Holiday Bonus Episode – New Book Recs + Classic Movie Discussions

Dec 9, 2024

Will announces his new pen name, William Gayheart, and his holiday novella, Cookies for Christmas. Jeff & WIll recommend to holiday romances: Deck the Hulls by Kat Cassidy and A Handyman for the Holidays by Valerie Gomez. The guys also flashback to their in-depth discussions on the gay holiday romance films The Christmas Setup and Dashing in December.

Look for the next episode of Big Gay Fiction Podcast on Monday, December 16.

Remember, you can listen and follow the podcast anytime on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube and audio file download.



Big Gay Fiction Podcast is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. Find many more outstanding podcasts at frolic.media/podcasts!

Show Notes

Here are the things we talk about in this episode. Please note, these links include affiliate links for which we may make a small commission at no extra cost to you should you make a purchase. These links are current at the time the episode premieres, however links are subject to change.

Transcript 

This transcript was made possible by our community on Patreon. 

Intro

Will: Coming up on this episode, we’re talking about holiday books and movies.

Jeff: Welcome to a special holiday bonus episode of the Big Gay Fiction Podcast, the show for avid readers and passionate fans of queer romance fiction. I’m Jeff, and here with me, as always, is my co-host and husband, Will.

Will: Hello, Rainbow Romance Reader. It’s great to have you back for another episode.

Jeff: So, Will, as we get started, you’ve got an exciting announcement for everyone.

Introducing William Gayheart

Will: Yeah, so the last time I released a book was way back in 2018, a story I co-wrote with Jeff. Now, after all this time, I am thrilled to share some exciting news. In 2025, I will be releasing brand-new stories under a brand-new pen name.

When we published “The Hockey Player’s Heart,” I used my real name. And honestly, it was because I was too lazy to come up with anything else. But let’s face it, my real last name is hard to spell, tricky to pronounce, and it doesn’t exactly pop on a book cover. Now, after a lot of thought, I am excited to announce my new pen name, William Gayheart.

Now, why William Gayheart? There are a few reasons. First, it’s a little playful and admittedly over the top. While I take my writing and stories seriously, I don’t take myself too seriously. Second is what I would call truth in advertising. My romances are unapologetically gay and packed with heart. With a name like Gayheart, you’ll know exactly what to expect—stories full of love, warmth, and queer joy. It’s kind of like how the British say, it does what it says on the tin.

And lastly, it just sounds fun. To me, it has a bit of a heroic vibe, like a knight charging into battle, but it also feels a little bit nostalgic, like something out of the ’80s—kind of like a Care Bear name.

Jeff: My husband, the Care Bear.

Will: I know, it just makes me happy every time I think about it.

So that is the story behind William Gayheart. Of course, you can still call me Will. The official launch isn’t until January, but I wanted to give you a sneak peek of what’s to come. To celebrate, I have written a sweet holiday novella called “Cookies for Christmas.” This story isn’t going to be for sale anywhere. It is going to be my gift to you, and you can grab it for free by signing up for my newsletter at WilliamGayheart.com.

Jeff: So I got to beta read “Cookies for Christmas.” I have to tell you, it is the sweetest thing. I read it so fast. It was a page-turner. It’s short anyway because it’s a cute holiday novella, but oh my gosh, these characters. Let me tell you what this book’s about.

James Chen’s plan is simple: breeze into Pine Ridge, sell his grandmother’s bakery, and slip back out before the holiday spirit and his bittersweet memories can tie him down. After literally bumping into Noah Sullivan, the town’s irresistible firefighter and secret baking enthusiast, James finds himself teamed up for a high-stakes Christmas cookie competition. As they fold butter and memories into delicate dough, twinkling lights, warm laughter, and a legacy of love swirl around them. Soon, James must choose: return to his sleek city life, or discover that the best recipe for happiness might just be found in a small-town kitchen filled with spice, snow, and the promise of forever.

Will: Honestly, I’m really excited about this new direction, and I can’t wait to share these stories with you in the coming year. Thanks for being part of this journey. I want to say I could not do it without you. And once more, if you’re interested in checking out “Cookies for Christmas,” you can find the newsletter signup at WilliamGayheart.com. That’s Gayheart, H-E-A-R-T .com.

Jeff: And not to steal from Will’s thunder, but I also want to remind everyone that I have a Christmas story out this season about two professional hockey players who are the best of friends who discover that it is, in fact, time to move their relationship to another level. You can get the friends-to-lovers holiday romance “Taking a Shot at Love,” written by me, anywhere you pick up your eBooks. It’s available everywhere right now.

And before we get into the movies, we’ve got a couple of new holiday-themed books to recommend to you.

Book Recommendations

Deck the Hulls by Kat Cassidy

Will: So I wanna discuss a book that you and I both fell in love with. It’s called “Deck the Hulls” by Kat Cassidy. In this one, Eli, on Christmas Eve, finds himself with a really awful head cold, and he’s at the pharmacy where he runs into his ex and his perfect new boyfriend. Honestly, all Eli wants to do is get back to his boat in the harbor and get through the holiday. Alex is miserable living his new life in witness protection in this tiny New England town when he finds himself with the problem of disposing of a dead deli coworker. Don’t worry, it is totally not his fault. He decides to dump the body at sea and borrows a local fishing boat.

It’s out on the open water that Alex realizes the owner of the boat is still on board—the irresistibly adorable Eli. Though he is high on cold meds, Eli realizes that being at odds with his boatnapper won’t help them get through the winter storm that has blown in. With Alex at the helm and Eli navigating, they get to talking.

Alex is imposing and a little bit scary, but he’s a good listener. Eli explains that his boat and fishing charter business was something he started with his ex, and now he’s all on his own. Alex really likes Eli and makes him some tea. For those of you who like hurt, comfort vibes, this is the sweetest thing. Alex opens up too, being as vague as possible about his past with the Greek mafia that’s landed him where he currently is.

When Eli sees something outside the wheelhouse window, he knocks out the intruder. Alex is glad to see the guy he was going to dispose of isn’t actually dead. But when Eli notices the empty Santa sack that previously held the almost-dead body, he puts two and two together.

Furious that he fell for Alex’s charms, he locks him in the engine room, but the engine conks out, leaving the boat adrift in the winter storm. Now, working together, they battle the elements before the storm finally lets up and a lighthouse is spotted far off on the horizon.

This is where it gets cozy. They strip out of their wet clothes and cuddle together for warmth in the bunk to plan their next move. They’re now in this together. But there is still the unconscious deli employee to deal with. They will go get the guy back to the store and call the police. Since Eli is the less imposing of the two, he’ll make the call and play the role of the helpful Samaritan who happened upon the stricken deli employee.

Once they’ve docked and the sun rises on Christmas morning, they slip into town and return the unconscious clerk to the store. Eli and Alex share a kiss. It’s a momentary goodbye, and Eli makes the 911 call. Later, he’s hailed as a hero for coming to the aid of the mayor’s son, who thankfully doesn’t remember anything about the ordeal. Eli’s boat will need to be repaired and dry-docked in Providence, so Alex invites him to move in.

In a sweet epilogue two years later, Alex has a close call when he runs into the cousin of the mafioso he sent to prison. But the guy walks right past Alex, not recognizing him because he’s a new person with a new life, totally in love with a terrific boat captain he soon hopes to make his husband.

Jeff: This is such a good book. It’s funny, it’s got some adventure as they navigate through the storm, and the fact that they have to navigate through the storm is how they start talking and getting to know each other. I loved it so much. In fact, I had to keep going because there was a nice little link in the back of the book, and I clicked that to get an additional bonus short story from Kat called “New Year, Same Buoy.” This picks up right after the main story ends, so it happens before the epilogue. Now, since Eli has to take his boat to get fixed and dry-docked, he can’t exactly stay in it. And so in this short, we see what happens when Eli moves into Alex’s place.

Alex is so adorably nervous as Eli arrives. He’s been cleaning, he’s been tidying, he’s been buying stuff because his place has been kind of spartan since it’s just him living there. He really hopes everything is set just right so Eli feels welcome. The short is so sweet because they’re just hanging out together, trying to get comfortable with each other in the space, and they end up spending New Year’s together. By the way, not only do Alex and Eli continue to be super cute together, they also get up to some spicy times too. So I hope once you’ve finished “Deck the Hulls,” you’re gonna go right over and grab the bonus short “New Year, Same Buoy” as well, because I think it’s just the perfect companion piece.

Will: Yeah, “Deck the Hulls” is a really fun spin on the forced proximity and grumpy-sunshine trope. It’s a Christmas story with plenty of charm and super sweet chemistry. Obviously, as you can tell, both Jeff and I really loved it. So I hope you’ll consider adding “Deck the Hulls” to your holiday TBR.

