The Librarians, in their Christmas episode, have the brilliant Bruce Campbell as Father Christmas in the segment titled And Santa’s Midnight Run. In this week’s show Santa is kidnapped in a soup kitchen in London and Gretchen Claus, aka Mrs. Santa calls Jenkins to see if her missing husband is in the library. Since Saint Nick is not in the building, Jenkins announces that Christmas will be cancelled for the world if the Librarians in training cannot find him. Jake Stone and Cassandra head to the London kitchen to collect evidence and the couple meet a charity Father Christmas who reveals via rhyming cockney slang what happened when the real Santa was taken.
Cassandra finds that Dulaque, the only member of the “Serpent Brotherhood” that she met in a previous episode, is the culprit behind the taking of Santa. When Jenkins learns that the head of the secret society has Bruce Campbell’s character he reveals that evil leader will kill Santa. Meanwhile, the victim wakes up to find himself held captive by Dulaque and Lamia. The head of the Brotherhood reveals to Saint Nick that he plans to kill the powerful spirit of Christmas at midnight. Dulaque wants the power that Santa has collected over the course of the year which consists of all the good will generated over 12 months and this is Santa’s real gift to the world.
The Librarians: And Santa’s Midnight Run then has Ms. Cillian use her photographic memory to remember where she met Dulaque before and the group, along with Colonel Baird, go to London and find the villain’s hideout. Stone and Eve take on Dulaque, Lamia and a couple of evil henchmen while Ezekiel and Cassandra rescue Santa. As the less physical of the Librarians climb down the chimney to rescue Father Christmas, the other two throw valuable artifacts around until Dulaque figures out that they are stalling.
The two villains discover that Santa is gone and they reveal that the spirit of Christmas has been poisoned. Eve gives Santa’s hat to Ezekiel to throw off the Brotherhood who are trying to recapture the jolly gentleman. Because of the poison and the loss of his hat, it is his protective talisman, Father Christmas starts turning into other incarnations of himself. Each “name” or version of Santa is a different personality from a different culture or period of time.
The rest of The Librarians has Eve and Santa trying to get to the North Pole and ultimately meeting back up with Stone, Cassandra and Ezekiel at a plane. The aircraft is necessary because “someone jacked Santa’s ride” and he must rush to the Aurora Borealis to let lose all that good will. There is a battle and Baird learns to love Christmas for the first time in her life. This family friendly show continues to entertain and appeal to folks who like the PG/G rating of the action and the plots of the show.
There are some obvious clunky mistakes in the show that may not be noticed by many fans. The steering wheel in the car that Eve transports Santa out of London in, is on the American side of the vehicle. The “English” cockney Father Christmas is not English or a cockney and the bits of rhyming slang are not done properly. Stone and the faux Santa over explain the jargon and use both bits of the slang when in reality only one is used. For example, Scooby Doo is slang for clue, the correct way to use this phrase is to say “Scooby” i.e. “I haven’t got a Scooby,” meaning “I haven’t got a clue.” On a side note do not bother listening for this particular example as it is not used in this episode of The Librarians, it is however, a good example of real cockney slang.
Overall this ensemble show is really coming together, despite the obvious mistakes in The Librarians: And Santa’s Midnight Run, with each actor working to bring their characters to life. Christian Kane is a clear delight, as is Lindy Booth and Rebecca Romijn. In this Christmas episode guest star Bruce Campbell is just brilliant and John Larroquette is settling in nicely as Jenkins. John Kim has a wonderful time wearing the Santa hat and baddies Matt Frewer and Leslie-Ann Brandt, Dulaque and Lamia, are really coming together as the recurring villains in The Librarians. The Christmas episode, despite its little mistakes, still feels quite a lot like a combination of Dr. Who and Warehouse 13 with just a touch of Relic Hunter. Enjoyable family fun which airs on TNT every Sunday.
By Michael Smith
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7 Responses
Very much enjoying this show. The whole cast is very talented.
Loved the 3rd episode, I think it was the best so far, I love the development of the characters, finding out about Eve’s past and why she is so cold, Ezikel showed us some great humor! Bruce Campbell was delightful as Santa! I am really loving Christian Kane as Jake Stone, he is really showing a very humorous side to him! I am loving the Librarians thus far, Dean Devlin never lets us down!!!
Love love love!! Every week I am more excited to watch it every week and I am not disappointed!!
Thank you for the great article…I love this show!!! The writing is great and the actors are awesome…especially #ChristianKane. He brings magic to everything he does!!!
An excellent family show and love the characters…their “magic” is building and creates interesting dynamics!! Humourous, educational..LOTS of fun!! Perfect Sunday night watch with the whole family…my kids LOVE it!!
Absolutely loved this episode of The Librarians, so entertaining! Christian Kane is certainly showing how versatile he is as an actor! Love John Larroquette’s delivery on so many levels. Bruce Campbell delivered a great Santa for the viewer. I am enjoying this series and very excited that it is family friendly!
Loved it.. such a fun, wacky show! Great episode.. Will be watching EVERY episode of The LIbrarians with Christian Kane.. Bruce Campbell was awesome as Santa! It is a show for entertainment.. I dont dissect shows for each and every mistake.. but sit back and enjoy!! Thanks for sharing! Another great Christian Kane project is 50 to 1 The Movie that is coming out Spring 2015 to DVD! Can’t wait for it!