When we’re talking Holidazed, there is a one thing that we want to say. What is that? Well it’s that you should be watching because it is showcasing all different families and hopefully there are characters that you can find yourself in. For this writer the character I related to was in The Camarena family.
Gaby.
The Camarena Family is one of my favorite episodes, because it is one that featured the drama that I think most girls/women can relate to. In the episode Gaby is having to come face to face with her past and deal with her middle school bully – Katie.
Now, Katie and Gaby aren’t friends. They were once – as kids – but the changes in life that they went through ended that friendship. What we’re left with is one that is trying too hard to be a member of the Camarena family and one that is making sure that the other is not going to be a part of the family.
Katie has been dating Gaby’s brother – Kevin – for a little bit. She’s enamored the family with her charm, but no one told Gaby that the two were dating. What’s her problem with Katie?
Well, in middle school, Katie gave her the nickname “easy bake” in front of her entire class. It was a name that followed her everywhere and destroyed Gaby. That nickname was something that change the trajectory of her school life and it was something she wasn’t willing to forgive Katie for.
If anything, what I loved about this episode is the fights and tension between Katie and Gaby. I think that seeing that things stay with you was important for anyone to see. But, I also loved seeing that Katie was still like she was as a kid – because it gave us insight to her and honestly, made us feel a lot of things.
When we’re kids, we’re figuring out who we are. We’re taking steps to move forward, making decisions that we don’t think of the consequences for, and thinking that we’re grown. The reality is when we are grown, we’re paying for the decisions that we made with our under developed minds.
Katie and Gaby used to be good friends. During the majority of the episode Gaby is trying to get her brother to dump Katie, as she is hanging on to the past. Katie is trying to tell Gaby to get on board, because she isn’t going anywhere. The two are manipulating situation after situation, rather than just talk about what is happening between the two of them.
And if we’re being honest – it makes the viewer not like either character. It makes it harder to be on anyones side. The way that Gaby’s family treats her over her dislike of Katie, I didn’t really appreciate either. It felt as though they weren’t trusting in their daughter.
It was the Camarenas blind faith in Katie that threw me off. I just would have thought that they would have made sure to put their daughter first and really have a conversation.
Especially Kevin – his lack of listening to his sister was a little off putting. However, that being said, I didn’t hate it because that is the way that people act in real life. A large part of us finds us protecting out own hearts but making sure that we are not influenced by outside voices.
It has to be hard for Kevin, when he sees a video of Katie giving Gaby the “easy bake” nickname, but I was also like Kevin, why now? He should have listened to his sister sooner. And by the point that happens – Katie and Gaby have already worked through their issues.
It has to be hard for Kevin because he had just proposed to Katie. He felt like he had found his one true love. He went against Katies father – who wouldn’t give his blessing – and proposed anyways.
Kevin’s lack of listening to his sister, but also Gaby’s refusal to let go of the past would be something that would tear their family apart.
I believe that part of the reason that I loved this episode is that it was all over the place. It’s the same way that life is. It’s moving forward and being stuck in the past. It’s realizing that there are two sides to every story. Having open conversations is important.
Kevin and Katie were due to be Santa and Mrs. Claus, but with the fight they’d had over the video of the “easy bake” nickname, you know that it’s going to be dramatic. She only shows up to return the ring (yet still dressed as Mrs. Claus) and her father is with her, ready to take revenge on Kevin.
The family makes it home before the storm blacked everything out, all of them filled with various emotions. Gaby feels like she ruined Christmas, and the rest of the family just wants to sleep.
It’s a weird thing when you’re running away from emotions… they are always going to catch up to you. When they do catch up on you, chances are they are going to change everything and it won’t be just you that they are affecting.
Gaby is learning that lesson.
Holidazed is streaming now on Hallmark+.