A Handyman for the Holidays by Valerie Gomez

Jeff: Another seasonal read I wanna tell you about is “A Handyman for the Holidays” by Valerie Gomez. I love this cozy Christmas romance so much. This is part of the 10-book, multi-author collection called “Home for the Holidays,” which actually started releasing back in November. In “A Handyman for the Holidays,” we meet Frank Garza, who’s a handyman in the small town of Cherry Tree, Michigan. Frank fixes everything and helps everyone. Shoot him a text, and he’s there to help. Frank doesn’t feel as though he fits in this community, though, despite the fact that he’s following in his father’s footsteps for the town.

Frank has been a non-speaker since he was a child due to a brain tumor, and even though the town came together for him and his dad at that time and has continued to do so over the years, he feels isolated, not really realizing how much the town adores him and wants him to thrive. It is when he meets Bennett Oliver and his daughter Libby, who is deaf, that Frank starts to realize that maybe he can have a true friendship that could turn into something more—which of course it does.

Libby is so excited to meet someone besides her dad who can sign with her. Bennett and Libby do such a wonderful job of letting Frank remove some of the armor he’s put on over the years. It starts simply enough as Frank helps Bennett fix some of the problems with the house he’s just moved into, and it kicks into overdrive when Bennett ends up cooking Thanksgiving for Frank at Frank’s house since Bennett’s stove had crapped out the day before the big holiday. After Thanksgiving, both guys realize they have so many feelings, and it’s just a matter of how to put them out there since neither wants to get hurt or hurt the other. I love these two so much, and the rich story that Valerie weaves as they get to know each other with a mix of tentative steps and some bold moves sometimes.

Coming to their HEA, which plays out as they get past the Thanksgiving holiday and into Christmas, was so, so good. I really liked how Frank came to understand how many people in the town really love him and all want to be part of his life if he’ll just let them. It was a wonderful coming together of Frank realizing what he had already, and then getting so much more from Bennett. And then for Bennett and Libby to settle into this new town—not only having a new relationship for Bennett, who had recently broken up with someone (which is why he moved to the small town to essentially start over)—it was perfect. The townsfolk are wonderful too, as we find out more about each of them, why the town has become so supportive of Frank over the years, and how they want to help him out while not quite knowing how to move past some of those barriers he’d put up.

This story is exactly the kind of holiday story that I adore. It’s charming and filled with holiday things between Christmas and Thanksgiving. There’s a festival. It’s just so good. It’s a wonderful look at this slice of life in a small-town setting, focusing on these two people as they find their way to become a couple and enter a new year stronger together. I highly recommend that you pick up “A Handyman for the Holidays” by Valerie Gomez as part of your holiday reading.

Will: Now, since we love Christmas movies almost as much as we love Christmas books, we wanted to take a moment to revisit two of our very favorite movies, “The Christmas Setup” and “Dashing in December.” Both of these movies premiered in 2020 and are historic in that they were the very first time gay couples were at the forefront of a holiday movie on a cable network.

Jeff: So let’s get started with this flashback to our discussions on these holiday classics.

Movie Discussions

The Christmas Setup

Will: So Jeff and I decided that now would be the perfect time to take a closer look at one of our personal holiday favorites, “The Christmas Setup,” which was the first made for TV Christmas movie to air on an American cable network that featured a same sex couple as its main characters.

Hooray for representation. Am I right?

Jeff: Absolutely. It was so amazing to see two guys front and center in a movie. It had been teased in some other movies. We’d see some side characters that had boyfriends, but they were way off in the background. And here it was front and center. Thank you, Lifetime for bringing this to everybody’s TV screens.

Will: So we loved “The Christmas Setup” and it’s safe to say we loved it even more as we rewatched it for this special recap. So what do you say, should we dive into “The Christmas Setup?”

Jeff: Let’s do it.

Will: Now it first aired in December of 2020 on the Lifetime network. It was directed by Pat Mills and was written by Michael J. Murray who has penned several other feel good Christmas favorites, like “Christmas Tree Lane” and “Christmas Around the Corner,” and that one takes place in a bookstore so, you know, that’s a personal favorite of mine.

Jeff: Mine too. I could watch that every Christmas season.

Will: And if “The Christmas Setup” could be called 2020’s gay Christmas movie, Michael J. Murray also wrote 2021’s lesbian Christmas movie, “Under the Christmas Tree,” which also premiered on Lifetime.

Jeff: “Under the Christmas Tree” was an absolute delight. If you missed it, it definitely needs to be on your holiday to watch list.

Will: So the main character of our story is Hugo. And he is played by Ben Lewis, an actor who has had a lot of TV credits, “Degrassi Next Generation” and “Arrow” among them. Hugo’s main love interest in the movie, Patrick, is played by Blake Lee, who just so happens to be Ben’s husband in real life. And like his hubby, Blake has a lot of TV credits, appearances that include the most recent season of “Cruel Summer,” which is currently airing on Freeform and Hulu.

Hugo’s mom, Kate is played by none other than Fran Drescher. And if you don’t know who that is, I mean, what have you been living under a rock for the last 30 years? Fran has been in the biz for a very long time. Her first screen credit happens to be 1977’s “Saturday Night Fever.” She has a very brief scene where she asks Tony Minero to dance.

Jeff: I don’t even remember that.

Will: It’s really hilarious because it’s like, what’s The Nanny doing there. But, actually the timeline makes perfect sense. Of course, of course, The Nanny was dancing the night away.

Jeff: Well, absolutely. She would have been.

Will: So funny.

Jeff: Now I need to go back and watch that movie cause I don’t remember that scene at all.

Will: Now there were numerous other film and TV credits that followed, but her big breakout role came in 1993 with the TV show “The Nanny,” where her big personality and distinctive voice, not to mention that laugh, left a lasting impression on audiences for six seasons and 145 episodes.It was amazing to see her on screen again in this movie.

But enough talk about behind the scenes, let’s take a deep dive into why “The Christmas Setup” might become our new holiday must watch tradition.

Okay, so our story opens in the big city. What specific big city, isn’t really the point because we’re not going to be spending much story time there, but in this particular case, the big city is New York and we see lots of B roll. Everything is sparkly and christmassy.

Jeff: You got your Empire State Building and the red and the green.

Will: Of course you do.

Jeff: You can’t have a Christmas movie that opens in New York, without that. I will say this particular movie kept it a little light. We didn’t see Radio City. You got a fly over of Rockefeller Center and the skating rink and stuff. But this one left the establishing shots very quickly to get us right into the action of the movie.

Will: Hugo, our main character. He is at work, at his office. It is late and he is chatting with his best friend, Madeline, on FaceTime.

So I know we’ve just dived in, but I got to take a second to talk about why is everyone in these movies always on FaceTime?

Jeff: Because it’s a movie and we want you to see the other actor.

Will: I mean realistically, I sure as hell never talked to anybody on the phone and I sure as hell am not randomly FaceTiming people I know.

Jeff: I know, I’m the same way. The only time I FaceTime anybody is if I’m on a business trip and I’m calling you because it’s nice to see you when I’m away. But like random friends and other things I don’t know. It’s a nice movie device though, because they even have parents FaceTiming in a lot of these movies to see their kids.

Will: So not only are Hugo and Madeline FaceTiming, he’s doing it on his laptop, which is like, I don’t even know what to say to that.

Jeff: Hands-free.

Will: Granted, I completely understand texting is not very cinematic and I know why they’re doing it. They just need to establish some story and plot and character real quick and FaceTiming with someone is a great way to do it.

So Hugo is worried about an upcoming performance review. She says not to worry. He’s got this in the bag and she’ll see him afterwards. They plan to go skating.

So at the meeting, his boss thinks he’s swell. But when Hugo asks about the partnership position, he’s not really the guy they’re looking for. Hugo says that he has put in a ton of time here. His work ethic is unparalleled, and if he isn’t offered the partnership position, then he will be going somewhere else in the new year.

Jeff: It’s very interesting to watch Hugo here and it sets him up in an interesting way because what you just said makes it sound like that Hugo is this go get ’em, forthright, I want this and you’re going to give it to me. But yet he’s scared to do this. And you can kind of tell that he is scared to do this.

He’s putting himself forward. He’s speaking for what he wants, but yet he’s terrified to do it. And it’s really an interesting dichotomy here that gives us right here in these opening minutes of view, into who Hugo is. And I just loved it. And I cheered for him when he stood up to that big, bad boss man about this.

Will: Yeah exactly. An ultimatum wasn’t exactly part of the plan, but Hugo is freaking out just a little bit. But Madeline is very proud of him and is glad that he understands his own worth.

Jeff: Uh-huh. I am sad that we didn’t get to go skating. I understand why we didn’t because it’s not relevant, but like, did they go to Bryant Park or did they go to Rockefeller Center? I wanted these details as a former person who skated in the city of New York.

Will: Madeline is played by actress, Ellen Wong. I think she’s adorable and she’s funny and she’s got real chemistry with Ben Lewis. It just feels like they’ve been friends forever.

Jeff: It really does. Yeah. The chemistry in this movie, I’ll just say, now I will dig more into it. The chemistry across all these characters is really superior they cast the right people. It was a really, really well cast movie.

