Is he or is he not on the nice list? Well, it's his selfishness that gives the answer.
Green ChristmasWith Christmas approaching, Cricket tries to find a way to get on Santa's nice list, but things go horribly wrong. Meanwhile, Gramma and Nancy try to find the perfect gift for Bill.
"Green Christmas" contains examples of:
- Again with Feeling: Cricket repeats himself when he realizes his actions have no consequences because he’s already on the Naughty List.Cricket: Nothing I do matters…Nothing I do matters!
- Animate Inanimate Object: When "Good Deeds Are Good Indeed" shifts into Disney Acid Sequence territory, Cricket finds himself accompanied by singing and dancing presents.
- Aesop Amnesia: Cricket somehow forgot the lesson he learned in "Skunked", where he discovers Mark isn't a hero because he wants muffins, he does it to help others, which is what Tilly reminds him in her Melancholy Musical Number.
- Arc Words:
- "The best/worst part of Christmas."
- "Nice" and "Naughty".
- "There's good in you."
- "Presents", in Cricket's case.
- Art Shift: The Christmas special on TV is in stop motion.
- Bait-and-Switch: This verse of "Good Deeds are Good Indeed":I used to think that helping folks was just a waste of time
Goofing off and playing jokes was really more my line
But now I see there's value in making life more pleasant...
The best reward for virtue is a big fat Santa present! - Big "NO!":
- By Cricket when the mall Santa says he's on the naughty list and he is dragged out.
- By Gramma when the last store closes.
- Black Comedy: During Cricket's Villain Song, he sticks some tinsel garland in some snowmen end first so it would look like one of them is throwing up, while the other two are bleeding.
- Blatant Lies: While walking through heavy snowfall to try to buy a gift for Bill, Gramma tells Nancy that she can see just fine…while her glasses are caked with snow.
- Book Ends: The episode starts with a pan down to the Green house on the morning of Christmas Eve, and ends with a pan up from the house to the sky on Christmas Day.
- Braving the Blizzard: A blizzard hits Big City and Bill is the only one home, so he goes out in his truck to round up the rest of the family.
- Breather Episode: The last regular lighthearted early installment of the season before what happens in the next episode.
- Call-Back:
- As Cricket reads the list of his bad deeds, a brief montage containing scenes of Cricket causing mayhem from the previous season plays, specifically "Steak Night", "Parade Day", "Rated Cricket" and "Blue Tater", in that order.
- Just like Blood Moon, the episode ends with Cricket's face suddenly appearing on the sun and yelling "MERRY CHRISTMAS!"
- The Cameo:
- Gloria appears briefly when Cricket visits the department store Santa.
- Remy and the Remingtons appear while Bill, Nancy and Gramma go caroling.
- The Perfect family from "Volunteer Tilly" are on the skating rink.
- Phoenix makes an appearance during the final song.
- Cannot Spit It Out: Tilly has no excuse to not come clean to the news and tell them it was Cricket's fault that the tree fell and not hers; justified, because she was too shocked to even say a word.
- Central Theme: Of the difference between being selfish and selfless.
- Christmas Carolers: After a failed excuse to try to sneak out of the house to buy him a gift, Nancy and Gramma get stuck going Christmas caroling with Bill.
- Christmas Episode: Self-explanatory.
- Christmas Miracle: When Cricket sees that Santa granted his wish and brought Tilly presents, he exclaims to her that it’s a Christmas miracle.
- Christmas Special: The in-universe one that Bill watches is about a family of talking candy canes.Bill: ...And I’m going to enjoy the highest form of television there is - a Christmas special!
- Comedic Underwear Exposure: As the mall guards try to drag him away, Cricket grabs a hold of the mall Santa's pants. They get yanked off, leaving him in festive boxer shorts.
- Continuity Nod:
- Saxon is shown in his poorly sewn appearance since Nancy repaired him following his destruction in "Axin' Saxon".
- One of the family photos Bill hangs on the tree is the picture they took at the end of "Photo Op".
- Phyllis, the senior woman Tilly recruited to make Gramma jealous in "Park Pandemonium", reappears as the person she and Cricket massage in the "Good Deeds" montage.
- Crappy Homemade Gift: Nancy and Gramma try to make Bill a gift out of junk they find in the garage, but it turns out so badly that they decide to go buy one at the store instead. However, this turns into Handmade Is Better as at the end of the episode it’s revealed that Bill had found the little statue and absolutely loved it - so much so, that he put it on top of the living room tree.
