Villain -- Kate McQueen -- disappears at halfway point??!!

What's up with that??

Why introduce a villain if you're only going to remove her from the story at the one-hour mark?

I'm starting to realize that Hallmark Christmas movies go out of their way to avoid outright villainy and, indeed, any real conflict of any kind. Which is ridiculous. One of the greatest Christmas movies of all time, IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, had a terrific villain. Mr. Potter.

How many classic family movies have bad guys and bad girls? Answer: A lot of them. Wicked witches, wicked stepmothers, Cruela De Vil, Big Bad Wolves... it's a long, long, LONG list.

So why does the Hallmark Channel insist on virtually NO villains in their Christmas movies?