 James Chamberlin of IGN was "excited to see the show return" for a Christmas special but was disappointed in the underutilization of Miller's character, and the lack of any further clues to the mystery surrounding the death of Adrian Monk's wife, Trudy, despite several mentions of the event during the episode. Ted Cox of the Chicago-area Daily Herald stated that the episode was "not even as good as last year's Christmas special" ("Mr. Monk Meets His Dad"), and also laments mention of Trudy's unsolved murder without the "element of lost love" that "made the early 'Monks' great". In the same vein, Diane Werts, writing for Newsday, declared it was "[a] nother opportunity missed" to deepen into Trudy's death. Comparing it to Psych episode "Gus's Dad May Have Killed an Old Guy", David Kronke of Los Angeles Daily News said "Psych manages [to inveigle viewers to feel the holiday spirit] tonight; Monk, not so much." Although the plot is "easy to figure out", Chicago Tribune's Maureen Ryan criticized how the episode "seem [s] a bit flat".
