Deck The Hallmark

It's Festive Friday with a heartwarming dive bar tale!

ABOUT DRINK AND BE MERRY

In a New York dive bar before Christmas 2019, Chet, an immature bartender, struggles to care for his lonely regulars while trying to find his own holiday spirit.

AIR DATE & NETWORK FOR DRINK AND BE MERRY

June 2, 2025 | Festivals

CAST & CREW OF DRINK AND BE MERRY

Director: Adam Volerich

Writer: Leo Winters

Cast:

Jefferson White as Chet

BRAN'S MOVIE SYNOPSIS

Chet is busy working at his bar talking with a couple regulars who are complaining about kids these days. Chet is flipping the channels on the TV when an episode of a TV show that was filmed there comes on, talking about how cool it was. The regulars aren't impressed. A couple of women come walking in and are like oh it's a slow night. We'll take a mojito. He's like I don't do that. So they land on vodka sodas. Chet is pumped because he wants to turn this bar around. He wants to get some younger people in. But the regulars aren't making it easy. The ladies are named Maeve & Miranda and while Miranda is in the restroom, Chet shoots his shot, talks about Hallmark Christmas movies, and gets Maeve's number. They leave and Chet ends up having quite the night with some of the regulars. After shutting down for the night, Maeve ends up coming back. She tells him that she gave him a fake number but wants to keep talking. They go back to his place and the next morning, she starts looking around his room and is concerned. It reminds her of her high school boyfriend's room. She's like I don't care, but most women would leave when they see your room. He goes to sleep and has a weird dream, wakes up and she's gone. Turns out, she was engaged. Whoopsies. To make matters worse, the other guy tracks him down and they chat for a while. He ends up being pretty chill about it and just gets drunk.

Chet goes home to spend Christmas with his mom. She gives him a book about acting and encourages him to go for it.

He goes back to the bar to talk to the regulars and decides he's not going to live his life afraid anymore. The movie ends with him pouring another beer and walking away.

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Patrick is back with another Lifetime movie! 

Read his review of the movie at Lifetime Uncorked. 

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Ryan joins us this week to head back to the pond for another episode of The Way Home.

ABOUT: THE WAY HOME (SEASON 4 EPISODE 9)

New Year's Eve in 1925 brings into focus the Landry and Augustine families' destiny, and Elliot and Kat witness it; in another time, Alice does the same.

AIR DATE & NETWORK FOR: THE WAY HOME (SEASON 4 EPISODE 9)

June 14, 2026 | Hallmark Channel

CAST & CREW OF: THE WAY HOME (SEASON 4 EPISODE 9)

Chyler Leigh as Kat Landry

Evan Williams as Elliot Augustine

Sadie Laflamme as Alice Dhawan

Andie MacDowell as Del Landry

BRAN’S THE WAY HOME (SEASON 4 EPISODE 9) SYNOPSIS

So Elliot and Kat jump but they don't end up in the '20s. They end up in the '80s and see the day that Colton and Del come home with baby Kat. Old Fern is like ohhhh my Kitty Kat.

Meanwhile at home, Jacob finds the scary notes hidden in a drawer. So I guess those are coming back. Elliot and Kat come back and say hey we're jumping again, gotta stop Tessa from dying. Del is like or you could not jump?

Guess what. They jump. They go and find Fern doing her screen test and we see the clip that they saw of Kat coming on screen and telling Fern something. Well that something is we gotta go, Tessa is going to die. That's when Grayson calls cut and says yes we know that. It's all fake. And that's when Grayson, Fern, and Tessa tell Kat and Elliot the plan - we're getting out of the hooch business by having Tessa fake her own death. Fern says 1926 is a year of new beginnings - a fresh start for all of us.

We then see that Alice also jumped, hoping to help Elliot and Kat. Of course she pops out in the '80s and Griff is there and takes a picture of her. And he says I knew it, the pond is magic. Tessa then shows up and is like what's going on here. Griff takes a picture of the two of them together.

