Mistletoe Murders is intriguing because it feels like there is so much going on—and, honestly, sometimes I am confused by all of it. The drama is all over the place, but that is part of what makes me love this show so much. Every time one thing falls into place, something else threatens to fall apart.
Episode 2, Don’t Fear The Wreather (Part 2) is another example of all over the place, but still great.
It left me with a lot of feelings.
I want Emily and Sam to be together. I want Emily to stay in Fletcher’s Grove. I want Sam to solve the cases, and I want Emily to outrun the past that keeps threatening the life she has built.
But I also want Emily to realize that she isn’t being fair to herself. Her happiness deserves to matter. The possibility that she might have to give up her life as Emily and let Grace back in is heartbreaking—not because she can erase her past, but because she finally has a present worth holding on to.
I didn’t expect this episode to unfold the way it did. It ties up a murder while reminding us why Emily believes she and Sam cannot be together. We get answers, but those answers don’t make anything easier.
HELEN’S SECRETS MAKE HER AN EASY TARGET
Emily and Sam are working to clear Helen, the local wreathmaker suspected of murdering her husband, Richard. A second footprint on the roof gives them a reason to expand the investigation, but Max and Ruth seem pretty convinced that Helen is guilty.
Max even holds a press conference painting her as a black widow. Apparently, having suspicions isn’t enough. He needs an audience for them, too. Max has a mouth.
Yes, men from Helen’s past have died. But the circumstances surrounding those deaths have been kept secret from their families, leaving gaps that make her look guilty. Helen has believed that disappearing is easier than telling the truth, and now that choice is working against her.
That is what makes her story feel so connected to Emily’s. They have different secrets, but both are dealing with the consequences of believing that leaving is the answer. At some point, the things they don’t say start shaping how other people see them.
With the investigation losing momentum, there is a possibility that Richard’s death will be treated as an accident. Maybe he slipped. Maybe there will never be enough evidence to prove otherwise.
Emily isn’t willing to accept that.
EMILY SETS A TRAP—AND WALKS INTO DANGER
Emily and Sam put a plan into motion: they let it be known that a new forensic team will search the roof the next day. If someone left evidence behind, that person now has a reason to panic.
Ruth and the next-door neighbor are curious about what the search might uncover. Meanwhile, Emily and Sam watch for a reaction that might tell them where to look next.
Leave it to Emily to find the clue that makes everything click—and then head straight into danger.
When she reaches the roof, Wes is there pouring bleach everywhere, trying to destroy whatever evidence might remain. Emily confronts him. She knows he pushed Richard off the roof and tried to frame Helen.
Wes responds by pushing Emily off the roof, too.
Luckily, she manages to hold on and pull herself back up. How she then manages to restrain Wes and get him down from the roof, I do not know. I have questions. But was I cheering her on? Absolutely.
And when Emily calls Sam and drops her phone, the way he rushes to get to her is everything. He doesn’t know exactly what has happened. He just knows she might need him, and that is enough.
SAM WANTS A LIFE WITH EMILY, WHEREVER THAT IS
As much as I loved watching Sam race to the scene, it was his visit to Emily’s home that really got to me.
He tells her that wherever she is, that is where he wants to be.
How is she supposed to walk away from that? How are we supposed to watch her walk away from that?
Sam isn’t just asking her to stay in Fletcher’s Grove. He is telling her that his future doesn’t have to depend on a particular place, as long as she is part of it. There is something so moving about how at ease he is with her. He loves her, and he is willing to make room for whatever their life together might look like.
To Sam, Emily is home.
The heartbreaking part is that she seems to feel the same way about him. Her hesitation isn’t about a lack of love. She wants to protect him, and she knows there are parts of her life that make his offer far more complicated than he understands.
He is offering her a future. She is trying to figure out how to leave without destroying them both.
FLETCHER’S GROVE IS BECOMING HARDER TO LEAVE
The Christmas chairman vote should be a fun part of Emily’s life. Instead, running for the position becomes another reminder of everything she stands to lose.
She isn’t sure she wants the role because accepting it would mean another commitment to Fletcher’s Grove. Another reason to stay. Another way of admitting that this isn’t just somewhere she has been hiding—it is somewhere she belongs.
But Emily has already made a deal. She is supposed to tie up her life there and become an active agent again.
That makes even the possibility of a happy future feel painful. She has people who want her around, a community she is becoming more involved in, and a man who wants to be wherever she is. All the things that might once have seemed out of reach are right in front of her.
And she is supposed to let them go.
