Those were a couple of well-chosen episodes to air during the networks' holiday hiatus.

Both kept things light for visiting viewers. There was very little of the series' complicated mythology. Instead, visitors could just step through the Magic Door into an enchanting world.

First up, the junior Librarians found an offbeat use for Santa's sleigh on The Librarians Season 4 Episode 3.

It took one convoluted setup for them, instead of the elves, to be in temporary possession of it. So Santa decided to take a weekend vacation at his busiest time with Jenkins, Flynn, and Eve. 

While they're veteran travelers, I still don't see them, excepting Flynn, as fun vacation companions. Jenkins and Eve seemed more stressed than relaxed as the trip went on. Santa must have been partying hearty because we never did see him.

Jacob, Cassandra, and Ezekiel had a seemingly simple task: keep an eye on the sleigh but don't touch it. Jenkins was abundantly clear on that point. 

So naturally, Ezekiel shot that out of the water in the first five minutes, by visiting his family of thieves on their favorite holiday, Thanks-taking, on which all gifts must be stolen.

No one took Ezekiel seriously when he proclaimed he was a great thief, so he took his mother Lenore to the Library to prove what he has been doing. He quickly realized the error of his ways, but too late.

She snuck back in to steal the Magic Door and used that to steal presents from all over the world. Shades of the Grinch!

Unfortunately, she made the mistake of stealing a Vermeer painting from the Bank of Thieves, ruled over by the Patron Prince of Thieves (a fun turn by Steven Weber). Not coincidentally, he was also Santa's brother. Who knew Santa had a brother?

Long story short, the three junior Librarians had to use Santa's sleigh to get to the Bank of Thieves, to return the painting. Of course, Ezekiel and Lenore got caught, and in the process, she discovered what a great thief her son is. 

The Prince got his hands on the sleigh, his ultimate prize, but Santa crossed him up by gifting it to him, which a thief couldn't accept since it wasn't stolen. Huh?

Anyway, Ezekiel got to teach his mother the value of giving, as they returned all that she stole using Santa's sleigh.

It was an enjoyable twist on several holiday tropes if you could overlook some of the narrative gymnastics necessary to get to the heartwarming ending.

Then the Librarians visited another realm of make-believe, the movies, on The Librarians Season 4 Episode 4.

Eve and Flynn attempted to enjoy date night, an activity ordinary people do, which they should have known would be the kiss of death.

Instead of going to the movies, they ended up in the film.

Cassandra, Jacob, and Ezekiel figured that Flynn and Eve being gone for 24 hours was an unsettling development, and they discovered what had happened to the couple.

All the hilarity that ensued resulted from a disagreement over the approach to rescuing Flynn and Eve.

Jenkins favored a scholarly tracking of the magical artifact that had caused them to go into the film. The junior Librarians wanted just magically to jump into the film and haul them out. So as soon as Jenkins' back was turned, that's what they did.

It was amusing to watch them jump from one wrong B movie to another, without the encyclopedic knowledge of their surroundings which Eve had in her film noir. It did create an opportunity for Christian Kane to sing, which is hard to come by organically.

Meanwhile, Jenkins was doing all the heavy lifting, attempting to figure out what artifact was interacting with the ley line to cause the displacement. Having the truth about the family dynamics involved made for an interesting development, especially since the family being restored ended up being the magical solution.

Eve taking charge within the film was what kept the couple progressing within unusual, even for them, circumstances. Flynn had the big brain, but she provided the common sense necessary to survive.

Most enjoyable was when the three other Librarians, all in Technicolor, joined them in the climactic scene in their movie. The color characters stood out so much among the action.

Newcomers can watch The Librarians online to catch up.

Which of the episodes did you prefer? Did you like that these episodes went light on the mythology? What did you find most preposterous? Comment below.

Dale McGarrigle is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow him on X.