"An Echolls Family Christmas" is the tenth episode of the first season of the American mystery television series Veronica Mars.
Written by Diane Ruggiero and directed by Nick Marck, the episode premiered on UPN on December 14, 2004.
The series depicts the adventures of Veronica Mars (Kristen Bell) as she deals with life as a high school student while moonlighting as a private detective.
Meanwhile, Duncan (Teddy Dunn) dances around drunkenly at a poker party with Logan, Weevil (Francis Capra), and two others, Sean (Kevin Sheridan) and Connor (Travis Schuldt).
Logan's mother, Lynn (Lisa Rinna), visits Keith and tells him about threatening letters that a mysterious person sent to her husband.
When Keith visits the Echolls' house, he finds a pumpkin outside their front door with Aaron's face on it and a knife through it.
Keith talks to Aaron, who admits to the affair and says that it was with his agent's wife, Monica Hadwin (Emmanuelle Vaugier).
At the poker game, Veronica reveals her findings: Duncan was faking being drunk in order to win the money, not steal it, Connor was simply using a muscle enhancer, and Logan is not the thief because his room was messy (and Veronica figures that if he hid the money, he wouldn't tear apart his room looking for it.
The majority of the guests go outside to sing Christmas carols while Aaron is confronted by his stalker, the woman whom the caterer fired.
"An Echolls Family Christmas" marks Ruggiero's third writing credit for the series (after "The Wrath of Con" and "The Girl Next Door").
Club, stated that "this episode works at every level: it's tense, it's funny, it's light, it's dark, it stands alone, it builds up the plot, it's plausible, and it's surprising."
She also praised the poker game, the guest stars, Keith's storyline, and the episode's Christmas feel.