- Dark Reprise:
- "If I Can't Have Christmas" is basically a villainous version of "Good Deeds are Good Indeed"; while the latter is upbeat and exciting and about Cricket doing nice things, the former is a more malicious melody as Cricket resorts to naughty pranking.
- "No Christmas at All" is a sad mash-up of "Good Deeds are Good Indeed" and "The Best Part of Christmas", as Cricket finally realizes what he done.
- Despair Event Horizon: Both of the Green siblings experience this: Tilly when she gets blamed for ruining Christmas and loses all hope in her brother’s goodness, and Cricket when he finally realizes how much he screwed things up with his pranks.
- Disney Acid Sequence: The end of “Good Deeds Are Good Indeed” turns into this, what with the dancing and singing presents.
- Dramatic Spotlight: Cricket gets a sickly green one during his Villain Song. Parodied later on in his Melancholy Musical Number, when he stands under the glow of a streetlamp.
- Eat the Camera: Done by Cricket at the very end of his Villain Song.
- The Eleven O'Clock Number: "No Christmas at All" is the second-to-last number in the show, where Cricket hesitates until he learns from his mistakes.
- Empathic Environment: The falling snow is meant to reflect how Cricket is feeling as the episode goes on. Whenever the mood is serene and peaceful, it is snowing, then when Cricket is doing his usual hi-jinks, the snow stops (this is more obvious in the Cold Open and at the beginning of his "Good Deeds" montage). Then when Tilly ends up on the naughty list and Cricket is starting to feel regretful, there is a blizzard to reflect their turmoil.
- Extremely Short Timespan: The episode is set over a period of 24 hours.
- Evil Laugh: Several times by Cricket, when he decides he's indeed naughty and resorts to doing just that.
- The Faceless: The real Santa's face is never fully shown, only seen from mouth down.
- The Face of the Sun: The episode ends with a "Pan Up to the Sky" Ending to the sun, which flips to reveal Cricket's face saying "Merry Christmas!", the same way "Blood Moon" ended.
- Fall Guy: Tilly gets blamed for destroying the Christmas tree while trying to stop Cricket.
- Five-Second Foreshadowing: When Cricket shows Tilly the "Christmas miracle" with loads of presents under the tree, one of the unwrapped gifts is a soccer ball. Though girls like to play soccer, it's generally a major sport and hobby for boys, hinting that Tilly is not the only one who got on the nice list.
- Five Stages of Grief: Cricket's problem is shown through these.
- Denial: When Tilly believes Cricket might be on the naughty list, he denies of this and decides to consult the Hudkins Santa over this.
- Anger: Cricket believes "nothing he does matters", and feels subjective to just that, taking it a different way and becoming straight-up naughty like the Hudkins Santa said.
- Bargaining: Cricket results to naughty pranks, to the point of destroying the Hudkins tree and leaving Tilly to take the blame for it.
- Depression: After much hesitating, Cricket finally realizes it was all his fault for almost ruining the holiday, as it was wrong to make his sister sad and only care about himself, when he should've thought of others.
- Acceptance: Cricket is given a magical gift by the real Santa which can be anything he wants, but he refuses and instead wishes for Tilly to be back on the nice list, as what he really wants for Christmas doesn't come in a box. Because of this selfless act of putting Tilly's needs before his, he ends up on the nice list as well.
- Foreshadowing:
- Cricket showing No Sympathy to the crying boy he cut ahead of foreshadows him becoming willingly naughty, given the fact that it's not just deeds that make someone naughty, but behavior as well.
- The same thing happens when Cricket refuses to help a struggling man with his bags but Tilly does help, which is another difference between how they see things.
- Tilly's line, "But holidays are best when folks don't think just of themselves," foreshadows the entire plot of the episode, mainly Cricket's conflict with only caring of himself and not others.
- Freudian Slip:
- Cricket has one of these during the "Good Deeds" number, to show his selfishness:
It's the surest way to satisfy your holiday greed — I mean, good deeds are good indeed!- Another literal one during the final song:
Cricket: And it's not when giant Christmas trees destroy the whole ice rink!
Bill: Wait, what?!
Cricket: Uh...nothing. Keep going!! - Friend-or-Idol Decision: Santa offers Cricket a magical gift that can be anything he desires. Cricket rejects it, saying that what he wants most — for Tilly to be back on the Nice List — can't be put in a box. This puts him on the nice list as well.
