A review of Sabrina Carpenter’s iconic holiday special.
Courtesy of Sabrina-Carpenter.com
“Please, please, please” sing along and enjoy Sabrina Carpenter’s Netflix special before Christmas is over!
From unforgettable duets with special guests to festive comedic twists on some of her favourite songs, “A Nonsense Christmas” will surely be the “ho ho ho-iest special of all.”
A Timeless Opening Scene: Sabrina’s Monroe Moment and Iconic Quotes
The Grammy-nominated artist had an extensive budget and decided for her first purchase to be a strapless magenta gown with long gloves on a red set, a stunning look to pay homage to Marilyn Monroe‘s well-known “Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend” performance in 1953’s Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. She even has women in tuxedos around her. Carpenter’s set wasn’t only a glamorous modern adaptation of Monroe’s performance but also one of her best looks yet. She may as well do fashion right because “It’s all on Netflix’s dime! [She] ha[s] unlimited budget; [she’ll] break the set!”
In this opening scene, Carpenter sang her Fruitcake EP song “Buy Me Presents,” filled with festive sexual innuendos. Here are some of my favs:
- “If you were a wise man, baby, you would drop every other ho ho ho and put me on top– up there on your tree. Better treat me like a star.”
- “Spend your cookie dough, dough, dough; spend it on my heart.”
- “Just to keep my stocking filled.”
- This generation also loves her for using current slang/language, such as mentioning a “dad bod.”
Through her timeless sense of style and empowering energy, she makes viewers laugh and dance along, altogether with the reminder that if a man won’t buy you a present, to find somebody who will. It’s almost 2025; it’s about time we raise our standards; I know I definitely should!
Disney Nostalgia and Hilarious Moments
She then goes into a more conversational tone, making this holiday special feel much more personal as she jokes around on set. Let me be honest; these were actually too funny and relatable! She said, “You could’ve been anywhere tonight, spending time with family, helping the less fortunate, but instead, you’re here, half watching a big screen while scrolling social media on a smaller screen.” I’m not kidding when I say I died of laughter as the 25-year-old singer was right; I was on Teleparty with my friend Manroop watching the episode while scrolling on Instagram. She understands too much of this generation’s habits, lol!
Soon after, the Girl Meets World actress reminded the audience of her bold character, Maya Hart, with a comedic addition to those of us who watched the Disney kids grow up. She added, “But don’t fret, it’s TV-14, which means I’m allowed to say ‘fuck’ three times. Fuck. (sigh) Just one left.”
However, I wouldn’t recommend watching it with family members. They might just be sexual references, but for anyone with a dirty mind and those around them alike, things can get pretty awkward…
The collab we never knew we needed: Sabrina Carpenter and Tyla
As much as we love Sabrina, the episode got even better with her collabs, starting with Tyla–yes, the singer whose dance moves created the viral Tyla dance trend. I immediately fell in love with both their outfits–from Carpenter’s eye-catching 1978 Bob Mackie Sequin and feather costume, paired with what my friend pointed out as remarkably high platform heels by Le Silla Silver Crystal, to coordinate to Tyla’s look–like a Christmas present wrapped up in a festive red set embellished with bows and ribbons!
Comedic Skits Featuring Sean Astin, Owen Thiele and Megan Stalter
Later on, she told stories about her childhood memory of wanting chocolate cake more than her actual Christmas presents, and she even showed a little clip, which I appreciated and found very humanizing of celebrities we may have never met.
Next, Sabrina features funny scenes from her cast, including Santa, played by The Lord of The Rings and The Goonies actor Sean Astin, singing “I’m working late because I’m Santa.” Not long after, a cute graphic introduces a new segment, “A Nonsense Outro,” presented by comedian and actor Owen Thiele. Little side note, the graphics ate throughout this whole episode. The cute, subtle colour contrasts and the fonts make the whole vibe! Anyways, back to the point, as you can guess from the “Nonsense” special outros, he does an elevator-like pitch, a festive spin on the outro with his own comedic flair. You’ll definitely want to watch the full skit, but a little spoiler: my favourite line is “Gotta love a dirty Christmas carol,” perfectly capturing Carpenter’s playful energy.