Will: The two of them talk about their upcoming Christmas plans. And this year, Madeline is foregoing her family’s traditional vacation in The Bahamas.

Jeff: As one does.

Will: It’s like sure, Madeline, you do you.

And she decides that she’s going to be staying in the city, but Hugo suggests that she come with him, back to Milwaukee for a real old fashioned Christmas.

Jeff: Milwaukee in the winter. Bahamas. I don’t know. I guess The Bahamas would get old if you did it all the time.

Will: They call his mom, Kate, who is of course thrilled. And in Milwaukee, upon Hugo and Maddie’s arrival, Kate immediately feeds them. And while making them pancakes, we get the low down on Hugo’s brother, Aiden. He is in the service and will be home in a few days.

Hugo’s dad is no longer with us, but Kate keeps busy with various neighborhood projects chief among them. This will be her last year as chairwoman of the Christmas festival, and she’s going out with a bang. There are going to be two whole weeks jam packed with festivities. Projects Hugo and Maddie will of course be helping with.

Jeff: Their names are on the calendar in the kitchen. One of the biggest kitchen calendars I’ve ever seen. You could practically read it from across the room on camera. It’s impressive.

Will: While Kate and Maddie go shopping, Hugo stays at home, working on a to do list his mother has given him. But he’s also waiting for the Christmas tree delivery. And when it arrives, Hugo is quite flustered to see the delivery man is Patrick, obviously someone from his past.

They wrangle the enormous fir tree into the house. And Patrick is all like, I’m not sure if you remember me and Hugo’s all trying to play it cool. It’s not really working, but he’s like, yeah, I think so.

Jeff: It didn’t work at all. Hugo doesn’t do flustered well, so it didn’t play like he wanted it to at all. It didn’t play into his favor that he also was flustered before he was ever at the door, because on the way to the door he managed to fall down the stairs a little bit too, which was obviously, you know, something that Patrick could hear on the other side of the door.

I feel like Patrick does his best to make him feel at ease. There’s a sparkle in Patrick’s eyes from the very first time that we see him. He just sparkles with like this comfy, warm, just general overall demeanor that I just loved from the very first time he walks on the screen.

Will: We learned that Patrick was a few years ahead of Hugo in school, and he’s always had a little bit of a thing for him. He says he likes Hugo’s tool belt. And then he takes off.

When Maddie gets back from shopping, Hugo gets out his high school yearbook and tells her all about his tree delivery encounter with dream boat Patrick, a guy he has always had a crush on.

Good thing he just happened to have left his work gloves behind because now they have a reason to go see him again.

Jeff: It was very interesting things that we learned about Patrick here. We know he was an athlete. We know that he was out in high school and popular, and that was something that Hugo admired at the time. But it also sets up for, like, some of that, I think, what has translated into Patrick’s kind of quiet confidence that he’s got now, which I think lends itself to that kind of energy that I spoke about when he came into the home delivering the tree a little bit to. Patrick knows exactly who he is, and I think that just infuses him with that energy that worked so well in this movie.

Will: That night as our two friends walk through town, they pass the old train station and Hugo explains how Edgar Carroll, a town founder, and the guy who built the station long ago, created the tradition of townsfolk coming to the train station on Christmas Eve and writing out their Christmas wish list. They then gather them all in a mailbag for the last train to the North Pole. But there is a posted sign. The train station is going to be demolished in the new year.

Jeff: And here’s our big plot point for the movie. We must save the train station.

I’m fascinated by this movie and how it treats its location. We know we’re in Milwaukee, which is not a small town. And it’s not a big town. We’re not, it’s not like Chicago or New York or something, but Milwaukee, I would say is probably at least a mid-sized town. But here it’s treated very much as a small town because we’re in this neighborhood.

We might even be at a suburb, not 100% clear. We’re never in what I would probably think is downtown Milwaukee, but they’ve put the trappings of small town romance, a small town Christmas romance in what is this mid-size town I think by focusing on this particular neighborhood and their association and this neighborhood holiday gathering. It’s a very interesting juxtaposition of larger town, smaller town in this one area.

Will: At the tree lot, Hugo and Maddie give Patrick back his gloves and he is a little bit perplexed at how chummy and couple-y Hugo and Maddie are. And the lot is very busy, which is good because all of the proceeds go to Patrick’s charitable organization. Huh? That’s an unexpected development.

It seems before moving back to town, Patrick made it big in the tech industry. He created a very popular app, sold it, and now has a foundation that helps local businesses and the community. Something Kate has been a big part of.

Jeff: Our sweet tech mogul. He’s very cute about his app too. I believe it’s called Cassandra. He described it as like a magic eight ball. It takes in all this data and then it helps you figure out stuff. But the idea of this magic eight ball app, I was intrigued by, and he’s so cute about his app as the movie proceeds in some ways. It’s just adorable. Even though it’s not his anymore, he’s still like very into it.

Will: The next morning, Kate is busy setting up the Santa’s breakfast. They’ll be hosting at the house this year. There’ll be wreath classes and tons of stuff to do. Hugo asks about the train station, and she explains they protested, done just about everything, but to no avail, Patrick and his dad drop off an order from the flower market. And Patrick introduces Hugo and Maddie to his dad as husband and wife.

Everyone has a good laugh over this. They correct Patrick’s mistaken assumption. Hugo is way gay and he and Maddie are old friends.

Jeff: I was surprised that Patrick took that big leap. Yes. When they met at the tree lot, the previous day, Maddie was a little just hanging on to Hugo. Which I thought was a little bit weird, but whatever, they’re very close friends. But, you know, look for a ring or at least go to this is, you know, his girlfriend. But to leap right to wife, that was a big assumption, which was totally wrong of course, but still.

Will: Patrick invites him to the tree lot after it closes so they can have what he guarantees will be the best cup of hot cocoa Hugo has ever tasted.

And this is where we hit the 20 minute mark, the first commercial break in “The Christmas Setup.” And so far, I think they’ve done an excellent job setting up everything that we need to know about what to expect for the rest of the movie. We’ve been introduced to all of our main characters, we’ve had an incredibly adorable cute meet, we’ve established that we have to save the train station. And we got the promise of an adorable first date.

Jeff: Yeah, they really set up all of the stuff here, so very well. It’s exactly what I want to see in those first 20 minutes that pre commercial break. I want it all set up. I want to see everything that’s about to happen. I mean, the only missing piece at this point is getting Hugo’s brother home. And I think that happens right after the commercial break, practically. Aiden shows up for his holiday time. But they’ve really done an extraordinary job. We even have all kinds of backstory on all these characters already to. It’s a very tightly written, well thought out script.

Will: Hugo arrives at the appointed time for their date. But Patrick is off on a Christmas tree delivery. Hugo grabs a beverage from the hot cocoa cart and it is indeed damn tasty. But by the time Patrick gets back, Hugo is no longer feeling it. It seems that they are destined to just be two ships passing in the night.

The next day, while going through some Christmas light strands in the garage, Kate asked Hugo how things went with Patrick. And the fact is it never went anywhere. But who should show up at that particular moment? Patrick, apologizing for the previous night. And he would still like to try it.

Jeff: I really like Kate and I don’t often like the meddling mom character, because sometimes it can be a bit much. And even Fran Drescher, who tends to go over the top occasionally and does so in appropriate ways in this movie, really plays the mom trying to set up her son. I think really to the best way possible.

She wants Hugo happy. She wants him with the right person. She recognizes that can be Patrick. No doubt, because of the amount that her and Patrick have worked together on community events. She does a lot of things in this movie, but she in particular plays this thing of the sort of meddling set up mom really well.

Will: Kate, seeing an opening, asked Patrick to assist Hugo with adding a few more strands of lights to the roof line. That is if he doesn’t mind.

Jeff: Meddle, meddle, meddle, meddle, meddle.

Will: Right? So up on the rooftop they go. And since the date that they didn’t have was a bust, this is a perfect moment in the getting to know you phase of our hero’s journey towards love.

They’re able to joke about Hugo growing up to be a lawyer, ugh, a lawyer. Insert joke here. Before he accidentally knocks over the ladder, stranding them. Though not for too long because it is time for the Christmas crafting montage. Along with kids and a bunch of neighborhood families, they make Christmas wreathes. But, oh no, Santa’s sciatica is acting up. Wouldn’t you know it. So Kate enlist Hugo to play St. Nick for all the girls and boys.

And he does a reading of “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” during story time. Afterward as Hugo and Patrick are cleaning up the festivities, Patrick asks Hugo if he wants to try hanging out again. He knows Hugo will only be in town for another week and might not want to put himself out there. But Hugo, says, yes anyway.

Jeff: Every good Christmas movie has a montage. This one played its montage perfectly. Poor Hugo, he gets drug up in front of people so many times in this movie and he doesn’t really like the spotlight in that way at all. But he always comes through perfectly when it comes time to read or to do some of the things that he has to do later in the movie.

Will: While helping Hugo get ready for date night round two, Maddie offers some advice to the lovelorn, meaning Hugo. In a Christmas buffet analogy, she explains that some guys are just side dishes or desserts with empty calories. Patrick is a main dish, a total Turkey dinner.