Back in the '20s, Tessa and Elliot go to look at their house. She says she's going to buy it and bring it back to the family.

Abby is planning on telling her dad about her and Jacob. Jacob is freaking out so he goes to talk to his ol' pal Danny. He tells Danny he wants to run Landry farms with him - equal partners. But then he sees that Danny has a typewriter and figures out that Danny is the one who was sending the notes and runs out.

Back in the '20s, Cliff proposes to Fern even though he was planning on waiting until New Year's. She says yes.

Back in the '80s, Tessa is babysitting Evelyn's kid but Tessa is really tired because baby. So she ends up falling asleep. When she wakes up, she can't find Evelyn's kid. So she runs out, leaving her baby behind and the baby starts crying. When she gets back, Alice is there to help the baby. Evelyn shows up and is pissed at Tessa. You lost my son and left your baby? What kind of mom is this!

Danny shows up and tells Del and Jacob that he did send the notes because he was mad after overhearing Kat and Alice one day talking about how Jacob was still alive. When he showed back up, they never cleared Danny's name for being responsible for the disappearance so he was mad. They make up though.

In the '20s at the party, Elliot realizes that while the fake explosion isn't supposed to happen tonight, his mom is actually doing one last real job to make enough money to get out. So he goes to stop her but Cliff shows up and arrests the big tuna, Elliot. But he tells Elliot that he knows he's Tessa's son and needs to stop her so they all go. Grayson gives Kat a gun and tells her to be careful.

At Abby's wine event, Jacob shows up even though he's scared of the shaft and he asks her dad if he can marry her and he's like you've been trying to blackmail me and Abby is like you what and he's like oh yea sorry.

Back in the '80s, Alice watches on as the friend group hangs out and Griff gets in a shouting match with Vic and it all comes out what happened with Tessa that day, and Colton tells Griff to scram. He's not welcome here!

The episode ends with the countdown of 10 to New Year's, and Cliff showing up to arrest everyone, everyone draws their gun, Cliff shoots at Tessa but Elliot jumps in front. Kat pulls him out just before the gas reaches the gunpowder, causing a large explosion that even those at the party can feel.

Watch the show on Youtube - www.deckthehallmark.com/youtube
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It's Tuesday which means there's a new Hallmark movie to review!

ABOUT TEXAS TWO-STEP

Olivia returns to Texas to help her aunt with her country music bar that's fallen on hard times and reconnects with Luke, her childhood sweetheart turned cowboy, and her passion for dancing.

AIR DATE & NETWORK FOR TEXAS TWO-STEP

June 13, 2026 | Hallmark

CAST & CREW OF TEXAS TWO-STEP

Director: Eva Tavares

Writer: Mel Cowan

Cast:

Heather Hemmens as Olivia

Brendan Penny as Luke

BRAN'S MOVIE SYNOPSIS

Olivia works as a photographer's assistant, being very helpful. She's taking a week off but that week off takes a bit of a detour. She gets a call that her Aunt Ruby could use a visit from her. So off to Texas she goes with her best friend June. They get to the Sweetwater and Aunt Ruby shows up. Aunt Ruby immediately asks if she's seen Luke. June is like and who is this Luke? Olivia just moves on. Olivia can tell that there's something going on with Aunt Ruby. Just then, Luke walks in. He immediately comes over and starts giving Olivia a hard time about not being out on the dance floor. She's not having it.

The next morning, it doesn't take Luke long to show up and start fixing fences and what not, showing off his ridiculous body. Olivia finds out that there's an offer to buy Sweetwater. Aunt Ruby ain't interested.

We got a b-love story, folks! Olivia is actively trying to set June up with Mayor Mason. He tells June about how Sweetwater is really struggling.

Luke shows up and just starts working on Olivia's car without asking.

Olivia bumps into Bryan, who is the one making the offer to buy Sweetwater. He isn't hard to look at and he asks her out to lunch and she agrees.

