December.

It is perhaps the most exciting month of the year. The idea of beginning a new year so soon slowly enlivens the spirits of each town, but there is one major event that a copious amount of people look forward to the most—Christmas. 

This holiday is much more than a single day in the year: decorations, holiday drinks, annual traditions, holiday shopping, and specialty seasons of television shows. However, this Christmas joy does not work for everything. Traditions are turning into habits, and the idea of creativity is slowly slipping away. 

One example of this is the Netflix original Sugar Rush Christmas. The original Sugar Rush show first aired in July of 2018, and the Christmas special introduced the month of December with its release date on November 29, 2019. 

Sugar Rush is yet another competitive baking show on Netflix. With the large variety of baking shows, each one becomes more and more alike; the holiday season of the show followed the same guidelines. 

The original show itself sets itself apart from other shows with their nonstop timer that combines itself between the three rounds and eliminating contestants during each round. I have personally always believed, however, that baking shows are redundant. There are countless baking shows found on Netflix, and the only difference between each one is the setup of each round. 

In Sugar Rush Christmas, each round revolves around the holidays, each one ranging from ugly Christmas sweater cakes to jingle bell confections. They even bring in carolers to sing during some of the rounds. 

The show holds to the title that they gave themselves; however, I felt no reason to choose that show over any of the other holiday edition baking shows. There was no unique component in the show. 

I found it extremely pointless for Sugar Rush to create a completely separate show just for the holidays. By adding yet another baking show, it is mundane rather than entertaining. It would have been more effective to simply add Christmas episodes to the original show; it would have also been cheaper to add it onto the already existing show instead of creating a new one. 

However, I will admit I did still enjoy the show despite its repetitiveness. It held every aspect of Christmas I have been longing for since the beginning of last January. The kitchen was heavily decorated with every Christmas decoration there is to exist, even the judges joined in on the festivities. Just watching the show gave me every thought of Christmas I have ever had and left me ambivalent about the show itself.  

The core issue with this show is not the lack of holiday spirit. In fact, that may as well be the only thing that allows the show to hold such a high standard for viewers. 

Sugar Rush Christmas is simply a different way to make money during the holidays. They found a way to reel us all in just by adding one extra word to the title of the show.