Secret Santa - Recap

Pete and Myka arrive at Warehouse 13 in the middle of winter, and complain about the cold. They enter the office and discover that it’s filled with marshmallows and stars, thanks to Claudia and artifacts. Joshua Donovan is there and helping Claudia set up, and Claudia is happy that she’s able to spend Christmas with people in her life for the first time. However, Pete and Myka inform her that they’re going home of Christmas. Artie storms in, angry with what she’s done to his office, and she tries to give him a sweater as a present. He angrily tells her to put away all of the artifacts. He stumbles into Joshua, who is under a piece of artifact mistletoe, kisses him, and then insists they get rid of everything.



In Los Angeles, Larry Newley is working and talking to his daughter via webcam, and tries to explain that he couldn’t make it home because of all of his deadlines at the new mall. Once she signs off, he hears someone moving around the house. He grabs a gun and goes to investigate, but is surprised by what he sees. Newley is quickly overwhelmed and runs away, and then watches as the intruder turns into a glowing ball of red light and escapes up the chimney. Behind him, the word “Naughty” appears on the wall and then bursts into flame.

At Leena’s B&B, Myka and Peter are preparing to leave when Artie comes in and says that they have a case. He describes it as a home invasion and the victim claimed Santa Claus was responsible.



At the warehouse, Joshua and Claudia speculate about Artie’s childhood, and Leena finds a photo of him playing a piano as a child. Claudia decides to track down every piano tuner in Philadelphia, Artie’s hometown, that might have worked on the piano so they can find Artie’s childhood piano and give it to him as a Christmas gift.

Pete and Myka meet with Newley, who wonders why the Secret Service is involved. He tries to describe what happened, and insists that he wasn’t taking drugs. They ask him if he has enemies, and Myka notes that he’s starting demolition to build a shopping mall. One old guy who owned a store was particularly unhappy, and they insist on taking Newley with them. They meet with the owner of a prank store, Wilkie, who looks a bit like Santa. Newley insists that he’s paying them more than their property is worth, but Wilkie insists that it’s a family business and it’s not about the money. Unimpressed, Newley says they’re being evicted by the new year.

The agents accompany Newley back to his office, and he talks about how no one goes to mom-and-pop stores. Myka points out that she was raised in a mom-and-pop store. As Newley goes into his office, a glowing red ball appears out of the light fixture, bursts into Newley’s office, and attacks him. It forms into a ghostly Santa Claus, addresses Newley as Larry Noodle, and says he’s not the man that they deserve. Santa warns that if Newley doesn’t fix his life, he’ll take it from him. Once he goes, Newley tells the agents that Larry Noodle was his childhood nickname, and Pete wonders if they saw the real Santa.



The agents call Artie and tell him what happened, and he confirms that there was a real St. Nicholas in Turkey in the 4th century. There are other Christmas legends of imp-like spirits. Myka wonders where Claudia is, and Artie figures that she’s off plotting another holiday surprise.

Newley gets a call from his ex-wife, Lila, who complains that he’s missing Christmas with his daughter and broke his promise to trim the tree. Larry insists he didn’t make such a promise, and asks if Kallie got the antique ornaments he sent her. Lila wonders how many more Christmases that Larry is going to miss with Kallie. As the agents come in, Newley says that he made no promises and he’s buried in his work. Myka wonders if Lila is using an artifact to satisfy a grudge. The agents take Newley with them to his home, and Myka goes to interview Lila while Peter takes Newley to spend some time with his daughter.

Claudia follows the trail to a music school in a Philadelphia and finds Artie’s old piano there. Claudia offers to buy the piano, and the teacher, Marla, goes to get the owner, Isadore Weisfelt. Claudia quickly realizes that he’s Artie’s father and gets a new idea for a Christmas present for her boss.



At the Newley home, Kallie makes fruitcake for Pete and Newley. Father and daughter share a joke at Pete’s expense. Meanwhile, Myka helps decorate the tree and talks to Lila, who notes that Larry used to spend much more time with Kallie, collecting antique Christmas ornaments. She doesn’t have any new boyfriends that might want revenge on Newley. When Myka mentions the “Larry Noodle” nickname, Lila admits she hasn’t heard it since they were teenagers, when they were happier with a lot less than they have now.

