Father Brown (TV Series) The Wrath of Baron Samdi (2016) User Reviews

The Wrath of Baron Samdi

[Prismark10 · 7/10 · 24 March 2017]

I thought it was the return of Geoffrey Holder who played Baron Samedi in a James Bond movie. Baron Samdi is the voodoo spirit of darkness and death.

Father Brown comes across a multi racial jazz quartet after their car has broken down. Father Brown insists they stay in the rectory, they just need to play some music for him.

Trouble arrives as the band leader Joseph stole the heart of the lead singer Yveline who hails from Haiti, her ex boyfriend Emmanuel has pursued her and becomes a suspect when Joseph's body is found. Emmanuel also dabbles in voodooism.

This is an enjoyably nifty mystery, maybe Father Brown comes across as too open minded but as it is said, people in Haiti might be Catholics but they are all 100% voodoo. At one point it looks like Father Brown might have copped it.

Voodoo comes to Kembleford.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 8/10 · 10 January 2018]

Father Brown takes pity on a quartet of Jazz Musicians when their car breaks down. Putting them up in the Presbytery causes unrest for Mrs McCarthy, but musical enjoyment for the kind hearted Father. Of the quartet, two are Haitian, and practice voodoo, theother two are Joseph and his son. Joseph is in love with singer Yveline, but they are followed by her countryman Emanuel who holds a candle for her, and a rage for Joseph. Unsurprisingly Joseph is found dead, and Mallory suspects Emanuel, until his car crashes killing him.

I don't think anyone could argue that this episode certainly pushes the boundaries, I've never thought voodoo and the catholic church sat well together, but then Father Brown is a remarkable man, with a keen interest in human beings, so naturally he's fascinated. It boasts some wonderfully funny moments, that scene with Father Brown snoring next to Mrs McCarthy is cold, it has great drama, that ending is wonderfully exciting, and it also highlights the social injustices endured by many in the UK at the time, the abhorrent racism. So it's distant to what Chesterton wrote, I'm sure he'd be delighted his character has a relevance over a hundred years after he created the character. Mark Williams is of course a delight. 8/10

Okay

[hazangel-89910 · 7/10 · 4 October 2022]

This episode was nothing special but I have to say that this is beginning of my like for Mrs Macarthy. She used to annoy me but I like how authentic she is and protective of Father Brown. When she refused to leave him alone in the house with the band, I thought that was so endearing. She is almost like Mrs. M from Grandchester (just a little more annoying).

In any case I also wanted to say how beautiful the singer is. Her dark skin, white teeth were just stunning.

I think we have to suspend belief (or is it disbelief) in most of these episodes. I think it's obvious that FB is not a conventional man or priest so it's not hard to believe that he would be more accepting than others. But I do understand it is unusual for that century/decade.

All that jazz

[safenoe · 6/10 · 18 September 2023]

The Wrath of Baron Samdi kind of reminded me of a Death in Paradise episode but set in Kembleford if you know what I mean.

Anyway, the voodoo aspect was played up quite a bit, and kind of mingled the racial aspect as well of Kembleford in the 1950s, especially intermingled with jazz if you know what I mean.

Anyway, the ending was quite suspenseful, with Father Brown laying on the mortuary table in a dead-like state and we are kept in suspense because really Father Brown manages to rise.

The Wrath of Baron Samdi is okay to watch once but twice, would I watch The Wrath of Baron Samdi, maybe, maybe not.

The most far-fetched episode of all

[LCShackley · 4/10 · 7 August 2016]

Everyone is already aware that the show runners have brazenly departed from Chesterton's original vision of Father Brown. This episode shows that they have now gone completely off the rails.

First, we are expected to believe that a poor man from Haiti can somehow travel to England, obtain a car, and track down his girlfriend. Second, we are expected to believe that a Catholic priest in the 1950s would be accepting of voodoo religion going on in his own house. Third, that the same priest would sleep in the same bedroom with his housekeeper.

The people who run the show don't seem to have any clue as to the morals and practices of people before their own generation. It is a shame that they have so utterly destroyed one of the icons of 20th century English literature.

Such Lack of Accuracy of Facts depicted

[christiemoore-42746 · 2/10 · 29 May 2017]

This has certainly been the worst episode of the show that I have seen. Being a Haitian myself, upon watching this episode, I have been brought to reconsider my view of all the previous episodes seen. Haiti is 100% voodoo??? Definitely no research was done when preparing/scripting this episode. False depiction of Haitians, false reporting of religious affiliation demographics in Haiti, and -from the little that I know of voodoo itself- inaccurate depiction of voodoo practices/practitioners. This episode is full of fictitious portrayals based on an uneducated perceptions of a people or belief. Additionally, as mentioned by another reviewer, the priest's acceptance of voodoo, in the early 1950s and even nowadays, is unheard of.

Ridiculous

[LeChatelain · 1/10 · 3 April 2020]

I've seen most episodes of Father Brown and can honestly say that this one is by far the worst. It's the only time I've been tempted to turn it off.

Other reviewers have pointed out how unrealistic it is. This is true of many episodes. Father Brown is set in the 1950s but the eponymous priest seems to have parachuted in from 2016. He is so sympathetic to 21st-century sensibilities that it it sometimes jars. This episode is something else though. Other reviewers have mentioned this.

In Haiti, a vengeful spurned lover carries out a voodoo ceremony and follows the girl and her new lover to Kembleford. This is so ridiculous and farfetched that the whole episode seems amateurish. So does Father Brown's 'death' and clumsy recovery, conveniently timed just before his post mortem is about to start.

Don't get me wrong. I dislike certain things about the series but it's easily my favourite terrestrial show of the last ten years. I love the nostalgia, the Cotswolds setting and the murder mystery. If you're also a fan, my advice is: avoid disappointment and give this one a miss.