanga gives him an angry look of her own. Oh, yes, like that. And then Amy, who we know notice is very pregnant, walks into the living room and asks, has anyone seen my toaster oven? And then we cut to Santaland. Eric is telling a little girl that the Easy Bake Oven is for rookies. What he has for her is. Is a real toaster oven. The girl leaves with Amy's appliance, and Eric declares, christmas is the greatest idea anybody ever had. He's all out of stuff now and all those little kids are so happy. Jack praises his friends, You're a great Santa. Eric returns the compliment. He's a great elf. While also praising his own Santa skills. I want the world's happiness to be my responsibility. What a great job. And just when he thought the day was over over. A little boy walks up and sits on his lap. Eric asks in his regular voice, you look familiar. Are you in my psych class? The child explains, oh, just seeing JB.

[Will Friedle]

Again as a little kid was so like, oh, my God, it's jb.

[Danielle Fishel]

The child explains, I was here yesterday. My name's Tommy. Mrs. Claus butts in. Yeah, he came with the other children on the bus. Santa pretends orphan. He's an orphan. No problem.

[Ryder Strong]

We couldn't have the orphan in the previous scene. We had to time it out for the story that he comes back a. Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yep.

[Ryder Strong]

Okay.

[Danielle Fishel]

Santa pretends he's known Tommy his whole life. He actually gave Tommy the truck that he's conveniently holding. Tommy sadly explains, yeah, and I came to give it back. I didn't really believe you were Santa, but all my friends came back with stuff. So now that I know you're really him, I was wondering if I can give this back and ask for something else instead. Eric doesn't think twice. He can ask for anything he wants. Tommy asks, do you think I can have parents for Christmas? And then sad music plays.

[Will Friedle]

S A M. Sad music.

[Danielle Fishel]

And then Eric looks to his friends for support. Will, what do you remember about working with JB.

[Will Friedle]

From this episode? Nothing. I don't even remember being Santa very much. I remember the. For some reason, I remember the moment of, oh, I'm out of everything, but you can have this bag. Like, I remember that, but I remembered very little else. The next couple episodes that Tommy's in, those are the ones that I really remember. Cause I think Nia Vardalis is in one of the episodes.

[Ryder Strong]

She's like the social worker.

[Will Friedle]

She's the social worker. And I remember she and I got along really, really well. And I remember just JB and I had a good working relationship. He was a great little kid. And, yeah, I remember them trying to take Eric in the. More dramatic. Like, they were like, you know, Sean hasn't been dramatic in a long time. So we're gonna make Eric more dramatic.

[Danielle Fishel]

We need more angst.

[Will Friedle]

We need more angst. They. I think the next couple episodes that he's in get pretty drama e. But no, I just remember having fun with him. He was. He was a cute little kid. And I remember his family that was there were very nice. And he's obviously was easy.

[Ryder Strong]

And then he came back for Girl Meets World, and it was great to work with him. Yeah. So fun to see him again.

[Danielle Fishel]

You directed that episode, didn't you?

[Ryder Strong]

Yeah, I directed it. Yeah. He was.

[Will Friedle]

It was just. Yeah.

[Ryder Strong]

So he hadn't acted since.

[Will Friedle]

No.

[Ryder Strong]

Boy Meets World, as far as I know.

[Will Friedle]

He's basically, like, one step below a professional golfer. I mean, he's. He plays a ton of golf at college and is, I think, gonna pursue that maybe. I mean, he's apparently, like, a very, very good golfer, so.

[Danielle Fishel]

Wow.

[Will Friedle]

But it was great. He was a great guy, and it was great to see him again. Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

So cool.

[Will Friedle]

Are we tracking him down?

[Danielle Fishel]

Are we trying to track JB down? Yeah. I reached out to Barbie Block, and Barbie said she would do, like, a blast through her agent to see if any agents or whoever still has contacts with him. So we'll see. So then we're at the student union at night. Sean and Angela walk up to the closed doors and are met by the janitor from before. Before. I thought just about everybody would be out celebrating by now. He shrugs and lets the kids in. If it's. If. Why isn't it just unlocked?

[Will Friedle]

Like I was gonna say, what are they? What are they? Maybe because there's. There's stuff in the student store they don't want stolen.

[Danielle Fishel]

Maybe like, Like.

[Ryder Strong]

But I don't. Yeah, but why do we need. I guess it's just at like the atmosphere of like a lights off.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah, I guess.

[Ryder Strong]

Couch. I don't know.

