It’s A Very Salem Christmas for Days of “Peoples lives” followers, but if you’re looking to go spoiler-free until “youre watching” it, then I suggest you save this review for later.
First off, this Period of Our Lives celebration special is on Peacock Premium , not the free form( at least not yet .)
Being a fan of Beyond Salem and hoping we get more of these soapy special events, I form for the annual Peacock Premium membership.( The yearly seemed like the better deal .)
I’m not telling anyone else what to buy. There are so many streaming services now that they can be overwhelming and expensive. I “re just saying” I haven’t missed this buy as Peacock Premium has lots of old TV favorites to go along with movies and brand-new content.
( Case in pitch, my husband is already binging The Rockford Files, I’m eyeing Miami Vice, and then there are the first three seasons of Yellowstone. So Peacock Premium’s went our January moderately wrapped up .)
But on to our review…
The Set-Up: Will Horton has a script due at midnight, and he hasn’t written a word. He’s about to blow it off until Sonny persuasions him that they can get it done in the few hours they have on Christmas Eve.
As a scribe, I’m a little disturbed by Will’s nonchalance over missing a deadline, but I digress…
Will’s illusion movie copy of Christmas in Salem is surprisingly sweet and simply changed enough to keep things interesting.
To start with, Roman is dead because there has to be a tragic back story. He died years ago at Christmas, which is why Sami and Marlena( Roman’s widow) now run the Brady Pub.
In this edition of Salem, Sami is sweet and species, and empathetic. She mulls before she speaks and doesn’t fly off the handle. But what actually propelled me was that when wicked Nicole bashed Sami, Marlena came to her defense.
Someone prompt me of the last time that happened in regular Salem because I’m reaping a blank.
John Black is married to Kristen, and they race the Salem Inn in parallel ugly Christmas sweaters.
This was my least favorite part of the story. I’m not sure, which seen me wince more. John begging for Kristen’s attention or Kristen’s sexcapades with Brady behind her husband’s back.
Brady is an egotistical yank, which I’m still trying to decide if that’s unlike regular Brady or entirely on the nose.
The one upside was his Love Actually-inspired flashcards. The one that said, “I know I’m hot, ” obliged me laugh out loud. But Brady is sleeping with his father’s wife, feeing all the Sweet Bits samples, and schmoozing a smitten Gabi for attire freebies.
Speaking of Gabi , is not merely is she a neat human extremely, but she’s working with her best friend, Nick. Yes, Nick is back and in love with an forgetful Gabi.
This isn’t immorality, abusive Nick , nor zombie Nick, and once again, I’m reminded of how much I miss Blake Berris.
As Will points out, Nick was once a nice guy until the indicate decides how him turn to the dark side. I’m more than a little worried that they’re taking the same turn with Philip back in real Salem.
There is still other mismatched pairings in this Salem, like Tripp and Chanel. However, I cherish it when Johnny calls out Allie for pining over her best friend’s beau but then declares he’s got the same issue, which guides Allie to ask if he’s in love with Tripp too.
Now there’s a pairing I never considered.
But the prime plan has to do with Paulina, in full Cruella de Vil mode, including the hair, expelling all of the Horton Square businesses to build her new big-box discount store. Enter her brand-new auxiliary, Leo Stark.
Personally, I merely desire Leo, so I was thrilled to see him a part of these Days of “Peoples lives” specials once again. Paulina deters announcing him Mary, which is a funny homage to Jackee Harry’s 227 sitcom days.
Leo gets to play the unexpected protagonist, and he gets to ogle Xander, who, even in an argyle sweater vest, suspenders, and nerdy glass, is still the hottest thing in any form of Salem.
Xander: Is there something I can do for you? Leo: I want to answer that in so many ways.
Permalink: I want to answer that in so many behaviors .
Added: December 20, 2021
I admired the photos of Caroline and Shawn Brady and the Tom and Alice Horton plaque being prove while Xander handed his sincere speech of why Horton Square is important to Salem.
Back at the Brady Pub, Sami is hating Christmas. Her father died at Christmas. Lucas took off with Chloe Lane at Christmas. And Nicole comes parading around with her husband EJ and their daughter Sydney, prompting Sami of Grace, the daughter she and EJ lost years ago.
It’s a nice case of Days’ history at play here that plucks at the heartstrings just enough to make this feel like a Hallmarky anniversary movie.
That is until Sami learns that Sydney is really hers and goes all slap fest on Nicole for stealing her child all of these years.
And what kind of ugly mother has Nicole been to Sydney to basically have “their childrens” mounting for delight to be informed about she and Nikki aren’t biologically connected? Yikes!
The reunion of the nicer, kinder EJ with the nicer, kinder Sami feels like foreshadowing for the regular Salem( likely minus the nicer, kinder characters ), or maybe I’m time reading too much into this.
Of direction, if we’re talking about foreshadowing, there’s ever homeless Eric sleeping under that workbench. Can Eric be far behind in actual Salem?
Then we get to the real fun.
Will and Sonny in drag are just okay. I think it’s the literal whiskers that don’t work for me. But I still can’t get over Chad in drag! Who knew Billy Flynn could be transformed into such an amazing maiden?
And then there’s the best part of this celebration special. The Santa group striptease. Take all of Salem’s hottest humankinds, and have them dance their stockings off down to their holiday-inspired boxer briefs to save Horton Square.
It’s funny and sexy, and best of all, everyone from the actors involved to the actors in the audience looked like they were having a hell of a time.
So if you’re looking for some campy, soapy amusing mingled with vacation cheer plus Marlena without those devil eyes, then A Very Salem Christmas is the holiday special you won’t want to miss.
A Very Salem Christmas: Official Trailer
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