"A Christmas Tori" is the Christmas episode of the Nickelodeon sitcom Victorious, aired as the twelfth episode of the show's second season (though it is actually the first episode produced for the show's third season).
Synopsis[]
The episode starts in the classroom; the Hollywood Arts students are celebrating the holidays, and the school is decorated for the occasion. Robbie is dressed as Santa Claus, Cat is enthusiastic about everything and Jade is just grouchy, leading everyone to call her a "Christmas grunch". André and Tori enter, and André is freaking out because of a bad grade he got on a Christmas song he wrote for Anthony's class, his first ever D. Beck keeps falling asleep in class because a noisy cricket in his RV has been preventing him from getting any sleep. Before anyone can continue, Sinjin comes in to tell Sikowitz his Secret Santa assignment. Sikowitz is upset to find out that he will have to give a gift to Sinjin's sister, Courtney Van Cleef, who he thinks is a weirdo. He asks to trade with someone, however, the gang says they didn't sign up because they shouldn't have to give gifts to "random people they don't care about." Sikowitz, believing that they need to get in the holiday spirit, tells them that they will all be required to participate. Everyone must get creative and special gifts for each other, and the one who gives the worst present will be forced to go door-to-door Christmas Yodeling with Sikowitz on Christmas Eve.
As Cat distributes her brother's Christmas beef around school, Jade complains to Sikowitz about being assigned as Tori's Secret Santa, and requests to switch with someone else to no avail. Beck meanwhile is reduced to constantly drinking many cups of coffee in order to keep himself awake. However, he musters enough energy to deliver Robbie's Secret Santa gift - he brings Robbie's old bully, Christy Vicaris, to school because Robbie has been talking about wanting to get even with her. However, Robbie is too distracted at how hot she looks and the two end up going on a coffee date. While attempting to convince Anthony to give him a better grade, André, as Beck's Secret Santa, catches him the cricket that has been keeping him up at night in his RV, but Beck gives it to Sikowitz, who gives it to Courtney.
Tori is André's secret Santa, but has trouble coming with a good gift to give to him - her idea is a miniature ceramic guitar, but Trina warns her that this gift is useless to André. Tori ultimately decides against it after seeing Robbie's gift to Cat: a cotton candy cart and a man that follows her around for a week, which she loves and thanks him by giving him a big hug and a kiss on the cheek.
Cat is Jade's Secret Santa and amazes her by buying her a new pair of scissors from The Scissoring, Jade's favorite movie. Tori witnesses this and proceeds to ask them for help on ideas for André's gift. While Jade is at first dismissive, she later shows up at Tori's house and reveals herself as Tori's Secret Santa. She reveals that her "gift" to Tori is an idea for a good gift for André, though forces her to beg her for it to make her feel good about herself. Ultimately at school, Tori, along with Cat and Jade, gathers Anthony and many of the students in the hall, where the three perform their own take on André's Christmas song ("It's Not Christmas Without You") to try to show Anthony that it's worth a better grade. Eventually, André joins in and sings with them as well. Anthony concedes and gives André an A after hearing the song.
In the end, Sikowitz concedes that everyone gave wonderfully creative presents to each other, and that he was the one who gave the worst one, so he goes Christmas Yodelling with a group of strangers on Christmas Eve.
Subplot[]
Trina gets a giant Christmas tree for the Vega house, which is so big she has to climb it to get the star on. She asks Robbie for help decorating it, promising him pizza and a hug afterwards, even though she claims to Tori that they are not friends. It is subtly implied she is craving companionship for the holidays with Tori too focused on André's gift and both their parents out of town, and she and Robbie seem to enjoy each other's company with their mutual knowledge of Christmas decorations.
Songs[]
Trivia[]
- The title is a pun of A Christmas Story.
- Here were the Secret Santas:
- Tori was Andre's
- Andre was Beck's
- Beck was Robbie's
- Robbie was Cat's
- Cat was Jade's
- Jade was Tori's
- Courtney was Sikowitz's
- The gifts received were:
- Beck to Robbie: The chance to tell his childhood bully off
- Robbie to Cat: A man making her cotton candy for a week whenever she wants
- Cat to Jade: Scissors from a movie she liked (The Scissoring)
- Jade to Tori: An idea for Andre's gift
- Tori to Andre: To have his grade changed from a D to an A
- Andre to Beck: To have the cricket annoying him removed from his RV (which he ended up giving to Sikowitz)
- Sikowitz to Courtney: The cricket Andre caught
Cast[]
Actor/actress | Character |
---|---|
Victoria Justice | Tori Vega |
Leon Thomas III | André Harris |
Matt Bennett | Robbie Shapiro |
Elizabeth Gillies | Jade West |
Ariana Grande | Cat Valentine |
Avan Jogia | Beck Oliver |
Daniella Monet | Trina Vega |
Eric Lange | Erwin Sikowitz |
Michael Eric Reid | Sinjin Van Cleef |
Eme Ikwuakor | Antoni |
Mark Irvingsen | Larry Stein |
Amanda Gari | Liza Minnelli |
Dominique Grund | Courtney Van Cleef |
External links[]
- Victorious Wiki: A Christmas Tori
- "A Christmas Tori" at the Internet Movie Database
- "A Christmas Tori" recap at TV Tropes