The Checklist: Martial Law (S2 Ep18) “Sammo Claus”
Legend has it that the first “Christmas in July” celebration took place at a summer camp in Brevard, North Carolina way back in 1933.
In 1940, the movie Christmas in July was released and made the concept mainstream.
By the 1950s retailers had jumped on the Christmas in July bandwagon and began Christmas in July themed sales.
Now here in 2023, I am going to have the Bulletproof Action version of Christmas in July by putting a holiday themed episode of Martial Law to The Checklist test…
#1. Was the cold open hot?
The episode kicks off with a line of parents and kids waiting outside a toy store looking to get their hands on the hottest toy of the holiday season, Armando the talking armadillo. It’s a Black Friday like rush when the doors open, but to make things even more chaotic… three gunmen wearing Santa suits show up and steal all of the Armando dolls! Bah humbug indeed. 1/1
#2. Did the episode live up to its title?
You can’t name your episode “Sammo Claus” and not have Sammo Hung dressed up as Santa Claus.. unless you want to end up on the naughty list.
“Sammo Claus” delivers Sammo Claus after the major crimes unit correctly predicts the next store that the Armando bandits plan on hitting. Sammo dresses up as the store Santa Claus, complete with kids sitting on his lap and telling him what they want for Christmas. Captain Amy Dylan is there too dressed up as Santa’s helper.
This undercover gig serves two purposes… 1) We get the episode’s B storyline, when a young Zach Tyler asks Santa to bring his older brother Eric back home for Christmas. Sammo Claus finds out that Eric left home after he had a big blow up with their dad and Zach hasn’t seen him since. Sammo promises Zach that Eric will be home for Christmas. 2/2
#3. Was everybody Kung Fu fighting?
Moments after Sammo hears Zach’s Christmas wish, the armed robbers show up and we get Sammo springing into action, while wearing the Santa suit and still kicking major ass.
There’s another Christmas themed fight later when Sammo and Terrell (Arsenio Hall) get into a Christmas Tree Lot brawl with the robbers.
In between the holiday havoc, Sammo finds Zach’s brother Eric Tyler fighting in an underground fight ring. After watching Eric fight, Sammo tries to get him to come with him… but the fight promoter doesn’t want Sammo messing with his star fighter Eric, so some goons foolishly attempt to remove Sammo from the premises… and Sammo kicks all their asses, with the help of a wooden bench. 3/3
#4. Were there any notable guest stars?
The complete lack of notable guest stars in this episode was like finding a lump of coal in my stocking. 3/4
#5. Was there a Christmas miracle?
Eric Tyler sees the light during his next fight, when he sees a bloodthirsty youngster in the crowd and it makes him think of his own little brother Zach. So Eric finds the torn up business card Sammo gave him and calls Sammo and tells him he’s ready to go home. Sammo drops him off and watches the happy Tyler Family reunion from afar.
To add to the holiday cheer, Sammo then goes back to the station where he gets to exchange gifts with his major crime unit family… Terrell, Captain Dylan and Chen Pei Pei (Kelly Hu). Plus Sammo receives a “Secret Santa” gift of sorts. The camera pans out, we see a Happy Holidays message on a computer screen and into the blooper filled end credits. 4/5
- Final Score = 4/5 (80%) What “Sammo Claus” lacked in notable guest star power it made up for with plenty of holiday cheer in the form of holiday decorations and music The episode was also educational with Sammo sharing some of the traditions of Chinese New Year as he compared and contrasted it with Christmas in America.
