The Black Christmas Syndrome

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"The Black Christmas Syndrome"
Season	2
Episode	10
Episode in Total	23
Air Date	December 12, 1998
Production Code	25
Directed By	Michael Goguen
Written By	Duane Capizzi
[Source]

"The Black Christmas Syndrome" is the tenth episode of Season Two and the 23rd overall. It originally aired on December 12, 1998 and was written by Duane Capizzi and directed by Michael Goguen.

Synopsis

It's up to MIB to save Christmas when Drekk kidnaps Santa Claus.

Plot

We start off at the North Pole (New York) at night where Santa Claus is fast asleep while his elves make the toys needed for his annual sleigh trip. As all of this happens, abominable snowman-like creatures working for Drekk break into the workshop, take Santa for their own gain, and destroy some of the equipment. This leaves the elves no choice but to report this to MIB.

Meanwhile in the festively bustling streets of New York City, J and L have finished their round of Christmas shopping for the rest of the agents and aliens, but the slick is struggling to find a gift for K. They then go to Frank to consult him about the perfect gift for K while the Jewish pug accepts a scarf from J as a gift. As they arrive back at headquarters, the holidays are in full swing there, with each hall decked from hallway to foyer. K arrives and gives J a gift, but before it can be opened, he inspects what is inside, which is a set of keys he thinks is for the LTD. And even before he opens the gift at all, he and L meet at the main area where K is. There, the elves report the bad news to Zed and activates a “code white”, meaning MIB won’t celebrate Christmas until Santa is found. Because of this, J is unable to open his gift until the dust settles. Now, K, J, and an elf named Mickey, are on the road to begin their mission, and J then learns the elves are aliens… not Santa. The trio stop at Jeebs’ for their usual consultation with the guy about the trading in of the toys made by the elves, Mickey included. Afterwards, they come across one of Drekk’s minions who blasts the LTD, setting it on fire.

To solve the issue, K activates a fire extinguisher-type device which puts out the flames, much to the creature’s surprise, and runs away after a couple laser blasts to get away from the heroes. Mickey gives himself, K, and J pairs of sled shoes and pursue the creature across Central Park. L also tags along with her hover bike to chase down the creature, but each laser blast from either the agents and elf or the minion sends the heroes careening in other directions, even resulting in J leaping over L. The chase continues as the team go their separate ways to track him down. As with J and Mickey, the slick and the creature glide down a shopping center, with J still thinking about a gift for K. The creature fires a grenade at Mickey and J, sending the two flying into the snow unconscious.

They wake up in a prison cell-like area and find Santa Claus himself in the room with them, much to their surprise and delight. Mickey assists the gentlemen and pry the lock open via Santa’s hair strand. Back on the streets, a code white means if Santa’s not present, Zed has to take his place. He also reports on an alien race called Zadoran, alien children no younger than seven years old, leaving K and L to find them. In the prison, J takes down one of the guards and call on a plan to attract MIB’s attention, with Mickey to build a radio to connect their current whereabouts, revealed to be underneath the Rockefeller Center’s ice rink, to MIB HQ. With K and L, they meet the Zadorans, who find themselves greeted by, who K calls himself, “the ghost of Christmas future.” Back at Rockefeller, Mickey activates the radio and alerts Zed that Santa has been found. The transmission is interrupted by Drekk who has his guards capture Santa again, and plans to wipe out J and Mickey.

J tackles onto Drekk, whose heat hands shoots through the ceiling of the underground prison, causing a hole to appear on the ice rink surface. Mickey tackles one of Drekk’s minions, and Santa teams up with the two by grabbing a stool-like chair to activate some Christmas magic. With Mickey and J on his lap, they fly down the halls and bump into the prison guards, causing the Rockefeller statue to move and open a hatch where the trio fly out of. One of the minions knocks the chair off Santa, sending him, Mickey, and J onto the ice. About to wipe out the three, Drekk is greeted by MIB who hit him with their van and begin attacking him and his minions. Zed, now in his suit again, is delighted that Santa is back in town and offer him his signature holiday garb. While Drekk’s minions are apprehended, the agents get Santa’s sleigh, piloted by Arquillians operating reindeer, ready for its flight. With K and L, they go down a neighborhood to show the Zadorans what they could experience on Christmas morning: presents under the tree. Back with J and company, Santa gets the sleigh running, but J is curious about Drekk’s presence. It is revealed he is inside one of Santa’s bags. Chasing the sleigh down, J jumps onto it and takes off to the skies. On the sleigh, the slick and Drekk fight off against each other, with no Noisy Cricket in J’s hand. Santa assists by handing J a stocking for Drekk with coal in it. He chucks the coal at Drekk, but he still holds on to the sleigh. Well, briefly though, as the heat of his hands causes a part of the sleigh to melt, thus sending him plummeting down the smokestack of a factory. J alerts the agency about Drekk’s defeat as he continues the ride with Santa.

It’s now Christmas morning, and the festivities are in full swing again, as the Worms’s gifts are the coffee-scented cologne L bought. Zed reports to K, L, and J (who has hypothermia after last night), that not only did Santa complete his itinerary, but the Zadorans got their happy ending, a proper Christmas celebration. With everything now completed, the trio can celebrate Christmas now. K gives J the unopened present from earlier, and it is revealed to be the set of keys… for the executive washroom. Despite the lackluster purpose, J still appreciates his gift. As for K, he is greeted with a gift from J: the first edition of Charles Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol”. J got it for K because of the two’s partnership, and because of this, he was able to learn the true spirit of the holidays.

Trivia

• This is the only Christmas-themed episode of Men in Black: The Series.
• It is revealed K’s favorite book is “A Christmas Carol”.
• Various Christmas melodies are heard in the episode’s score. The songs heard are:

1. Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy
2. O Christmas Tree
3. Deck the Halls
4. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
5. The Twelve Days of Christmas
6. Russian Dance
7. O Come All Ye Faithful
8. We Wish You A Merry Christmas

Watch

Men in black the series S2E12 - The Black Christmas Syndrome