IN REVIEW: THE SANTA CLAUSES (S2 EP 4) – Miracle on Dead Creek Road

Synopsis: In Miracle on Dead Creek Road, Santa and the team step in to salvage Easter at the North Pole.

The Story

With Sandra having turned the Easter Bunny into a real Rabbit in last week’s episode. Santa and Cal along with Noel and the Elves make preparations to take over Easter Bunny’s deliveries. Meanwhile in Chicago Mad Santa and his Gnome Olga make use of the Santa training vest and revive the flagging fortunes of Kris Kringle’s Santatopolis. Back at The North Pole Noel and the Elves learn that Mad Santa has gotten hold of some Christmas Magic and try and make emergency plans to protect Santa and Cal while on their Easter rounds.

The Acting

Austin Kane puts in another strong comedic performance as Cal has to deal with his anxiety about taking over the family business as well as his heartbreak. We also get a fun scene in which he messes up the Easter Deliveries, which allows for some fun father-and-son scenes with Tim Allen’s Santa. We also get some fun mother-and-daughter scenes between Elizabeth Mitchell as Mrs. Clause and Elizabeth Allen-Dick as Sandra. This sees them trash The Easter Bunnies’ home as they let rip with their bottled-up anger about the patriarchy.

Overall

This was another fun episode that paid off some of the plot threads that were sawn in last week’s show.  We have some fun scenes between Mrs. Clause and Sandra in which Sandra expresses her reluctance to use her magic again. We also see some great father-son dynamics between Santa and Cal as they embark on their first real delivery mission. However, it is  Eric Stonestreet and Marta Kessler who continue to steal the show as the over-the-top Mad Santa and Olga. And the final scene in which we very nearly see Mad Santa and Santa face each other made for a delicious cliffhanger.