X-mas has rolled around again, and the Planet Express crew is locking down for the arrival of the murderous Robot Santa. The Professor, concerned as ever for the safety of his crew, sends them to deliver children's letters directly to Santa at his fortress on Neptune. The crew lands at Jolly Junction, Neptune, home of malnourished Neptunian toy makers. The crew enlists the aid of a pair of Neptunians in sneaking into the fortress.

The crew confronts Santa, and Leela presents him with a logical paradox intended to destroy him. Unfortunately, Santa proves immune to paradoxes, and he takes off after them with a missile launcher. The crew escapes the fortress, and is about to leave in the ship, but Santa has grabbed the engine, and is preventing it from taking off. The heat from the engine melts the ice under Santa's feet, and he sinks in and it refreezes around him.

With Santa frozen in ice, Bender takes over the role of Santa, and toy-making resumes in Jolly Junction. Bender takes off with a load of toys, and heads to New New York. There, he gets a less than welcome reception from citizens expecting a blood-thirsty killer. While taking a beer break, Bender is arrested and put on trial for Santa's crimes. Bender is found guilty and sentenced to execution by magnetic dismemberment.

Fry and Leela rush back to Neptune to bring in the real Santa to prove Bender's innocence. They carve Santa out in a large block of ice, but the ice melts, and Santa is freed. Fry and Leela escape in the ship, but Santa has hitched a ride back to Earth. The Planet Express crew tries one last attempt to save Bender, by pretending to be Santa while Zoidberg dresses up like Jesus. Their effort fails, and the execution device is activated.

Moments later, the real Robot Santa bursts through the wall, having recovered his sleigh. He rescues Bender and the two go on a proper Xmas rampage. At the end of the spree of destruction, Santa tells Bender that if he tries a stunt like that again, he will kill him.

Characters

Characters appearing for the first time in this episode:

Kwanzaa-bot voiced by Coolio;

Cultural references

The title for this episode comes from the book A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.; This episode, as with many Christmas specials, references more than a few pieces of Christmas literature and song, including Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, How The Grinch Stole Christmas and The Night Before Christmas.; The dogs guarding Santa's ice fortress bark Jingle Bells referencing the parody song attributed to the "Singing Dogs"; In the factory the speed control has "Lucy" as the fastest speed, a reference to the I Love Lucy episode where Lucy works in the candy factory.; The scene where Bender is taken to his execution is a reference to the Stephen King book The Green Mile; Santa's ice fortress and the lightning flashing around it are references to the 1970 children's movie The Phantom Tollbooth; When the Planet Express crew all declare that they are Santa, it spoofs the famous "I'm Spartacus!" scene from Spartacus.; A box labelled "Toys for Tots" is visible when Bender dumps the toys into the sewer.;