Stream It Or Skip It: ‘I Hate Christmas: Season 2’ on Netflix, in Which A Woman Must Win Back Her Ex By Christmas

Returning exactly one year after the first season dropped on the platform, Netflix Original series I Hate Christmas is back with its sophomore season. The Italian romantic-comedy continues to star Pilar Fogliati as nurse Gianna, but instead of looking for love, Season 2 is all about keeping it (or perhaps more accurately, getting it back), especially through the turbulent moments of Christmastime. So is I Hate Christmas: Season 2 worth loving this holiday season, or are you better off skipping out on this seasonal title? Keep reading to find out.

I HATE CHRISTMAS SEASON 2: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: It’s December 24, one year earlier. We’re in Venice, which is covered in twinkly lights and picturesque snow, and where gondolas continue to mosey down the canal. The Jackson 5’s rendition of “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town” plays as a handsome man dressed up in full Santa costume (sans white beard but including the sack of toys, so it balances out), smizing into the camera as he trudges through the snowy Venice streets. He enters a wooden door, and then the next thing you know, we’re back to where Season 1 ended, as the Belotti family doorbell rings and Gianna (Pilar Fogliati) goes to answer it.

The Gist: Last Christmas, nurse Gianna Belotti opened her family’s door on Christmas Eve to reveal… a random guy dressed as Santa Claus sending some sort of Love Actually telegram. The man leaves, only for Doctor Umberto (Glen Blackhall) to show up citing the same movie as the two reconnect with a romantic kiss. We then flash forward to “present day,” December 1 of the next holiday season. Gianna and Umberto have now been a couple for a year, and she is sure that Umberto was the one who sent her the Santa. Except things aren’t really as great as they seem, as Gianna cheats on Umberto with last year’s same handsome Santa Claus.

Jumping back in time once more to 12 hours before Gianna’s betrayal, we see Gianna and Umberto looking content with one another. But things start to get shaken up when Gianna goes to tell Umberto that she’s getting some weird new neighbors in their building, only to overhear him on the phone requesting a nicely wrapped surprise gift for his girlfriend that she assumes is a proposal. That’s when the strange occurrences begin. They get a flat while riding their tandem bike. Gianna’s longstanding local bridal store is getting replaced by a sex shop. A woman offers trying to get the pair to enter a raffle for single people. Younger people at work are disparaging long-term couples as boring.

All of this is snowballing to make Gianna second-guess whether she even wants to be tied down for the holidays (and then… forever after). To make matters worse, there’s now some tension between her and her pal, Titti, after Gianna forgot about their December 1 moss gathering tradition on top of failing to be a present friend lately. And then the unthinkable happens when her parents who have been married for over three decades announce over dinner that they are getting separated and so they will not be hosting Christmas dinner this year. Completely overwhelmed, Gianna goes outside where she sees last year’s hot Santa and they get very up close and personal, only for Umberto to catch them in the act.

Though Gianna’s relationship seems all but over, all hope is not lost. She and Titti have smoothed things over, and she also has big sis Margherita (Fiorenza Pieri) on her side. And Gianna finally meets her new neighbor Filippo (Pierpaolo Spollon), who she learns isn’t some creepy weirdo but is actually a charming and kind widower trying his best to raise a 15-year-old daughter on his own. Gianna is reminded that there are some wonderful things about love, and she grows determined to make up for her mistake and win Umberto back.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of?: I Hate Christmas was, from the start, meant to be an Italian remake of Norwegian Netflix Original series Home for Christmas, so this show will undoubtedly continue to remind viewers of the original. Aside from that, Gianna’s messiness and moments of breaking the fourth wall may remind you Fleabag.

Our Take: I want to begin with a confession: I’ve never seen I Hate Christmas until I watched the first episode of its second season. Of course I did some research, but even then I didn’t fully know who some of these people were or what was going on at first since I didn’t watch the first I was more or less coming in blind.

Even so, it didn’t take very long to get invested in the story or characters of I Hate Christmas: Season 2, as the show does a great job of pulling you in from the get-go with vibrant cinematography, purposefully crafted characters, and Gianna’s fourth-wall-breaking narration. With the way the show plays with time, they do love to tease you in a way that manages to be more tantalizing than frustrating.

Some moments I saw coming and others were entertaining surprises (like Santa ending up in a cold canal). Additional major highlights for me were the moments of sisterhood, family, and female friendship that culminated in something genuinely sweet beyond the initial veneer of slapsticky silliness. I Hate Christmas: Season 2 starts strong with an episode that even a total newbie to the series like me could get invested, which bodes well for the five other episodes that follow (and are all currently available for streaming as well).

Sex and Skin: There’s a bare shoulder, some smooching, and the suggestion that sex has occurred and will again, ooh la la. But nothing actually graphic or raunchy is seen in this episode.

Parting Shot: Gianna narrates some final lines that set up the rest of the season as she, Titti, and Margherita chat entering a local bar along the canal, where Filippo is also seen present. “One betrayal, two divorces, an unexpected pregnancy, and a Christmas dinner to organize in order to sort everything out. In 24 days.”

Sleeper Star: I mean, it’s gotta be Pilar Fogliati as Gianna Belotti. Gianna makes some poor decisions, but Fogliati’s natural charm and commitment to the part still manage to make the character a likable underdog (even though yes, she caused the predicament she’s currently in). Plus, she dug through a dumpster at the end of the episode which certainly could not have been very fun, so she certainly deserves some bonus points for that, at the very least.

Most Pilot-y Line: “There are 24 days until Christmas Eve dinner, and I, the queen of Christmas, cheated on my boyfriend with bloody Santa!”

Our Call: STREAM IT! I Hate Christmas: Season 2 might be similar to its source material but it also has a charm all its own bolstered by a talented cast and the incredible Italian setting. If you’re looking for some easy, entertaining, and worldly seasonal streaming, then you can definitely find it here.