6 Sci-Fi & Fantasy TV Episodes for the Holidays!

It’s the holiday season, and if you’re not watching holiday and/or Christmas-themed TV episodes on an endless loop, you might not be doing it right. Thankfully, there’s still hope. This is where I, a self-diagnosed TV fanatic, come in. If you’re on the hunt for something festive to watch this time of year, I’ve got a short and sweet list of episodes you should watch.

Plus, I’m going to take it a step further — this is a list of sci-fi and fantasy installments that scream “Deck the Halls,” perhaps more so than their sitcom or drama counterparts. Read on!

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“If We Make It Through December” – Wynonna Earp

The holiday season arrives in Purgatory with the usual fanfare suffusing a small town accustomed to the strange and the weird. Wynonna and Waverly spend Christmas with their mother for the first time since they were kids, and let’s just say a “menstrual angel” is involved. Our titular heroine, distraught over her breakup with Doc, finds solace in the arms of the hot new firefighter in town who, um, decks her halls. Speaking of Doc, he persuades Kate to turn him into a vampire.

“If We Make It Through December” is a solid Wynonna Earp outing, even if you remove the holiday aspects. The characters drive this episodic narrative, with compelling performances from the whole cast. Combine that with the show’s signature sharp-fanged humor (hee-hee) and the fantasy elements, and you can consider your Christmas sorted.

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“A Very Supernatural Christmas” – Supernatural

Carry on my wayward Santa. Supernatural gets in on the holiday game with “A Very Supernatural Christmas,” which sees Dean and Sam hunting an “Anti-Santa” who uses their victims’ chimneys to abduct them. Naturally, chaos ensues when they, too, are abducted by pagan gods who’ve embraced Christmas aesthetics in their home. 

This episode combines impactful flashbacks to Christmas in 1991, filling in some much-needed blanks regarding the Winchester brothers’ backstory. The sibling dynamic between Sam and Dean propels the story, with Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles’ natural chemistry serving as the beating heart. The episode’s ending, in particular, is emotionally resonant.

Think about it: What’s more holiday-oriented (or family, for that matter) than two brothers killing pagan gods with Christmas tree branches fashioned into stakes? Nothing, I tell you. 

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“Amends” – Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Buffy the Vampire Slayer boasts some fun holiday-themed episodes, and “Amends” is no exception. Visions of Jenny Calendar torture Angel, along with malicious spirits urging him to kill Buffy. Meanwhile, Buffy longs for a quiet Christmas, but this is Sunnydale, and she is The Chosen One, so that’s not a possibility. 

“Amends” introduces us to the ultimate Buffy villain — the First Evil (or simply “The First”), the entity that plagues Angel. This Big Bad is threaded into the Buffy tapestry, reappearing in a significant way in Season 7. Additionally, this Christmas outing blesses us with more Faith (which is never a bad thing) and gives us plenty of Bangel (Buffy/Angel) drama. Oh, the delicious drama. It’s a punch to the gut, especially considering all they’ve endured as a couple. 

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“How the Ghosts Stole Christmas” – The X-Files

In The X-Files‘ case, the ghosts really did steal Christmas. The cult classic sci-fi series boasts an excellent holiday-themed outing, with terrific turns from legendary guest stars Lily Tomlin and the late Ed Asner. Our fave FBI special agents travel to Maryland to investigate a house haunted by the ghosts of two lovers. These ghosts attempt to persuade Mulder and Scully to kill each other. Naturally, they’re too mentally strong to succumb to said ghosts’ manipulations. Not even Lily Tomlin and Ed Asner can sway them. 

“How the Ghosts Stole Christmas” is an artful blend of comedy, drama, romance, and horror, delivering a cocktail of Christmas goodness with a genre twist. Plus, you can’t go wrong with two brilliant guest stars like Tomlin and Asner, accompanied by the always masterful Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny. 

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“Fillory and Further” – The Magicians

Okay, so the Christmas aspect of this episode is quite minor, but The Magicians series finale, “Fillory and Further,” would be incomplete without it. The episode opens with an apartment adorned with Christmas decorations, a conversation with Santa Claus, and our heroes opening gifts around a beautifully decorated tree. Inexplicably, this brief holiday scene sets the tone for the remainder of the outing, and quite spectacularly so. 

Santa gave them gifts that would prove useful to them in the battle to come. Our magicians save the Fillorians from a collapsing Fillory by “rapturing” them. Some of them literally create a new world with magic, while the rest on Earth forge a plan to find them. It’s a lush, cleverly crafted ending to a wonderfully weird series with humorous and heartfelt moments in equal measure. “Humor” and “heart” seem pretty Christmas-y to me. 

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“Immortimas Patrol” – Doom Patrol

It was only a matter of time before DC’s Doom Patrol did a musical-themed episode. This particular episode just so happens to serve as the show’s only holiday-themed installment, too. Fans are pretty split on “Immortimas Patrol,” but it won me over, heart and soul. 

Our heroes realize they’re trapped in Immortus’ fantasy, a realm full of perpetual musical numbers and endless Immortimas Day (Immortus’ version of Christmas) celebrations. The gang decks out Doom Manor in Immortimas decorations. They even boast ugly Immortimas sweaters. It’s a feast for the eyes. Of course, the musical numbers are the epitome of offbeat and are accompanied by, you guessed it, dancing sex ghosts.

Plus, most of the cast can really sing, and Brendan Fraser finally gets to show his face instead of us hearing him artfully drop f-bombs every two minutes. It’s a top-tier episode. 

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What are your favorite holiday-themed sci-fi and fantasy TV episodes? Join the conversation alongside other other pop culture fans over at Sideshow Social Network or at side.show/geekgroup, and don’t forget to Let Your Geek Sideshow!