The Lair of the Libertines is the eighth episode of the third season of Father Brown.
Father Brown and his friends find themselves stranded with a group of hedonists at a hotel in the country. The situation escalates when guests are found murdered and Father Brown realizes they are all in danger.
Tropes:
- Actually, I Am Her: Subverted because there is no Lady Chania, but the person posing as them is actually their servant, and the "maid" is actually the real hostess of the weekend's events — and the killer.
- Ambiguously Bi: Lady Felicia's made no secret of her attraction for men, but she also shares a kiss and some romantic tension with a female suspect in this episode.
- And You Thought It Was a Game: Mimi, the killer, has her maidservant masquerade as the flamboyant and glamorous "Lady Chania", while Mimi indulgers her secret hobby of human hunting, something the maid had no idea was happening. "Lady Chania" has the time of her life at the party, but after Mimi's death, the maid is last seen walking out of the police station, trembling - her mistress is dead, she is out of a job, and she came within a sliver of being arrested and charged as an accessory to mass murder.
- As the Good Book Says...: Standing over the murderer's body, killed by one of their own animal traps, Father Brown quotes a passage from Genesis, echoing the killer's sentiment that all humans are just animals, and die according to their natures - i.e., if they treat others as animals, they get the same treatment.
- Backwards-Firing Gun: One Victim of the Week is killed when the killer removes the safety catch from his pistol. This causes the firing pin to shoot out backwards when he fires the pistol, hitting him between the eyes.
- Chekhov's Skill: Father Brown was a wickedly accurate shot with a catapult when he was younger. It helps him alert Felicia and Mrs. McCarthy of the killer's death trap.
- Cut Phone Lines: The phone line to the hotel is cut, which Father Brown discovers just after he finds the first body.
- Disposable Sex Worker: The first Body of the Week is a prostitute who does not get any lines.
- Egomaniac Hunter: The killer is ultimately revealed to be this.
- Free Wheel: After the motorcycle explosion knocks Lady Felicia and Mrs. McCarthy flat, a single wheel rolls past them.
- Giving Them the Strip: After being pinned to a target by a crossbow bolt, Father Brown escapes by taking off his cassock.
- Hat Damage: One of the hotel guests, a doctor, shoots a fez off another man's head, which serves to show the viewers how heedless of others safety the doctor is. For the rest of the episode, the fez has a neat bullet hole in it.
- Hoist by His Own Petard:
- The killer is stalking Father Brown and falls victim to one of the many leg traps they themselves have scattered over the grounds of the hotel.
- Not to mention that when the killer cries for help, the only one close enough to hear them is Father Brown, who probably would have helped if he hadn't just passed out from the drug the killer gave him.
- Hunting the Most Dangerous Game: In the killer's words, all humans are just animals, and as fair game for hunters as anything the killer has stalked in Africa.
- Idiot Ball: After deducing who the true killer is, Father Brown goes back to the hotel alone to confront them.
- Incompatible Orientation: Mimi tries to put the moves on Lady Felicia more than once, rebuffed each time with urgent dismissiveness.
- Intoxication Ensues: The hostess at the hotel feeds Father Brown a fruitcake laced with opium, making him very woozy and he quickly passes out.
- It May Help You on Your Quest: The slingshot Father Brown confiscates from a boy later helps save the lives of Lady Felicia and Mrs. McCarthy.
- Mercy Lead: The killer gives one to Father Brown, giving him the time it takes them to finish loading their rifle in which to run.
- Mistaken for Gay: Inverted — and contributes to the "Eureka!" Moment.
- Naked People Are Funny: When Father Brown, Lady Felicia and Mrs. McCarthy are stranded in the middle of nowhere, Mrs. McCarthy is shocked when a man wearing nothing but a fez wanders past and greets her politely. He turns out to be a naturist staying at a local hotel.
- Nasty Party: The hedonists' retreat at the hotel turns out to be just a means of luring potential victims into a trap for the Serial Killer to hunt.
- Pinned to the Wall: The killer prevents Father Brown from leaving the hotel grounds by using a crossbow bolt to pin his cassock to a target.
- Still Got It: During choir practice, Father Brown goes outside St. Mary's, checks to make sure no one is watching, then takes out the confiscated catapult and fires a stone that breaks a window. He looks profoundly pleased with himself.
- That's What She Said: Straight-laced Mrs. McCarthy and Good Bad Girl Lady Felicia argue over who will sit on the back of the motorcycle.Lady Felicia: Well I can't get my legs that wide.
Mrs. McCarthy: (dubious look)
Lady Felicia: Oh, you really are impossible. - This Cannot Be!: Inspector Sullivan finally arrives at the hotel being rented out by a party of assorted hedonists, when who should offer up a cheery "Morning, Inspector!" but his favourite Catholic priest?Sullivan: No... can't be.
- Vapor Trail: The killer punctures the petrol tank of the motorcycle being used to leave the hotel. When it runs out of petrol and stalls, the killer ignites the trail of petrol with a Reusable Lighter Toss. The bike explodes, barely missing incinerating Lady Felicia and Mrs. McCarthy.
