Ah shit, that's a good point. Sneaky fucker DPC

Well in that case maybe it is another party episode... tbh though, if it is another Episode 9 style episode, he probably should have saved that for New Year's, I feel that warrants a more raucous party atmosphere than Christmas.
I feel like it's a flashforward for a few reasons. It's short, and all it does is tease that shit goes down at Bella's during Christmas. It'd be kinda lame to save a flashback for a later episode rather than just play it out right then and there, especially because we know Bella is alright, and it obviously can't be about James' fate because she thinks he's still out there. So it might be this upcoming Christmas, and considering that cunt Vinny is escalating things, maybe he starts gunning for MC after Rio is saved. It's also different for DPC, who likes to shake things up every now and then.