At the tree lot, Patrick has gone all out. Underneath the twinkle lights he set up a holiday picnic with Hugo’s favorite foods. They talk about the past how Hugo admired Patrick for being out in high school, and how career has taken them on different paths, and how Patrick is glad to be back. There’s a queer youth center now. And a thriving drag community. Patrick is happy to be in Milwaukee, making things better for the next generation.

Jeff: This scene illustrates one of my favorite things about my favorite trope of second chance romance, because they’ve got this bit of shared history. In this case, they’re talking about these favorite sandwiches that they’ve got and yes, Hugo remembers working at the sandwich shop where Patrick always used to come in and yes, he remembers Patrick’s favorite sandwich and Patrick remembers his. And it’s this really sweet reconnection sharing of their history, and then we get to, you know, talk about the gaps that they have go. Hugo being the attorney. Patrick being the tech maven. It’s just really nice as essentially, first date redo kind of happens. This was, was really, really nice. And just so sweet under the twinkle lights of the tree lot.

Will: Talk of the past and future, sends Hugo out to his dad’s old woodshop where he repairs a chair that was part of a dining set that they made once a long time ago. Kate is thrilled to see the set returned to its former glory and asks how the date went. Hugo reminds her that he’s not 16 and doesn’t need her meddling in his love life. That’s not going to stop her, but.

Jeff: Like I said, this is not an annoying trait like it can be in some movies. Somehow, Fran Drescher skates a fine line. Her performance here is that it’s more loving than anything else.

Will: Hugo’s older brother, Aiden, arrives home from the Air Force and Maddie notices that he is fine.

Aiden is played by actor Chad Connell, and he is tall and handsome and Canadian. And if you’ve watched any Christmas movie ever, you know exactly the type of guy I’m talking about. But there is no rest for the weary. There are enough Christmas themed activities for the whole family, including caroling to which Kate has invited Patrick.

Before going out, Kate insists everyone get in the spirit by putting on an old-timey hat. And Hugo is none too thrilled about the stove pipe top hat that he has to wear. But Patrick assures him that he looks adorable, which he kind of does.

Jeff: Yeah, they all do.

Will: In the middle of fa la la-ing, Hugo receives a phone call. It’s his boss with the news that they will indeed be making him partner and that means he’ll be spearheading the new London office,

While decorating the train station for the big Christmas Eve party, Hugo pulls Maddie aside and tells her about the promotion. Patrick drops off Kate’s Christmas tree order and she keeps finding projects for her children to do Hugo with Patrick, Aiden with Maddie. It is not subtle, but she is getting the job done.

I was never really sure how much she was actually meddling with Maddie and Aiden, or if she caught that initial spark and just kinda rolled with it. I don’t think it was in her Christmas plan to do that, but that maybe it was just like, oh, look, I saw how you looked at each other. Let me work on that too. It’s still super cute though, because Maddie and Aiden are cute together.

While decorating the tree. Patrick asked if Hugo would ever consider moving back to Milwaukee. And he admits that he’s considering some changes and whether those involve London or Patrick, that has yet to be determined.

They go upstairs to explore Edgar Carroll’s office, which remains as he left it—part memorial part time capsule. They peruse old ledgers and photo albums and find that Edgar left the bulk of his estate to someone named Ashby. Photos show the two of them traveled the world together.

Newly inspired by the love story of the man who was such an important part of the town’s history, Hugo takes it upon himself to search through historical documents in Carroll’s office to find a way to save the train station.

Jeff: So here’s one of the areas I think that the script of this movie does an amazing job of keeping everything together so you’re not going. “Hmm. Why would he do that?” Way back in the first scene when Hugo is hanging out with his boss, finding out that maybe he’s not going to get the partnership initially, one of the things that comes out right there, almost a throwaway line, is that he was the only attorney who found a certain tax loophole that really helped a client save their business, blah, blah, blah. And so here we are setting Patrick up to be the person who’s going to find the magic thing to solve the train station problem.

There are so many movies where this would not have been set up so well in the beginning to now pay itself off here in the middle. It probably just would have happened that, oh, look, I found this thing. Aren’t I awesome. Here, they’ve set Hugo up to be that person and we don’t have to go like, well, why him?

Will: Hugo and Patrick share an almost kiss. Which is a reliable Christmas movie cliche, but what’s better than an almost kiss. How about a date to see the Northern Lights? In the back of Patrick’s pickup truck they nerd out on various topics; Encyclopedia Brown among them. And when the glow of the lights appear in the night sky, they share their first real kiss.

Jeff: It’s so cute, and I love the nerd out and I love even how Hugo picks on Patrick because Cassandra called Patrick to tell him that the Northern Lights were going to happen cause he had it programmed to sort out when everything was going to be just right atmospherically to do that. Because you know what? The Northern Lights really don’t show up in Milwaukee all that often because of how far south they are. So they set it up really well to give them that Northern Lights moment. Just a really well done scene there gives you all the awwws.

Will: So if all this weren’t enough to keep him busy. Hugo is now working on a project for his mom in his dad’s workshop, and is busy researching the deed to the train station. He mentioned Edgar Carroll’s traveling companion to his mom, who once met him long ago. She thinks the Christmas Eve tradition was started because Carroll just wanted to make the world a better place. And what better time to manifest your wishes, then at Christmas.

Jeff: Which of course connects to what Patrick wants to do about making the world a better place.

Will: During a rambunctious Christmas family game night, a final question pits brother against brother. And Aiden is the one who knows that Charles Dickens wrote “A Christmas Carol” while living in London and Maddie mistakenly lets slip that that’s where Hugo was moving.

Jeff: Never tell anybody, even your best friend, the information that you don’t want to have slip out.

Will: Kate handles news of this new job opportunity in stride. And Patrick says, he’s happy for Hugo, though he’s not particularly convincing. Hugo explains that he’s kind of scared and not quite sure about the job. Patrick reassures him that it’s okay not knowing what’s exactly around the corner and that they should just enjoy what time together that they have left.

As Kate is putting the finishing touches on the train station, Hugo delivers the good news that the deed on file with the city and Edgar Carroll’s papers don’t match up. There is a very good possibility that they can stop the demolition.

Jeff: We would expect nothing less because we must save the train station.

Will: So I have a question, what’s more festive than a holiday drag performance at an underground lounge in Milwaukee?

Jeff: Well, not very much, cause that was a pretty spectacular thing. I think it was the most festive thing ever. An underground drag performance.

Will: The gang gets together for a fun night out. Hugo delivers the progress that he’s made on the train station. And Patrick knew he would come through and he likes having him around and wishes that he didn’t have to go. There is work that he could do here.

Gladys Claus, the hostess of the evening, opens up the mic and Hugo reluctantly steps on stage for a shaky rendition of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.”

Jeff: It wasn’t that bad! Sure, there were some notes that he had issues with. Frankly, I think I would have had to give Patrick a stern talking to since it was already established back at the caroling that Hugo really just kind of likes to mouth along and not sing. But it turns out Hugo’s not that bad of a singer for open mic night at the drag club. I questioned his choice of song in that it was, you know, it’s one of the more sadder Christmas songs that one could pick.

Will: At first Patrick seems taken by Hugo’s attempt at Christmas cheer, but clearly the lyrics of the song, about wanting something that you can’t exactly have, have him rethinking a few things. He gets up to leave and Hugo follows him. Outside, Patrick says there really is no way that the two of them are going to work. He wishes him the best of luck in London and hopes that he has a Merry Christmas.

Jeff: Patrick’s just wrong. He says he’s making this choice because he’s a numbers guy and he’s run the numbers and it’s not gonna work. He’s wrong. His algorithm’s messed up. He just doesn’t know it yet.

Will: And not to rub salt in any wounds, but Maddie decides to stay in Milwaukee with Aiden through the new year. At least one love matches worked out.

While returning some paperwork to the train station office, Hugo gets a closer look at a photo of Edgar Carroll and Ashby, handwritten and signed by Carroll himself. That night at the big Christmas Eve party, Hugo unveils the project he’s been working on to his mom. It’s a miniature replica of their neighborhood, their house, and the train station included.

Jeff: It’s so cute. I don’t know how he had the time to do all that, frankly. I mean, you mentioned everything that he would take it on here on top of the stuff that Kate already had them doing for Christmas, he’s made a ton of stuff. Now, granted, his father had started this project, but from what we’ve seen, that looks like Hugo really undertook a lot of the work to finish it off and create some more of the buildings. But it’s so sweet and so cute.

And frankly, even at this moment, as if you didn’t know the happily ever after was coming, the fact that he’s done this, I think was already cementing him alongside working on the train station that he was going to stay in Milwaukee anyway. But there’s still more good stuff to come.

Will: As MC for the evening, Kate calls Hugo up to the microphone and he speaks to the tradition, started by Edgar Carroll a hundred years ago, and how they should all be proud of the community that they’re all a part of. And how he himself is proud to call this place home.

