Welcome to Christmasland

**Welcome to Christmasland** is the ninth episode of the second season of AMC's *NOS4A2*. It is also the nineteenth episode of the series overall.

## Synopsis

Vic and Maggie embark on a dangerous journey; Charlie Manx confronts his deepest fears; as her world falls apart, Millie must choose between freedom and her father.

## Plot

**SPOILERS AHEAD**

Manx arrives at Christmasland with Wayne in the backseat of the Wraith. He is welcomed by the other children, who argue over which cruel game to play first — "Stick the Blind," "Cops and Robbers," or "Carve the Goose." Manx tells the kids that there will be plenty of time for games after Millie gives Wayne the tour, but Mike informs him that Millie isn’t around, so Manx personally gives Wayne a tour of Christmasland.

Manx takes Wayne to the costume shop and tells him to pick a costume. Wayne appears to take interest in the astronaut costume, but he then looks at his pajamas and says that his mother gave them to him. Manx informs him that there aren’t any bedtimes at Christmasland and that he can stay up and play games as much as he wants. Manx then gifts Wayne with a brand new pair of scissors but tells him that he must first make his arrival official by signing his name in the book. Wayne writes his first name but is hesitant to write McQueen. So Charlie coaches him into writing Manx — Wayne Manx.

Lou covers Chris’ body with his jacket before taking another look at the Triumph. He tells Vic he can fix the bike, but the rest will be up to her, indicating towards the bite mark on his shoulder from Wayne. Vic intends to ride her bike to Christmasland. Lou doesn’t want Vic to ride alone, but she insists it’s too dangerous. She tells Lou that he’s the best man she’s ever known and that she’ll bring Wayne back. They share a single kiss and then Vic tells Lou to call Tabitha and ensure that she has backup ready on her command. Before parting ways, Vic tells Lou that she loves him.

Vic meets Maggie alongside the road. Vic knows of a back way into Christmasland — a weak spot in between worlds where the veil is thin. Maggie intends to join Vic with plans to blow up Christmasland. Vic is initially reluctant to allow Maggie to join her, but Maggie reminds Vic that she was hunting the Wraith months before she met Vic, so she wants to see it through together.

Manx finds Millie in the Eternal Maze. When she was the only child in Christmasland, Manx would always find her there. She wanted him to find her friends and he has. He’s even brought her another friend. Wayne. Millie replies that she has enough friends and that she wants to leave Christmasland. She reminds Manx of their previous home in the Real World. Manx then notices that Millie is wearing a golden cat brooch. Millie reveals that she found a house in the woods. He insists that there isn’t anything before the walls, but Millie offers to show him.

Vic and Maggie ride over the Shorter Way to Christmasland on the Triumph. They arrive inside Manx’s Inscape in utter disbelief. Vic reveals to Maggie that Wayne bit Lou and that she isn’t sure what he will be like when they find him. Maggie assures Vic that Wayne will remember her as she’s already done more than most parents ever could, including her own. Maggie’s mom disowned her when she started dying her hair and kissing girls. Maggie asks Vic to think about where Wayne might be. Vic remembers going to Six Flags and how much he loved the rides. However, there wasn’t anything he loved more than the 4th of July and fireworks. They are startled by a vampire kid dressed as Wonder Woman. Maggie says "Red Light!" The girl suddenly comes to a stop. Maggie explains that it always worked with the kids at the library.

Millie takes Manx to her childhood home just beyond the gates. She takes him upstairs, where Mr. Tim attempts to break free from behind a locked door. Millie takes Manx to see her mother. Manx is frightened. He can’t believe his eyes. Cassie pulls him in to dance, though Manx remains in disbelief. She tells him that she’s always been there. Nagging at him like a song he can’t get out of his head. Millie wishes for all three of them to leave Christmasland together, as a family. However, Cassie reveals that she can’t leave the house because of what Manx did to her. Cassie tells Manx that he was always a terrible dancer. Her father even paid for classes but it didn’t help. He was so sure that it was his role to lead. All he ever did was spin them around in circles and trip over his own feet, she remarks. Manx insists that she's lying. He did more for their daughter than Cassie ever did. Cassie tells Manx that Christmasland isn’t a safe haven for children. In reality, it’s a way for him to escape his own failures. And that’s why Christmasland will turn into static now that Vic has arrived. Millie begs her mother to come with them, but she can’t. She simply warns Millie to leave Christmasland before Vic unleashes the Great White Static.

