For the secret Santa gift exchange at the Sunset Arms boarding house, Arnold (Toran Caudell) draws Mr. Hyunh's (Baoan Coleman) name.
It was not until twenty years later that Mr. Hyunh was able to leave Vietnam to come to the United States as a refugee to search for his long-lost daughter in Hillwood, the city where the departing soldier said she'd be taken to.
Arnold gives up in despair, as the city employee won't do them their favor without the shopping list fully checked off.
Helga, standing outside the building after having led Mai there, is listening to the reunion take place and simply whispers, "Merry Christmas, Arnold".
Network executives objected to the "heavy" subject matter as well as the depiction of a specific war,[3] and rejected the episode when it was only halfway complete in production.
[4] Due to the episode's sensitive nature, the producers worked closely with Coleman to ensure its faithfulness to the historical events depicted.
[3] Being a children's show, the Vietnam War was never mentioned by name, but the team was committed to alluding to it in a "poetic" way, through a sequence complete with dramatic guitar by series composer Jim Lang.
[5] To ensure that Mr. Hyunh's character speaks with an authentic accent, during the recording process Bartlett would rewrite any lines that Coleman felt were difficult or seemed uncomfortable for him to say.
Hartford Courant's review of the episode wrote that although the message of "greedy people learn[ing] the true spirit of Christmas from someone less fortunate" was cliché, the episode "uses an interesting historical twist to make the story fresh, and touching", while also teaching children aspects of the Vietnam War "seemingly incongruously".