- “We're kids. Much like you, m'boy!”
"Have Yourself a Maily Linda Christmas" is the tenth episode in Season 10, being the one-hundred-and-eighty-second episode overall. It is the show's 2019 Christmas episode.
Plot[]
Linda works a temp job at the post office to make extra money for the holidays. But when an important package goes undelivered, Linda breaks protocol and takes it upon herself to save the day. Meanwhile, Bob and Tina are trapped at home with Linda's fussy family and Gene and Louise scramble last-minute to find the perfect gift for their sister.
Synopsis[]
At the kitchen table on Christmas Eve, Linda has gotten a temp job with the Post Office due to the volume of packages at the time of year. Linda is clearly excited, even planning to hide a creepy Santa doll in the office so whoever finds it gets a candy cane. Tina brings up that that night will be the first annual Kid-Only Belcher Kid Gift Exchange, but which is a challenge as it is only one allowance each for the gift. Before Linda leaves for work, Bob asks her to promise that she will be home as her parents and Gayle will all be coming over that night and Linda is needed to keep the peace between them; Linda promises.
At the post office branch, Linda is sorting letters cheerfully, explaining to a coworker who has headphones on that they’re like Santa delivering presents and cheer throughout the world. But her cheer and Santa doll annoy Donna the office manager, and complains to Mike, who vouched for Linda in the temp hiring process.
Tina is caught by Louise hiding her sibling’s gifts in the laundry closet, who lies about not looking in the bag but informs Gene that the presents are good: a Burobu Slug-aocnda figure that was too far from the hole in a vending machine at the grocery store, and a tub of Gene’s favorite frozen yogurt topping that is only available wholesale. The two feel bad as their gifts look lazy in comparison (barrettes).
As the post office closes for the night, Linda overhears a man arriving as the doors close looking to drop off a package for his seven-year-old nephew that needs to be delivered on Christmas Day. As the man is late for a flight, an employee lets him drop it off. Linda and the other employees load the trucks as the bin with the package is placed in and covered by other bins stacked by Donna. As Linda looks for the Santa doll before leaving, she finds the package covered by the other bins and tells Donna, who says that it could be a package of human poop (as it has happened before), and that if the package wasn’t on the truck to the plant by now, it will be on the 26th. Wanting to help and do something, Linda sneaks the package into her purse as she leaves.
Linda drives home, trying to decide whether to take the package to the plant or go home due to the time constraints.
At the apartment, Tina helps Bob in the kitchen while Gene and Louise read her journal to know what gift to get her when they hear Linda arrive, meaning the relatives will be there soon, they will be stuck, and Santa will look down on them. Bob wants to stay in the kitchen to avoid the relatives, and Linda asks him when they will arrive, in a half hour. Linda decides to pop out to drop the package at the plant, despite Bob’s insistence that she be the buffer and can do things like keep track of Gayle’s lies to her parents. Gene and Louise convince Linda to take them along while telling Tina to stay.
In the car, Louise sees the package and Linda explains that they are dropping it off at the sorting plant, to spread Christmas cheer and get the gift to the nephew. Louise asks if they stop somewhere cheap on the way back, and Linda figures out it is for the gift exchange, and will try since everything is closed.
Gayle, Gloria and Al all arrive early at the apartment, to Bob’s horror, as Gayle lies about her large fancy house, Al hacks and coughs, and Gloria complains about the house and tree.
Outside the sorting plant, Lind and the kids are unable to get past the fence when a desperate Bob calls. Linda tells him to bring him in the kitchen as they need a buffer but before she can explain “the ottoman thing”, a postal truck leaves and the three head through the open gate. Inside the plant, the three enter the office of the plant manager in order to get the package on the truck to not ruin the nephew’s Christmas. Fred, the plant manager, explains that the package is Priority Express, which left five minutes earlier, but also that as a postal clerk, Linda took the package without authorization, but offers to forget about it and they can drop the package in the bin outside his office. But after finding out it won’t be sent out until after Christmas, Linda takes the package and decides to drop it off herself, even though it’s in the town of Bog Harbor and Bob is scared of her mother.
Despite Linda’s hope that there’s enough at the plant to keep him distracted, Fred finds the bin is empty and calls Donna to inform her that Linda has gone rogue and is delivering the Priority Express package herself. Donna in turn calls Mike, as he vouched for her, and now needs to stop her.
In the Belcher kitchen, Gloria is annoying Bob with her requests and Gayle making up more lies about her life with “Dirk Moneyrich.” When Gayle brings up the ottoman incident form last year, she and Gloria almost argue when Bob and Tina distract them with loud and inaccurate Christmas singing.
Mike calls Linda to tell her to bring the package to him so he can drop it off at the plant, explaining how he used to love being a mail carrier on Christmas Eve and took it personally before he become cynical (due to things like packages with human poop in them), but she says the guy was nice and hangs up.
The singing in the kitchen continues until Gayle brings up the ottoman while Gloria tells her to let it go. Gayle wants to tell the story for Bob to judge, but he runs off to hide. In the bathroom.
The big chain stores are closed so Louise tries to take the package for Tina but Linda says no when they arrive at the destination. Outside the house, Linda is prepared to deliver it when Mike, an experienced mail carrier with knowledge of all the surface streets, finds them and demands the package handed over to go back to the plant. Linda though feels she has to deliver it anyway, even if there is no little boy and the package is just filled with human poop. However, behind her is the little boy, who is initially confused. Linda asks Mike to deliver the package. At first, he walks off with the package and she apologizes, but Mike instead brings it and the device for the boy’s mother to sign for the delivery. Before they leave, Louise tries to get the boy to give them one of his presents under the tree but Linda ushers them off.
At home, Tina points out to Bob form the other side of the bathroom door that he is just using the bathroom to avoid the situation, but suggests instead of helping them not talk about things like Linda does, he could help them talk about it. Bob asks about the ottoman, and Gayle explains: she went down to Florida on Christmas the year before to visit Gloria and Al in their condo. She had an idea for a prank when her cousin Donnie was coming over, to hide in the large ottoman in the living room and then jump out to surprise him. She got in the ottoman but due to new medication fell asleep, and when she woke up, Donnie had arrived and put heavy gifts on the ottoman, then the three left to go to a movie, leaving Gayle trapped in the ottoman with Al’s smelly slippers. Gloria says they didn’t know where she went and didn’t think Gayle was serious about the ottoman, to Gayle’s anger as she was yelling to be let out. Bob says he thinks they can settle it.
Later, after Linda arrives home, the relatives are sitting in the living room laughing, to Linda’s amazement. Bob explains that he said it is more important to be together on Christmas than to win some dumb argument, only that didn’t exactly work, so he went to the bedroom to call Gayle, pretending to be from the bank and saying her money was overflowing, which put her parents in a good mood. For the gift exchange, Gene gives Tina an origami swan made from a Priority Express packing slip made by Mike, and a group sibling hug as Louise apologizes for not getting a better gift.
Videos[]
External links[]
- "Have Yourself a Maily Linda Christmas" on IMDb
- "Have Yourself a Maily Linda Christmas" press release via The Futon Critic
- "Have Yourself a Maily Linda Christmas" script via Springfield! Springfield!
- "Have Yourself a Maily Linda Christmas" review at The A.V. Club
- "Have Yourself a Maily Linda Christmas" at the US Copyright Database