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I think my favorite thing about that birth certificate photo isn't anything you listed, but the fact that this movie has Daniel pegged as a man from the 1920s when this in fact reveals he died December 24th 1919. He never even made it to the 20s. This also begs the question of the whole idea surrounding him being a "rum runner" during Prohibition. For his final 6 months of life there was a technical war time prohibition on anything with an alcohol content greater that 1.28%. In October 1919 they did finally pass the Volstead Act, which banned the sale of all alcohol, but the country lacked the resources to enforce it at the time. To me this means that the idea of rum running probably didn't even become a thing until the actual 20s, because the country was not actually considered "dry" until January of 1920. After Daniel's death.

He’s been dead around 100 years. 12 days, 100 times - that’s 1200 days. Just over three years of Daniel corporeal time. I’ve never been murdered and left behind a fiancé, but three years seems enough time for Daniel to move on. Or at the very least want a rebound hookup.

What makes this more bonkers is she's the one who gives us the exposition drop of Lily marrying the brother, having a baby "scarily soon," and then both her and the baby dying. This woman must have face blindness with regards to Daniel and is just straight up rude with regards to the fact that THIS INN IS CLOSED AND SHE KNOWS WHY!

I thought maybe there was a dry county in Massachusetts but a quick Google search doesn't pull up anything. So, if he wasn't bootlegging, what was he doing? Was he lying to his girlfriend in the 1920s about why he was gone for weeks at a time? Is he lying to us now about what he was doing? What was so bad that he's willing to cover it up with breaking federal law?

I know I'm triple posting here, bare with me, cause this is worth it. The gang talked about the idea of falling in love with a ghost or even going to the bone zone with a ghost like that was the craziest idea they had ever heard. I'm so happy that Paul got to share his ghost story (please go on Roz Drezfalez's show Ghosted now, Paul, cause you know each other and that is a great show). But what worries me about the fact that they blew off this concept so readily is that means they have NO idea that an Irish woman legit married a pirate ghost. Not to mention the mass amounts of stories of people saying they legit had sex with a ghost lol. I know Roz has had at least two people that have said they legitimately fucked a ghost so this movie is honestly not out of the realm of possibility lol.

Except he was working for someone else! So all of the booze he was running wasn't even for himself it was for someone else. Did that dude get crazy with prepping and decide to pay a bunch of people a fuck ton of money to hide his own booze?! Clearly this is more evidence towards a Canadian production that can't get their fuckin history straight!

There were a surprisingly large number of ways you could legally get alcohol without having to abandon your knocked up fiancee on Christmas during Prohibition. You could brew your own wine legally, up to 200 gallons a year, and you could even have a doctor write you a prescription for medicinal alcohol. Those prescriptions could be for a wide variety of things to from insomnia to depression. If you still needed a kick there was always religion! Religious exemptions for things like sacramental wine were allowed. And many beer companies sold this stuff called malt syrup that you could basically add yeast and water too to ferment at home. Wine makers sold a similar thing for wine that was like a concentrated wine brick. Would these ways save your struggling inn and the only reason your soon to be father in law thinks your worth anything? Maybe not but I don't think they would get you murdered either This is an example of an alcohol prescription. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/during-prohibition-your-doctor-could-write-you-prescription-booze-180947940/

So technically his job as a rum runner would not exist or if it Dr it wouldn't be as profitable. Like unless he's stockpiling like a crazed alcoholic doomsday prepper his job is pointless? Wait I take that back! Actually people often get this key fact about prohibition wrong: the only thing illegal was the *sale and manufacturing of alcohol*NOT the drinking of it. SO TECHNICALLY any alcohol people had after January 1920 was theirs to do with as they pleased as long as it was for personal use. In fact many wealthy people did have large stocks of wine and other libations. So him becoming a mad booze squirrel desperately trying to stockpile alcohol for the dry years ahead would make a weird kind of sense ...

