“If you believe in this spirit thing, the miracle will happen, and then you’ll want it to happen again tomorrow… It can happen every day, you’ve just got to want that feeling.”
– Bill Murray in SCROOGED
That’s right – it’s time to feel the moment and that holiday spirit thing. It’s time for Spoiler Free Review’s 12 days of Christmas 2022 edition! We will be posting our favorite holiday experiences with 12 reviews and illustrations of movies, TV, and music. So sit back, enjoy some spiked eggnog, and enjoy to SFR’s 12-days of Christmas 2022! 🎅
This episode of FRIENDS is like no other because it is, in the immortal words of King Arthur, so very silly. Yes, THE ONE WITH THE HOLIDAY ARMADILLO feels more like MONTY PYTHON than FRIENDS.
Ross has his son Ben staying over for the holiday season and tries desperately to tell him about his Jewish heritage and about Hannukah. But Ben will have none of it, asking about Santa and remaining staunchly uninterested in Hannukah.
With only two days before Christmas, Ross relents and desperately tries to find a Santa suit, but to no avail. So, he ends up getting a gigantic, ridiculous Armadillo suit. He shows up to Monica and Chandler’s apartment dressed in this outfit, pretending to be Santa’s helper, and tries once again to teach Ben about Hannukah, and surprisingly enough, Ben is interested. But he is interrupted by Chandler, dressed as Santa, and then, just to be even sillier, Joey, dressed as Superman.
This gem of a holiday episode works because it is so very silly, making it unlike any other holiday episode on TV. And it slyly teaches us (and Ben) about the Festival of Lights and the miracle that occurred in Hanukkah. Credit must go to David Schwimmer, whose Ross Geller does his best to navigate the difficult terrain of teaching his son about Hannukah when Christmas is so pervasive and the difficult terrain of Monica’s apartment with a giant armadillo tail.
Sure, there is the B story about Rachel and Phoebe moving back in together and the C story about Chandler and his complete inability to bribe the Maître D, but it all comes down to the final shot of the whole FRIENDS family lighting the Hannukah Menorah, with Armadillo, Superman, and Santa.
FRIENDS S7E10 THE ONE WITH THE HOLIDAY ARMADILLO is streaming on HBO Max. Happy holidays!
