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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