I don’t know if it’s been mentioned, but did anyone else really look at the birth certificate Kate finds for Daniel’s son? It is absolutely fascinating to me. Firstly, Lily married the brother to cover up her out of wedlock pregnancy, but then lists Daniel as the father, names the baby after him, but then doesn’t include a “Jr.” in the name. So what is it, Lily? Are you ashamed of the pregnancy or owning up to it? I’m getting mixed messages here. But my FAVORITE part is how Lily’s name is listed. During a flashback, they say her name is Lily Culver. However, the birth certificate clearly says, “Maiden Name of Mother: Lily Forsythe”. LILY. FORSYTHE. Does this mean that, not only does the birth certificate reveal the truth of the baby’s real father, but also that Daniel and Lily are related?? Maybe even siblings?!? So not only do they have a child out of wedlock, but also the product of incest? While that would make this movie a million times more interesting, it would make it that much more confusing.

Oh, gotcha! No, everything will remain the same. I just figure this gives us two movies to discuss to stretch out the time.

I agree. I just meant I didn't want it to be credited to someone, to have a pick forced on them.

I approve of doubling up on Once. That can be my next pick so no one loses their turn. (I've never seen Once. I know it's been made into a successful Broadway musical.)

Since HDTGM dropped a re-release of Reindeer Games this week, should we do two weeks of The Commitments to keep us on track for off-weeks? Based on what Cinco just said, maybe we could double up with Once?

The guitarist in the movie, Outspan, is Glen Hansard. He was the lead and a co-songwriter in the movie Once. These are his only two movies. He also did a voice in a Simpsons episode. The Commitments Once

I’m Methodist (and an English Major) and I’m also aware of this. However, my mother has worked for churches since I was eleven years old, so I might have been a little more aware of Epiphany than your average Methodist. Like, it’s a thing, but not like a super major thing. (Also, for people jonesing for more Jessica Fletcher, it would be remiss of me to not at least mildly plug the podcast I do with my wife, Magnum, She Wrote. We’ve been watching through Murder She Wrote and Magnum, pi - swapping back and forth each week. We’re almost through Season One of both shows. We get angry a lot at Magnum, p.i. We’ve learned a lot about each other through our viewings. No one has to listen, but if you’re interested, It’s available on Apple and Stitcher )

Taylor, I am so indeed lapsed Catholic. But I also know this from being an English major and studying Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. I thought they did 12 nights of Christmas movies? Or do they have so many it is all the time now? I don't get Hallmark or Lifetime. Tell me everything. They need to make a Murder She Wrote Christmas special! Let's crowd funding it!

12 Dates of Christmas is on Disney+. I might watch it. A bit scared though. But then I liked (not loved) Noelle and Bad Mom's Christmas so my judgement is suspect.

You can't rule it out, logically

The only reason I even suspected this might be the case is, when I bought my first house, I asked my realtor to specifically show me haunted houses in my price range. He told me that my state also requires you to disclose but only if asked. My realtor was once asked to do a quick estimate (not a full appraisal) on a house he later found out might have been haunted. Like the appraiser in the movie, he was in and out in minutes because he was legit too scared to do the job. So, I don't want to say The Spirit Of Christmas could happen, but maybe????

The behavior of the tavern lady and the way people behave around her with regards to Daniel makes no sense. This is a small town and this inn closes every two weeks in December for several years. There have been newspaper articles written about how it closes because of a ghost. Yet she asks the innkeeper to let her use the inn as if she’s unaware of why the inn is closed. Then the innkeeper and Kate go to lengths to try and hide Daniel’s true identity from her, but there’s pictures of Daniel all throughout the house. And I would imagine that the story of his murder is probably the biggest thing to have ever happened in that town, so surely everyone would be familiar with him and his story. How does she not put two and two together? Similarly, the sheriff seems to just think Kate is crazy when she claims there’s a ghost in the inn. Does he just think all young women are hysterical loons or has he never heard why the inn closes every year?

I get that couples don’t have to enjoy all the same things, but damn Daniel was pretty harsh in describing his fiancée’s taste in books as “nonsense.” I mean, you don’t have to like everything I’m into, but could you at least not act like an elitist prick?

You have stumbled upon a classic law school property professor question!

I recognize that it’s common in these types of movies for someone to watch over their love interest while they sleep, but let’s not forget how utterly disgusting and ridiculous people can be while they sleep. Aside from just your standard twitch and snore, people are also prone to talking, drooling, and farting in their sleep. So, no thank you sexy, steam punk baristo ghost. I’d rather maintain some small bit of my allure and take my chances with the restless, malevolent hell spawn currently plotting my destruction.