- Funny Photo Phrase: Bill pulls Nancy and Gramma in for a group photo and tells them to say “Tinsel!”.
- Gone Horribly Right: Cricket resorting to naughty pranks goes too far enough to leave Tilly to be blamed for such, and nearly ruins Christmas because of it.
- Gosh Dang It to Heck!:
- This gem.
Tilly: Oh, hello, Cricket. And how are you on this fine Christmas Eve morning?
Cricket: Oh, you know, just losing my gosh-dang mind and getting hyped for tomorrow!- Bill also says, "Gosh-darn it, Bill!" when watching the Christmas special.
- Hard-Work Montage: When Cricket and Tilly are doing good deeds with the appropriate song to match.
- Here We Go Again!: Subverted. Cricket lets out a Freudian Slip during the final song about the Hudkins tree falling which Bill overhears. When it seems he's going to get in trouble on Christmas for what he did and pronounced naughty again, Cricket worryingly covers it up, possibly because this holiday is about everyone and not just himself.
- If I Can't Have You…: Basically Cricket's message behind his Villain Song.If I can't have Christmas, nobody will!
- It's All About Me: Cricket's hope for Christmas is solely about himself wanting to get presents from Santa, and it's shown through the Hard-Work Montage of him doing good deeds. And when he's talking with the Mall Santa, he waves off one of the boys he cut in front of for the sake of only caring about himself. This contrasts with Tilly, who doesn't care about herself and presents, but others as well, for the sake of being kind. He is eventually tested of this in the climax. Tilly even lampshades this in her part of the opening number:Tilly: But holidays are best when folks don't think just of themselves!
- "I Want" Song: "Good Deeds Are Good Indeed" is sung by Cricket, as he does good deeds while simultaneously voicing his hope to be on the nice list, when he's only doing it for the sake of presents. It doubles as The Song Before the Storm due to the madness that happens after that.
- Jerkass Ball: While Cricket was self-absorbed before, he's definitely reached the peak of selfishness and jerkassy in this episode.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: The fact that the Greens are singing out of nowhere. It becomes a Running Gag.
- List Song:
- Bill's verse of "The Best Part of Christmas" lists off where he puts trees in the house.
- "Good Deeds Are Good Indeed" show the good deeds Cricket and Tilly are performing. Its Dark Reprise "If I Can't Have Christmas" does the same with Cricket's naughty pranks.
- The Triumphant Reprise of "The Best Part of Christmas" is a list of what Christmas really is not about before announcing the moral at the end.
- Locked Out of the Loop: It's implied Bill, Gramma and Nancy are unaware of the Hudkins disaster and Cricket's naughty deeds throughout the episode. When on the way home, the kids are too silent to even speak to him, and when Cricket lets it slip during the final number, he quickly covers it up, as to avoid getting in trouble on Christmas.
- Mall Santa: Cricket tries to consult one about his status on the Nice List, but all he does is end up making things worse by cutting the line, destroying the decorations, and accidentally ripping off Santa’s pants.
- Melancholy Musical Number:
- Tilly has "Christmas is Busted" when she ends up on the naughty list as a result for being blamed for destroying the ice rink and is upset at Cricket for doing this in the first place.
- Cricket also has one moments later, "No Christmas at All," when he finally realizes it's his fault for ruining Christmas.
- Mood Lighting: Daytime and brightness is normal (the opening scene, Cricket's good deeds), nighttime and darkness is depressing (the fall of the Hudkins tree, Tilly being blamed, Cricket realizing the error of his ways), fiery red is evil (Cricket resorting to naughty pranks), sickly green is corrupted (the spotlight that shines on Cricket during his villain song, the fire that Cricket throws a wreath into), and glowing light is hope (the visit from the real Santa, the magical gift, the sunlight that shines on Cricket as he wakes up on Christmas morning).
- Mooning: Cricket's ultimate prank is to climb the big Christmas tree by the ice rink and moon the whole city.
- Morality Ballad: The Triumphant Reprise describes what Christmas really isn't about before delivering the true message of what it is about:It's when we wish each other Merry Christmas, one and all!
- Musical Episode: The episode features six original songs.
- Musical World Hypotheses: Nancy questions how all the other Greens can sing in harmony at a moment's notice.Nancy: Seriously, was there like an email about this?
