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Christmas in Chatswin starts the day after Thanksgiving, as Tessa (Jane Levy) laments in the opening scene, but it is no less the sweeter for it, as demonstrated by tonight's tale of the importance of being with family for the holidays.
Suburgatory starring Jane Levy, Jeremy Sisto and Cheryl Hines airs on ABC Wednesdays at 9:30pm ET
Christmas in Manhattan With Malin Ackerman
George (Jeremy Sisto) big-heartedly gives Tessa a "Christmas in Manhattan" with her mother holiday package, complete with hotel and spa reservations. Giving up spending time with his daughter at Christmas so she can reconnect with her recently returned mom Alex (Malin Akerman) is hard for George, but he believes it is the right thing to do.
"I'm Unreal" Rants Ryan
While picking up the family Christmas album at the photographer's, Ryan (Parker Young) learns from the man behind the counter that he is adopted. Ryan freaks out, runs outside, strips off his jacket and shirt and starts beating his fists on the family car and screaming about being adopted and how he is "unreal." This silliness becomes absurd has he starts hitting and kicking things wondering if they are real (they are) and he then runs off down the street like a wild animal.
Later in the episode Malik (Maestro Harrell) and his family come across Ryan wandering on a dark road, and Malik entices him to the trunk of the car with treats - and takes Ryan home with him to keep Ryan safe and warm.
Dalia: All I Want for Christmas is Carmen
Dalia (Carly Chaikin) misses her housekeeper, Carmen (Bunnie Rivera) and decides to win her back from Noah (Alan Tudyk) who has hired her to be the nanny to his son. Dalia films a music video, complete with dancing Asian stewardesses, to a catchy tune with lyrics that include "You kept the house spic and span, you cleaned everything a cleaning lady can," but the key is the refrain, about how she "missed a spot...in my heart."
Dalia so misses her housekeeper that when she asks George to help get her back, she calls him "Daddy Altman."
In the meantime, Carmen is not doing well at Noah's, as his wife, back from her book tour, treats the nanny so rudely that both Noah and Carmen respond to her with "yes, master."
Meanwhile, Tessa and her mother have a heart to heart talk about the holidays while lounging around in bathrobes in a nice New York hotel. Alex wants to give Tessa a gift that "did not come from a department store" - a hug, but although sweet it is an awkward moment for both the daughter and the mother who abandoned her as a child.
The next morning they are in the hotel bar, and while Alex puts lipstick on Tessa and talks of her being almost an adult who should come with her to Europe, Tessa spies a little girl bouncing on her daddy's knee, and knows where she needs to be - back in Chatswin with George.
Maid in a Box and a Kiss
Christmas morning at Dalia's house is pretty but sad, as all Dalia wanted was Carmen - and instead she gets a pair of gloves. George, however, points her to a huge box lying on the floor in the other room, which Dalia and her mother unwrap, open and inside find - Carmen!
Dalia is not the only girl in Chatswin to get a Christmas morning surprise. As Tessa pulls up in a taxi, Lisa (Allie Grant) runs out of her house, still wearing her silly jammies, and asks Tessa to go to Malik's and talk to Ryan because he will listen to her (because he has a crush on Tessa, she adds). Tessa does, and as she and Ryan take a walk she tells him she knows he has a crush on her - and then adds "I may have one on you, too," after which they kiss.
Best Lines
"Maybe she should stay home and raise him herself - in English!” – Carmen
"You don't happen to have any rum balls do you? I've got the shakes." – Lisa
"Every girl needs a great red lipstick." – Alex
