In Review: The Santa Clauses (S2 EP 1 & 2) The Kribble Krabble Clause & Floofy

Synopsis: In The Kribble Krabble Clause, Scott names Cal the next Santa and looks to turn Christmas into a family business. In Floofy, Cal begins his Santa training and the elves keep a secret from Scott.

The Story

Picking up the story from last year. The Calvins have saved Christmas for the time being and the snowglobes that Cal came up with as gifts for the world seem to have raised the levels of Christmas Spirit around the world, but the Elves are still somewhat concerned. In light of Cal’s actions. His father Scott the current Santa Claus has decided that Cal should be trained as his successor. Betty, the head elf is not too keen on this idea as she doesn’t think Scott has the right qualities for the job. Meanwhile, an ancient antique called the Santa Nutcracker has gone missing from the North Pole and it’s somehow ended up in a new theme park called Santatopolis, which happens to be operated by Kris Kringle aka Scott Calvin’s former Santa replacement. Of course, this Nutcracker happens to have an old threat trapped within it that could ruin Christmas as we know it. Luckily Mrs Claus has taken over the E.L.F.S. and is on the case. However, with head elf Betty away on her Kribble Krabble, which is a mandatory pilgrimage into the real world. Chaos could well break out at the North Pole.

Added to all of this. Scott’s daughter Sandra has been developing Christmas powers thanks to the North Pole magic and is getting tuition from La Befana.

The Acting

Tim Allen is as strong as ever in the role of Santa aka Scott Calvin and this new story looks like it could involve a lot more fun for his character as he will slowly learn about a piece of Christmas Lore, which has been kept from him. However, for me, it is Eric Stonestreet who steals the show as Magnus Antas aka The Mad Santa, who is an incarnation of the jolly figure from the 14oos, only this incarnation of Santa went totally mad and power-hungry due to apathy and wars that took place in Europe during that time period. In fact, he went so mad that drastic actions had to be taken. 

Overall

The second series does a respectable job of picking up from where season one left off. The addition of Magnus Antas as a Mad Santa whom Scott has never learned anything about thanks to the elves keeping him as secret by editing his mythology and effectively trying to gaslight Santa is going to make for some fun situations as the series moves forward. Also having Mad Santa turn up in Santatopolis and find himself partnered with Kriss Kringle is definitely going to be a lot of fun. 

To Sum up. All of the Calvins get some interesting character arcs for this season and I suspect that Sandra’s arc is likely to yield some interesting developments by the close of the season.