[5.0/10] My biggest problem with “The Night Before Christmas” is fairly simple. I don’t really care about James and Helen as a couple; this Xmas special doesn’t give me much reason to, and by god, there’s a lot of the two of them in it.
That's all a big issue when this post-finale finale practically hinges on the viewer being as invested in the pairing as they seem to be. On-screen chemistry can be a slippery thing. For whatever reason, despite the occasional bout of goo goo eyes between them, I’ve just never felt that smoldering attraction between Helen and James. The show’s tried to generate it with meaningful looks alone. And while that can work sometimes (the 2009 Persuasion adaptation made a meal out of the idea), the two performers just don’t click enough to accomplish that challenging feat.
More to the point, the episode hasn’t done much more to show us why they belong together. They haven't shared that many scenes together. We haven't seen much in the way of banter between them, or gestures that show mutual care and comfort, or other shared moments that suggest the two of them would make a good duo, separate and apart from whether they ever get together romantically. We know that James has been nursing a crush, and that maybe the attraction is mutual, but the show has spent surprisingly little time partnering the two of them if it wanted to suggest more.
Maybe this is a simple failing of the shorter season model. It’s hard not flash back to The Office’s Jim and Pam with all of this, a T.V. romance that follows similar rhythms. This may be blasphemy, but I was much more invested in Jim and Pam’s forbidden romance on the U.S. version of the show than Tim and Dawn’s in the U.K. version. The reason is simple -- the former got to develop over more time, so we had more chances to see their friendship blossom, the forbidden elements of it chasten them, to let the fallout of various choices resonate. I still liked the Tim and Dawn pairing, but it felt less developed by comparison.
James/Helen is the same idea, only worse. Helen just got engaged. We barely know the contours of her relationship with Hugh and only know a little bit more about her relationship with James. There’s no sense of the two of them wanting something but feeling pulled by the inertia of life, or how they grow closer at a time that's romantically inconvenient (to say the least) for Helen, or anything. It’s just a boom: engagement, flirtation, wedding called off.
And they sell it in such a hokey and uncomfortable way. The two of them working together to help and save a dog who’s having puppies is pretty standard shtick for this show, so I’m not apt to grouse too much for it. But the show delivers it all in such a hamfisted, overblown way that it’s hard to be moved by the event. At least it sells that they can do great and touching things together, which is pretty much the first time we’ve gotten to see that.
But goodness, I am put off by the show’s attempt to use the “love is undeniable” message from a story about an interracial couple who overcame prejudice in the 1890s, of all things, to bolster the undercooked romance between James and Helen. You can see what they’re going for here, with a “love conquers all” moral. But reducing something as challenging and inspiring as a husband and wife who faced down bigotry to be together to a nudge for two generic sops whose only obstacle is Neville Longbottom feels tone deaf at best. Nevermind the fact that the husband and wife read like tertiary theater character cliches who only speak in homespun nonsense and writerly monologues that lay the point on thicker than molasses.
Suffice it to say, I didn’t care about the impropriety of James and Helen spending the time together. I didn’t care about James sitting at a literal crossroads, which laid the symbolism on even thicker. And I didn’t care about Helen leaving Hugh at the altar with James returning to win her hand, or at least start something else. The only moment in all of this that truly moved me was Helen’s father telling her that she doesn’t have to do anything for him, a perceptive dad’s worry that his child might do something to make herself unhappy on his account. But otherwise, the backbone of this special was the Helen and James romance, and it was cracked and almost broken from the start.
But everything else in the episode is...pretty good? That's what’s tricky about the All Creatures Xmas Special. The non-Herriot material is solid at worst and great at best, but there’s a much smaller quantity of it.
Again, chemistry is a mercurial thing, but I buy Siegfried and Dorothy ten times more than I do James and Helen despite the former couple only receiving a fraction of the screen time. Dorothy’s smiley gaze and care for Mrs. Hall, and Siegfried’s torturous awkwardness and teary-eyed sincerity about trying to love again after the death of his wife makes for a pairing that sings. The duo’s “What would the old Siegfried do?” conversation is a bit corny, but the acting and affection sells it.
In the opposite terms, I generally like Tristan’s story here except for the romantic element. Tristan helping Maggie the bartender’s young companion (Little brother? Nephew? Cousin?) to tell the truth about a sick donkey who ate mistletoe is pretty standard yuletide pablum. But Tristan talking about the “magic mask” his brother gave him to help when he was shy or afraid of the young lad, and showing his aptitude with people and compassion for animals, even when he struggles with book-learnin’, shows his potential in the field.
I don’t know why they have to then turn around and use it as a reason to stick him and Maggie back together. This show’s barely made it to seven episodes, do we have to pair everyone off already? But up to that point, it’s a nice subplot that helps underscore the parental and fraternal love between Tristan and Siegfried. To that end, I’m intrigued by Siegfried telling Tristan that he passed his vet exam when, in actuality, he failed. There’s a lot to unpack there, but it’s a big choice that has a lot of storytelling potential.
My favorite storyline in this one though is Mrs. Hall’s son not coming for Xmas despite an assurance he would and Mrs. Hall’s prodigious excitement, paired with the otherwise prickly Siegfried showing extra care and concern for her during such a challenging time. The actress who plays Mrs. Hall shows the enthusiasm that curdles into steady cracking brilliantly, and the power of an unsentimental chap being kind and compassionate when it counts most isn’t lost on me.
Overall, the Helen/James portion of this special is a dumpster fire, and there’s a high proportion of it in this episode. But what’s left is pretty darn good!
