The 3 Brothers Christmas Special Thing

## Summary

When the 3 brothers find out that Charlie doesn't know what Christmas is, they decide to teach him everything they know about it.

## Plot

The episode starts on a cold, snowy Christmas morning in Smileton. In Smileton Park, Fred and Bobby are building snowmen. They each praise each other's work, and Bobby asks about snowmen ever getting cold. Fred's answer reminds himself about the hot chocolate that Ted would be making back at the house. Bobby states that Ted's hot chocolate is the best, and follows Fred onto a tram. The tram starts and drives through the snow successfully, but gets stuck when it hits a giant snow pile. Fred and Bobby then try walking, but the ice causes them to give up. Bobby thinks, glancing at a sled stuck in the snow. A few seconds later, he and Fred are being chased down the street by the sled, out of control and going extremely fast.

Meanwhile, Charlie is drinking (well, trying to drink) the hot chocolate, while Ted plays 'Jingle Bells' on the piano, with numerous mistakes. He abruptly halts when he hears the doorbell ringing profusely. Annoyed with the constant, impatient ringing, he gets up and unlocks the door. Fred and Bobby burst in, only just managing to shut out the runaway sled. Ted, ignoring what just happened, declares that the hot chocolate is in the kitchen. Leaving behind their coats and scarfs, Fred and Bobby race into the kitchen and down their mugs of hot chocolate in one go. Fred says Merry Christmas to Charlie, but Charlie does not understand. Fred and Bobby go into a brief state of shock, and Fred decides they will teach Charlie every thing they know about Christmas. Bobby questions this, and Fred gets annoyed.

Later on, Fred, Bobby and Charlie are walking down the high street, Bobby explaining about the discounts and offers the shops use to make you buy more. Inside the shop, he loads Fred's arms with various items, clarifying the fact your friends won't like you anymore if you don't buy them anything. Then he shows Charlie a Christmas Advert on television, explaining that they show them every six seconds to remind you which store to buy from. Back at the park, Fred sees a noticeboard that the brass band is playing that day and that they should see it. When they visit the bandstand and find out how dreadful the band plays, Fred regrets his decision.

At the house, Ted teaches Charlie about the Christmas Tree. Charlie is interested in his reflection in the baubles, and as he peers closer at it, the tree subsides and short circuits the lights. The tree sets alight and burns to ashes, leaving only a bare skeleton. Ted reassures Charlie by saying that they needed a new one anyway.

The brothers continue to teach Charlie about Christmas, showing a diagram of the 'perfect' snowman, teaching him how to wrap a present, showing him how to sled, playing Christmas songs, singing Christmas songs, fixing decorations, playing accordion, throwing snowballs, wearing hats, playing clarinet, hitting television sets and finally singing obscure Norwegian Christmas melodies.

Charlie goes back up to his bedroom and contemplates sadly about how he can not understand Christmas the way the brothers do. As he looks at a photo of him and the brothers grouped together in a photo, he worries about how he is ruining it for everyone, and finally decides that he should run away forever to a place where Christmas is not celebrated. Charlie finds an old postcard that describes a place called Blabton, 'the only place in the world where absolutely no-one does Christmas'. Charlie packs his belongings, wraps them in a spotted napkin and leaves the house, trudging off down the street towards the city edge.

After the night, Fred, Ted and Bobby wake up with joy to find that it is Christmas Eve. Fred and Bobby go and find Charlie, but cannot see him anywhere, even in his room. After much searching, Fred finds a note left by him. He reads it and starts crying. Bobby asks him what it says, and Fred replies that he doesn't know because it is just a load of scribbles. Bobby tells him that he is holding the note upside-down, and decides to read it himself. The note is from Charlie, and it says how he is going to Blabton because he is afraid he is ruining everyone's Christmas. Fred cries for real, and Ted, walking past and stating a Merry Christmas, is surprised. Fred then grabs him and explains everything extremely fast and laying the blame on Bobby, who gets annoyed. Ted asks where Charlie has gone, and upon Fred's recall of Blabton, Ted is shocked. He explains that Blabton is 'a desolate town on a steep cliff in the roughest sea surrounded by flying pirate ships that make a funny noise like WAWAWA and it's really annoying!'. They all leave and board the car, Ted delaying driving as much as possible until Fred orders him to hurry up, in which he does and the car speeds off down the street.

The day starts to end, and as night falls, Charlie is woefully looking at the desolate landscape that follows the city borderline that he is about to cross. The sun says goodbye to him as it sets, and Charlie is left sad and alone. Suddenly, a beam of light falls upon him. He looks behind him and sees the silhouettes of three travellers who have come afar, bringing gifts in exchange for guidance (a couple of pennies, some gum, an elastic band, half a packet of crisps and an old shoe). Charlie explains that he is not a Lord, like the travellers think he is, and that he is just a silly spider called Charlie. One of the travellers turns off the torch that was creating their silhouettes, and reveals that they are just the brothers, one of which mistook Charlie for Wilbur Wackett. Ted apologises for making Christmas so complex for Charlie, and Charlie replies that he will never understand Christmas. Bobby then explains that 'Christmas is not just about decorations and trees, its about being together and finding what makes you happy'. Charlie finally understands, and they all go home for Christmas dinner.

Back at home, they are all eating Christmas Dinner, Bobby dropping his fork in a glass of apple juice and Fred managing to fix an old camera. They all group together to take a picture with the camera, that ends up mirroring the one that started the whole thing in the first place.

## Trivia

* This is the second Christmas special.
	+ It also came out on the same day as the first one did the year before.
* Charlie the Spider has his first major role.
* The first half of the episode takes place on the 23rd December 2014, as said by a brass band notice that was present. Also, the second half takes place on Christmas Eve, the 24th December, as said by Fred and by logic of the date.
* The scene where the 3 brothers are silhouetted against the light and claim to be 'three travellers who have come afar' is a biblical reference to The Three Kings Of Orient Are, three travellers who travelled across the land to see baby Jesus in the Nativity story.
	+ Furthermore, the song is also played in the background as well.
* This is the last episode of Season 2.
* Ted may have referenced the BBC Radio channel as 'the classical one'. The BBC would later have a direct appearance on TV in Ring For Nonsense, so this reference may be likely.
* This is the first time all of the brothers have been seen since The 3 Brothers Play A Tune playing all their signature instruments, although not at the same time.
* There is a painting of the Smileton Orchard in Charlie's room.
* More about Smile Enterprises' Orwellian propaganda stylistics are shown, with the brainwashing adverts, posters, offers and 'rules' that Bobby explains.
* Fred is shown playing his accordion again, and also shows a particular liking for brass bands.
	+ Likewise, Ted is seen playing the piano skilfully (only with a few mistakes) and Bobby is seen playing the clarinet, but very badly.
* Ted is revealed to own a car and is able to drive.
* It took Charlie a whole night to get across Smileton and get to the city limits, which is quite understandable, noting the city's large expanse.

***Mistakes***

* Fred and Bobby's scarfs disappear and reappear frequently when they are outside.
* The hot chocolate mugs change colour slightly when they are empty.

## Gallery

The brass band.The reaction to the brass band.Inside the Smile StoreThe Christmas Tree!Blabton postcard"It's Christmas!""Hooray!""The turkey! We forgot the turkey!"It's all just scribbles.Ted has no idea what Fred is saying.Ted's perception of BlabtonIn the car.The city outskirts.A quite demeaning billboard from Smile.Bobby has lost his fork in the apple juice glass.An extremely happy ending because why not.