Manx drags Millie downstairs and tells her to go outside. Millie argues that going back to Christmasland will mean their deaths. She pleads with him to take her to the Real World, and Manx eventually agrees.

Lou and Tabitha are held up in a car, eating fast food, waiting for Vic to return. Lou remarks that he’s been waiting for Vic to return from fighting Manx for eight years. Tabitha hasn’t had a burger in a decade. She told herself that all the agents had to be "lean and mean." Lou jokes that he should probably quit as well given his heart stem. He promises he will when Vic and Wayne return. Tabitha agreed to help because of Maggie. When she saw the burns on Maggie’s arm, she told herself that she was done, and yet, she can’t turn away. Lou can relate, given that Vic burned the house down, and he stayed at her side. Though, he questions if that was out of genuine love for Vic or if he was scared of being alone. Nevertheless, Tabitha assures Lou that Vic will return with Wayne and Maggie.

Vic and Maggie avoid the Christmasland kids. They sneak up to a kid dressed as an astronaut, who they presume to be Wayne. However, it isn’t, and that mistake result in him alerting the other kids of their arrival. Maggie finds herself next to a tree with human limbs as ornaments. Among the ornaments is Joe’s head. Vic and Maggie are surrounded. Manx then calls out to Vic, who comes out from behind the tree while Maggie hides underneath.

Next to Manx stands Wayne and Millie. Manx claims that Wayne is happy at Christmasland. Vic tries to convince Wayne to join her, but instead, he tells her that Wayne McQueen isn’t his name, much to Manx’s amusement. Manx swears that all his children are happy, but Vic reveals that it was Millie who told her about the faltering veil, which allowed her access to Christmasland. However, when Vic asks Millie to tell Wayne the truth, she is too afraid to speak. Vic gives Millie her word that she’ll be free of Christmasland if she brings Wayne over. However, Manx suggests that they let Wayne choose, and he chooses to stay in Christmasland. Manx then informs the kids that they have some drifters among them, referring to both Vic and Maggie, who plants a bomb under the large Christmas tree before escaping. Meanwhile, Vic flees into the costume shop and plants a bomb while the children bang outside the door until they manage to force their way inside.

Maggie sets a bomb under the Sleigh coaster. Unbeknownst to her, she is being followed by the little girl dressed as Wonder Woman. The girl steals Maggie’s Tiles from out her pocket and plays "Monkey in the Middle" with Mike and Maggie. The girl then takes the Tiles and runs into the Eternal Maze.

Vic finds herself surrounded by the children. One child jumps on her back and bites her. Vic shakes the girl off and runs just as Maggie’s bomb under the Christmas tree explodes, momentarily trapping the children underneath.

Manx’s nose begins to bleed as a result of the Great Tree being blown up. However, he doesn’t blame Millie. She was poisoned by Vic and Cassie. Manx wants to hang Vic’s head from a tree, but Millie would rather let Vic leave with Wayne and have her father stay in Christmasland with her. Manx refuses as he has work to do. Millie realizes that she’s not enough for her father. She never was. Millie has no desire to kill Vic and plans to leave Christmasland on her own. Manx reminds Millie that he is her father and that she’s to do exactly what he says, but Millie has chosen her path. She is leaving Christmasland at whatever the cost. With Millie gone, Manx grabs his silver bone hammer and exits the store just as the costume shop across from him explodes from another bomb, weakening Manx further.

Vic sets a bomb under the Sleigh coaster and goes looking for Wayne. She finds him all alone and approaches, but he runs off into the Eternal Maze at the sight of her. Vic follows Wayne into the maze but loses his trail.