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2023-05-10T05:18:53Z
[5.0/10] My biggest problem with “The Night Before Christmas” is fairly simple. I don’t really care about James and Helen as a couple; this Xmas special doesn’t give me much reason to, and by god, there’s a lot of the two of them in it.
That's all a big issue when this post-finale finale practically hinges on the viewer being as invested in the pairing as they seem to be. On-screen chemistry can be a slippery thing. For whatever reason, despite the occasional bout of goo goo eyes between them, I’ve just never felt that smoldering attraction between Helen and James. The show’s tried to generate it with meaningful looks alone. And while that can work sometimes (the 2009 Persuasion adaptation made a meal out of the idea), the two performers just don’t click enough to accomplish that challenging feat.
More to the point, the episode hasn’t done much more to show us why they belong together. They haven't shared that many scenes together. We haven't seen much in the way of banter between them, or gestures that show mutual care and comfort, or other shared moments that suggest the two of them would make a good duo, separate and apart from whether they ever get together romantically. We know that James has been nursing a crush, and that maybe the attraction is mutual, but the show has spent surprisingly little time partnering the two of them if it wanted to suggest more.
Maybe this is a simple failing of the shorter season model. It’s hard not flash back to The Office’s Jim and Pam with all of this, a T.V. romance that follows similar rhythms. This may be blasphemy, but I was much more invested in Jim and Pam’s forbidden romance on the U.S. version of the show than Tim and Dawn’s in the U.K. version. The reason is simple -- the former got to develop over more time, so we had more chances to see their friendship blossom, the forbidden elements of it chasten them, to let the fallout of various choices resonate. I still liked the Tim and Dawn pairing, but it felt less developed by comparison.
James/Helen is the same idea, only worse. Helen just got engaged. We barely know the contours of her relationship with Hugh and only know a little bit more about her relationship with James. There’s no sense of the two of them wanting something but feeling pulled by the inertia of life, or how they grow closer at a time that's romantically inconvenient (to say the least) for Helen, or anything. It’s just a boom: engagement, flirtation, wedding called off.
And they sell it in such a hokey and uncomfortable way. The two of them working together to help and save a dog who’s having puppies is pretty standard shtick for this show, so I’m not apt to grouse too much for it. But the show delivers it all in such a hamfisted, overblown way that it’s hard to be moved by the event. At least it sells that they can do great and touching things together, which is pretty much the first time we’ve gotten to see that.
But goodness, I am put off by the show’s attempt to use the “love is undeniable” message from a story about an interracial couple who overcame prejudice in the 1890s, of all things, to bolster the undercooked romance between James and Helen. You can see what they’re going for here, with a “love conquers all” moral. But reducing something as challenging and inspiring as a husband and wife who faced down bigotry to be together to a nudge for two generic sops whose only obstacle is Neville Longbottom feels tone deaf at best. Nevermind the fact that the husband and wife read like tertiary theater character cliches who only speak in homespun nonsense and writerly monologues that lay the point on thicker than molasses.
Suffice it to say, I didn’t care about the impropriety of James and Helen spending the time together. I didn’t care about James sitting at a literal crossroads, which laid the symbolism on even thicker. And I didn’t care about Helen leaving Hugh at the altar with James returning to win her hand, or at least start something else. The only moment in all of this that truly moved me was Helen’s father telling her that she doesn’t have to do anything for him, a perceptive dad’s worry that his child might do something to make herself unhappy on his account. But otherwise, the backbone of this special was the Helen and James romance, and it was cracked and almost broken from the start.
But everything else in the episode is...pretty good? That's what’s tricky about the All Creatures Xmas Special. The non-Herriot material is solid at worst and great at best, but there’s a much smaller quantity of it.
Again, chemistry is a mercurial thing, but I buy Siegfried and Dorothy ten times more than I do James and Helen despite the former couple only receiving a fraction of the screen time. Dorothy’s smiley gaze and care for Mrs. Hall, and Siegfried’s torturous awkwardness and teary-eyed sincerity about trying to love again after the death of his wife makes for a pairing that sings. The duo’s “What would the old Siegfried do?” conversation is a bit corny, but the acting and affection sells it.
In the opposite terms, I generally like Tristan’s story here except for the romantic element. Tristan helping Maggie the bartender’s young companion (Little brother? Nephew? Cousin?) to tell the truth about a sick donkey who ate mistletoe is pretty standard yuletide pablum. But Tristan talking about the “magic mask” his brother gave him to help when he was shy or afraid of the young lad, and showing his aptitude with people and compassion for animals, even when he struggles with book-learnin’, shows his potential in the field.
I don’t know why they have to then turn around and use it as a reason to stick him and Maggie back together. This show’s barely made it to seven episodes, do we have to pair everyone off already? But up to that point, it’s a nice subplot that helps underscore the parental and fraternal love between Tristan and Siegfried. To that end, I’m intrigued by Siegfried telling Tristan that he passed his vet exam when, in actuality, he failed. There’s a lot to unpack there, but it’s a big choice that has a lot of storytelling potential.
My favorite storyline in this one though is Mrs. Hall’s son not coming for Xmas despite an assurance he would and Mrs. Hall’s prodigious excitement, paired with the otherwise prickly Siegfried showing extra care and concern for her during such a challenging time. The actress who plays Mrs. Hall shows the enthusiasm that curdles into steady cracking brilliantly, and the power of an unsentimental chap being kind and compassionate when it counts most isn’t lost on me.
Overall, the Helen/James portion of this special is a dumpster fire, and there’s a high proportion of it in this episode. But what’s left is pretty darn good!