The Horns Of Cernunnos – As this episode of Father Brown begins, Father Brown (Mark Williams) gets a letter from Sir Benedict Gellert (Christien Anholt). Benedict says his daughter, Marianne Gellert (Zoe Brough), has been plagued by dark visions of spectral beings. His wife fears it could be something supernatural or even demonic. They want Father Brown’s help. Brown, Brenda (Ruby-May Martinwood), and Isabel Devine (Claudie Blakley) wait for transport to the castle. The gamekeeper, Fenwick (Simon Day), picks them up in a carriage moments later. Medusa takes them to the castle. Sir Benedict and Dr. Marcellus Lasden (Clarence Smith) greet them outside. They go inside and speak to Lilith Gellert (Phoebe Pryce). Father Brown congratulates them on the wedding. Benedict says he barely recognizes Marianne. She had an episode last night and was found on the clifftop.
It’s like she’s possessed and she sees a cloaked figure walking the castle corridors. Lilith explains why she doesn’t think it has anything to do with Marianne’s diet or possible poisoning. Fenwick tries to speak to Benedict and tell him it shouldn’t go ahead. Benedict doesn’t want to talk about it. Lilith was Marianne’s tutor before they were married. She reveals she once saw Marianne and her friends reciting from a book on Satanism in the woods. Lilith took the book away and burned it. Dr. Lasden can’t believe they’ve invited a priest. He’s adamant she’s not being tormented by the Devil. Father Brown agrees the symptoms are likely caused by something less satanic. Benedict tells Brown where to find Marianne. Although they’re told to wait in the drawing room, Brenda and Devine look around. Brown speaks to Marianne about baptizing her and the creatures she’s been seeing. Marianne says the Satanic chanting was just a silly game after a party.
She admits she wonders if they accidentally summoned the Devil. Marianne was offered a place at an art school in Paris. After all this happened, her father stopped her from going. She claims she was experimenting with the sketch. She must’ve done the others when she was in a trance. Benedict interrupts and asks Marianne to lock her windows and door tonight. As Brown returns, he overhears Dr. Lasden talking about him believing in the devil. The doctor is going to stay another night. Brenda and Isabel learn they’re staying as well. Father Brown joins Benedict for a drink. Benedict says Marianne is not in control when she’s in a trance. Isabel scares Brenda while looking for the bathroom in the middle of the night. In the morning, Isabel wakes up and finds a body next to her. It appears Benedict has been stabbed. Fenwick asks what she’s done. Sergeant Goodfellow (John Burton) checks on Father Brown. Brenda and Edgar Sullivan (Tom Chambers) comfort Devine elsewhere.
Isabel says she went to sleep in the guest room and woke up in the tower. She doesn’t remember anything else. Dr. Lasden thinks it’s convenient that she’s claiming temporary amnesia. Marianne storms in and accuses Isabel of killing her father. Then, she suggests it was the horned creature. Dr. Lasden says it was a real person and they’ll make sure they hang for it. Father Brown asks Lilith if there’s a reason Benedict was sleeping in the tower. She admits Marianne can be a little aggressive in her trances, but she was locked in her room last night anyway. Brown approaches Marianne to ask how she got out of her room this morning. Marianne explains she took the spare key from the servant’s quarter. Brown says it looks like her father’s sketch has been attacked. Marianne admits she sometimes hated him because he wouldn’t let her leave this place. Marianne claims her father meant everything to her. Dr. Lasden tells the police about seeing Mrs. Devine by the attic stairs. She says she was looking for the bathroom and got a bit lost.
Brenda remembers Isabel being outside her room around the same time. Fenwick says Benedict wanted him to bring his tea with the maid away. Brown suggests Isabel isn’t the murderer because she would’ve fled the scene. Isabel tells Edgar to arrest her. Goodfellow handles it for Edgar. Outside, Edgar tells Father Brown that one of them has to be the real killer. Marianne burns the sketch in the fireplace. Father Brown and Edgar speak to Fenwick outside. Brown wants to know why he wanted to speak to Benedict. Fenwick says Benedict was going to let the developers build on some of the castle land. He says it’s an ancient burial ground. Fenwick was worried they would enrage the spirits of the dead. He insists he would never do anything to harm Benedict. Father Brown goes inside where Marianne is having an episode. Father Brown is asked to get into Dr. Lasden’s bag. He finds something interesting and sticks it in his pocket. Once Marianne calms down, she says she didn’t see any strange figures this time.