[Danielle Fishel]

Decorated, kind of for Christmas. I guess he threw them all away. I don't know. Angela and Shawn now stand face to face. And she's the first to ask. Why can't we just tell each other how we feel? Shawn doesn't know, but he does know how confusing it is. Angela agrees. We broke up. We agreed to move on. Shawn adds, and next thing you know, we're kissing under the mistletoe. Angela continues on and letting Corey tell us how we should feel. Shawn admits, when we don't even know ourselves. But Angela stops agreeing with him there. I'm sure I love you. I've always loved you. I just wanted you to be sure about what you felt. Shawn admits, when we broke up, I thought I wanted to be free, but I couldn't stop thinking about you. That scares me. I don't know what to do with those feelings. Angela suggests he give in to them because then he'd be in love with someone that loves him too. Isn't that what he wants? Shawn says, you are a wonderful person, Angela. And she repeats herself. Isn't that what you want, Sean? Sean admits, I don't know what I want. I'm so confused. Okay. I really don't think I'm ready. Angela gets emotional. I opened my heart to you. I can't just sit around like a fool waiting for you to be ready. Shawn tries to speak, but he doesn't know what to say. Angela grabs his hands. I'm done. It's over, Sean. Shawn's face is filled with pain as he watches her walk away.

[Ryder Strong]

Ready for what?

[Will Friedle]

I know because you already dated. I know you were in a monogamous, long term, loving relationship. So. Ready for what? To do that again You.

[Ryder Strong]

Because you already did it in marriage, man.

[Danielle Fishel]

Exactly.

[Ryder Strong]

It's just like extreme. It's just.

[Danielle Fishel]

And it's like you think that if you are in a relationship, you have to be like Cory and Topanga, and you're not ready for Cory and Topanga level attachment.

[Will Friedle]

That's what dating means on Boy Meets World. It means, oh, we're dating. We love each other. It's forever.

[Danielle Fishel]

It's. And we are together in everything.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Ryder Strong]

Well, it's like, it's the same way that, like, kissing stands in for sex. It's like, you know, it's that it's. It's all the turmoil of, like, a real. Yeah, I mean, it's just heightened, you know, it's just. We just have to make it more dramatic than I think it really would be in real life. Like, in real life, of course, casually date and break up and maybe date somebody else, but that doesn't make for good drama. So we gotta amp it up, you know?

[Will Friedle]

Right.

[Danielle Fishel]

Right now, on a snowy bench outside, Eric, still in his Santa costume and covered in snow, speaks into the void. I want to make the happiness of the entire world my responsibility. What an idiot. He looks up to the sky and asks, what am I supposed to do? I made those little kids smile, took care of everybody that came to see me. No disrespect, but why would you send me that little boy? Why doesn't that nice little boy have parents? Why did you send me that little kid? Finally, he wonders, why do I only come to you when I need something? You shouldn't have to take care of everything, right? He stands up and pledges to the universe, I will take care of this. I can be responsible for the happiness of one little boy. And then we're in the Matthews living room. Topangas.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah. I be just blowing by that because I. You're right. It doesn't. None of it. I mean, I love a Good Godalog, I really do, but I. I don't. It didn't. It just doesn't make any sense. It really doesn't. You could have lifted the entire scene out. It just wasn't necessary.

[Ryder Strong]

Eric, you know, he's trying to do the right, and he does the right thing. Like there's. There's not really a conflict here because Eric is. Is. He has such a good heart. He's always done the right thing. There hasn't been a conflict of him giving too much to kids.

[Will Friedle]

This scene should have been saved for a future episode where if he's going to adopt Tommy or not. Yes.

[Ryder Strong]

Right.

[Will Friedle]

That's when. That's when this is necessary. Not. I'm going to be nice to the kid and become a big brother on the weekends.

[Danielle Fishel]

This scene could have picked up right where the last scene ended, with JB still on your lap. You making the decision in that moment. Come home with me and your friends. Go, going, what are you doing? What are you doing? And you can say, I can be responsible. You could end at the same place. You can make the decision right then and there. You're right. I don't really know what. You need to talk to God About. Or why you need to have this feeling of like, oh, I only come to God when I'm. When I need something, I'm not. It's.

[Ryder Strong]

I just didn't.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah. It seemed unnecessary. That's.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Will Friedle]

It was kind of strangely placed.

[Ryder Strong]

I mean, I just think that the story. If it had started with you not wanting to be Santa or, like, hating the idea of having to be with kids on your lap or something.

[Danielle Fishel]

Right.

[Ryder Strong]

But they couldn't write that because that's not fitting.

[Will Friedle]

Or doing it to meet girls or something like that.

[Ryder Strong]

There you go.

[Will Friedle]

Exactly.

[Ryder Strong]

Like, that's what I mean. There could have been. But I feel like they. And there probably was a draft. So where. It started that way, but then they were like, no, that's not likable, or that's not Eric. And so they wrote themselves out of the arc. It's like. It's actually just more of the same.

