Roger finds himself eager for attention when he realizes that everyone is too occupied with seasonal tidings to humor him and his swanky new dance. Desperation grabs ahold of Roger and he winds up with Snot, with the hopes that the Lonstein household (yes, that’s Snot’s last name) and their lack of interest in Christmas will allow him to once more be the center of attention. “Santa, Schmanta” organizes itself as it breaks down the episode into the eight nights of Hanukkah. This also happens to mirror Roger’s commitment to Judaism, which does not relent. Roger fast tracks his obsession with all things Hebrew and it doesn’t take much to get Snot to join Roger in his mission to reclaim the holiday and give Hanukkah the necessary shot in the arm to overtake the Christian celebration.

This episode plays with a tricky balance where Roger is simultaneously fascinated by and ignorant towards Judaism, but “Santa, Schmanta” finds the right tone and does well with Roger’s journey of religious discovery. This is territory that could easily fall apart or skew too far in the other direction without the right tone in place, but the installment succeeds. The episode never feels too much like a lesson in religion, but the careful jokes towards the history of Jewish people happen to land (like Roger’s complete obliviousness towards the Holocaust).

In order to prove his supremacy over Christmas, Roger drudges up Santa’s corpse from the North Pole in order to prove to everyone that Christmas’ mascot is dead. Roger escalates the situation and puts on Santa’s suit, which inexplicably turns him into the new Santa. This doesn’t exactly make sense—nor does the episode try to explain it—but it’s a necessary angle for the holiday offering. Roger’s Jewish Santa, who’s dubbed Schmanta, basically uses his seasonal powers to Hanukkah-ify Langley Falls. This more or less amounts to repeated instances where Roger transforms the usual red and green holiday décor to the blue and white pattern that’s associated with Judaism. Not to mention that Schmanta doesn’t expect milk and cookies, but rather lox and bagels (and that the people that he visits give their mothers a call). This also feels a little lazy on the episode’s part. With the chaotic magic that’s been present in past Christmas episodes, it feels like this installment could have had a better excuse for Roger’s Hanukkah metamorphosis.

Furthermore, “Santa, Schmanta” provides a few musical numbers, such as riffs on “Jingle Bells” and the “Dreidel Song,” but neither feels essential. That being said, it’s still nice to get some music in this holiday episode. Admittedly, some of this material still lands. The gag that Schmanta’s headquarters are at the South Pole (Miami, specifically) is pretty funny, as is Roger’s oil-heavy focus on Hanukkah. Steve also momentarily croons some Christmas carols and it’s never a bad thing to get more of Steve Smith’s singing voice.

This episode is all about Roger’s religious recklessness and as a result the Smiths take an unexpected backseat in this one. Everyone else really does feel like bit players who simply get to occasionally weigh in on Roger’s antics. There are brief glimpses of Stan’s frustration over Roger’s takeover of Christmas, but they come and go so quickly that they barely register. “Santa, Schmanta” feels like it would work a lot better if Stan had a larger role as the episode’s “antagonist.” Some basic idea like how Stan also acquires some of Santa’s suit and develops holiday power would do the entry a lot of good. A crazy religious magic showdown between the two of them would actually generate some excitement.