Holiday Hoax

**"Holiday Hoax"** is the twenty-second episode of *Pancake's Show*, and the second "special" episode.

## Description

After Melvin tells Pancake that Lemon Claus isn't real, Pan becomes incredibly depressed.

## Plot

The episode starts out with Mars searching through the watermelon’s mailbox for Christmas letters. Pancake appears behind him wearing a Rudolph costume, calling it a clown. Suddenly, Rudolph appears behind him and plummets Pancake onto the ground. Finley also appears saying that he is hosting a Christmas party at his house. Finley tells Mars that for the past few episodes, he was on the run from the IRS for not paying his taxes. Waffle then comes in and tells everyone about her new glasses. After this, Mars asks Pancake what he’s getting for Christmas, but he doesn’t know. Mars gives a suggestion that Pancake should send a letter to Lemon Claus, then heads off to the mall and does so.

At the bus stop near the nonspecific mall, Pancake encounters Abigail -who wants an ultra-rare plug n’ play set- and Melvin. He asks the Poindexters if they have sent their letters to Lemon Claus yet, so Abigail proceeds to write a letter and Melvin didn’t send his. The reason is because: Melvin says Lemon Claus doesn’t exist. He tells Pancake that Lemon Claus is “a hoax constructed by the media so that they can make sure kids don’t know that it’s actually their parents sending them gifts” and it’s all a blatant lie. Pancake screams in terror as he runs back home, all depressed that his whole body turns grey.

Back at home, Mars chats with Pancake about how he is feeling. Mars brings up that Melvin was just joking and says Lemon Claus exists somewhere. Lemon Claus lives in the South Pole, so Pancake & Mars travel there in their wagon. After a few hours, however, the duo are finally there. An elf named Valerie thought that they were intruders, but Mars explains everything. Valerie also says that Lemon Claus is on vacation in the Bahamas (on Christmas Eve of all days!). Mars demands he needs Lemon Claus immediately, so Valerie calls Lemon Claus. He says that it was blasphemous for someone to believe he’s not real. All of a sudden Lemon Claus pops up, and Pancake gets all jumpy and excited after seeing him, that his colours come back.

At the Poindexter household, Pancake shows Melvin the pictures he took with Lemon Claus as evidence that he exists. Melvin was clueless about it, but Pancake tells him to apologize. Pancake interrogates Melvin by asking if he likes Christmas, while Abigail and a bunch of other characters gang up on him. Just then, Melvin shouts that he loves all of Christmas, and everyone cheers him on. Pancake asks Melvin if he can go to Finley’s Christmas party, and he accepts.

At Finley’s party, everyone is hanging out. Abigail got the ultra rare My Personal Tutor plug n play set, while Casey got a brand spankin’ new VHS player, so they can play the super secret tape that only Abigail & Casey know about. Finley appears and asks Pancake, Mars, & Melvin how the party is going, but Melvin questions about the aquatic setting, only for Finley to respond with a quick “Yes.” Pancake tells the viewer to have a great December, and Lemon Claus does the same by persuading them to pay their taxes. Finley rushes off rapidly due to the tax situation. Pancake lets out a “Happy holidays”, only to be interrupted by how everyone was disgusted by the super secret tape; Casey tells everyone to grow up because of this. Pancake says that he'll see everyone next year, but randomly, Waffle passes out from her drunkenness, concluding the episode entirely.

### Bonus Segment

Pancake attempts to prank Mars with a present...again. Mars doesn't buy it at first, but eventually gives in, though he still gets pranked.

## Characters

* Pancake
* Mars
* Melvin
* Abigail
* Casey
* Finley
* Waffle
* Liam
* Nathan
* Lemon Claus (debut)
* Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (debut)
* Valerie (debut)
* Cruncher (cameo)
* Petey (cameo)
* Incidentals

## Trivia

* The title card was drawn by KBOS.
* This episode started development around July 2021 and had an earlier version.
	+ Said earlier version of the episode (named “Pancake’s Show Christmas Special 2021” or “christma”) was gonna be about a bean incidental learning about the wonders of Christmas. It was produced for Season 1 before being pushed to Season 2 a few months later.
* This episode is Nathan’s first speaking role, and his first appearance since Mars in Love.
* This is the first episode where Pancake is shown with orange eye pupils. In earlier episodes, his pupils were colored blue.
* The My Personal Tutor plug-n-play box was made with a website called LunaPic.
* The bonus segment was animated by an entity known as "Hairy Gazelle".
* This was the last episode produced in 2022.