Santa's Reindeer

## Episode guide

**"Santa's Reindeer"** is the twentieth episode of the first season of *Nate Is Late*.

## Synopsis

It's almost Christmas, and Nate and Malika meet Santa Claus himself in the park.

## Plot

It’s Christmas time and the city is covered in snow and holiday lights as Nate and Malika are up early and making their way school. Nate is trying to think of what to ask Santa for Christmas, but Malika is surprisingly apathetic in doing so due to not getting what she wanted last year despite still getting some gifts, claiming she doesn’t like being surprised. Just as they set foot in the park, they run into an elderly man looking for someone named Brian, who startles the pair and causes him to fall into a bush. Nate quickly identifies him as Santa Claus but Malika is doubtful until he reveals he knows their names and Malika ends up confirming for herself when she pulls on his beard and finds it real. When questioned what’s going on, Santa tells the pair he was training a new reindeer for the upcoming Christmas route but lost track of him when he parked to take a restroom break and found him missing when he returned. Malika noticed the ropes chewed off which Santa think Brian bit through to go find him. Nate notices some footprints in the snow as well as an extra pair of human footprints. The trio follow it and find it leads to the animal shelter “Animal Tenderness”, to Nate and Malika’s horror as they realize Maxime Dermy is likely involved, telling Santa who he is and the last time they encountered him.

Worried, Santa requests the duo free Brian, citing he can’t help as he can’t be seen before Christmas (only allowing Nate and Malika to do so because it’s an emergency). Nate goes to distract Maxime with Christmas carols, while Malika sneaks into the basement. She finds Brian and works to free him, but she sets off an alarm on the cage. Maxime grabs Nate and forces him into the basement where he finds Malika, throwing the pair into a cage with a sleeping carnivorous snake and warning them that any vibration will wake it. Curious to know why the two would go to such trouble to free Brian, he guesses that Brian can fly, confirming it when he forces Brian to fly around the room (though not without slamming into a cage). Maxime decides to use Brian’s power to his benefit by stealing animals from the zoo and selling them off. As he flies off, Nate and Malika’s yelling to be left out wakes up the snake in their cage. Santa, seeing Maxime ride off with Brian, rushes into the shop and frees the pair before they’re eaten. The pair reveal what happened but are unsure if they’ll be able to catch up. This reminds Santa that Brian uses magic dust to fly, and he has some extra in his sled.

Meanwhile Maxime reaches the zoo and tries to decide which animal to take. Before he can, Nate, Malika and Santa arrive with the latter two being powered by magic dust and carrying Santa’s sled. They chase Maxime around the zoo but are too slow to catch up. Landing to take a breather, Nate hits upon a plan. They fake Santa’s sled crashing, Nate “conceding” and begging Maxime not to steal a certain monkey in the zoo, Naturally, Maxime goes to do so, once his back is turned, Santa throws a snowball at Maxime which gets said monkeys to imitate the action and throw more snowballs at him, including an orangutan who manages to knock Maxime off Brian and into the cage with the monkeys who chase him around. Santa reunites with Brian and thanks the duo for their help. Nate promising to send his Christmas list to him later, Malika likewise saying she’ll do so as well, even if some are surprises that aren’t on her list. The duo realizes they’re going to be late, but Santa gives them something to help them out.

They arrive at school and are met by Principal Prudence. Just as she starts to chastise them, they give her the present Santa gave them: a Christmas Carol book, which she claims as her favorite since she was little. Despite telling her that Santa gave them the gift, she laughs it off and lets the two in, which they do as they see Santa flying by overhead with Brian.

## Characters

- **Recurring Characters**

* Nate
* Malika
* Maxime Dermy
* Principal Prudence

- **Main Characters**

* Santa Claus
* Brian

## Trivia

* This is the first episode whose name doesn't start with the word "the". The others are "Grandpa", "King Nate", and "Inside Professor Toybos".
* This is Maxime's second appearance and the first time he's actually named.

### Continuity

* The duo references the events of The Dragon when they find the tracks lead to "Animal Tenderness", as well as who Maxime is to Santa.

## Errors

* Right after Santa frees Nate and Malika from the cage, Malika's leggings are missing.

## Gallery

Click the image to view the gallery for this episode.

## Transcript

Click here to view the transcript for this episode.

## Names in other languages

* **Basque:** Bizarzuriren oreina
* **French:** Le renne du Père Noël
* **German:** Das Rentier und der Weihnachtsmann
* **Mandarin (China):** 圣诞老人的驯鹿
* **Spanish (Spain):** El reno de Papá Noel

 Season 2 | 1. "The Lady of the Lake" • 2. "The Thunderbird" • 3. "The Crocodile Man" • 4. "The Golem" • 5. "The Hairdresser" • 6. "The Mood Enhancer" • 7. "The Chess Game" • 8. "The Drone" • 9. "The Astronaut" • 10. "The Gorgon" • 11. "The Dimensional Rift" • 12. "The Reptilians" • 13. "The Enchanted Bracelet" • 14. "The Ink Thief" • 15. "The Tiki" • 16. "The Puppet" • 17. "The Mandrake" • 18. "The Vampires" • 19. "The Sphinx" • 20. "The Pendulum" • 21. "The Giant Fish" • 22. "The Wedding Dress" • 23. "The Home Spirit" • 24. "The Great Pili-Pala" • 25. "The Endless Recess" • 26. "The Chicken Cop" • 27. "The Kitsune" • 28. "The Collector" • 29. "The Kappa" • 30. "The Beanstalk" • 31. "The Demigod's Test" • 32. "The Glitch" • 33. "The Tiny Tops" • 34. "The Magician's Top Hat" • 35. "The Chromapix" • 36. "The Gingerbread Family" • 37. "The Alphabet Agency" • 38. "The Wild Beasts" • 39. "The Return of the Cuddly Toys" • 40. "The Race Car" • 41. "Inside Professor Toybos" • 42. "The Asteroid" • 43. "The Time Travellers" • 44. "The Nebulons" • 45. "The Witches' Convention" • 46. "The Kobolds" • 47. "The Superstars" • 48. "The Goblin's Cousin" • 49. "The Golden Crown" • 50. "The Scarecrow" • 51. "The Banana Peel Part I" • 52. "The Banana Peel Part II"