It’s not often Hollywood remembers the true meaning of Christmas and that “Jesus is the reason for the season.” Hollywood usually enjoys hating on Christianity. So, it was a nice surprise when NBC’s comedy Lopez vs. Lopez celebrated the true meaning in their Christmas episode, “Lopez vs. Santa.”
The show stars George Lopez and his real-life daughter Mayan Lopez, who reunited after a long estrangement and now live together along with Mayan’s boyfriend/baby daddy Quinten (Matt Shively), their son Chance (Brice Gonzalez), and Mayan’s (TV) mother Rosie (Selenis Leyva).
In the episode, Rosie is depressed after a breakup and doesn’t feel up to decorating for Christmas. Quinten attempts to motivate her by telling her they applied to be the final house in their church’s annual tradition called Posadas, which is done in remembrance of Joseph and Mary’s search for a place to stay when she was about to give birth to Jesus:
Quinten: I'm sorry, Rosie, but you are la Reina de Navidad. It is not Christmas without your decorations.
Rosie: Well, you've seen them. Close your eyes and remember.
Quentin: Ok. But the neighbors haven't seen them, and we applied to be the final Posada house this year.
Oscar: I love Posadas. Beans, cheese, a little guacamole.
Quentin: That's tostadas. Las Posadas are when people go from house to house, reenacting when Mary and Joseph were turned away.
Rosie: I campaign every year to be the final house where Jesus is born, and everyone comes and celebrates, but every year, the church always gives it to that old virgin, Irma Valdez.
Quinten decides to lie to Rosie, telling her they were chosen as the final house because Irma isn’t feeling well. Aside from the lying, cringey language, and fighting over the baby Jesus (who wasn’t supposed to be born yet), it was awesome to see the Holy Family being celebrated rather than denigrated for once:
Rosie: They're here. It's Posadatime. Quinten, get the door.
"Joseph": Hello, innkeeper. We've traveled all of Bethlehem, looking for a place to stay. Do you have any room?
Quinten: Of course. Come on in.
"Joseph": Well, thanks anyways. Wait, you do?
Quinten: Hell, yeah, we do! Get your asses in here!
Rosie: Oh, who wants champurrado? It's spiked. Unlike virgin Irma's virgin drinks.
Oscar: Tostadas, tostadas. FYI, these are not the same as Posadas.
Rosie: And this is where our little Lord Jesus lays his sweet head. May I? Oh, come on. Hand him over to me!
“Joseph”: I think there's been a mistake. We were supposed to be turned away. Irma's expecting us.
Oscar: Irma fell down a well.
“Joseph”: What?
Quinten: No, no. He means Irma is not feeling well, so she asked us to host. Cocktail weenie?
Of course, Irma shows up and the lie is revealed, but Rosie forgives Quinten after he explains, “I hated seeing you so depressed. So, in the spirit of Christmas, I stole an old virgin's one day of happiness.”
After George Lopez made it on our naughty list last year, he has definitely redeemed himself and gets to be on our nice list this year for reminding everyone why Christmas is celebrated. Feliz Navidad!
