S14E6, The Night of the Stag

 

S14E6: What's the Buzz About?

The opening scene of the (now infamous) episode is intriguing, a man being chased in the darkness of the night. We've got a cider festival and craggily drunken characters, balloons, flower crowns, and local honey. But wait--it's not just any old festival, it's a literal puke fest. Guest actors are convincing, except maybe Greg Hicks as Rev. Norman Grigor--he is a tad too melodramatic in portraying his zealous character. On the other hand, Bernard Lloyd was a delight to watch as Byron Street. I personally did not appreciate the Barnaby's smug attitude about "working in the orchard" as being a waste of life and brain, but that's the sort of cultural superiority our "educated" society accepts without question.

Anyway, the first half is interesting enough, and things start getting sinister around the 40 minute mark--a "creepy old man" vibe sets itself up. DCI Barnaby is still seeming capable, after all, he understands "lateral thinking," as our Tom used to say. The character of Rev. Conrad Walker is a good representative of what a man of God should be: devout and reasonable.

What once was a fertility refresher/ritual (hey, the bees do it too) has become corrupted by the evils of alcohol and an abusive father AKA the psychotic Queen Bee rapist of Midsomer Abbas (played too convincingly by Warren Clarke) and his fellow drunken snakes. And people wonder why I don't drink. Very dark indeed as it's not just one evildoer, but the violent mob mentality that justice is up against. But there have been much darker episodes such as the recent "Echoes of the Dead." And for the viewers saying the rape aspect was ignored: Why did Rev. Walker get killed? He tried to stop it happening. Why did Jones and Barnaby rush to the village? They tried to stop it happening. Who stopped it happening? Barnaby and Jones. The point is that justice is served, the bad guys don't get their way, but put away to rot.