12 - Shine a Light

[ZionHarris]

In a special holiday-themed episode of SAVING HOPE, it’s Christmas Eve and even the threat of the worst ice storm of the year can’t quell the spirit at Hope Zion Hospital. But when a good Samaritan is brought in after a car crash, Dr. Alex Reid (Erica Durance) must use all her skills to attempt the Christmas miracle so desperately needed – even if it means calling in Chief Dr. Dawn Bell (Michelle Nolden). When the case proves futile, Dawn and Alex must band together to keep their patient alive long enough for her family to say goodbye. In the Atrium, Dr. Charlie Harris (Michael Shanks) tends to the spirit of a dead child wondering if his mother will brave the storm to honour their Christmas tradition. Meanwhile, Dr. Shahir Hamza (Huse Madhavji) and Dr. Dana Kinney (Wendy Crewson) do all they can to avoid being swept up in the Christmas spirit only to get roped in to the annual toy drive, while Dr. Zach Miller (Benjamin Ayres) spends the evening with Dr. Maggie Lin (Julia Taylor Ross) playing Christmas ER Bingo to pass the time until he can get back to his boys.

[ZionHarris]

More stills...lots to work with for the art contest this month...ugly sweaters, elf costumes, and decorations

ericadurance.tv/2015/12/01/episode-stills-description-saving-hopes-holiday-episode-shine-a-light-412/

[ZionHarris]

[veredgf]

Will they air episode 4.11 after 4.12 because they postponed 4.9 due to the events in Paris? I'm just wondering if we will miss Maggie's recovery due to this.

[ZionHarris]

That's my guess, although #411 may not air until January.

I think though that this episode is being called a standalone episode, and there may not be any references to current storylines and it shouldn't matter that it's airing out of order.

ericadurance.tv/2015/11/30/first-ever-saving-hope-holiday-episode-headline-ctvs-2015-holiday-programming/

[ZionHarris]

Clips up on the CTV site.

Looks like Charlie is working with a couple spirits. Only needs one more to make it the Christmas Carol trifecta

[mellie]

Just watched clips (thanks for heads up) and so disappointed to seeing Charlie using the phone cover with Alex. Had hoped after his gift saved Maggie that he could again share with Alex.

[ZionHarris]

My first thought is that Charlie still thinks Alex wants him to do his 'taxes' alone.

But reading the interviews on this episode, the writers are really stressing that it's a stand alone or 'evergreen' episode and there are no mentions of current events in the characters' lives.

Excerpt:

"Patrick Tarr: By the end of this season, 67 episodes of Saving Hope will have aired, which means it can be shown in reruns for years to come. The network wanted the Christmas episode to be “evergreen,” meaning it could be slotted in almost any time in the life of the show and still make sense. With the exception of Charlie being out of his coma, it really could drop in just about anywhere. We don’t even really state whether or not Alex and Charlie are a couple in the episode. It seemed like a big challenge going into it, but there was so much Christmas business to handle that Fiona and I found it pretty easy to focus on the episodic stories and leave the serialized elements aside."

So I think they put Charlie back in ghost secret mode because that's how he's been for most of the series.

[priggy]

I get the point of evergreen episodes but I don't like them very much.

Not a fan of how TV shows do christmas episodes across the pond in North America, much prefer the British version we have. The normal season run is usually over and there is a special christmas episode to tide fans over in the holidays as you await the next season - they're also usually actually over the christmas/new year holidays instead of the last episode before the show goes into the christmas hiatus. For me, it ruins the flow of the season, these kind of xmas shows because you know it can be shown at any time in the run so usually when watching the series back again, these are the episodes you skip over.

[Dr K Harris]

Ok so Michael was right! need loads of tissues!

Such a lovely episode and great acting from our 'stars' of the show!

Not much more really as it was a standalone episode....

Kriss

[ZionHarris]

Not quite Kleenex level for me (takes a LOT) but some really good and touching storylines. Loved the Aiden one and felt really bad for him when he thought his mom had forgotten about him and moved on. Happy to see lots of Charlie and ghosting.

Laughing the whole episode at Shahir, Dana, Zach, Maggie and 'Santa', too many one-liners to remember at the moment.

Sweet moment at the end with Charlie and Alex.

Great episode overall, really enjoyed it.

[priggy]

Didn't need tissues, but did cry. The Aidan storyline was particularly sad. But I wonder, why didn't Betty the xmas tree lady and Aidan's mum (mom for those in the states, not sure what the Canadian is) wonder why Charlie was so interested in Aidan? Or how he knew of Aidan & the xmas tree angel with his name on it tradition?

The Jay, Laverne storyline was heartbreaking. Although how did Charlie get that Jay had a mental illness?

Shahir, Dana, Zach, Maggie and Santa were funny.

Although not sure how well they did on the 'evergreen' front. If you watched the episodes with Zach's kid, Jacob back to back, you could probably tell just by the actor looking older, taller etc.

I think you could tell that their not broken up at this point in time, because Charlie & Alex were way too happy at the start. If it was shown in amongst those episodes in the future, I think you could tell, because Charlie isn't as moody when he's around Alex.

[ZionHarris]

Have to watch the scenes again, but maybe the nurse and the mom both thought the other told Charlie about Aiden.

My favorite shot of the episode:

[ZionHarris]

After doing a little search on Google, I understand the joke with Charlie's third ghost.

It's a bit of a Jewish tradition to eat Chinese food and see a movie on Christmas (not much else, if anything, is open).

So no Kung Pao chicken for the ghost but Charlie directed him to a movie showing 'upstairs'.