Claudia tries to get Isadore to go with them, but he is angry because Artie disappeared. He isn’t impressed when Claudia explains that Artie had to change his name to protect his family. When all else fails, Claudia says that Artie is dying and guilts Isadore into going to see his “dying” son.

Pete finds Newley outside, on the phone making calls for his business. Newley insists he’s doing it so that Kallie can have everything he didn’t. Santa appears again, and starts to make Newley fade away. Pete grabs him, and Newley stabilizes. Myka arrives to stun Santa, and they pull off the fake beard to reveal that it’s… Newley. Recovering quickly, the Santa-Newley says that Newley’s time is running out and he has until midnight. He then turns into a ball of red energy, knocks Newley into the pool, and flies away.



The agents seal all of the doors, vents, and windows to keep fairy dust out, and update Artie. Artie warns that they’re dealing with some kind of identity transference, and Newley could fade away entirely. Artie tells them to keep Newley sealed up until after midnight. He goes to the B&B, and finds Isadore waiting for him along with the piano. He gets Claudia outside and asks what she’s done, and she lies and says that Isadore is dying. Artie falls for it and Isadore embraces him.

As Pete and Myka watch over Newley, they remember their fathers. Myka is too busy to be with her father, while Pete wishes he had the time with his father that Newley has. Wilkie arrives and shows them the letter that Newley signed, saying he’s stopping the demolition. As Newley opens the door to usher him out, the red glowing ball sweeps up Newley and flies into the sky with him.

Artie and his father share good times together, and they both apologize for letting things going so late. Isadore finally asks Artie what he’s dying of, and Claudia tries to interrupt without success. Isadore accuses his son of betraying them, and Artie accuses his father of disowning him. The only thing father and son can bond over is their opinion of Claudia.



Pete and Myka figure that they have until midnight to find Newley, and they figure that Santa Newley would take Newley to the one place he would never consider home. Myka remembers Lila decorating the tree, and realizes what the artifact is. They go there and find a tree ornament made of shell casings, with a photo of Newley on it in his younger days when he worked as a neighborhood Santa. Pete realizes the shell casings are from the World War I ceasefire that occurred between the two sides to celebrate Christmas for one night together. Kallie admits that she wished for things to be like when Newley was dressed up as Santa. They figure that Santa Newley considers the first mall he built as home and leave, taking the ornament with them.

At the mall, Santa Newley ties Newley to a Santa throne and tells him that Lila and Kallie need him, not Newley. Santa Newley begins draining Newley’s identity so that he can become real and take his place. Pete and Myka arrive They figure that human contact stops the process, and Pete runs to grab Newley. Santa Newley animates two life-sized nutcracker soldiers, and one of them knocks Pete out. Myka puts the artifact in a neutralizer bag, but nothing happens. She tells Newley that he never spent enough time with Kallie and Santa Newley agrees. Lila and Kallie arrives, and Kallie and leaps through one of the soldiers, and says that she wants her father back. Newley admits that it’s his fault and that he might as well fade away. However, he insists that he wants to be there for her. Myka tells Kallie to run to her father and give him a hug. As they embrace, Santa Newley disappears.



Later, Pete and Myka return home and Pete is eager to open presents. Myka waits him wait until after dinner. Artie puts on Claudia’s coat, while Leena cooks turkey. Isadore tells Artie that he accepts he had his reasons for leaving, but it was hard for him when Artie walked away from his music. Artie shows him the piano music he’s been working on, and explains that he finally finished it. Isadore insists that he play it and they sit at the piano. Artie tries to play and Isadore can’t resist kibitzing.

In the kitchen, Claudia gives Pete and Myka their presents: t-shirts with pictures of the artifacts that almost killed them. As Leena calls everyone to dinner, Pete says that he’s unhappy he didn’t get to spend time with his family, but after seeing what happened with Newley, he’s glad to be with friends. They all sit down for dinner and Isadore insists that they join hands and say grace.



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