[Will Friedle]

Because how do you not. Then if you do. He does it because he thinks he's gonna get girls, and he's standing there next to a girl, and he's like, man, women love a guy uniform. Like, how do you. How you know something like that? And then it becomes about actually bringing happiness. But, yeah, you're right. They never. I think they tried to do that with the 12. I'm making 12 an hour, and I get to sit on my butt. And then he's playing video games like it doesn't matter. They were trying to show that. Yeah, you're right, but it wasn't.

[Danielle Fishel]

You're right.

[Ryder Strong]

Start there. It just wasn't harsh.

[Will Friedle]

Right, Agreed. It needed to be more heightened than it was.

[Ryder Strong]

I mean, they kind of wrote against the very story they were. They were setting themselves up for. It's. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

That's funny, Will. I didn't even think of that. They did try to make it be like, this is the easiest job in the world. Who cares? I sit on my butt, I play my video game, I make 12 bucks an hour. And then it becomes I need to adopt a child.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah, right. Yeah. Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

So then we're in the Matthews living room. Topanga is staring out the window, and Corey wonders, what could be taking them so long. I love you, you love me. We're back together. Let's thank Corey and Topanga. That's 10 minutes, tops. Morgan asks, do we have to wait for Eric to open our presents?

[Will Friedle]

Oh, that's right. Good. She did have another line. Good, good, good.

[Danielle Fishel]

Alan, Feeny and am gathered in the room, and Amy responds, you've been patient. Long enough. How about each one of us open one? They each open a wrapped present, but Morgan realizes hers is empty. Allen's also hers. Nothing inside.

[Ryder Strong]

All it would have taken is Feeny in that scene in the opening to be like, this is actually a pretty great job, Eric. This is important. Like, kids, kids, you're gonna be something that these kids will remember forever. And you to be like, ah, whatever. And then this monologue could have been a scene with Phoenix where he's like, now you know it is important, right?

[Danielle Fishel]

Like.

[Ryder Strong]

And Feeny cares about Christmas.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah.

[Ryder Strong]

Like we've already. It's all it would have taken is one exchange with him being like, I think it's actually kind of an important job. And you'll be like, I get to be Santa. I wear a beard. And then you and you mock him. And then this scene would have been like, it got to you, didn't it? You could be like, yeah, I really care about the kids.

[Danielle Fishel]

And I'm in too deep now. What do I know?

[Ryder Strong]

I'm in too deep.

[Will Friedle]

That's great. Yeah, that was have worked. Yep, that would have worked.

[Ryder Strong]

So simple.

[Danielle Fishel]

So just took Ryder like four minutes. Allen's also has nothing inside beside a little note. He reads it aloud. Your 75 bit power drill was donated to a child in need. Love Santa Claus. Feeny reads his note. He also gave away my breast pump. He's confused and then realizes that was actually for Amy. I'd like it to be said if, if, if you or anyone you know is thinking of buying a pregnant woman a breast pump for a holiday. Don't. That's not a gift. Do not. Don't.

[Will Friedle]

I got. I gotta make a call.

[Danielle Fishel]

We only have a few minutes and then, then go cancel that. What on earth? Merry Christmas. Here's your breast pump for the child of mine you're having. Anyway, Amy doesn't understand, but Allan knows his son well enough. He asks Jack and Rachel where Eric is and Jack stutters. The kids were just so cute, you know, it wasn't just him. Rachel chimes in, have you ever really gotten caught up in the spirit of Christmas? So much so that you wanted to steal.

[Will Friedle]

That's a funny line, huh?

[Danielle Fishel]

On cue, Eric walks in, still dressed as Santa. He wishes everyone a Merry Christmas. And we see Tommy peeking out from behind him, too nervous to come in. Eric gives him some encouragement and Tommy finally walks in. He waves to everyone as Eric introduces Tommy to his family. Allan walks up and says hi to the little boy. Boy, do you have my 75 bit power drill? Amy, Asks what's going on.

[Ryder Strong]

Doesn't this feel weird? Like Eric showing the kid? It's.

[Will Friedle]

It's just giving it away. I mean, just take one of the kids. We got plenty. Just take one.

[Danielle Fishel]

I know. It's so weird. I don't know who approved this. This.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

Yeah. But I. I know it's very taken.

[Ryder Strong]

Is somebody from the orphanage with you? You know, and, like, maybe a couple of the kids, and you're just like, oh, I thought we'd have a couple.

[Danielle Fishel]

Of field trips for.

[Ryder Strong]

Yeah, something. It's just so creepy.