We finally find out that Olivia and Luke were young love. They were each other's first kiss, first dance partner, and first heartbreak.

Bad news guys - Sweetwater is out of money. They come up with an idea - a danceathon.

Luke decides to tell her that there are some things he needs to tell her - basically he loves her. And they're about to kiss but it's an almost kiss, folks! June bug comes out and tells them that Ruby's had a fall.

After finding out that Ruby is gonna be ok, Olivia finds herself at Sweetwater, remembering her and Luke dancing together as kids. Suddenly, present day Luke shows up and shoots his shot and they kiss big ones, complete with A LIFT!!! She also says she's definitely not selling Sweetwater.

The danceathon is a hit and Luke & Olivia dance dance and kiss big ones again.

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It's Marvel Monday and meet Marvel's most powerful hero!

ABOUT CAPTAIN MARVEL

Carol Danvers becomes one of the universe's most powerful heroes when Earth is caught in the middle of a galactic war between two alien races.

AIR DATE & NETWORK FOR CAPTAIN MARVEL

March 8, 2019 | Theatrical Release

CAST & CREW OF CAPTAIN MARVEL

Directors: Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck

Writers: Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck, Geneva Robertson-Dworet

Cast:

Brie Larson as Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel

Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury

BRAN'S MOVIE SYNOPSIS

Carol Danvers is living her best amnesia life on the Kree homeworld of Hala under the name Vers. Got it? Good. 

She’s got superpowers, cool space suits, and a mentor named Yon-Rogg who constantly tells her to stop feeling. The Kree government, which is basically run by a giant AI lady, insists that the evil shape-shifting Skrulls ruined her life and since Carol remembers absolutely nothing, so she just rolls with it.

While on a mission to rescue a Kree spy, things immediately go sideways. The Skrulls capture Carol and start digging around in her memories, discovering that she used to be an Air Force pilot on Earth. Their leader Talos becomes very interested in a scientist named Dr. Wendy Lawson and a mysterious light-speed engine. Carol escapes before they get all the answers and crash-lands straight into a Blockbuster Video in 1995 Los Angeles.

Her arrival gets the attention of a young Nick Fury, who still has two working eyes and spends most of this movie being confused. After a series of chases, explosions, and Skrulls impersonating anyone they want, Carol starts uncovering pieces of her past. She learns that she wasn’t born on Hala at all—she was an Air Force pilot presumed dead after a crash years earlier.

As Carol & Nick follow the breadcrumbs, she reconnects with her old friend Maria and Maria’s daughter Monica, who are understandably shocked to discover their dead friend is actually a space superhero. Meanwhile, Talos finally reveals that the Skrulls aren’t conquering villains at all—they’re refugees looking for a home. Turns out the Kree may not have been entirely honest.

The biggest bombshell comes when Carol remembers what really happened. Dr. Lawson was actually Mar-Vell, a Kree scientist secretly helping the Skrulls. Shes killed while taking control of an experimental energy source. Carol destroyed the engine to keep it from the Kree, absorbed its energy in the explosion, gained incredible powers, and then had her memories erased so the Kree could turn her into a weapon.

The gang tracks down Mar-Vell’s hidden space laboratory, where a bunch of Skrull refugees have been hiding. Unfortunately, Starforce shows up, the Kree try to reassert control, and Carol gets dragged before the Supreme Intelligence. She destroys the device limiting her powers and finally goes full Captain Marvel.

What follows is a one-sided beatdown thanks to Captain marvel. 

With the Skrulls safe for the moment, Carol decides to head off into space to help them find a permanent home. Before leaving, she gives Fury a special pager for emergencies. Fury later loses his eye in an incident involving Goose - a cat who is actually an alien who is also holding the Tesseract in its tummy. Looking at Carol’s old Air Force call sign, he lands on the perfect name: The Avengers Initiative.

In the mid-credits scene, the pager goes off and Carol returns to Earth

Watch the show on Youtube - www.deckthehallmark.com/youtube
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