Patrick walks in during his speech and hears this last part and he’s all like home, huh? Hugo shows Patrick the picture of Edgar and Ashby and says anything worth having is worth fighting for. And he really wants this thing between them to work. Patrick doesn’t need to write a letter to Santa Claus because he’s gotten everything that he’s wished for.

Perfect Christmas snow begins to fall. The North Pole Express pulls up to the station and as the letters to Santa are loaded on board, our heroes wish each other a happy holiday and share a sweet Christmas Eve kiss. A wonderfully perfect beginning to their happily ever after.

Jeff: And that kiss is captured by Kate in a picture, which is a nice kind of throwback to the picture that they had of Carroll and Ashby at the train station. Although those two men were not kissing, but still they were kind of holding hands sorta kind of in those pictures.

One of the things I love about this movie, among so many things that I love about this movie, is the tie back to this kind of history thing. And we talk about this a little bit sometimes when we review historicals on the show that, you know, gay people have existed throughout time. They’ve always been able to find their happy, in many cases through time, because they are out there living lives.

And this was such a nice way to put a little bit of historical context within this movie showing a snippet of gay life from the 1920s. I really like how they worked it into the movie and just made it part of the history of the town and of the people. It was really sweet.

Will: Yeah. Like Jeff, I’ve loved everything about this movie. It’s sweet. It’s funny. It cranks the Christmas schmaltz up to 11, which I absolutely love . But I would be remiss if I didn’t bring up something that many would consider a flaw. Can we guess what those two things are?

Jeff: Oh, dear. I don’t know that I’m going to guess that.

Will: Well, number one, Hugo never actually said no to the London job. And number two, he never technically, definitively saved the train station.

Jeff: That’s a good point about the train station. I knew that he didn’t say no to London, which I was just like, eh, that’ll happen. But you’re right about the train station. He never definitively solved that with the city. We have to make a couple of assumptions there. So much for my idea of the perfect script .

Will: Like I said, I love this movie. You know, I think “The Christmas Setup” has done a wonderful job of giving our two heroes a happy for now ending.

In regards to the train station when Hugo was going through those papers, Hugo found that Edgar Carroll left the deed to the station to the neighborhood association. Therefore the city can’t demolish a building that it doesn’t actually own. So that does give us some hope.

But when Kate is standing at the microphone at the Christmas Eve party, She mentions that this may be the last time that they ever gather at this beloved location. So I think from a storytelling standpoint, it’s implied that the train station is on its way to being saved but as yet to definitively have been done.

Jeff: That’s a good point. I just assume, much like our heroes, that that will turn out fine because it must. It’s a Christmas movie. Or we could just have a sequel.

Will: Which is an interesting point, especially when it comes to this job opportunity for Hugo. In the love story of Aiden and Maddie, Hugo briefly chats with his brother about making a long distance relationship work because Aiden and Maddie do not live in the same city. And Aiden is like, well, when you know, you know, and they’ve decided to take a chance on love. Which is an interesting parallel for Hugo and Patrick.

Traditionally in a Christmas movie like this, Hugo would have definitively turned down the London job to live his happily ever after in Milwaukee. But this story thread of making long distance relationships work opens up an interesting possibility for our two heroes. Possibilities that could be excellently explored in a sequel.

So I’ve had some time to think about this, and I think the open story threads in “The Christmas Setup” aren’t a flaw. I think there an opportunity, a perfect opportunity for the continuation of Hugo and Patrick’s love story. Do you want to hear my story pitch?

Jeff: Of course.

Will: So my idea for the logical continuation of “The Christmas Setup” would be “The Christmas Proposal” and then after that, we’d get a third movie, “The Christmas Wedding.”

Now, originally I thought that Hugo of course, would make his home in Milwaukee because that’s what you do in a Christmas movie. But I think in a sequel, him going to work in the UK offers up some really interesting story possibilities. Now, to be clear, I do not think the story should be set in London because that’s too expensive for a Christmas TV movie. I do think “The Christmas Proposal” should open in the UK.

Jeff: Get your establishing B roll shots of London.

Will: Exactly.

Jeff: Big Ben, the Eye, Buckingham Palace.

Will: Hugo has had some success in the past year; opening up the new London office. He’s been very successful, but now it is Christmas time and it is time for him to come home to the states and we would then have to come up with a legitimate reason for Hugo to bring one of his London coworkers back home to the U.S. for the holidays.

The details for that particular reason are not important because that coworker needs to be played by Charles Shaughnessy. So that the sequel would give us the “Nanny” reunion that we all need and deserve.

Jeff: Awww.

Will: So Charles Shaughnessy would come back to Milwaukee with Hugo and he would realize that Kate was a long ago lost love. Giving him and Fran Drescher an adorable second chance romance story line, while Hugo and Patrick are finding ways to make their long distance relationship work. Ditto for Aiden and Maddie. And, as a backdrop for all this romance, they finally definitively save the train station.

And then best way to follow this particular plot line through to its inevitable happy conclusion, we need a good villain on which to focus our attention. Perhaps that villain could be a city council person who has other plans for the train station. Someone we could set up as a rival against Kate, possibly played by “The Nanny” co-star Lauren Lane. Or if she’s not available one of the kids from the series could come and play Hugo’s old rival from the debate team. Who now wants to see the train station paved over and put up a parking lot.

Jeff: For park-and-ride into the city.

Will: There are plenty of possibilities. All the while our two heroes struggle to find the perfect opportunity to propose to one another.

Jeff: Do we get a double proposal in this?

Will: Why the hell not?

Jeff: Patrick and Hugo need to have their proposal, but also Maddie and Aiden need to have their proposal. We won’t quite get Kate there yet with her new second chance, but those two need to make their proposals. Preferably at the train station.

Will: And this would all of course, eventually lead to a third movie, “The Christmas Wedding,” where Hugo and Patrick tried to get hitched against the backdrop of all of the mad cap festivities that are planned by Kate during the holidays.

Jeff: I would watch all of those movies.

And this is not unheard of. There have been numerous times that we’ve seen these movies spread themselves out over several installments. From Christmas movies to other seasonal thematic movies on the Hallmark Channel. This is not something that’s groundbreaking here. So yes, this should definitely happen to this particular series. And well, it’s not a series yet, but to this particular couple, they need a series of films.

Will: Lifetime, if you’re listening, give me a call.

Will: Ugh, I know. Four years later, I’m still thinking about that.

Jeff: You should just write that book.

Will: I should, exactly.

Jeff: Now, if you’re looking for “The Christmas Setup” in the 2024 holiday season, it’s already had a couple of airings on Lifetime, so check the listings to see if there are more coming before the end of the year. And you can also find it anytime on Amazon Prime Video for rent or purchase.

Now let’s get onto the next movie.

Dashing in December

Will: So we would really like to continue to share our love of Christmas movies by talking about one that we particularly enjoyed last year. It’s called “Dashing in December.” And it originally aired in December, imagine that, of 2020 on the paramount network. And it features to out and proud actors as our romantic leading characters.

The first of which is Peter Porte as Wyatt. Now Porte is a Christmas TV movie veteran and has done several that count among Jeff and mine’s face. There’s lots of TV in his resume from comedy like the sitcom “Baby Daddy,” to dramas, such as roles on the “Young and the Restless” and a part in this past summer’s Peacock limited series “Days of Our Lives: Beyond Salem” where he foiled jewel thieves and danced to tango with “Real Housewife” and “Days” vet Lisa Rinna. In this movie he’s terrific as the business-minded Wyatt, who must go up against the down to earth cowboy played by Juan Pablo Di Pace, who like as CoStar has a lot of TV in his background, comedies like “Fuller House” and dramas like the “Dallas” reboot and even playing Jesus Christ himself in the miniseries, “The Bible Continues.”

If that wasn’t enough, he’s also done a stint on “Dancing with the Stars.” He’s also a great singer and has been the lead IN productions of “Grease” and “Chicago” and “Saturday Night Fever,” playing those roles and London and Europe. His YouTube channel with some of those performances is pretty impressive and a lot of fun. So give that a look sometime if you have the chance.

Now backing up our two heroes is Andie MacDowell as Wyatt’s mom Deb. MacDowell, if you don’t already know, started her career as a model and made her big screen debut as Jane in 1984’s “Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan,” where her mellow South Carolina’s accent was dubbed by another up-and-coming actress, Glenn Close. She has literally been in and done everything. Some of them, of course, genuine classics like “Groundhog Day” and “Four Weddings and a Funeral.” She’s gorgeous and classy in everything that she does, including “Dashing in December.” Needless to say, she looks stunning here.

But as a side note, I thought her wardrobe was particularly on point. Like Deb just stepped out of a Ralph Lauren holiday ad. She’s upscale, but down to earth with ensembles that are always impeccable and timeless and effortless, like I’m Andie MacDowell and I just woke up like this.

Jeff: And it fits so perfect with the winter, Colorado scenery too. You’re right. It could have all been a catalog shoot.

