Well, it’s official, this show is trying to make me cry my eyes out and feel the holiday spirit and it is succeeding. I did not expect the feelings, but I feel all the feelings that I didn’t think I was capable of feeling. Damn, this series is good.
If you recall in the first episode Josh Hill has community service, because dude can not drive. He’s gotten community service and needs to help out at the community center.
Community service in a small town is a different experience. It’s not always picking up trash – sometimes it’s volunteering to do tree trimming and set up the community stroll. In the first episode I may not have liked Josh Hill all that much, but in this episode, I reminded myself that first impressions aren’t always who a person is.
In The Hill Family, former high school lab partners Josh (Harding) and Nora (Cahill), both secretly pining for each other, reconnect under unexpected circumstances. As Nora, the town’s sheriff and a recent widow raising her son Theo (Sebastian Billingsley-Rodriguez) alone, supervises Josh during community service, a bond begins to form between the three, reminiscent of a classic holiday movie. With laughter and warmth, this episode beautifully captures how love can blossom in the most surprising ways, reminding us of the importance of family and connection during the festive season.
WE ARE ON A RETIREMENT SALARY
The thing that I do love about Josh is that he’s doing everything that he can for his parents, but what I don’t like him for is the same thing. He doesn’t seem to be good at reading the room at all.
Josh has a way of trying to make everyone think that his way is the right way, but the thing is that Josh does not see that other people don’t agree. Josh seems to want to buy his way out of everything. This is a time that he can’t and it seems to be something that everyone wishes that he could.
To get to the community center, Josh has to have his Dad drop him off. He can’t use the car, because he’s driving up their insurance premium. Josh is still oblivious to the way he’s acting.
Now, you would think I would be angry about that, but watching the entire episode, I get it. I think that we had to find Josh a little annoying in order to find his redemption.
THE LADIES HATE HIM
When you’re assigned to trim trees, you should probably listen to all of the little old ladies in charge. Finding all of the things that are wrong with everything that they do is going to make them want to spend no time with him.
Nora is there, trying to make ornaments with Theo. Nora is a good Mom, don’t get me wrong. She’s doing everything that she can in order to give her son the best life, and you have to admire how hard she is working at it. She’s a good cop, a good innovator, but she’s not too creative.
MORE: Miss the first episode review? Read it here.
Theo wants to win the contest, but winning definitely isn’t going to be easy. Nothing is as innovative and catchy as he wants it to be. You have to love though that he knows what he wants, he just may not articulate it the way that others want him to.
When they don’t have everything that Theo needs to make something, he asks his Mom to take Josh to the art store.
You can’t help but love Theo and his want to win. Knowing that his father passed away, you also can’t help but feel a little tinge of pain and apprehension when you see how attached that he is becoming to Josh.
NORA AND THE ART TEACHER
One of my favorite things about this episode is the moments between Nora and Josh. Why? Because they both need someone.
Josh has a girlfriend, who he’s supposed to love. However, that girlfriend seems to only care about work. Their relationship seems kind of cold and sterile. She doesn’t want to hear about his life or anything that is going on at home.
Nora is used to being alone. She’s experienced heartache in a way that no one understands, but she isn’t showing it gets to her. Nora is trying to be everything to everyone, but I have to wonder if she realizes that she needs to be there for herself.
The two have a chemistry but also seem to be doing everything that they can to annoy each other. It’s as if they both think that they were the person that they were in high school and haven’t grown.
Josh exhibits that when Nora goes to help their old art teacher and calls her out for giving him an F once. He can’t let things go and Nora can’t let things in. It’s an interesting dynamic to watch.
THE LIFE STAR
Returning to the community center, Theo is inspired. He tells his Mom and Josh that he wants it to be like a hug, like that feeling that you get when you are wrapped up in a good blanket. He goes on about it feeling like laughter – the kind where you laugh so hard you can’t remember why.
Honestly, listening to Theo talk about it, I was very confused, but seeing his passion, I knew that we all needed to understand it. There was something more in this kids eyes. It was something that screamed that he needed this.
He wanted it to be the opposite of the Death Star.
As Josh and Theo try to come up with a plan, Theo is increasingly frustrated. He doesn’t feel that anyone is listening. As their day ends, Josh and him end on a positive note, but no closer to figuring out what they are going to do.
LEARN TO HUG
It may have only been a day, but you can see Josh changing. He’s thinking about Theo first and sees the passion that Theo has. It’s when he ends up at Nora’s, and Theo is saying goodnight to him, you realize how much of a difference he’s making to Theo.
When Theo asks for a hug at the end of the night, he calls Josh out and says basically that he doesn’t know how to hug. This kid holds nothing back. But it made me think, who taught me how to hug? Because the truth is that I really don’t know. I’ve been told that I am not the best hugger, but that’s a different story.
You can also see that he’s made an impression on Nora, when she teaches him how to hug. I may have lost my s*** when Nora taught him how to apply pressure, what the pressure of a hug means and how to match it. It’s the look on her face that spoke it all for me.
Nora needs to realize that she’s loved. She needs to feel it. Everyone needs to feel human touch and acceptance. For Nora, that hug meant something to her. I needed her to have more of it.
RELATED: Learn more about the all star cast here!
FIND A FRIEND
When the next day, they still can’t figure out the life star, Josh makes the suggestion that they get out to refresh their minds. Leave it to Theo to have the best idea – the fair.
Seeing Nora, Theo, and Josh having a good day is everything that I needed. Seeing their moments of laughter and joy – I felt like I was watching a family have their moment. Josh and Nora have had a lot of miscommunication in their life and Josh even admits that as teenagers, he liked her. He just let his seventeen year old self speak for him, versus being afraid.
I was swooning. Legit swooning when I saw this, but knew that it was too good to be true. As we’re seeing them bond, of course his girlfriend shows up. She’s a reminder why you don’t share your location with people. She’s also a reminder why you be careful who you date.
The most important person in all of this is Theo and girlfriend just keeps opening her mouth to break this little kids heart. Like who does she think she is! Seeing the disappointment on Theo’s face when he finds out that Josh is leaving made me want to jump through the television and kick her.
I NEED TO SEE…
Josh needs to get his life together. The fact that he could walk away from Theo to go home – ick. But him also finding his way back to Nora’s doorstep to give Theo the life star – I cried.
I cried because I was so happy for Theo. I was so happy to see his excitement as he felt that Josh finally got what he was talking about and had made it come to life.
It’s when we finally start to understand what this meant to Theo. The life star – well it’s supposed to be a new home for his Dad. His Dad is in heaven, but this is a place that can hold all of – or most of – his favorite things.
Theo wanted to share the magic of Christmas with his Dad. He wanted to keep his Dad close to him. There was no part of my face that wasn’t covered in tears.
We need to remember that kids have this innocence about them and this want to make the world a better place. When we overlook it, we do a disservice to them. Theo wanted to win and he wanted to make the ornament to honor his father.
Seeing the love that Theo had to give when he won and the way that he hugged Josh and his Mom… I was a puddle.
This kid is special.
I was surprised that the girlfriend noticed it. I was surprised that she brought it up to Josh before they were due to leave. I was happy that she did, because I don’t think he should go to Sydney. I think that he should figure out what he really wants.
But we’ll have to wait and see what happens there.
OTHER THOUGHTS
- Josh and his girlfriend wanting to move his parents into a retirement home without talking to them is just messed up
- I don’t like the girlfriend
- A rainstorm is a sign Josh! A SIGN!
New episodes of Holidazed premiere every Thursday on Hallmark+.
