We discuss the ending of the Netflix film special Who Killed Santa? A Murderville Murder Mystery, which will contain spoilers.
The Murderville format remains unchanged in this Christmas Special: Who Killed Santa? A Murderville Murder Mystery. Will Arnett’s Terry Seattle puts a guest actor, or in this case, guest actors, through their paces, as they try and solve a murder mystery in real-time, without a script. The actors improvise their lines, whilst investigating the case in an elaborate escape room-styled setup. They meet suspects, decipher clues and try to ignore pieces of misdirection, leading to a final verdict. In the Christmas Special, a Santa impersonator is killed on Terry and Jason’s watch. But who actually killed Johnny Blaze?
In the Christmas Special, Santa Claus impersonator, Johnny Blaze (played by Sean Hayes) is murdered at a City Hall party. He is stabbed in the chest with a sharpened candy cane weapon. Terry, Jason, and Maya interrogate suspects and gather information throughout the show, trying to solve this case. In the end, there are three main suspects. Each has their own motives for killing Johnny and each divulges pieces of information that can be interpreted as both clues or red herrings. Let’s look at the three suspects and the data we have on them.
First up is Jim Trentley, the sports reporter for Channel Five News. We find the suspect drinking peppermint schnapps at the bar. The killer is known to have licked the candy cane into the deadly dagger shape. Looks like our killer likes mint, here’s our first possible clue. Jim talks about an ugly divorce but brags that his new partner has magical hands. The sports caster has known Johnny for fifteen years and they were golfing buddies. Johnny always won though and Jim racked up a debt of nine million dollars that he still owed to this day. Money is always a good motive, keep note.
Next up is Mia Briggs, Johnny’s personal assistant. Jason and Maya play good cop, bad cop as they interrogate the second suspect. She reveals that Johnny was extremely mean to her, saying that she had bad breath all the time. Mia was forced to spray her mouth with mint-flavored breath spray, every five minutes to appease Johnny. He always forgot her name as well and just referred to her as Johnny, which is extremely disrespectful. The Santa impersonator also made her do odd jobs. They could be dangerous, like driving through a storm or criminal, like faking an ADHD diagnosis just so he could snort her Adderall. He was unkind and controlling, another possible motive.
The third and final suspect is Donna Foccacia (played by Eliza Coupe). The successful restaurant owner was pitched a new business venture by Johnny Blaze. He wanted to open a new barbecue joint. She taught him everything she knew and he then went back on the deal, starting a rival business next to her flagship restaurant. This rivalry could be a good motive and she also mentions his love of butter, which was the last word Johnny ever spoke before dying. The only downside to Donna’s profile is the fact that she dislikes mint.
Just before delivering a verdict, the show introduces us to a third guest star, Pete Davidson. The poor actor is hastily updated on the suspects without any time to ponder the facts. He instantly goes for Mia Briggs. The Mayor asks for their final decisions. Each actor is to pass a present to the person they believe is the killer. Maya throws a spanner in the works and accuses the Mayor. Then Jason thinks it was suicide – unheard of! Pete still suspects Mia, but for a little bit of fun, he goes rogue and accuses Terry Seattle himself!
Who Killed Santa? A Murderville Murder Mystery ending explained
The real killer confesses in the end. It was Jim Trentley. He wore a sweater containing bells, which explains the jingling sound heard when the killer attacked. Jim liked mint as he was drinking peppermint schnapps. His name tag was the only one not to be smudged. The original name tag was taken by Johnny, and Jim wrote on the second one with his own red sharpie. The same one used to sign a headshot for Terry. Johnny’s last word was ‘putter’ not ‘butter’, as Jim was a bad putter at golf. Jim’s accomplice, who turned off the power during the killing, was Angie, his new girlfriend with the magic hands.
In the final moments, Angie reveals that she has planted a bomb in one of the presents and Pete Davidson is tasked with disarming the bomb before it explodes. He cuts the correct wire and saves the day. Terry then delivers the presents to the orphans, dressed as Santa, and thankfully saves Christmas. He sees one last present left in the truck, addressed to him. He opens it, and it’s noise-canceling headphones, just what he wanted. Unfortunately, he has accidentally stolen a present that was meant for an orphan, who is also called Terry. Regardless of this faux-pas, Christmas-hating Terry ends the special having finally understood the true magic of Christmas, filled with the holiday spirit himself.
What did you think of the ending of the Netflix film special Who Killed Santa? A Murderville Murder Mystery? Did you guess the right killer? Comment below.
