In Candy Cane Lane, Peppermint, also known as Pepper, is the mischievous elf who traps Chris in a scheme. Jillian Bell plays Pepper.
Pepper runs a shop called Kringle’s, where she sells everything related to Christmas. The truth is, the shop is just a way for her to attract the naughty people who don’t understand the real meaning of Christmas, trap them in a scheme, and punish them.
Chris becomes Pepper’s target when he comes looking for ways to enhance the Christmas decoration at his house, with the sole purpose of winning the grand prize of a Christmas decoration contest.
Once he buys everything he needs, Pepper convinces him to sign the bill without reading the fine print on it. Chris gets trapped in her scheme. The Twelve Days of Christmas ornaments on his newly-bought Christmas tree from Kringle’s come to life.
Chris needs to find the gold rings from The Twelve Days of Christmas and put them in his hands before 8:00 p.m. on Christmas Eve, or else he will be turned into a living action figure.
Pepper’s past
Chris learns who Pepper really is from her past victims, who have been turned into action figures and now reside in a Christmas village set.
It turns out that Pepper was once Santa’s favorite elf. However, she used to put people on the naughty list for almost any mistake. Her standards were impossible. Hence, Santa demoted her all the way down to the reindeer stable. She then quit working for Santa. Now she punishes anyone who gets on her naughty list.
Pepper’s nature and her rules
Pepper sells Christmas-related stuff to the naughty people on her list and convinces them to make a wish and sign the bill without reading the fine print. Following that, she makes their lives difficult. She targets people’s most loved ones.
Much like Chris, everyone is given a task to complete. Failing to accomplish that task in time results in them becoming action figures. Pepper often throws rhymes at her targets that can help them solve the tasks given to them.
However, no one ever manages to lift the curse that has been placed upon them by Pepper because she changes rules, gives half-baked information, and finds one way or another to make sure that they don’t succeed.
Pepper’s fate at the end of the film
Luck is in Chris’ favor, as he manages to break the curse. Pepper also loses her past victims, who get turned back into humans, thanks to the wish that Holly makes and asks Santa to make it come true.
Santa offers Pepper a chance to come back to the North Pole if she promises to be good. Santa believes everyone deserves a second chance, but Chris and Pepper’s victims want Pepper to be punished for what she has put everyone through.
Pepper is turned into an action figure by Santa, just like how she used to turn her targets into one when they failed to accomplish her tasks. Now she lives in a Christmas Village set, and Chris owns her shop.
Also Read: Candy Cane Lane review: Devoid of any Christmas spirit