I concur with the majority of reviewer ratings here, which puts this episode at 3 or below. This story is just ridiculous - it WOULD be tasteless, except that it's completely unbelievable, and thus impossible to take seriously in any way. The villain can be spotted from outer space, and the supposed motivation for the crimes makes no sense whatsoever. The one subplot, concerning a temperance league led by a *very* annoyingly overacted clergyman who's a recovering alcoholic (of course!), serves no purpose at all, not even as a red herring. As for the main plot, it's simply ludicrous and not even worth synopsizing. The nadir comes near the end when Barnaby and Jones are both cornered, and instead of killing them off immediately, the main culprit, who has shown no qualms about indulging in murder and rape, graciously allows Barnaby to ramble on in an absurdly self-righteous rant aimed at getting the culprit's allies to turn against him - thus buying enough time for someone else to step in and save the day. Yeah, right.
I'll give one point for the novel - if extremely unpleasant - way the first murder is committed, a second point for the lovely photography of the villages at nighttime, and a third point for the writer at least allowing Jones to be a good and intelligent detective who contributes to the case for a change, rather than the ineffectual buffoon he's been relegated to acting like lately. While not worthy of an additional point, a scene where Barnaby is tryng to teach Sykes to fetch a sock is delightful - Sykes can do no wrong. There is also laughter (unintended, i would guess) to be derived from seeing the village men's costume accoutrements as they attempt their oh-so-serious mission. But despite these minor pluses, I would be hard pressed to find anything to recommend about this episode. My advice: stay far away.
I'll give one point for the novel - if extremely unpleasant - way the first murder is committed, a second point for the lovely photography of the villages at nighttime, and a third point for the writer at least allowing Jones to be a good and intelligent detective who contributes to the case for a change, rather than the ineffectual buffoon he's been relegated to acting like lately. While not worthy of an additional point, a scene where Barnaby is tryng to teach Sykes to fetch a sock is delightful - Sykes can do no wrong. There is also laughter (unintended, i would guess) to be derived from seeing the village men's costume accoutrements as they attempt their oh-so-serious mission. But despite these minor pluses, I would be hard pressed to find anything to recommend about this episode. My advice: stay far away.