"Chapter Eleven: B-E-T-T-Y" is the eleventh episode of the Disney+ series The Santa Clauses and aired November 29, 2023. It was written by Emalee Burditt and Hayley Frazier and directed by Charles Randolph-Wright.
Synopsis[]
The return of an old friend helps the North Pole prepare for battle against the Mad Santa.
Plot[]
While in the human world, Betty sees Magnus Antas and Olga on the news promoting Kris' new Santaopolis. Calvin and Carol return to the North Pole where Doc Martin discovers that the snowball Magnus threw at Calvin, drained some of his magic, albeit temporarily. Due to it coming from another Santa, this also drained Magnus. Betty shows back up at the North Pole to finally discuss who Magnus is.
Cal attempts to go looking for the vest, not remembering that he dropped it, and runs into Sandra who tells him to use his Santa magic to find it. Cal realizes that his vest is in possession of Magnus, but tells Sandra that it is back at Befana's cabin so that she can make amends with her. Cal summons up the courage to get Blitzen and Comet to work for him and fly him out of the North Pole to get his vest back. Sandra awkwardly reunites with Befana, who in an attempt to change the Easter Bunny back, turned him into a lemon, and the two of them make amends. When she mentions all the things that have been going on for her father, including the missing nutcracker, it gets Befana's interest, who realizes the Mad Santa is back. Suddenly, a bell went off, which Befana identifies as a sign of someone leaving the North Pole, whom Sandra quickly deduces is Cal.
Betty reveals that in the past, Magnus was considered the greatest Santa, but became corrupted after he began obsessing over how ungrateful humans were, which led to the introduction of giving coal and then him utilizing gnomes as his enforcers. He started confiding in the gnomes more and more while Olga fed his paranoia. Eventually, Betty feared for the fate of Christmas, which led her to search the Head Elf's desk while Magnus was sleeping on his throne; the original Head Elf, Toots, had gone missing for months and his replacement, Bernard had vanished as well. Betty soon found, concealed in a snowball, a note, revealing Mad Santa's plan to use the Christmas rounds to turn the world's children into nutcrackers. The elves called upon Befana, a Legendary at the time, to get help from the other Legendaries, but they refused to involve themselves in Magnus' affairs; most of the elven resistance deserted as a result. Befana instead took some of the Legendaries items and gave them to the elves before resigning as one of them. After drawing out the gnomes with music, which they hate, they incapacitated most of the gnomes with Cupid's arrows dipped in Sandman's sand. Olga soon realized that Magnus was left unprotected. while the fighting soon moved underground as the elves used the Easter Bunny's rabbit hole, Betty captured Olga and posed as her to lure Magnus into a trap. Outraged by their betrayal, Magnus swore revenge on all the elves, but he couldn't recall their names, save Betty, who was identified by Noel. Befana then transformed him into a nutcracker with Olga hiding on his back.
With her story at an end, Betty admits that she took full responsibility for the rebellion when Bernard returned and expected to be banished beyond the Wobbly Woods but he wouldn't allow it. She expects to be let go by Scott due to lying to him, but he easily forgives her, saying that she did the right thing in defeating Magnus to begin with.
Cal arrives at Santaopolis where he is confronted by Magnus and Olga. They realize that the new Santa is human, due to him having a son, and hold him and Kris hostage, after the latter attempts to call the cops to end Magnus' tyranny. Magnus, in a fit of rage turns Cal into a nutcracker, which once again drains his magic again.
Sandra and Befana learn that Cal left the North Pole and the former goes to tell her family. The portals to the rest of the world have been closed to protect the North Pole against Magnus and could take a long time to reopen. Scott and Carol decide to use the new return to sender function in the letter room to get to Cal. Scott, who has regained his Santa appearance, and Carol equip themselves with a Santa Blaster and prepare to head to Chicago to rescue Cal. However, as they are transported there, they drop the Santa Blaster.
Cast[]
- Tim Allen as Scott Calvin/Santa Claus
- Elizabeth Mitchell as Carol Newman-Calvin/Mrs. Claus
- Austin Kane as Cal Calvin
- Elizabeth Allen-Dick as Sandra Calvin-Claus
- Devin Bright as Noel
- Gabriel "Fluffy" Iglesias as Kris Moreno
- Eric Stonestreet as Magnus Antas
Guest starring[]
- Matilda Lawler as Betty
- Miya Cech as Doc Martin
- Isabella Bennett as Edie
- Liam Kyle as Gary
- Izaac Wang as Hugo
- Mia Lynn Bangunan as Pontoon
- Sasha Knight as Crouton
- Marta Kessler as Olga
- Laura San Giacomo as Befana
Co-Starring[]
- Wyatt McClure as Grog
Trivia[]
- When Cal talks to Donner and Blitzen, he states that he is "just a boy, standing in front of reindeer", a reference to the famous "I'm just a girl standing in front of a boy" scene from Notting Hill.
- Bernard is mentioned, explaining that his brief absence in the past was due to the influence to Magnus Antas.
