The third season of Hallmark Channel‘s hit holiday mystery series “Mistletoe Murders” is right around the corner.
In advance of the upcoming season, which will debut during Hallmark’s annual “Countdown to Christmas” programming event, star Sarah Drew is sharing some details of what fans can expect in the upcoming season.
Melding Murder Mystery with Holiday Cheer
Drew sat down for an interview with “That Hollywood Show,” where she ruminated on the unique space that “Mistletoe Murders” occupies within the Hallmark Channel universe.
“So much intrigue, so much holiday cheer, so much romance,” the “Grey’s Anatomy” alum joked about the show.
“Yeah, we’re allowed to kill people at Christmas,” she added. “It’s kind of amazing our tiny little Christmas town has so many deaths, but only at Christmas.”
As she explained, the show has drawn in fans by striking just the right tone by perfectly balancing the murder mystery genre with all the elements of a Hallmark holiday rom-com.
“We like to call it Christmas noir,” Drew explained. “We have a really cool way of shooting it that feels a little bit edgier and a little bit grittier than normal Hallmark fare.”
According to Drew, the murder mystery genre and the typical Christmas rom-com aren’t as disparate as viewers might expect.
“I think the interesting thing about both genres is that they both follow the kind of same patterns, you know,” Drew shared. “You start off in a place of disarray, you go through twists and turns, and at the end everything is solved. Like in the Christmas movies, everybody makes cookies, gathers around the tree and somebody falls in love. At the end of the murder mystery, the bad guy is taken in, the good guys win, justice is served, right? So you know that walking into both of these genres that you’re going to see a whole journey, you’re going to get to feel a bunch of stuff, and at the end everything will be okay.”
Added Drew: “So I think it’s a really interesting combination that I’m amazed that no one’s tried it before, because it really does work really well together.”
‘The Stakes Are Much Higher This Season’
Asked what fans can expect to see in Season 3, Drew replied, “More flashbacks, which are just some of my favorite stuff to shoot, ’cause I really love dipping my toe back into Grace, who, you know who she used to be and she’s very different than who she is now. I was kind of talking to my director about this, but when I get into those Grace scenes I find that she’s much more emotional because of all her history and journey with Aaron, and her past, losing her parents. There’s a lot.”
In those flashback scenes as Emily’s former alter ego Grace, Drew feels as if she’s almost playing a different character than present-day Emily.
“She’s got layers,” Drew shared. “And when we’re with her in the present, it’s like she’s worked through a bunch of stuff. She’s moved through a bunch of stuff. She’s determined to start a new life, but when we’re in her past, she’s in the thick of it, right? So her nervous system is messy and unsettled, and I don’t even notice it … I don’t plan what my emotional life is going to be until I get on set. Then, when I’m on set shooting those scenes, I find myself getting, like, so much more worked up than present day.”
When the new season kicks off, Drew added, fans can expect to see “more flashbacks, more romance. The romance between Emily and Sam is so layered and goes much deeper. The stakes are much higher this season, and it’s realy delightful.”
The third season of “Mistletoe Murders premieres Thursday, November 5 on Hallmark Channel.
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Sarah Drew Teases ‘Mistletoe Murders’ Season 3: ‘More Flashbacks, More Romance’