- My God, What Have I Done?: After some hesitation, Cricket finally realizes all the disasters caused were his fault indeed, and believes he'll never get a present from Santa.
- Never My Fault: Cricket repeatedly insists all the naughty things he did weren't his fault; they were Santa's for not giving him the gifts he wanted. He ultimately realizes he can't blame anyone but himself for the things he does.
- No Antagonist: This double-length episode has no major villain or conflict, instead focusing on Cricket's struggles and his selfishness.
- No Fourth Wall: When Tilly is being blamed, Maria announces it's time to cut to commercial, meaning the episode itself goes to commercial break. She then says "And we're back" once the episode itself comes back.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished:
- Cricket's attempt to get on the nice list fails greatly when his selfishness gets the better of him at Hudkins.
- Tilly’s attempt to stop Cricket from carrying out his worst prank yet leads to her accidentally knocking over the city’s Christmas tree and being blamed for ruining the holiday.
- No Sympathy: When one of the boys Cricket cut ahead of tearfully tells the mall Santa what happened, Cricket just waves him off.
- Not Helping Your Case: Cricket keeps insisting to the Mall Santa that he's not a bad kid, as he runs from a security guard and keeps damaging property.
- Oh, Crap!:
- The Mall Santa's reaction to reading the list of bad things Cricket has done.
- Tilly's reaction upon seeing Cricket resort to naughty pranks.
- Only Sane Man: Tilly is the only one of the family who completely understands the True Meaning of Christmas.
- Papa Wolf: After seeing the report about the blizzard, Bill rushes outside to find the kids, Gramma, and Nancy.
- Pet the Dog: Cricket uses his one Christmas wish to get Tilly back on the nice list. This selfless act is what proves himself to be nice as well, and in return, he gets presents, too.
- Police Are Useless: A lot of the naughty pranks Cricket pulls are illegal, and yet, if there were police around, they would've arrested him for it.
- Psychotic Smirk: Cricket gives a few of these after resorting to being naughty.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Tilly delivers one to Cricket in the middle of her Melancholy Musical Number.Tilly: It's not about presents, it's about being kind, something you wouldn't get in your evil mind!
- Red Filter of Doom: The background is noticeably blood red throughout Cricket's Villain Song.
- Rule of Symbolism: When Cricket is looking in the window of toys, a dragon action figure is positioned concurrently underneath his reflection. Dragons are a sign of evil in some cultures, which symbolizes Cricket's selfishness.
- Santa Claus: The real Santa Claus visits Cricket when he’s at his lowest and shows him compassion and understanding. He offers him a gift that could be whatever he wants and Cricket uses it as an opportunity to make things up to Tilly.
- See No Evil, Hear No Evil: At one point during the Triumphant Reprise of "The Best Part Of Christmas", Bill sings in a muffled voice due to having a candy cane in his mouth. The thing is, his voice only becomes muffled when he turns his head so the audience can see the candy cane, despite the fact that it would logically have been in his mouth for the whole line.
- Selfless Wish: When presented with a magical gift from Santa that can give him anything he wishes for, Cricket uses it to get Tilly back on the Nice List because he recognizes that it was his fault she was put on it in the first place. This is such a good deed, that this gets him put on the Nice List as well.
- Seven Deadly Sins: Cricket's problem for the episode is enough to be considered pride, due to only caring about his desire for presents from Santa and not thinking of anyone else but himself. He also lapses into wrath when he decides to be naughty indeed when Santa thinks he's just that.
- Severely Specialized Store: Big City Dodgeball Emporium
- Shout-Out:
- During “The Best Part of Christmas”, the creepy elf on a bookshelf is a reference to Elf on the Shelf.
- Gramma's verse of "The Best Part Of Christmas" is a homage to A Christmas Carol.
- At one point in "The Best Part Of Christmas", the Greens mimic repetitive dances from A Charlie Brown Christmas.
- During "Good Deeds Are Good Indeed", Cricket swings on a lamppost a la Singin' in the Rain.
- Cricket's mannerisms when he declares himself indeed naughty make him act almost like the Grinch.
- The toy train in the window looks very much like Thomas the Tank Engine, while the "robot pet" is a strong resemblance to Furby.
- The Hudkins tree is very much akin to the Rockefeller Center tree, complete with an ice rink and everything.
- Cricket licks Tilly's arm the same way Lilo licked Nani's arm.
- Silent Treatment: Tilly is so upset with Cricket that on the way back home through the blizzard, that she turns away from him and refuses to speak.