[Danielle Fishel]

Eric grabs Tommy and sits him on his lap. Tommy doesn't have a family, so I thought it'd be nice if he could spend Christmas with us, if that's okay with everybody else. Everyone's more than happy to have him. Morgan offers him a gingerbread cookie, which he happily takes. Eric explains they met back when Eric was Santa. You see, Tommy thought he was the real deal. But Tommy clarifies. Now he knows he's just Eric. Eric nods and laughs. He said we could still hang out out. Though. Tommy adds, he said we could hang out on weekends. Eric can't help but smile. He says it'll be like Tommy has a big brother. Corey says, he's a good one, Tommy. Eric whispers to his family, I figured it was something I could do. Tommy looks at Eric and wishes him a merry Christmas. And then we're in the tag. Matthew's living room. Feeny's reading A Christmas Carol to everyone. This is a callback, right? This is the second year we've done this.

[Will Friedle]

Yeah.

[Danielle Fishel]

Marley is dead. As soon as he reads about Marley being dead as a doornail. Shawn and Angela walk into the house. House. And Cory and Topanga look at each other. And that's it. A cliffhanger. Tommy lives with the Matthews now. Sean and Angela are not together. Dun dun, dun D. Wow. So we'll have to wait and see what happens in this. In this. Two. Two. I mean, it's not a part one, I don't think, but it really.

[Will Friedle]

No, it.

[Danielle Fishel]

It is a cliffhanger on both stories. So join us for our next episode recap, which will be season six, episode 12, Cutting the Cord, which originally aired January 8, 1998. So this episode we talked about aired December 11. We took, like, almost a month off. So this ended on this cliffhanger of, like, will they or won't they? Or we know they aren't getting back together, but, like, how's that gonna play out? And Tommy, they just got a new kid. Just. Yeah, I'VE gotta wait a month for it if you were living in 1998 watching the show. Anyway, thank you all for joining us for this episode of Pod Meets World. As always, you can follow us on Instagram Pod Meets World show. You can send us your emails podmeetsworldshow gmail. And we've got merch. Merry TV merch miss pod meets worldshow.com writer send us out.

[Ryder Strong]

We love you all. Pod Dismissed Pod Meets World is an iHeart podcast produced and hosted by Danielle Fischl, Wilfred L And Ryder Strong, executive producers Jensen Karp and Amy Sugarman, executive in charge of production Danielle Romo, producer and editor Tara Subaksh, producer Matty Moore, engineer and Boy Meets World Superman Easton Allen. Our theme song is by Kyle Morton of Typhoon. Follow us on Instagram odmeatsworldshow or email us at podmeatsworldshowmail.com.

[Danielle Fishel]

Let'S face it, with travel come curveballs. From flight delays to lost luggage, they put even the best laid plans at risk. Thank goodness for Avis. With them you know your rental car will come through through and your plans are protected at all costs because it turns out Avis is here for your plans and they'll do whatever it takes to ensure you keep them, which is a big deal. And speaking of deals, you can save 20% when you pay now. Go to avis.complanonus to learn more. Avis Planonus Introducing New Caesar Warm Bowls an exciting feeding experience for dogs and pet parents that only takes 10 seconds to prepare in the microwave. Warm bowls are made with fresh vegetables and real chicken as the number one ingredient and can be served as a complete and balanced meal or used to enhance kibble as a topper. With culinary flavors and ingredients like slow cooked chicken, sweet potato, cranberry and fresh vegetables, warm bowls are an exciting new way for pet parents to elevate everyday meal experiences. Shop New Caesar Warm Bowls online and in stores to Today As a boy mom to a three and a five year old, I barely get a break. School drop offs, karate class, dressing my youngest as a superhero every day. It literally never ends. I can tell you firsthand your mom deserves something special this Mother's Day. And so do I. And that's where Pandora comes in for my own mom. I'm looking to get her a bracelet, either with their iconic charms or something I can take her to get engraved in store at Pandora in my own handbook handwriting. And whether it's shiny necklaces, earrings or unique rings, it's the perfect time. And Pandora is the place to show your mom just how special she is, Visit Pandora in Store or [e-mail] now. This podcast is supported by BetterHelp, offering licensed therapists you can connect with via video phone or chat. Here's BetterHelp head of clinical operations Hesiu Jo discussing who can benefit from therapy.

[I]

I think a lot of people think that you're supposed to be going to therapy once you're like, having panic attacks every day. But before you get to that point, I think once you start even noticing that you feel a little bit off and you can't maintain this harmony that you once had in relationships, that could be a sign that maybe you want to go talk to somebody. There's always a benefit in talking to someone, because we can all benefit from improved insight about ourselves and who we are and how we behave with other people. So if you're human, that's like a good indicator that you could benefit from talking to somebody.

[H]

Find out if therapy is right for you.

[Danielle Fishel]

Visit betterhelp.com today. That's betterhelp.com this is an ad for.

[Will Friedle]

The Active Cash credit card from Wells Fargo.

[Danielle Fishel]

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[Ryder Strong]

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[Danielle Fishel]

Let's say it together the Active Cash.

[Ryder Strong]

Credit card from Wells Fargo.

[Will Friedle]

Learn more@wells fargo.com forward/activecash terms apply.