Maggie traps the child that stole her Tiles in a corner. She tells the girl that the game is over, but before she can recover her Tiles, she finds herself cornered by the Christmasland kids, armed with sharp weapons. Maggie snatches her Tiles away and fights the children off for as long as she can before becoming overwhelmed and tackled to the ground, where they take a bite out of her before Vic comes to her rescue. They take cover behind an ice wall as the kids search for them. They’ve both set the bombs and now have to wait for them to explode.

Manx nears the Eternal Maze, where he notices a drop of blood on the ground.

Vic and Maggie wander aimlessly through the maze. They cross paths with Wayne by pure happenstance. He wants to play a game with Vic. She says that he can play NBA 2K at home, but he doesn’t wish to leave Christmasland. Vic reminds him that in Christmasland, there isn’t a 4th of July, meaning no fireworks. She calls him Bats, which angers him. He tells Vic that isn’t his name and accuses her of always leaving him. Vic tells Wayne that she loves him and that she’ll always be there for him. She pulls Wayne close and hugs him, though he takes this opportunity to stab her with a pair of scissors, exclaiming that he won Scissors for the Drifter.

Maggie carries Vic on her shoulders as they limp towards the exit of the maze. In an instant, the exit disappears. What was once a passageway is now solid ice. Manx explains that this is the beauty of an Inscape. Everything they see is a product of his imagination. The Eternal Maze is one of his favorite exhibits. Children always find their way out but adults never do. Manx approaches Maggie and hits her in the stomach with his hammer. As he is about to bring the hammer down on her again, the bombs explode, destroying the Sleigh coaster and another shop. Manx instantaneously becomes weaker and ages rapidly. Vic takes his hammer and beats him over the head repeatedly. It takes Maggie to stop her as beating Manx in his own Inscape will accomplish nothing. They need to focus on finding Wayne before Christmasland falls apart.

Manx, in his weakened state, barely able to walk or talk, asks the children if they’ve seen Millie, but not one has.

Millie stands in front of the veil of white static separating the Real World and Christmasland. Millie can hear her father calling out for her, so she is forced to cross over. In doing so, she begins to disappear almost instantly. However, she re-materializes after grabbing her golden cat ornament from the tree that she previously hung it on many years prior. She then runs to take cover at the sound of Tabitha approaching. Lou asks if she sees anything, but she doesn’t.

Vic finds Wayne standing near the gates. She calls out to him: "Bruce Wayne McQueen!" She disarms him of his scissors and forcefully takes him away. He demands that Vic let him go, even calling out to Manx for help. He tells Vic that he hates her and that she’s a monster, to which she replies that she’s his mother. The lights at Christmasland then shut off, with nothing left to light the Inscape but the flames created by the explosions. Vic then tells Wayne that Christmas is over.

## Cast

* Olafur Darri Olafsson as Bing Partridge (credit only)
* Jahkara Smith as Maggie Leigh
* Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Chris McQueen
* Virginia Kull as Linda McQueen (credit only)
* Jonathan Langdon as Lou Carmody
* Ashley Romans as Tabitha Hutter
* Mattea Conforti as Millie Manx
* Zachary Quinto as Charlie Manx
* Celeste Arias as Cassie Manx
* John James Cronin as Mike Demeter
* Mia Mei Williamson as Wonder Woman Demon

Co-Starring* Kiley Liddell as Demon Annie
* Brooke Liddell as Demon Amy
* Koko VanDernoot as Pink Nightgown Demon
* Gabriella Terrero as Red Headed Demon
* Talya Walker as Cowgirl Demon
* Jesse Bargar as Barbershop Quartet #1
* Owen Connors as Barbershop Quartet #2
* Colton Osorio as Barbershop Quartet #3
* John Gibbons as Barbershop Quartet #4

## Multimedia

### Videos

'Maggie's Plan to Destroy Christmasland' Sneak Peek Ep. 209 NOS4A2'I Want to Play Here' Talked About Scene Ep. 209 NOS4A2