- Special Edition Title: The usual Title Sequence is replaced by the Greens singing “The Best Part of Christmas”.
- Special Guest: Christopher Lloyd as the real Santa.
- Stop Motion: Used for the Christmas Special that Bill watches.
- Surprisingly Happy Ending: Following Cricket's Selfless Wish to Santa, it seems the episode is going to end bittersweet with him not getting any presents at all. But when Tilly finds one of the presents has Cricket's name on it, the episode ends wonderfully, as the results of the night before has Cricket reconsidered nice.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
- Cricket has done hundreds of bad deeds over the year, which could consider him naughty. The only reason he wanted to do good deeds to turn it around is to get a present from Santa, and he completely fails to understand the real meaning of what Christmas is. And when he decides "nothing he does matters" and resorts to being naughty, his actions wind up deeming Tilly naughty and everything almost becomes a disaster.
- By the time Gramma and Nancy slip away to find a store to get a gift for Bill, all the stores are closed. Gramma even lampshades this:Gramma: What kind of stores close on Christmas Eve?!
- Sweet and Sour Grapes: Upon realizing his selfishness and meeting up with the real Santa, Cricket confesses his problems and Santa offers him a magical gift, which can be whatever present he wishes for. Cricket turns it down and instead wishes for Tilly to be back on the nice list, because he realized the only thing he wants for Christmas doesn't come in a box. Then the next day, it turns out he was also on the nice list and got presents as well, because of his selfless act.
- Tampering with Food and Drink: One of Cricket's pranks is to give people cookies and hot cocoa... laced with hot sauce.
- That Reminds Me of a Song: Cricket near the end of the episode:Cricket: Uh-oh! I think a song is comin' on!
- Then Let Me Be Evil: Cricket decides "nothing [he] does matters", meaning if he cannot be on the nice list, then he is indeed naughty and embraces it by pranking the whole city.
- Title-Only Opening: The theme song is skipped and the title only appears following the opening song.
- Toilet Humour: One of the trees Bill puts up is in the bathroom, sticking out of the toilet bowl. At the end of the bathroom scene, Gramma asks Nancy to hold the tree because "nature calls".
- Trailers Always Spoil: Almost all the trailers spoil the entire ending scene.
- Triumphant Reprise: "The Best Part Of Christmas" returns in the end, with Cricket having understood the episode's message.
- Truck Driver's Gear Change:
- "The Best Part of Christmas" starts out in D♭ major, before modulating up to E♭ but shifting to G for the brief dance scene. The Triumphant Reprise begins in D♭ major as originally, then modulates up to D for the final chorus.
- "If I Can't Have Christmas" starts in F minor, then modulates to G for the last verse.
- "Christmas is Busted" is in B minor, shifts up to D♭, then returns to its original key for the last part.
- True Meaning of Christmas: The main moral of the episode. Cricket thinks Christmas isn't Christmas without the presents, but Tilly knows it's really more on spending it with friends and family, and it isn't until The Eleven O'Clock Number that Cricket finally understands.
- That Reminds Me of a Song: Several times over the course of the episode.
- The Unreveal: Whatever was in the present Tilly found for Cricket.
- Verbal Backspace: In "Good Deeds are Good Indeed":It's the surest way to satisfy your holiday greed — I mean, good deeds are good indeed!
- Villain Song: "If I Can't Have Christmas", as Cricket resorts to pranking everyone.
- We Are Not Going Through That Again: Cricket's reaction when he lets the Hudkins tree disaster slip during the final song and Bill overhears, worrying he'll be pronounced naughty again and we're back to what happened in the start.
- Wide-Eyed Idealist: Bill loves all things Christmas, intends to get gifts for everyone, and loves the hideous gift that Gramma and Nancy made him.
- Wingding Eyes: Cricket's eyes turn into slot machines that stop on gift boxes during his verse in the opening song. Done again a brief moment during his and Tilly's Hard-Work Montage.
- Yet Another Christmas Carol: Parodied, when Gramma mentions that she gets visited by three ghosts who keep telling her to change her ways. This apparently happens every Christmas and she refuses to listen.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Tilly tells Cricket she believes there's good in him, which she keeps to heart throughout the episode.
- Your Television Hates You: Left home alone, Bill tries to stay in the holiday spirit by watching a Christmas Special. He then sees the special's main character talk about how important and great it is to have the entire family together.
