The Santa Clauses Season 2 - Better Watch Out

Marta Kessler and Eric Stonestreet in The Santa Clauses 2x03.

The Santa Clauses returns for its second season on Disney+ with a season-long arc that does not overstay its welcome.

This season manages to start off almost immediately after the second season ends. Scott Calvin (Tim Allen) is no longer retiring as Santa Claus. Instead, he’s going to continue the job while training son Cal (Austin Kane) as his replacement. Whether Cal is ready or not is a different question. Meanwhile, daughter Sandra (Elizabeth Allen-Dick) started developing magical powers of her own last season. The second season continues to explore these powers but only to an extent. There are a number of characters here so they can only spend so much time before switching focus. While the Calvin family is focusing on the North Pole’s future, a threat is looming at Santopolis where Magnus Antas/The Mad Santa (Eric Stonestreet) and gnome Olga (Marta Kessler) have awakened.

The Santa Clauses Season 2 key art. Courtesy of Disney.

Disney+ sent screeners for the entire six-episode season. I managed to watch all the episodes on Sunday evening. And yet, I strangely found myself wanting to spend more time with some of the characters. At the same time, you almost forget that Eric Stonestreet is playing The Mad Santa because he disappears into the role. Of course, we know from the start that whatever his plan is will almost certainly get foiled. Given his threats, it’s easy to see how this season might remind viewers of Jack Frost’s (Martin Short) threats in The Santa Clause 3.

As for laughs, well, this is where an audience makes a big difference. When I watch something in a theater, the laughs will come no matter what. But in watching at home, it has to be really, really funny for me to start laughing. In watching the The Santa Clauses episode screeners, I did not even find myself laughing. Not even a chuckle. That’s not to see something good or bad about the series. It more or less says something about how the laughter in the room can be contagious.

There’s no word yet on a third season. However, we do know that Disney has different plans in store for Disney+. Obviously, they are dealing with Marvel fatigue and focusing on the future of Star Wars. What this means for a show like The Santa Clauses and whether it has a future beyond season two is still up in the air. If this does happen to be the end, audiences will probably find the finale to be satisfactory. It’s not game-changing by any means but it will probably leave people feeling like they’re in a good spot.

CREATED FOR TELEVISION BY: Jack Burditt
DIRECTORS: Jason Winer (2×01, 2×02), Katie Locke O’Brien (2×03, 2×04), Charles Randolph-Wright (2×05, 2×06)
WRITERS: Jack Burditt (2×01, 2×02), Camile Patrao & Eugene Garcia-Cross (2×03), Katy Colloton & Katie O’Brien (2×04), Emalee Burditt & Hayley Frazier (2×05), Vali Chandrasekarian (2×06)
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Jack Burditt, Tim Allen, Kevin Hench, Richard Baker, Rick Messina, Jason Winer, Jon Radler
CAST: Tim Allen, Elizabeth Mitchell, Austin Kane, Elizabeth Allen-Dick, Devin Bright, Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias, and Eric Stonestreet