The Santa Clauses season 2, episode 1 recap “The Kribble Krabble Clause”

Santa Claus is back and so is his family! In The Santa Clauses season 2 episode 1, Santa must choose who will take the reins, but his decision doesn’t quite sit right with many, including Mrs. Claus.

As Cal tries to spend time with his girlfriend Riley, Sandra struggles with her gift and that is the least of all of their worries.

The Santa Clauses season 2, episode 1 recap – The next Santa

After learning that being Santa Claus can be passed down to an heir, Santa immediately wants Cal to take over the family business. Cal, bless his very positive yet idiotic heart, really isn’t cut out to be the next Santa.

He struggles with the whole sleigh flying in the sky bit, wants to make honestly terrible changes and seems to focus more of his time and energy on being with his girlfriend Riley, who had not been dusted (her memories weren’t erased). Due to that, Santa worries about her blabbing to everyone she knows about the truth behind Santa and the North Pole.

Riley like Cal, seems just as amazed and impressed by everything she sees, so surely she won’t tell anyone her boyfriend’s dad is the real Santa Claus, right? While Cal is busy being a boyfriend, Sandra becomes tasked with taking care of all the animals at the North Pole, including the reindeer.

The role sounds great to Sandra at first, until she realizes her gift of talking to and hearing all the animals talk (more like complain) is becoming a curse. Add to it, Santa wants to improve the E.L.F.S, which is pretty much the elf security team at the North Pole, when Mrs. Claus suggests she take over the operation.

The Santa Clauses season 2, episode 1 recap – Kribble Krabble

Now more than ever Betty, the head elf, worries about the state of the North Pole. However, having the reputation of being a stick in the mud won’t help her escape her duties of attending her obligatory Kribble Krabble.

This is mandatory for head elves to attend, sounding like a retreat where they can improve on their skills and duties in a relaxing setting. She asks if Santa can make an exception so that she does not have to attend.

But giddy to remove the head elf for at least a little while, Santa refuses her request. In Betty’s stead her husband Noel will take over as head elf, even though he’s terrified to.

Although Betty asks that Santa doesn’t make any big changes while she’s gone, he does so anyway, announcing the moment she’s gone that Cal will be the next Santa. As New Years Eve approaches, Mrs. Claus decides to speak with Gary, the elf in charge of the E.L.F.S, where she hopes she can move the division towards a new direction.

Her attempts to quell Santa’s worries on New Year’s Eve about Cal losing focus on becoming the next Santa don’t work. What they don’t realize is that Sandra’s powers might be progressing, as she is able to emit an energy blast the moment she loses her cool over all of the animals constantly talking.

The Santa Clauses season 2, episode 1 recap – Mad Santa returns

But the biggest surprise and what will undoubtedly be the plot of the new season is Magnus Atas AKA: Mad Santa. In the opening of the episode, we see that several hundred years ago Magnus Atas was Santa but resided in Europe.

When humans started taking the magic, he became an angry and violent Santa who fled and established the North Pole. But upon his defeat, he was punished to reside within a wooden nutcracker.

This was the only time Christmas was threatened. When Noel realizes that the Mad Santa nutcracker is missing, he panics but Greg reassures nothing can happen unless someone uses North Pole magic to free him.

Although the elves refuse to inform Santa about this Mad Santa, their problems will soon become unavoidable. Down on Earth, Kris is struggling to keep the family business, a North Pole theme-park, afloat.

Although he believes in Christmas magic, probably more than most, his father wants to shut it down. Kris tries to reveal to his father how real Santa is by showing the snow globe he and many received that Christmas.

The snow globe contains the owner’s most precious and favorite Christmas moment, but the magic will only last a week. Conveniently when Kris shows it to his father it doesn’t work anymore.

The snow globe is accidentally dropped and broken right next to a wooden nutcracker Kris bought from a merchant in Norway. Lo and behold the magic from the broken snow globe touches the wooden nutcracker and Mad Santa is freed!

The Santa Clauses season 2, episode 1 review

I personally don’t get into the Christmas spirit until after Thanksgiving, as I truly enjoy the holiday as much as any other. However, with The Santa Clauses returning earlier this month, I had no choice and now my brain is filled with the constant repeats of Christmas tunes and exciting holiday ideas.

Truthfully, I am not mad about it. I love it when movies or TV shows are able to successfully embody Christmas without it feeling cheesy or cheap.

It’s fairly obvious Disney pulls out all the stops when it comes to The Santa Claus franchise. Yes, the CGI can be a little rough at times (as much as I love deer/reindeer, those creatures weren’t fooling anyone), but the environment glows with such positive, vibrant Christmas magic.

It reminds me of my childhood of walking through shopping malls and seeing all the elaborate and professional Christmas displays. It’s what always inspired me to recreate the same magic for my own family one day.

Yes, Christmas can sometimes be overloaded with decorations, but it can be done tastefully too. The cast works very well off each other, and I was very excited to see FLUFFY AKA: Gabriel Iglesias join the cast!

Yes, I shout “FLUFFY” every time before saying his actual name. I love that the Santa Claus lore can continue in a way that is believable and not thrown in last minute because there needs to be a plot.

Christmas itself has a very rich history and there are always more layers of it to explore and dive into. My biggest regret is not watching season 1 prior to starting season 2.

I’ll have to remedy that as soon as possible! Stay tuned for the rest of my recaps as I watch with awe, a cup of hot cocoa and the warmth of a lit Christmas tree in the background with my family.

My 2-year-old was completely enchanted by Tim Allen’s Santa Claus.

What did you think of The Santa Clauses season 2, episode 1? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

The Santa Clauses season 2, episode 2 will air on Disney Plus on November 8.