Mistletoe Murders: 'Twas the Fight Before Christmas (Presented by Aura Frames)

• This week of Deck the Hallmark is presented by Aura Frames. Exclusive $45-off Carver Mat at https://on.auraframes.com/DECK  // Promo Code:  DECK

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Alonso is back to finish our journey through Season 2 of Mistletoe Murders with a double-episode breakdown of 'Twas the Fight Before Christmas (Part 1 & Part 2).

ABOUT: MISTLETOE MURDERS – 'TWAS THE FIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS

Part 1: Emily shelters a suspect while investigating a fancy restaurant owner's murder to prove their innocence. Sam is rattled by his ex-wife's unexpected arrival.

Part 2: Emily and Sam investigate a murder before a Christmas restaurant event. Emily faces danger, shares her past with Sam and stops running. Violet bonds with her mother.

AIR DATE & NETWORK FOR: MISTLETOE MURDERS – 'TWAS THE FIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS

November 21, 2025 | Hallmark Mystery Channel

CAST & CREW OF: MISTLETOE MURDERS – 'TWAS THE FIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS

• Sarah Drew as Emily
• Peter Mooney as Sam

BRAN’S MISTLETOE MURDERS – 'TWAS THE FIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS SYNOPSIS

We’re at a restaurant and Emily gets attacked by someone with a knife! WHAT’S HAPPENING?!

Flash back one week: Emily is full of Christmas spirit, singing Jingle Bells. Famous Ray stops by to tell Emily there’s a new fine-dining spot opening across town. His friend is opening it and asks if she’d help come up with a Christmas meal for the soft launch.

Cut to the restaurant, where they’re still scrambling to get it ready. The owner, Danny, is in a huge argument with the contractor because he owes him a lot of money. Danny can’t afford anything and his wife, Lauren, is not thrilled. Danny introduces Emily to Carrie, their sommelier, and Chef John Mark. John Mark is not impressed with her Victorian cookbooks, so she leaves—only to witness Danny and Famous Ray arguing.

Later, Sam gets a call: there’s been a murder. Danny is dead in the snow, his knuckles red.

Emily goes to talk to Famous Ray to ask more about Chimera and notices his knuckles are red. I’m sure it’s nothing. She asks if he went straight to the Chimera source. While they’re talking, he gets a call—Danny is dead.

Flashback: Emily in her Chimera days, stealing money from a billionaire—“You gotta do bad to do some good.” She kisses Aaron (the guy from the last episode).

Sam brings Lauren in to question her. She hopes Sam won’t shut them down because “this is Danny’s legacy.”

Sam asks Emily what she knows. She mentions the contractor… and the argument she saw with Famous Ray.

That night, Emily gets home and finds Famous Ray waiting inside (totally normal, very chill). He’s like, “Listen, I can’t have the police poking around my business. I did punch Danny, but that’s it. He was fine when I left.”

The next morning he makes pancakes but has to hide when Sam drops by. Sam tells her Famous Ray left town and to call if she hears anything.

Emily checks in on the staff. She discovers the chef and Lauren have a past—and he took the job to be close to her, even though it was a step down. Emily also witnesses a big argument between Chef John Mark and Carrie, the sommelier.

On her way out, she sees Sam—and Sam is shocked to learn that Violet’s mom (his ex), Monica, is in town.

Flashback: Aaron tells Emily he’s the one who framed their principal back in the day. He was “just trying to protect her.”

Violet meets with her mom but doesn’t stay long. Clearly, there are feelings there.

Emily goes to get her cookbooks from John Mark and sees the place nearly empty. So she snoops—naturally—and finds paperwork showing Lauren owns 100% of the business. Weird, huh. She tries to crack the safe but gets interrupted by Carrie, who says she probably won’t be around long anyway.

Later, Emily runs into contractor Jason, who apologizes for his earlier behavior.

She walks into the diner and sees Monica, who asks if things are serious between Sam and Emily.

Emily brings Sam to talk to Famous Ray so he can clear his name. His story holds up, but Sam warns her not to trust the wrong friend.

Flashback: Emily has trusted the wrong person before. She once confronted her boyfriend after discovering some pretty bad stuff.

Back in the present, Emily grows more suspicious of John Mark. Before she investigates, Sam shows up. The place looks closed, but he walks in anyway. It’s dark. He pokes around. We see a hand grab a bottle of wine. Emily calls him—because she’s getting nervous.

We see Sam get knocked out and dragged across the floor.

Emily panics and goes inside. She sees the wine trail leading to the walk-in freezer. She opens it and finds Sam. She steps inside—the door slams shut. No cell signal. But they see scratches on the steel door… maybe that’s why Danny’s knuckles were red?

So these two lovebirds are stuck in a freezer together.

Flashback: Emily confronts Aaron. He’s been diverting stolen money into offshore accounts and making deals with terrorist organizations. Cops burst in. Aaron escapes.

Emily tells Sam her name used to be Grace. He says it suits her… and then they KISSSSSS!!! Thankfully contractor Jason appears and rescues them.

He brings them to a fire to warm up and says someone texted him to come, but he doesn’t know who. Then he saw the safe had been broken into. Jason swears it wasn’t him.

John Mark shows up. They drop the act—he’s not French. He gives in immediately.

During questioning, he says they should look at Jason. Jason knew the freezer handle was broken. And he “just happened” to know to come help? Shady.

Sam questions Lauren next. She says the safe was empty when someone broke into it—because she emptied it earlier and found $30k. No idea where it came from, but she used it to pay Jason so the opening could happen.

Sam invites Emily to the grand opening—because all the suspects will be there.

Flashback: Aaron is missing and appears to be rebuilding Chimera. The feds ask Emily to help track him down.

Grand opening time. Sam and Emily walk in looking SPIFFY. First course begins. The sommelier spills wine on Jason. Lauren sends her home. John Mark then slips up and mentions Danny’s chipped tooth—something no one knew. John Mark panics and runs. Sam chases him. John Mark insists Danny confronted him about not being French, flashed a chipped tooth, and then John Mark later found him dead in the freezer. He moved the body so it wouldn’t ruin the opening.

The sommelier returns and disappears with Lauren. Emily follows and finds the sommelier holding Lauren at gunpoint. She spills everything: Danny promised her an ownership stake in exchange for 100k, but since he didn’t own anything, she wanted her money back. He didn’t have it. So she trapped him in the freezer.

A fight breaks out—bringing us back to the movie’s opening. She holds a knife to Emily’s throat. Emily fights back, kicks her down, and knocks her out. Criminal: obliterated.

The movie ends with Sam bringing Emily to a gazebo for their first date. She says it’s perfect. She tells him he can ask her anything. She’s ready. She reveals she used to be in intelligence, was hunting someone down, and walked into a trap. Grace “died” that day. She took a new identity.

He says he’s glad she did. They kiss BIGGGG ONESSSSS. She says there’s more she has to tell him—things she’s not proud of—but he says he knows who she really is. More kissing.

The next morning she wakes up excited to get coffee with Sam. There’s a knock at the door—she thinks it’s him.

It’s not.

It’s Aaron.
“Merry Christmas, Grace. You look pretty good for a dead woman.”

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