The Norwegian Netflix drama Home For Christmas is a fun and cozy rom-com-style TV show with 6 short episodes in each season. The show follows Johanne, a 30-year-old nurse, who has everything going for her, except her love life. Johanne has one mission: to have a partner show up at the family Christmas dinner, and that’s essentially what the show is about. Johanne’s story is relatable to a lot of women, because not only is she independent and beautiful (and can have anybody she wants), but somehow when the holiday season rolls in, nothing works out for her in the love department. Or at least, that’s how the world makes her feel. Johanne’s not lonely, really; she’s just alone, but during Christmas, everyone expects her to be lonely, so she has to fill the gaps however she can, whether it’s through speed-dating, joining a dating app, or going out with someone much younger than her. Does Johanne find somebody? Does she ultimately bring someone to Christmas dinner? Let’s find out in this quick recap.
Spoiler Alert
Does Johanne Find A Boyfriend In Season 1?
Season 1 opens with Johanne going speed-dating, because she just lied on the 1st of December that she has a boyfriend whom she can bring along to Christmas dinner. Her family is big on the tradition, but all she gets is nagging from her mother and her siblings, who already have perfect families. Nobody ever cares that she’s literally been working on Christmas every year, and things are just dull for her. But you’d think finding a fake partner would be kind of easy. Well, wrong. Johanne’s experience with speed dating is terrible, but she’s oblivious to the fact that Thomas, the bartender, is actually kind of into her. Next thing you know, her roommate puts her on an app, “Lovematch,” and she meets a couple of people.
The big standout here is Stein, who is kind to begin with and also different from the other guys Johanne’s been with. He doesn’t force his opinions of her favorite Christmas movie, Love Actually, on her, and he doesn’t want to have awkward wine conversations at a fancy dinner table. But, while their first date at a spin class is fine, pushing Johanne to go skiing on the second date is not. Johanne ends up upset because he forces her to catch up with him and expects her to be extra sporty, making her feel the ick for the guy, and she dumps him. However, I’d say this was a little bit of a mistake, because he’s actually regretful about it later and does make a comeback later on, but it doesn’t work out.
On the other hand, at work there’s a doctor named Henrik, who is a little bit stupid. Johanne’s clearly got things more under control, though she’s a nurse and he’s the doctor. Johanne’s also quite close to some of the patients at the hospital. She’s just a good person and an even better nurse. Anyway, she meets the former health minister, Bengt-Erik, at the hospital, and he ends up asking her out, despite him being the same age as her parents. However, their date is cut short when they end up in a spa (very naked) with her parents on opposite seats. But interestingly, Johanne’s mother is the one who ends up showing an interest in Bengt-Erik. Turns out, they used to be classmates, but this will come into play later. Anyway, that’s another one gone, and Christmas Day comes closer.
But there is one guy who suits Johanne’s fancy; however, he’s 19, and she’s 30. Jonas is a Swedish boy, and they met at the nightclub and immediately hit it off. They’re also super compatible physically, but he’s so young. While they’re together, it’s lovely, but Jonas is going to Bali to study, and he thinks this isn’t the right time for him to be with Johanne, so he breaks her heart. Johanne’s genuinely upset about this, but she can’t really do anything; he is kind of right.
At the end of the first season, a couple of freaky things go down. For one, Johanne finds out that her parents have opened up their marriage. Meanwhile, for the Christmas dinner, Johanne doesn’t bring a boyfriend, but she does bring Raul, the hospital clown, who is now the boyfriend of her roommate, Jorgunn. She also invites her favorite patient, an 85-year-old woman, who definitely lightens the mood. But the season ends with Johanne receiving 100 roses on Christmas Day, not knowing who might’ve sent them.
What Happens With Henrik?
The first episode of Home For Christmas Season 2 sees Johanne and Henrik at the doctor’s office for almost a full year. They meet on Christmas Day, when Henrik visits her at home after having admitted to her that he’s in love with her the previous day. But he’s there to tell her that they couldn’t save Sebastian, a young patient she had become really close to. But in telling her this, they also end up kissing, leading to the beginning of a romance that’ll last till next November. However, Johanne realizes quite late into the relationship that she doesn’t really want to be with controlling Henrik. He’s annoyingly organized and wants everything to go his way. This pushes her to ask for a break; however, when she sees Raul propose to Jorgunn, Johanne thinks back to receiving those 100 roses, thinking they were from Henrik, and goes to see him immediately. What she finds is that he’s with someone else already, within hours of them going on a break. At least Henrik tells her that the flowers weren’t from him, and they’re properly broken up.
In the meantime, Johanne has a new neighbor, a father named Nick, with his teenage daughter. Johanne and Nick get along fine enough for her to accompany him to his speed-dating situation, which obviously doesn’t go well. But while we think Johanne’s going to end up with Nick, it’s actually a setup for another guy named Knut to ask her out. Knut is nice; he’s friendly; he asks her out immediately, but there’s something about him that’s kind of off, or maybe Johanne’s just still in love with Jonas. Knut and Johanne go on a sleigh ride, and she discovers he’s allergic to reindeer fur. I’m not fully sure what happens here, but I guess it gives Johanne the ick, though she does meet him again later for mulled wine. I suppose them never having kissed makes it clear they weren’t meant to be.
This is when Jonas makes a return to Johanne’s life. He’s at the hospital because his friend is really badly injured, and she invited him over to make Christmas decorations. He accepts the invite because, despite everything, he misses her too. This is when he admits to having sent the flowers, and this makes Johanne extremely hopeful, but at the same time, she remembers how old the guy really is, and this leads her to just consider him a friend.
But, at the end of season 2 of Home For Christmas, Johanne has completely given up all hope, because the Christmas party she’s meant to host isn’t going according to plan at all. Her mother walked out on her dad and has been seeing her old classmate, and her dad is completely lost, but nobody wants to be with her for Christmas. However, in an almost Christmas miracle kind of way, everybody shows up at the dinner, and for a moment, it feels like everything will be alright. I think her parents will get back together, too; they just had to tell each other what they needed from the other. The special guest this time around is Trym, Johanne’s best friend’s ex-husband. But, when Jorgunn, who has now moved to Spain, calls to wish them well, she also mentions Jonas, getting into some details that are definitely not meant for the family. However, this prompts them to ask about the guy, and despite him being over 10 years younger than her, the family thinks she should go spend time with him, because he makes her genuinely happy. Season 2 ends with them reuniting at the hospital, where he’s spending the night with his friend, and Johanne asks if she can join. Jonas missed her too, and it finally looks like things might actually work out. However, the trailer of season 3 makes us feel otherwise, eh? Guess we’ll have to wait to find out what went wrong.
