Full House meets Home Improvement! And by that, I mean the house is full. Marty, Nancy and their baby girls are staying over for Christmas, and Jill's parents were coming as well. And of course, it wouldn't be Christmas unless Tim was trying yet again to compete with Doc Johnson in the lighting contest. Tim got lucky last year, so hopefully he will again this year. So, Jill's parents arrive, and as expected, they're bickering, continuing a fight they started in Texas. It seems ever since the Colonel retired, he's been difficult to live with, just planted on his easy chair in the den watching Patton all day. Jill's plan of a perfect family Christmas was off to a rocky start. Later, the Colonel sits with the boys and the babies and shows them his favorite movie, so leave it to Jill to pick that moment to interrupt them and try to play amateur psychologist with her father. Naturally, the heart to heart does no good as Colonel becomes steamed when she tries to interfere and storms out. Meanwhile, up on the house top, Tim and Marty are hard at work putting up the decorations. Marty getting beamed by several members of the Nativity in the process, and the two kept a watchful eye on what Doc Johnson was up to. Jill tries to interrupt Tim to state the painfully obvious about what she just did, when Lillian barks at her to come inside. She didn't want her intuitive daughter to mettle in their affairs, despite having vented in front of her earlier, but rather she and the Colonel wanted to stay mad at each other and had a perfectly lovely Christmas.
Just as Jill calls Tim down the ladder a second time, she decides to talk to Wilson instead. Long story short, he suggests an objective third party would better fit to intervene. Wilson wisely declines, so it looks like it's up to Tim. So after he falls off the roof, he goes inside to talk to the Colonel, inviting him to come on the roof and lend a hand. At first the old man is uninterested, until Tim baits him by saying Doc Johnson is navy. So as they set up the giant candy canes, Tim really helps the Colonel to see the error of his ways, and even though the army seldom retreats, it seems that's just what he's been doing: retreating from life, and his marriage. So, the Colonel goes to his wife and wants to start anew and make up for their lost time. He credits it all to Tim, or "Hey You", saying that once you listen to what he has to say, he's not such a idiot. And with that, the Wise Tool Man dangles from the roof by a string of lights. Well, that night, it's time to judge the lighting contest. It looks as though the Taylors have outdone themselves once again, and as usual, there's a disaster in the making: Tim had to cut a whole in the roof to hide the manger, and wouldn't you know, it started snowing at that exact moment.
In lieu of outtakes, during the credits we get to see Tim dismember an ice sculpture of Al. How butt-hurt can you get? Anyway, "Twas the Night Before Chaos" it outstanding! Everything about it works. It's also nice to see Jill's parents together, the only occurrence in the series. This would be M. Emmet Walsh's last appearance as Colonel Fred Patterson, and the character would later be killed off in Season 6. If you haven't already seen this one, I strongly urge you to do so. Not much I can say other than it's written and performed very well, you really believe these people as family. It seems to be anybody's wish to have a perfect family Christmas with everybody together under one roof, and while that is a noble idea, there's one thing about families everybody seems to forget: they bicker.
Just as Jill calls Tim down the ladder a second time, she decides to talk to Wilson instead. Long story short, he suggests an objective third party would better fit to intervene. Wilson wisely declines, so it looks like it's up to Tim. So after he falls off the roof, he goes inside to talk to the Colonel, inviting him to come on the roof and lend a hand. At first the old man is uninterested, until Tim baits him by saying Doc Johnson is navy. So as they set up the giant candy canes, Tim really helps the Colonel to see the error of his ways, and even though the army seldom retreats, it seems that's just what he's been doing: retreating from life, and his marriage. So, the Colonel goes to his wife and wants to start anew and make up for their lost time. He credits it all to Tim, or "Hey You", saying that once you listen to what he has to say, he's not such a idiot. And with that, the Wise Tool Man dangles from the roof by a string of lights. Well, that night, it's time to judge the lighting contest. It looks as though the Taylors have outdone themselves once again, and as usual, there's a disaster in the making: Tim had to cut a whole in the roof to hide the manger, and wouldn't you know, it started snowing at that exact moment.
In lieu of outtakes, during the credits we get to see Tim dismember an ice sculpture of Al. How butt-hurt can you get? Anyway, "Twas the Night Before Chaos" it outstanding! Everything about it works. It's also nice to see Jill's parents together, the only occurrence in the series. This would be M. Emmet Walsh's last appearance as Colonel Fred Patterson, and the character would later be killed off in Season 6. If you haven't already seen this one, I strongly urge you to do so. Not much I can say other than it's written and performed very well, you really believe these people as family. It seems to be anybody's wish to have a perfect family Christmas with everybody together under one roof, and while that is a noble idea, there's one thing about families everybody seems to forget: they bicker.
