Stuck at Christmas - The Movie

**"Stuck at Christmas - The Movie"**is the first episode in Season 3 of ***Stuck in the Middle*** and the thirty-eighth episode overall. It first aired on December 8, 2017, to 1.36 million viewers.

## Summary

Harley rallies her siblings and parents to take a trip to Florida to celebrate Christmas with their abuela, but in true Diaz fashion, things go awry.

## Plot

It's almost Christmas, and every year Abuela invites the Diazes to her house in Florida but they always come up with an excuse not to go. This year, when she calls, she doesn't even ask them to go at all. Harley tells her family that their grandma has given up on them and the only way to make it up to her is to go visit her. Rachel is in Paris. Georgie doesn't want to go because she had volunteered to participate in the Christmas toy drive. Ethan and the little kids don't want to go either because they had been hoping to get a pool table. Nevertheless, Harley manages to convince them to fly to visit Abuela.

Their journey is filled with misfortunes and adventures. First, their flight gets redirected to Ohio due to bad weather. They rent a car that turns out to be too small for the large family. They switch to a bus only to realize that Daphne lost Deathnee in the car. She forces them to change route and recover Deathne. After Daphne fighting a little girl to get Deathnee back, Georgie ends up giving all her toy-drive toys in exchange for Deathnee. As a punishment for being distracted, Suzy takes all of their devices and puts them together with all the money in Tom's man purse - but then the man purse opens, pouring all the content into a fire. Left without money or means of communication, the bus breaks down. The mechanic refuses to fix it without money. Harley reaches to him after realizing that he's a middle kid too who feels unnoticed by his family, just like her. She convinces the Diaz's to help the mechanic win a family race in exchange for him fixing the bus. The plan works out. The bus is fixed.

They manage to make it to Abuela in time for Christmas. Abuela is very excited to see have them visit her after all these years.

## Cast

### Main Cast

* Jenna Ortega  as Harley Diaz
* Isaak Presley as Ethan Diaz
* Ariana Greenblatt as Daphne Diaz
* Kayla Maisonet as Georgie Diaz
* Nicolas Bechtel as Lewie Diaz
* Malachi Barton as Beast Diaz
* Cerina Vincent as Suzy Diaz
* Joe Nieves as Tom Diaz

### Guest Cast

* Olga Merediz as Abuela
* Steve Monroe as Buddy Burtz
* Steven Kramer Glickman as Benny Burtz
* Patrick Faucette as Cop
* Chloe Perrin as Joyanne
* Eileen O'Connell as Marla
* Judy Kain as Mrs. McDoogan
* Ron G as Rental Agent
* Troy Blendell as Roger

### Mentioned Cast

* Ronni Hawk as Rachel Diaz (cameo, not credited)

## Continuity

* This episode mentions that Rachel is in Paris. In the next episode, Stuck with Rachel's Secret, it is revealed that while in Paris, Rachel got an opportunity to enroll to a college there and get an internship with her idols in a French fashion company in France.
* In Stuck in a Besties Battle, Georgie and Daphne mention how Harley organized the family to go to Abuela's in this episode and how she makes Abuela an ornament each year.
* The family gives up a pool table so that they can visit Abuela. In Stuck with Horrible Helpers, Abuela sends them money to get the pool table they sacrificed in this episode.
* This is the second time that the kids have had their devices taken away since Stuck without Devices.
* Georgie mentions the time she alphabetized food in the kitchen in Stuck with a Hook, Line and Sinker.
* Lewie gives one of his "famous heartfelt" speeches in this episode. This continues to be a recurring theme in future episodes including Stuck Wrestling Feelings and Stuck in Harley's Quinceañera.
* The name of the "Whoopsy Daisy Slippery Spray-sie" invention that survived the fire in this episode becomes the final clue to escape Harley's escape room in Stuck with No Escape.
* Ethan says that it's been established that he is the expert of giving up. This was established in Stuck in the Block Party and is explored in depth in Stuck in a Commercial.
* Abuela calls Georgie "my athlete" the same way she does in Stuck in a Besties Battle.
* Harley complains to Buddy about being the Wednesday of the family which she first mentioned in Stuck in the Middle. In Stuck in Harley's Quinceañera, she realizes that being the Wednesday / middle kid is not a bad thing.
* In Stuck in Spring Break, the Diazes reference their misadventures flying in this episode.

## Trivia

* This was the first Christmas episode.
* This episode, despite being an hour-long special, was promoted as a movie.
	+ While it is labeled as a movie, it is not an official Disney Channel Original Movie.
* This special comprises of the episodes "Stuck in a Christmas Road Trip" (301) and "Stuck in a Iron Elf" (302) combined into a Christmas movie.
* This episode is very similar to Stuck at the Waterpark.
	+ Both involve the Diaz family having to enter a competition to get money.
	+ Both involve Lewie and Beast ruining their chances of having someone grant an exception.
* This episode also features fewer child and adult actors (as listed above) and stars as guest appearances.
* The kids' Abuela finally appeared on the screen.
	+ This is Abuela's first appearance of the series.
* The original script opened with Abuela welcoming Harley to her home, and her granddaughter telling her the story of the trip to Florida in a flashback.
* This was the first episode of the series without an appearance by Rachel Diaz, who decided to go to France with her friend's family for Christmas.
* The opening sequence changes to a holiday-themed opening. Even though Rachel is absent and not credited, you could see her standing with everyone (Cameo only) when they are in the snow globe before the title appeared.
* It was revealed that Tom has a brother named Chick.
* Pasteles are similar to a tamale in Latin American countries, specifically, the hallacas, a traditional Christmas dish from Venezuela. It also hinted that the Diazes are from one of the Latin American countries.
* Lewie gave one of his famous heartfelt speeches to the banker as he tries to convince her to give them cash.
* Charlie Forray and Brandon Hitson portrayed the other two uncredited Burtz brothers.

## References

1. ↑ [1]
2. ↑ [2]