Lilith tells Father Brown he can go wherever he wants in the castle if he can just find out what’s wrong with Marianne. Brenda hears a door shut and sees something that frightens her. Then, Fenwick gives her a shock. Edgar tells Father Brown that he has to go to the station because Devine is feeling faint and struggling to breathe. Father Benedict tells Brenda that Sir Benedict wrote a letter to the doctor ending their affair. Lilith tells Dr. Lasden she believes he’s done all he can do for Marianne. Father Brown tells Lilith he saw her put the letting in the doctor’s bag. Lilith admits she tried to get Benedict to end it. She knows Benedict was never going to stop and he only married her for appearance. Nevertheless, Lilith is adamant that she didn’t kill Benedict. Dr. Lasden tells Marianne he’s returning to London. Although he believes her issue is psychological, he also thinks he’s failed her. Marianne asks him not to go because he’s always been around.
Lasden says it’s too painful because Benedict was his best friend. He says goodbye to her. Father Brown approaches him outside, apologizes, and gives him the letter. He asks Lasden about the mark on Benedict’s cheek like he was struck by someone wearing a ring. Brown asks if he confronted Benedict and struck him. A flashback shows the encounter. Lasden tells Brown he couldn’t compete with the invisible man in the sky. Brenda, Marianne, and Lilith find blood on a rock nearby. Brown says it looks like the rock has been used as a weapon. Brenda points out that she hasn’t seen Fenwick in a while. Marianne worries they’re all going to die if they stay there. Edgar tries to comfort Devine. Goodfellow says there’s no news on the background checks. Father Brown urges Marianne not to lose hope. Brenda says Lilith called the police about the blood. Brown finds a sketch of what Marianne sees. Brown and Brenda look for books about religions and folklore. He believes it might be related to the god of nature, Cernunnos.
Brown says pagans used hallucinogenic plants, but there’s no way to know how Marianne ingested them. Brenda leaves to ask Marianne if they grow on the ground. She hears a glass break before someone grabs her from behind. Brown notices a book open and a black thumb smudge on the side. He thinks it might’ve come from the fireplace. Edgar takes Devine out of the cell so he can interview the prisoner. Devine remembers having a slight headache when she woke up in the tower. Edgar notices scratches on her legs. Father follows a figure and yells that he knows who they are. He follows the cloaked figure through the maze outside. He’s knocked out from behind. Brown wakes up in the back of a carriage with Brenda and Fenwick. Lilith says the green cloak was her ancestors’ tribal dress. She talks to Brown about Cernunnos. Brown asks Lilith what she wants from him. Lilith says she belonged to the ancient, lost religion of the Stacga.
They were almost wiped out by the Christians. She wants to summon Cernunnos from the afterlife. His enemy must be killed by a tribal chieftain on sacred ground. Lilith had to kill Benedict because he was going to let developers desecrate the land. She thinks she can finally perform the ritual that will awaken Cernunnos. Lilith is going to make their deaths look like an accident. Marianne arrives and nearly pushes Lilith over the edge. Father Brown tries to pull her back up. Once she’s brought to safety, Edgar and Goodfellow are there to arrest her. Lilith warns Father Brown that this is not the end. Edgar thanks Father Brown for getting to the bottom of it. Dr. Lasden tells Marianne he never should’ve left. He says she’s the daughter of the man he loved. Marianne tells Father Brown she knows she has to get far away from this place. Brown checks on Devine and Brenda brings her a cake to celebrate her return. Later, Marianne tells Brown she’s going to live with Lasden in London.
Then, she’ll go to art school. Marianne gives Brown a drawing of Benedict before she leaves with Lasden.
Father Brown Review
The 12th series of Father Brown has definitely missed the mark through three episodes. It feels like the writers are trying too hard to try to come up with something original only to create absurd stories. Plus, the originality is barely there given how similar the episodes have been.
For starters, it appears Father Brown is going on trips to solve crimes now. For some reason, he’s not competent enough to travel alone and has to bring his entire household with him. He’s also meeting all these people that he’s supposedly known for so long, but we don’t know any of these people.
Isabel Devine could’ve avoided any jail time if she had just stayed at home with Brenda. That’s another issue with the series. Each episode has led to Edgar Sullivan locking someone up prematurely. The episodes are blandly formulaic as a result. Unfortunately, the third episode was probably the most absurd of the series so far.
Once Benedict was killed, the list of possible suspects was pretty low. Dr. Lasden was never a serious contender, especially after the letter was revealed. Fenwick was also ruled out pretty early on. Therefore, it came down to Marianne and Lilith. The conclusion and motive were easily the dumbest we’ve seen in a while.
It certainly didn’t help that puppy dog Sullivan was more useless than usual in this episode and spent most of the time hanging out with Devine at the jail. The episode scores a 4 out of 10. Recaps of Father Brown can be found here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link.
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Jay Skelton is a fan of all television shows and movies. He tries his best to keep up with the latest foreign television shows and movies. Jay loves skinny dipping in the dark too.