Home Economics Review: Secret Santa Gift, $25 Limit (Season 2 Episode 9)

On Home Economics Season 2 Episode 9, “Secret Santa Gift, $25 Limit,” the Hayworth sibling gift exchange proves to be difficult on both the giving and receiving ends. Secret Santa exchanges can be tough, especially when it’s among families with such different economic levels and values.

Yes, even if there is a set limit.

Twenty-five dollars is a reasonable cap (at least for everyone besides Connor who thought Sarah suggesting “25” meant $2,500). Let’s break it down by each family member to see how they fared this holiday season as giver and recipient. 

Connor

It is hard for Connor (Jimmy Tatro) not to spend money, so the limit does pose a real challenge for him.

Connor: $25? Can you even buy a card for $25?
Sarah: We need a price limit. Last year, you bought me an electric bike while I wrote you a poem.

He gets Denise (Sasheer Zamata) for the exchange and has to also contend with her natural selflessness. After Sarah (Caitlin McGee) shuts down his “pack of scrunchies” idea, Connor asks Denise’s sister JoJo (Tetona Jackson) for help, but she claims that Denise is impossible to shop for:

Who can measure up to Denise? She’s a teacher at a crumbling school. She’s vegan. She once fostered ducklings. There is such a thing as being too nice.

JoJo’s rant about Denise, however, gives him an idea for the perfect gift for his selfless do-gooder sister-in-law. Finding a loophole in the price limit, Connor gives Denise an empty box of nothing but also covers the outstanding school lunch debt for her students—which is unrelated, of course. 

Connor and JoJo’s dynamic works great and their kiss under the mistletoe teases that there might be more to come with this potential couple. I’m on board; I hope JoJo sticks around. 

Denise

Denise’s conflict on this episode doesn’t have to do with the present she’s giving or the one she receives. Instead, she deals with a wife who has trouble admitting that she likes something expensive. It’s Sarah’s own guilt that keeps her from being honest with Denise, thinking she will be angry with her as she is with herself. 

Denise is so easy-going and chill, so she doesn’t begrudge Sarah’s (very rare) indulgence in luxury. And, as per usual, she’s able to offer perspective to Sarah, who then finally gives herself a break for feeling special with a designer purse on her arm.

Denise: We’re allowed to be a little shallow now and then. You’ve seen my earring collection. But just so you know, I always think you’re special. With or without the bag.

It is a sweet and loving resolution that doesn’t end when they sell the bag to a Craigslist buyer. With help from Denise, Marina, who has Sarah for Secret Santa, gives her a way to feel special and stick to her principles at the same time with a knock-off bag, complete with a “Lulu” label. 

Denise also has success with the gift she gives, although it was much easier to come by than sorting the Sarah/purse situation. Marina (Karla Souza) is happy to receive her present from Denise: a hot glue gun.

Marina: The Miyoshi X37 with the detachable base stand? Thank you!
Denise: It’s the exact model you requested. 
Marina: But I didn’t know what color you were gonna get me. 

Marina

Marina loves Christmas. What a delightful little development. Gretchen (Shiloh Bearman) sums up my initial reaction to this quite well.

Gretchen: Don’t take this the wrong way, but you’re not usually this happy. 
Marina: Here’s the thing, Gretchen. The rest of my year is unrelenting drudgery, but for a few magical weeks, it’s about family and posadas and buñuelos. Also, I craft like a beast. 

She crafts, she wears tacky holiday sweaters that play music (of which she has “a normal amount”), and carries pinecones with her. She expertly wraps presents—even one of Connor’s tissue boxes; “I see a box, I wrap it.”—with the same fervor as Bryony the elf in Arthur Christmas. 

Just when I think I can’t love Marina more, here she is with all this yuletide cheer, and it is adorable. 

Sarah

Sarah is thrown by her own feelings over a material object. The way she first responds to getting an extravagant gift from a Windmount Academy parent is to be expected—she is repulsed by it and wants it out of her house. Then she pulls a 180 when she goes to return it and the salesperson fawns over her and her new accessory.

Sarah’s rich person act is hilarious, as is how she poorly hides her love for the bag from Denise. The whole shopping for dried figs exchange is particularly amusing. 

At first, this direction seems to be out-of-character, but her explanation to Denise makes a lot of sense. And it all works out in the end: Sarah gets a purse with much more personal value, they sell the bourgeoise bag, and whiny Craigslist buyer James gets the perfect present for his shallow wife. 

Sarah struggles with the gift-receiving but manages to (slightly) improve on her gift-giving skills. She is known for not giving very good gifts which was established on Season 1. Here she gives Tom a recyclable recycling journal to log all of his recycling.

Tom: I’ll probably use it for other things, but thank you.
Sarah: Am I getting better at gifts?
Denise: You’re definitely not getting worse. 

Tom

Tom gets Connor for the exchange, and with the recent check he’s given for ghostwriting, he decides that he really wants to repay the money his brother loaned him. This is to Marina’s chagrin, as there are a number of things around the house that need fixing or replacing (not to mention a Hawaiian vacation) for which to use this sudden influx of funds.

However, Connor doesn’t want (or need or remember about) the money he lent him, telling Tom to keep it. Be it pride or brotherly competition, Tom spends the episode trying to figure out how to trick Connor into taking the money. But Connor also has his pride and competitiveness, so he finds another loophole where he can accept the check and give at the same time. 

It’s a win-win-win. Tom gets to pay off the loan, Connor gets a new washer and dryer, and Marina gets his old yet almost new washer/dryer to replace theirs that “neither washes nor dries.” 

Tom does get Connor an actual Secret Santa gift: a framed picture of the two of them on Halloween in their Iron Man costumes which is a nice callback from Season 2 Episode 6, “Box of King-Size Candy Bars, $48.99.”

What did you think of this episode of Home Economics? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Home Economics airs Wednesdays at 9:30/8:30c on ABC.

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