Will: She’s so amazing. So enough about wardrobe and screen credits. Let’s get down to what “Dashing in December” is all about.

So the movie opens with B roll of New York City at Christmas time. And those of you who are familiar with this kind of movie, it’s all stuff that we’ve seen before.

Jeff: But, you know, it always makes me homesick a little bit for New York, because I was always enchanted by the city at Christmas time.

Will: And just to make extra sure you know, where we are and what time of year it is, we are introduced to our hero Wyatt and he is standing at a window, and the Empire State Building is illuminated in festive red and green in the background.

Wyatt is at a holiday office party and he’s busy chatting with an older couple, one of whom is his boss, and they’re making standard office party small talk while at the same time establishing Wyatt’s state of mind at the beginning of our story. He’s recently come out of a relationship. He’s very work oriented, and gunning for a big promotion. But most importantly, they talk about how he’s reluctant to go home to the struggling family horse ranch in Colorado.

He mainly doesn’t want to go because of work commitments, but his mom doesn’t quite seem like herself and he really should go and visit because he hasn’t in quite some time. And to drive home the fact that our hero is very available, and obviously very gay, we end the scene as he smiles at the incredibly attractive guy who is tending the bar.

Jeff: Yeah. Because you don’t get that news when he’s talking about the relationship that he just got out of, because it’s an ambiguous name. Could be a guy, could be a girl. And so it’s those clues that set up right there that he is if not gay, at least bi because it hasn’t been spelled out completely yet.

Poor Wyatt. He is every put upon person we’ve ever seen in a movie like this. He’s driven for that promotion. It’s how he wraps up his happiness, who knows the last time that Wyatt was truly happy based on what we see here, because he’s not a happy guy. He’s trying to use work as the thing that’s going to make him happy because, of course, he thinks that big promotion is exactly what he needs.

Will: Meanwhile, back at the ranch, we are introduced to Deb ,Wyatt’s mom, and Heath. He is the all around ranch hand. And, Blake. She’s the local veterinarian who once upon a time also dated Wyatt. Now Deb is all thrilled and she’s super excited that Wyatt is finally coming home for the holidays for the first time in many years.

And since this particular establishing scene takes place in the stables, we also get to meet Dasher, Wyatt’s horse.

Jeff: I love this scene. I love the establishing of Deb and Blake and Heath. The dynamic you could tell that these three have honed over several years, especially since Wyatt has been away from the ranch. They banter, you can tell they enjoy the work that they do. And sure Blake’s not hanging out at the ranch all the time, but there’s veterinary work to do. And she’s a family friend and she’s a friend of Heath. She is around and helping out.

I particularly, for some reason, as we rewatch this, this year, really like Deb. She was really just like the mom you always wanted, even the grandmother that you would want. She was just, I don’t know, something about her just radiated warmth and home and holiday magic. I don’t know. I really, even from this scene, I really enjoyed her.

Will: Well, I, of course, 100% agree with you. Andie is an absolute delight. I think everyone does a wonderful job, especially in these opening sequences. If you’re as familiar with these kinds of movies, as we are, the first few scenes, essentially, the first 20 minutes of a TV movie, have got a lot of heavy lifting to do. You don’t have a lot of time to introduce the characters, establish the relationships, and give us an inkling about what the story is going to be all about.

And so far, I think “Dashing in December” is doing everything right. We quickly understand who these people are and their relationships. And once Wyatt arrives at the ranch, we’re going to get a better idea of the conflict and the romance that’s going to be happening in the rest of the movie.

Jeff: And you’re so right about those first 20 minutes. That’s the make or break point for you and I. Typically it’s like, if that first 20 minutes sings, then we’re going to keep going with the movie. But if that first 20 minute fails, it could turn into a do not finish moment because we will not suffer through a movie that doesn’t set itself up well. We often look at each other while we’re sitting on the couch, watching these movies going, are we going on with this? If we’re looking at each other that way, that probably means that we are not continuing with it at the 20 minute mark. “Dashing in December,” it just ticks all the boxes in those opening minutes.

Will: So Wyatt arrives in Colorado and after I drive through the mildly snowy landscape. He arrives home at the ranch. Deb actually has a quick throw away line here that they haven’t had much snow this year. And the reason, of course, why there isn’t much snow is because they shot the movie in September. And in the case of this particular movie, I think they do a respectable job of simulating the Christmas season.

If you’re the kind of viewer who’s going to nitpick that it’s not a true Christmas movie if it’s not a. 100% winter wonderland, then obviously these may for TV Christmas romcoms aren’t for you. Like I said, I think this movie does a really decent job giving us a holiday vibe within the obvious limitations they were working under.

I particularly loved the location that they chose, which was in Utah. The landscape is beautiful. You’ve got the trees and the mountains and the wide open plains. And the particular ranch where they shot the movie, it provides a really great backdrop for the story.

Jeff: Yeah. I wouldn’t mind hanging out on that ranch, even during September in the fall. And they do a really nice job of making it feel like Christmas. I think one of the ways that they do that too is that this movie really doesn’t take place in a lot of locations so that you didn’t have to decorate a downtown very much, or some small town locale. They’re pretty much on the ranch. I’d say 90, 95% of this movie is on the ranch itself. And the other locations that you’re at are actually indoor locations where they can festoon in all the holiday grandeur they want. But yeah, I didn’t have an issue here. I’ve had far more issues in other movies where it’s like, are you sure it’s Christmas? Cause I’m not sure.

Will: So Wyatt arrives and he promptly steps in some horse poop.

Jeff: In his fancy shoes.

Will: And Deb is happy to see him despite the fact that he’s kind of acting like an uptight douche. I think it’s obvious from the get go that part of Wyatt’s character arc is going to be finding his Christmas spirit.

Jeff: Well, not just as Christmas spirit, but coming out of the funk that he’s clearly been in for a few years, that we kind of dig into more here. It’s more than just Christmas spirit and finding a romance. He needs to find a better version of himself.

Will: Heath and Blake join them for dinner up at the main house. And things are immediately kind of crunchy between our two heroes. Wyatt keeps calling Heath, Hank. And, he insults the wine that Heath brought for dinner. Dinner conversation covers Wyatt’s career trajectory as a venture capitalist, and also how Heath lives and works on the ranch, really keeping it running, and operating the Christmas carriage rides.

Jeff: It’s why that snow is so important, those Christmas carriage rides. I think that’s why Andie had that throwaway line too. Cause that’s part of, potentially why the ranch isn’t surviving as well, because they haven’t had as much snow yet as they might have in a typical Christmas season.

I felt kind of bad for Wyatt in this scene, which is odd because he clearly being the douche so often here, but he has no idea, essentially, the family dynamic that he’s come into here, especially between his mom and Heath. Because Heath has been there we find out for some three years, and it’s a little odd to me that Deb didn’t say, Hey, this ranch hands here and he’s helping me out a lot, doing all these things.

Wyatt’s come into this dynamic where clearly Heath and Deb banter all the time and have their own thing. And now he’s kind of stepping into that and essentially trying to reassert himself, as you know, I’m a family member you have to listen to me and have a certain reverence to me. And Heath’s having none of that because he’s been on the scene a lot longer, helping out more than Wyatt certainly has been in the last few years.

Will: The Christmas carriage rides are essentially the ranch’s seasonal side hustle, similar in the way that maybe an apple farm would have apple picking in the fall.

Jeff: Maybe a hay ride. Other do dads.

Will: Or corn maze during Halloween. The ranch has the Christmas carriage ride, which is actually a ride on a carriage.

Jeff: With a pony.

Will: With a, with adorable ponies, through a landscape that has been festooned with lights and has little Christmas scenes. Speaking of ponies, we also learned during this conversation that Wyatt’s horse Dash and Heath’s horse Snowbell have a little romance going on.

Jeff: Awww. A little extra romance for the movie.

Will: And proving that Wyatt has no sense of timing, it’s now that he proposes to Deb that they sell the ranch because it is losing so much money. He actually pulls out a prospectus, which has details of area comps. And it’s just like, Ugh, dude, read the room.

Jeff: Yeah. As many business deals as he’s ever done to get to where he is, you would think he would know, maybe not to pull that out in the middle of dinner, especially, come on, with your family and among guests. That’s something that you should maybe keep between you and your mom and not the family friend and the staff. It’s like, oh, dude.

Will: Yeah, that brings dinner to a swift end. And in the morning, Wyatt visits Dash in the stables. Mr. Horse is not impressed.

Jeff: It’s been a running conversation till now that Wyatt kind of needs to apologize to Dash because of the length of time he’s been gone. And sure enough, the horse is really like, you’re here, great.

Will: Deb tells Wyatt that she has looked over the proposal and if he wants to sell, she will consider it. And it’s here that we learned that he’s the one who’s been paying the property taxes for some time, essentially keeping everything afloat. He wants to know if she’s truly happy and what exactly is she holding on to by staying at the ranch?

I think it’s here at this, you know, mother, son moment that we learn that Wyatt’s motives aren’t completely mercenary.

Jeff: Yeah. He was just going about them all wrong.