EMILY DESERVES TO BE FAIR TO HERSELF
Emily’s meeting with Janet brings the reality of that deal back into focus. She agreed to return to work and help bring down Chimera, including Aaron, her ex and former Chimera partner. Janet is there to remind her that the promise still stands.
Emily has Christmas. Then she is supposed to leave.
It is clear that she regrets making that deal. What once seemed like something she could agree to now means walking away from a life—and a love—that she wants.
I understand why Emily wants to protect Sam. But I also want her to recognize that protecting everyone else cannot always mean denying herself a future. Her feelings are not an inconvenience she needs to manage before she disappears.
That is what makes this episode hurt. Emily can find the clue, expose the murderer, and pull herself back onto the roof. Give her a case, and she will find a way forward.
But when it comes to her own life, she still seems trapped between the person she was and the person she wants to be.
I don’t need the show to pretend her past doesn’t matter. I just want Emily to believe that the life she has built matters, too.
GRACE DOESN’T HAVE TO ERASE EMILY
What I keep coming back to is the idea that letting Grace back in has to mean losing Emily. I hate that those seem to be her options. Why does the woman she was get to decide that the life she has now cannot last?
Emily’s life in Fletcher’s Grove means something. Her feelings for Sam mean something. The connections she has made aren’t suddenly less real because there are things about her past that people don’t know.
And yet, she is treating this life like something she has to pack up neatly before Christmas is over. As if she can tie up a few loose ends, say goodbye, and leave without taking any of it with her.
Emily, please. You can barely let yourself want the Christmas chairman position without thinking about what it would mean to stay. How are you going to walk away from Sam?
That is where the frustration comes in for me. I understand that the danger is real. I understand that bringing down Chimera matters. But I want her to question the idea that keeping her promise to Janet requires breaking every promise she has started to make to herself.
She wants this life. I just wish she believed that wanting it deserved a place in the conversation.
Sam Deserves More Than a Goodbye He Cannot Understand
As much as I want Emily to stay, I also don’t want Sam left trying to figure out what he did wrong.
Because that is the painful part of watching him tell her that he wants to be wherever she is. He is being honest about what he wants, while she is holding back the very information that makes it difficult for her to accept it.
From his side, there is a problem they might be able to work through together. From hers, there is a deadline he doesn’t even know exists.
That doesn’t make Emily cruel. It makes her situation heartbreaking. But her intentions cannot keep this from hurting him.
I want her to give him a chance to understand. Not because telling him everything would magically make it safe, and not because love is enough to solve every problem. It isn’t. But Sam is offering to stand beside her, and she is already preparing to make the decision for both of them.
There is a difference between protecting someone and never letting them have a say. I think Emily needs to face that, even if the conversation is going to be painful.
Honestly, I would rather watch them struggle through the truth than watch Sam be blindsided by her leaving.
THE MURDER IS SOLVED. EMILY’S FUTURE ISN’T.
What works for me about this episode is that solving Richard’s murder doesn’t give us much room to relax.
Wes is exposed. Helen is cleared. There is an answer to the case Emily and Sam have been working on. But the closer we get to understanding what happened on that roof, the harder it becomes to ignore what is happening between them.
Helen’s story also leaves something hanging over Emily. Keeping the truth hidden may feel easier in the moment, but it leaves other people to fill in the blanks. Emily can see what that has done to Helen. Whether she can recognize what silence might do to her own relationships is another question.
I don’t think that means Emily owes everyone in Fletcher’s Grove every detail of her past. She doesn’t. But there are people here who care about her, and disappearing will not make that care disappear with her.
Especially Sam’s.
The show gives us the satisfaction of watching them work together, then reminds us that Emily is planning for a future in which they won’t get to do this anymore. It makes their partnership lovely to watch and difficult to enjoy without worrying about what comes next.
Other Thoughts
- Max calling a press conference to label Helen a black widow had me frustrated. Being convinced you have the answer is not the same as proving it.
- Emily surviving that fall and then getting Wes under control? I am glad she is capable, because I was stressed.
- Sam rushing to the roof is exactly the response I wanted from him. The dropped phone was enough to have me worried, too.
- The Christmas chairman storyline would be so much more fun if every new connection Emily made didn’t also feel like another possible goodbye.
- Janet reminding Emily about their deal was a conversation I knew mattered and still did not want to hear. Let the woman have a moment.
- Aaron’s place in all of this makes the prospect of Emily returning even harder to sit with. Going back is not simply a matter of accepting an assignment.