Actress Megan Stalter soon joins Thiele, Astin and Carpenter in the next skit: meeting Carpenter’s new boyfriend– who, spoiler alert–is Santa Claus, despite Carpenter being in total denial. Yet, that prompted Mrs. Claus’ arrival — a character portrayed by our own Canadian singer-songwriter Shania Twain — explaining their 300-year open relationship as she transitions into realizing Carpenter’s dream of singing a duet with her–in which they performed a glitzy take on the classic Santa Baby.
Auto-Tuned Anthems to Surreal Skits: The Dramatized Life of a Singer
I’m pretty sure everyone knows how painful some Soundcloud rappers might be; well, Carpenter made a laugh of that–but surprisingly, in a not-so-bad way. She sang about something all too relatable: the struggles of choosing Christmas gifts for relatives. In this case, Saturday Night Live (SNL) alumni Kyle Mooney played her brother-in-law, and actress Jillian Bell, her sister.
Don’t worry, there’s another scene bringing back this family Christmas theme, though this time by a cozy fireplace in comfy PJs, where singer Kali Uchis joins Carpenter to sing “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus.”
Ghosting: The Past, Present and Future
I’m pretty sure we all know what ghosting is, but for the lucky ones of y’all who haven’t experienced it, it’s where someone you’ve been seeing cuts all ties with you without any explanation.
Left to right, Sabrina Carpenter (past), actress Quinta Brunson (present), and model Cara Delevingne (future) are all victims (or possible future) of ghosting by actor Nico Hiraga. I honestly love Carpenter’s creative reference between the three ghosts of Christmas versus “ghosting.”
In a separate scene, Delevingne offers advice for Carpenter’s Nonsense outro, which she had retired for some time: “Gotta give a shoutout to my boy Nick [Santa.] Wouldn’t let him hit it, just the cane tip…” I gotta give it to her, the cane tip line had my friend and I cackling!
Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan go out with a WHAM!
Chappell Roan, singer of the famous song “Too Hot To Go,” is seen with Carpenter in what seems to be a karaoke little girls’ night-in with festive velvety outfits–which Roan notes makes her “look so straight,” red plastic cups and empty champagne bottles.
These girls are just having fun singing WHAM’s “Last Christmas.” They enact a fun scene of singing reading the lyrics off a retro television set.
Empowered in Her Dress and Performance Singing Heartbreaking ‘Cindy Lou Who’
As I hope y’all do, we dress up for ourselves, for the girls and gays, to make us happy—we don’t need to impress any guy! Carpenter shows this in her empowering lilac dress, which makes her feel like the bad-bitch she is! (No, but seriously, go check it out in the episode. The dress and her, obviously, are absolutely gorgeous!) In this black-and-white scene, Sabrina Carpenter sings ‘Cindy Lou Who,’ reflecting on her past lover moving on with someone new and the heartbreak she feels during the season that should be festive. As someone who’s had her heart broken a few times before, this song always makes me cry, so this song hits close to home.
The Final “Nonsense” Outro, Really This Time!
Sabrina Carpenter comes out with what I find looks like Elle’s iconic bunny costume, but in red, but what is truly close to her signature look for her concerts!
Just when you’d think she kept her performance “TV-14” with cute phrases like “snowflakes in my stomach while we’re kissing,” comparing to butterflies, or “love you all, and thank you for attending. Can’t believe I kept it family-friendling,” she proves us wrong. She obviously needed her iconic sexual outros, as a present vibrated–you know the reference.
In the end, she did add hilarious bloopers, too, but that’s for you to see!
Let’s finish this by spilling the trend/giving my review on this episode! I loved everything. It was so iconic, so on-brand for her entire persona; the Nonsense outros were great, and the collabs and skits were everything! Her outfits, btw—amazing! Check out more info about them on Femestella. All that was missing was Domingo from the famous SNL skit around her song Espresso; well, hopefully, next time! “It’s the most nonsense time of the year.” Comment below with your take on this episode!
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