Will: Granted he has his own issues with the ranch and wanting to sell it personally, but his mom isn’t quite herself. And I think he’s making a genuine attempt to try and solve the situation that they’re in.

Jeff: I would agree. And it’s an interesting pivot on the normal situation we find in these kind of movies, because it’s usually the parents are selling the childhood home, and the child’s like, wait, no, don’t do that. I grew up here. I have memories. And in this case, it’s a little bit of a pivot that the it’s the child who’s suggesting to sell the family property for different reasons and at least partially because his mom may not be happy there anymore.

Will: At the hot chocolate stand by the carriage rides, Wyatt and Heath get into a bit of a tiff about selling. Heath has lots of great ideas, but Wyatt rejects all of them out of hand. The ranch has always been a money pit and it always will be. Wyatt is quite honestly being a bit of a dick right here, but he’s not wrong.

Later while he is going about his chores, Heath spots Wyatt covering his mother’s hydrangeas for the season. Now this might seem like a quick throwaway moment, but what it’s doing, it’s helping Heath realize that Wyatt might be a dick, but he does care about some things.

Jeff: Yeah. He cares about his mom. He cares about what his mom cares about and he does care at least a little bit for some things on the ranch, such as these hydrangeas on the porch.

Will: And to continue driving that point home, that night at the local Christmas fair, Heath is commiserating with Blake about what a jerk Wyatt is. And, she breaks the news to him that Wyatt’s the one who’s been keeping the ranch running and essentially paying Heath’s salary and her vet fees.

Jeff: Yeah, Blake knows what’s up.

Will: Yeah. He might seem like a Scrooge, but he does care.

Heath is dropping off a poinsettia arrangement for Deb at the main house, and he’s making some tea in the kitchen when he is surprised by Wyatt and he scalds his hand. And while running his hand under the cold tap, the two of them share a moment, a kind of momentary cease fire by the kitchen sink.

Jeff: Yeah. This is a nice turning point moment, because until now they’ve just been sniping at each other in a very cute way. I have to say, in this viewing that we did to prepare to record this, I found so much more entertainment and humor coming from their kind of sniping at each other, just because of the way that they do it. Particularly Heath. He is charming while he’s sniping at the same time. It’s very interesting.

But here at the sink, they kind of have a moment to connect a little bit more in a very different way than people on opposite sides of selling the ranch or not selling that ranch. This is more like just two people interested in each other connecting and I really liked how it just took a hard shift from the startle to the more tender. Tender might not be the right word, but it’s a more, almost human moment between these two, because they’re not sniping for once.

Will: Yeah. Wyatt shares that the holidays make him think about the things that are missing from his life. And he also surreptitiously mentions being gay. Info that is heretofore been unknown to Heath, and it adorably flabbergasts him. But now at least they’ve got some shared experience. Growing up gay in small town Colorado comes with its own set of challenges.

And like you said earlier, I think this getting to know you segment is really charming and a lot of fun.

Jeff: It’s a very nice tone shift for these two.

Will: So really briefly, I want to take a second to talk about the guy whose been making all of this happen behind the scenes. Jake Helgren wrote, produced, and directed “Dashing in December.” He has a lot of experience with Christmas movies, just like this. And he’s done a ton of Lifetime movies, like “Psycho Stripper,” and “Killer Dream Home.” And if you’re familiar with Lifetime movies, you know exactly what kind of stories those particular movies. I’ve seen “Killer Dream Home” it is amazing, but that’s a whole other discussion for another time.

I personally think Jake is firing on all cylinders here. Obviously he knows what he’s doing when it comes to these types of Christmas romances because as we mentioned earlier, it does an excellent job of setting up familiar tropes. But I also think he’s doing an amazing job with the romance itself. We opened with the kind of combative enemies-to-lovers situation with Heath and Wyatt, and as the story progresses, and they learn more about one another, and getting to know that there’s actually a person behind those earlier preconceived notions. These are all classic romance story beats. And like you said earlier, it was on the second viewing that I realized once again that this is just really damn good. And I’m enjoying the hell out of it.

Jeff: It’s like a perfect category romance. He hits all of these beats as a writer and then he just puts the story up on the screen with all the good directorial bits that he throws into his own script. I mean, it’s really ideal the way that the story is crafted.

Will: While sitting in front of the tree with a cup of tea, Wyatt asked Heath why the ranch and specifically working there means so much to him. And he shares a story of when he was a kid and his dad had left him and his mom. His mom was so sad until one holiday they came to the ranch for the carriage ride. It was the lights and the people, and it just all made things a little bit better. And for Heath, the ranch is important because it represents joy and hope.

Jeff: And if that doesn’t give you a reason why Heath now wants to fight for the ranch, I don’t know what would. It’s as much, in a sense, home for him, going even further back than the years that he’s worked there, because of what it represents to him as a kid. So he’s got all the more investment in the ranch, and even in the family that runs the ranch now because of what it meant to him as a kid.

And I just love that extra little something that the ranch is more than a recent thing for him, that it goes all the way back into his past. It makes everything much more powerful with why he’s reacting the way that he is. As you said, the writer knows exactly what he’s doing here to bring all these pieces together.

Will: The next morning, Dasher is in a much more forgiving mood and Wyatt and Heath go for a ride together, showcasing the beautiful landscape of the location that they’re in, while also extending the getting to know you phase of the romance.

And after that Blake gets the whole gang together cause they’re going to go out drinking and dancing.

Jeff: Because you have to, in a cowboy romance movie, you got to go to the honkytonk.

Will: I really enjoyed this whole scene. Not only because it’s a lot of fun for the characters, but I also think is another really good example of the movie doing a really respectable job when presented with such limitations. “Dashing in December” came out in 2020, which means that it was shot on location under strict COVID protocols.

And I think this particular scene in the country bar, while it may not exactly be packed to the rafters, I think there are enough people present to give us an idea that this particular joint is hopping.

Jeff: Yeah. I was thinking the same thing as we watched it, that they did a really nice job with camera angles, and background noise, and other things to make us feel like that this was a hoppin’ place. Maybe not on a weekend, but it might’ve been a week night. We don’t know when they went. We don’t know if it was a Saturday or whatever. Cause we certainly saw holiday movies in 2020 from the Hallmark perspective, you know, crowd scenes severely reduced, and you could tell that things weren’t quite what they were supposed to be even while doing best efforts.

And of course, with “Dashing,” like I mentioned, you know, so much of this takes place at the ranch and only between four or five individual characters, that they were able to manage the protocols effectively. But this one, this is really their kind of centerpiece kind of crowd moment, and it worked really well.

Will: Hats off also to the choreographer. The fact that there even was obviously someone who worked with the actors and the extras on a few dance moves is a big plus in my opinion. Because generally in Christmas movies like this, there is at least, you know, one crowd scene where they go to a large gathering, whether it be something fancy like at Christmas ball, or some sort of holiday fun fair where there’s music and dancing, giving our main characters a chance to get closer. And other than a rudimentary turn around the dance floor, dancing scenes aren’t regularly particularly impressive. But I think they do a really nice job here.

Jeff: Yeah. Everybody was doing the same line dance, which was nice. And Heath and Wyatt certainly had some, if not smoldering looks, at least some like I see you over there dancing, you know, near me, and I like what I see, kind of moments.

Will: At the club, Deb runs into Carlos, her retired ranch foreman, and shares that she’s thinking of selling, before the two of them take a slow spin across the dance floor. Blake suggests that Wyatt dance with Heath. But, he says, no, certainly not in a country bar. So Wyatt dances with Blake for a bit. And while they’re dancing, they have a heart to heart. And, she suggests to Wyatt that if there’s anything going on with him and Heath, who by the way has never had a real boyfriend, that Wyatt should give it a shot, but please be careful and honest with each other. And later while everyone is two-stepping, like Jeff mentioned, there might actually be little hearts in Heath’s eyes, like an emoji. He clearly only has eyes for Wyatt.

There’s a cute moment the next morning when they nearly see each other naked. No, they did not spend the night together, but because of reasons Heath is taking a shower in the main house. But, all awkwardness aside, as the two of them are repairing some old Christmas decorations, they reminisce about the ranch and how Heath distinctly remembers taking the carriage ride. And, it being Wyatt and his dad who were driving the horses.

And, it’s here that Wyatt not so subtly asks about Heath’s romantic past. And he who, unlike heartbreaker Wyatt, has only ever been with one other guy and that was back in college. He made a grand romantic gesture to this guy during Christmas and it ended up backfiring.

Jeff: Yeah, that was a big backfire. I was like, oh no. This was a beautiful scene between these two, not only establishing more of Heath’s relationship with the ranch and that he even was part of what is such a hard time for Wyatt, you know, missing his dad and missing what they had with the carriage rides back in the day. And, then looking at a little bit of their individual pasts and that horrible moment for Heath.

Will: Yeah. It’s after this conversation, and later at Christmas services, that Wyatt can’t help but look down the pew at Heath with new eyes.

