One of the many reasons that the WB Network is no longer with us is that the suits running the joint seemed determined to outdo the suits at Fox for sheer boneheadedness. First, they let the jewel of its crown Buffy the Vampire Slayer slip away to UPN because they didn’t want to raise the budget. Then, they cancelled their best post-Buffy show Veronica Mars after just three seasons.

An Echolls Family Christmas (originally broadcast on Dec. 14, 2004) is a perfect example of why the show’s followers were so fanatical about the series. As the title indicates, the episode revolves the Echolls who belong to the rich, beautiful people who make up half the population of the show’s setting, Neptune, California. The family includes father Aaron (Harry Hamlin), a narcissistic has-been action movie star, mother Lynn (Lisa Rinna), who is oblivious to her husband’s infidelities, and son Logan (Jason Dohring), a spoiled teenage brat. (Logan’s sister Trina doesn’t put in an appearance in this episode.)

The episode opens with an unusual poker game between Logan and some of his rich kid friends. What’s unusual about it is that gangbanger Weevil (Francis Capra) is sitting in despite being “from the wrong side of the tracks.” (He had the $1000 buy-in.) At first, it seems to have been a sound investment; Weevil is cleaning out the others, Logan, Duncan Kane (Teddy Dunn), Connor Larkin (Travis Schuldt) and Sean Friedrich (Kevin Sheridan). But when the game folds, the $5000 pot is nowhere to be found. Thinking that he’s being taken, Weevil threatens that the money better turn up or else.

Meanwhile, Veronica (Kristen Bell) and her private detective father Keith (Enrico Colantoni) are trimming their Christmas tree in between trading wisecracks and watching The Year Without a Santa Claus (the original, of course) on TV, not knowing that both of them are about to be sucked into the Echolls family’s affairs. (In Keith’s case, the word “affairs” will be literal.)

Duncan (who used to be Veronica’s boyfriend) asks Veronica to try and solve the missing poker money case. When she demurs, he gives her additional incentive: Weevil stole his laptop computer which has his private journal on it (with intimate details about their dating days) as collateral for his winnings. Sufficiently motivated, Veronica starts her investigation.

Back at his office, Keith is approached by an unexpected client: Lynn Echolls. It seems Aaron is receiving threatening letters and she want them looked into even if her husband refuses to take them seriously. Among other things, Keith’s digging into the Echolls family closet skeletons reveal that Aaron is a serial adulterer.

Veronica discovers that each of the poker players has a secret. Duncan got wasted at the game even though, normally, he knows how to hold his liquor. Connor kept getting mysterious cell phone calls and took numerous bathroom breaks which indicates a possible cocaine addiction. And Sean, supposedly the richest kid in the room, is actually the son of a butler for a wealthy family.

After putting all the pieces together, Veronica asks Logan to assemble the original players for another poker game at the Echolls estate during their annual Christmas party. There she enumerates the clues and identifies the guilty party in a manner that would do Charlie Chan or Nick Charles proud.

Keith has also successfully identified the culprit he’s after: Aaron’s stalker. He goes to the Echolls residence to warn Aaron, but the guards won’t let him in because he’s not on the guest list. (Too bad he didn’t bring Tareq and Michaele Salahi with him.) While Keith is cooling his heels outside, Aaron’s stalker is getting increasingly closer to her prey…

Veronica: (closing voiceover) What was I thinking? Christmas in Neptune is, was and always will be about the trappings: the lights and the tinsel they use to cover up the sordidness, the corruption. No, Veronica, there is no Santa Claus.

Veronica Mars: An Echolls Family Christmas can be viewed for free on-line at The WB.com and is available from Netflix (Season One, Disc Three) and Amazon.