Jeff: Hearts in his eyes this time.

Will: Exactly.

And after the service, Carlos asks Deb out, but she’s hesitant. There has been something there and, you know, a little bit of a spark between them for quite a while. And he quite rightly points out that them staying lonely isn’t really honoring the memories of her husband or his wife. They both deserve a chance at something new, a new happiness might be just what they need.

Jeff: Listen to Carlos. He speaks wise words.

Will: The next day Heath leads the Christmas carriage rides while mother and son have a heart to heart at the hot cocoa station.

Jeff: As one does.

Will: Deb is all like you and Heath, huh? But Wyatt is all like, w what’s the deal with you and Carlos?

They put a pin in that discussion so that Wyatt can work on a potential investor in the ranch. His plan is to turn it into a race track.

Jeff: Who knows?

Will: I it’s sort of, I don’t know.

Jeff: It seems a little off the beaten path to stick a racetrack. I dunno. I’m sure it made sense to somebody at some point to stick a racetrack or way up on a mountain in Colorado.

Will: Well, to me it doesn’t compute, but as it’s presented in this story, it’s like their best worst option.

Jeff: Sure.

At least it was different than what you usually get in these scenarios where it’s like, we’re just going to slap a resort over there. In this case, we’re going to put a horse track. I don’t know. It was weird. Maybe the horse track came with a resort at some point. Who can say.

Will: So, Heath is happy for Deb where Carlos is concerned, if that’s what she wants. But he is still of the mind that they don’t have to sell the ranch. They just need one good idea. And she is of the same mind, but concedes that Wyatt is right, things simply won’t last going the way that they are.

Jeff: Which interestingly is not only true for the ranch, but for all of our characters as well.

Will: That night after dinner, Heath takes Wyatt to a surprise that he is prepared. He has decked out the pavilion in twinkle lights. It’s all sparkly and romantic. Now previously Wyatt said that he had never danced with a guy before and now with a sweet country song playing in the background. He can dance with Heath.

Jeff: Swoony goodness.

Will: Swoony. It’s so swoony.

Jeff: It’s a beautiful gesture. And how shy Wyatt becomes around it is also just adorable.

Will: And after they dance, they take a ride through the festively lit carriage route. They talk about the past and they think about the future and they share their first kiss.

Now Wyatt wants to make a gesture of his own. And while Deb helps him set that up, she asked why he has stayed away for so long. The thing is there are so many memories of his dad wrapped up in the ranch that when he died, it was painful for Wyatt to face. And it’s through this conversation, they kind of come to an understanding, and the two of them make peace with that particular chapter in their lives.

Wyatt has cooked dinner and Deb and Wyatt and Blake, they all share a meal. Deb asks what everyone’s Christmas wish is. Blake is hoping for news on her husband’s sabbatical while he is away on a doctors without borders. Deb, well, her boy is home, so she’s got her wish. Wyatt jokingly mentions he would like a new Mercedes, and Heath wishes that they didn’t have to sell the ranch.

Wyatt says a new start in New York might be nice, inferring that the two of them would move in together. Heath could use his graphic design degree and Wyatt could help him find a design gig. And Heath just looks at him like he’s grown another head. How could he ever think that would be a viable option for him?

Wyatt seems to think the rejection of the idea is a rejection of him and he ends up lashing out at everybody, especially Heath. In his eyes they’re all living in a fantasy. He’s the one trying to deal with the reality of the situation. When both of them end up storming off, all Deb can say is, well, that didn’t go as planned.

Jeff: No, it did not. This was really supposed to be Wyatt’s big gesture back to Heath and it just dissolved so badly. Once again, Wyatt doesn’t know how to read a room, let’s start there. Starting with the Mercedes was a mistake and then even thinking for a hot minute that Heath would want to go to New York. Maybe use his graphic design degree might’ve been fine, but Heath is not a city boy by any stretch.

So yeah, he just misread that situation completely. But again, it’s all wrapped up in him also trying to just take care of the situation and be the fixer, but just fixing it wrong.

Will: So we’re at the point in the movie where we get an everybody is sad, montage, Wyatt is packing and he also visits his father’s grave. Heath watches “It’s A Wonderful Life” on the screen that, Wyatt set up in the stable as part of his previous grant gesture. And as Wyatt prepares to go, his mom makes one last attempt to convince him to stay, and that he and Heath are good together. Despite their differences, they make each other stronger.

Wyatt is like, I love you, but you are wrong about this. So he gets in the car and he goes, and at the airport while waiting for his flight, and talking on the phone with his boss, Wyatt ends up being the one who gets the one good idea. He’s going to save the ranch and he rushes back home.

Meanwhile, Heath and Blake are being sad together, and drinking because they’re both alone at Christmas. But her Christmas wish comes true when her husband returns home for the holidays.

And as we head into the grand romantic finale of our story, Heath is surprised on Christmas Eve day to see crowds of people who’ve shown up for the last rides of Christmas carriage season. Deb explains that it’s all part of a social media blast from a popular organic brand who, as part of a deal brokered by Wyatt, will now call part of the ranch home to their Western business expansion.

Jeff: It’s a much better plan than a horse track.

Will: Wyatt apologizes for what he said. And it’s all thanks to Heath that he’s finally woken up and aware of all the possibilities for the ranch and for the two of them. He explains some further details of the business venture he’s managed to whip up in the last 24 hours.

Jeff: Twenty-four hours? How about 10 minutes? It was just one phone call.

Will: And he would like to know if Heath is interested in a partnership, both professional because he’s sure going to need some help running this place, and romantic because Heath is definitely the guy for him. They seal their happy ending with a kiss, and take one last carriage ride into the sunset at their own personal winter wonderland.

Jeff: It was such a satisfying movie and I liked it better the second time than the first. I don’t think I’ve mentioned that while we’ve been doing this. I certainly got, more of the nuances in the second viewing, but also liked it more too. I liked it well enough last year when it premiered, but on the second viewing, I just got so many warm and fuzzies all the way through it. Even as Wyatt and Heath were kind of doing this push and pull with each other, which like you said, was just a classic enemies-to-lovers trope moment. It was so delightful.

Will: Yeah, I loved revisiting this movie. Like I really, really loved it. It satisfies everything I could ever want in a Christmas movie and as a romance reader. I was really into the love story, like great classic tropes brought to life on screen in a fun, feel good way.

Now, if you haven’t seen “Dashing in December” and want to add it to your holiday watch list, you can purchase or rent it on Amazon Prime. You could also try checking your local cable listings for seasonal replays.

Jeff: Yeah, like you, I loved revisiting that movie. It was, oh, so sweet. And just a nice little addition to all of the holiday movies premiering this year.

Wrap-Up

Will: This episode’s transcript has been brought to you by our community on Patreon. If you’d like to read the conversation for yourself, head on over to the show notes page for this episode at BigGayFictionPodcast.com. We’ve got links to everything that we’ve talked about in this episode.

Jeff: Let’s check in with ChatGPT to see what it has to say. Hey, ChatGPT, what did you think of our discussion about the movies?

ChatGPT: I really enjoyed your discussion about “The Christmas Setup” and “Dashing in December.” What stood out to me most was how you highlighted the depth and charm of both movies while balancing thoughtful critiques with your genuine enthusiasm. It’s clear how much you both appreciate the meaningful representation in these films, and I loved how you tied that into their broader impact on LGBTQ+ holiday storytelling.

Your breakdown of “The Christmas Setup” was so insightful, especially the focus on its historical elements and how it connected Hugo and Patrick’s modern romance to a story of queer love from the 1920s. That detail really showcases how much thought went into the script. And your pitch for sequels? Absolute gold! It’s exactly the kind of thing that keeps fans invested in these characters long after the credits roll.

When it came to “Dashing in December,” I appreciated how you analyzed the layers in Wyatt and Heath’s enemies-to-lovers journey. You captured how their connection evolved from snarky banter to something heartfelt, making it more than just a holiday romance. Plus, your shoutout to Andie MacDowell’s warmth and elegance was spot on—it added to why this movie works so well.

Overall, your passion for these films shines through. You didn’t just critique; you celebrated the heart of what makes holiday movies magical, especially when they’re breaking new ground for inclusivity. It made me want to watch both movies immediately!

Jeff: I love how we made it want to go watch those movies. It just totally made me laugh when it gave that as part of its response.

Will: All right, that’ll do it for now. I want to mention that on Monday, December 16th, Cale Dietrich is going to be joining us to talk about his latest YA romance, “The Rules of Royalty.”

Jeff: Yes, we’ll be talking to Cale about his queering of “The Princess Diaries,” plus I’ll be sharing my favorite reads of 2024.

Will: On behalf of Jeff and myself, we want to thank you so much for listening, and we hope that you’ll join us again soon for more discussions about the kinds of stories we all love—the big gay fiction kind. Until then, keep turning those pages and keep reading.

Big Gay Fiction Podcast is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. Find more shows you’ll love at frolic.media/podcasts. Original theme music by Daryl Banner.

 

Check Out These Other Episodes: