#mon petite gallique merde

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Hercule Flambeau safe-cracking in “The Judgement of Man” (Father Brown S03, E10)

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Hercule Flambeau in Every Episode

↳“The Daughter of Autolycus” (Series 4, Episode 5)

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My Ranking of Every Hercule Flambeau Episode (S01-S08)

There are some spoilers for S7 and S8, but they are fairly vague and pretty much the sort of thing that you might see on the official press release. So not true spoilers as such. Also this is totally subjective and the result of my own personal biases. It’s also behind the cut because it’s looooonnng. 

8. The Two Deaths of Hercule Flambeau (s06e10)--

So, this episode is *fine*. It’s hardly the worst episode of the show, but it’s easily the weakest of the Flamby eps, despite their being a few isolated moments I enjoy. (Hercule getting a long overdue bedroom scene for one :P)

My main gripe is with this episode is the uneven way Lisandra Flambeau is written. The script seems to flip-flop over whether we are supposed to find her sympathetic or not.  On one hand,  many scenes imply that she genuinely loves Hercule despite them having a shotgun marriage after only a few days of knowing each other. On the other hand, she does not hesitate for a minute before poisoning an innocent (Fr. B) for no other reason than to hurt Flamby, which makes her lose a lot of sympathy points.

And as a result, it seems to make Flambeau seem like more of arse than normal for betraying her, while somehow also absolving him of responsibility for doing so, because she turns around and does *THAT.*

And ngl, it does make me a little uncomfortable that while the character of Lisandra (as an Italian) is possibly not meant to be interpreted as a POC, the actress portraying her definitely is. (Sara Martins is of Afro-Portuguese descent).  Which makes the uneven characterization (and underwritten-ness) seem even more glaring, especially  when compared to that of the other (white) women in Flambeau’s life (his first love Rebecca and his daughter Marianne, arguably Lady Felicia as well). It just leaves a bad taste in my mouth even if  in all likelihood, the part wasn’t written with Sara Martins in mind.

I think a much more interesting approach to Lisandra would be to have intending to betray Flambeau all along. Maybe she had her own agenda for seducing Flamby, meanwhile he thinks he’s the one using her for his plan. Maybe she does develop some feelings for him along the way, but it only makes her hesitate for a moment before going ahead with her original plan. That way, she keeps her agency and isn’t reduced to the “woman scorned” stereotype while also leaving the writers free to ship Flamby with others in the future without seemingly endorsing guilt-free adultery .

Other random note: I can’t take  parts of this episode seriously because the “Crown of Lombardy” is very obviously Guinevere’s crown from BBC Merlin with no attempt to alter or disguise it. 

7. The Daughter of Autolycus (s04e05)--

Not gonna lie, I am not really a fan of “character has long lost relative that we’ve never heard of until now” plots. And that goes double when said long-lost relative is a child or sibling. As such my low ranking of this episode is partly due to unconscious personal biases against that trope.

That being said, if we had to get a long-lost relative that we’ve never heard of until now plot, I’m so glad we got Marianne--even if it takes her another episode to really live up to her potential. 

I have to knock off a few more points for Nero Hound as a villain. For one thing, he was played by Nancy Carroll’s real-life hubby, but they didn’t let let him interact with Lady F at all. Such a *waste.*  Also Nero Hound is far too similar a name to Nero Wolfe, and I’ve definitely confused them on more than one occasion). He’s also rather generic in my opinion, even compared to some of Flambeau’s other “generic mobster” rivals/associates like the ones in S8.

However, there are some moments in this episode I genuinely like--particularly the theft “imagine spot” and Flambeau’s bishop disguise in general. Plus, the scenes where Flambeau and Marianne appear together are excellent, as are the hints that Marianne will become a redemptive trigger in Flambeau’s life.

6. The Judgement of Man (s03e10)--

Again, the low ranking of this one may be due to personal biases.  In this case, I’m still low-key bitter--five years later-- at the BBC marketing department for baiting me with the idea of Flambeau actually interacting with the rest of the squad (esp romantic tiems with Lady F)  and then giving me the absolute minimum of Felicia/Flambeau flirting and no Flambeau/Sid and Flambeau/Mrs. M interaction.

But there are other reasons why this is in my bottom 3 Flambeau episodes. 

Honestly, I feel like an equally compelling episode about the Vatican’s complicity in Nazi art theft could’ve been made without having to insert Flambeau in it. I mean I suppose it does make sense to have the art thief character  in the art episode, but still I feel like both Flambeau backstory and important historical lesson about Nazis, the Church, and Jewish art suffer from being crammed into the same episode. 

That being said, Mrs. McCarthy’s duchess disguise in this episode cleared my skin, watered my crops, etc, which is why I’ve ranked it higher than the previous two. 

5. The Folly of Jephthah (s08e05)

It loses a few points because I got very exited about the idea of Marianne becoming Bunty’s thief gf cool new friend, and yet in the episode itself, they only shared one scene and didn’t really interact much in it. That being said, I did like like that Bunty and Mrs. M had a bigger role in this episode than the squad usually gets in Flambeau episodes. 

Overall, I feel this episode works a lot better than most of the other “backstory-heavy” Flambeau episodes, because we’ve already gotten the Marianne-related exposition out of the way and can focus more on allowing her character, Flambeau’s and their relationship with each other to develop.

I’m also a bit smug in that I predicted (or at least hoped for) this exact character arc for Marianne within a few weeks of “The Daughter of Autocylus” airing and that my hopes came to fruition so beautifully.

It doesn’t particularly impact the ranking too much, but I do feel like this episode deserves a special shout out, because it has established a (hopefully-continuing!) pattern of Father Brown calling Flamby  almost exclusively by his first name, which is a major significant step in their bromance and deserves recognition as such. 

4. The Blue Cross (s01e10)--

As someone who was first exposed to Father Brown through reading the stories for a college course, I always find it especially interesting to look at the episodes that were adapted from Chesterton. 

This episode is neither the most faithful book-to-show adaptation (which is probably “The Three Tools of Death”) nor is it the best (imo “The Sign of the Broken Sword’) , but it is arguably the most significant. “The Blue Cross” was the first ever Fr. Brown story and is probably the most well-known. It’s also the first real look we get at the character of Flambeau, who (in the stories and arguably the show as well) is probably the closest thing we get to a clear character arc.

The show keeps some of the important elements of the short  story: Flambeau’s clergyman disguise, the switching of the packages. But it also has the challenging task of upping the relatively low stakes of the story, as well as introducing a major recurring character that resembles his book counterpart but remains distinct enough to justify the fairly different direction show canon is taking him. 

The show does this reasonably well--if not particularly imaginatively. I do enjoy some of the touches (I’ve written an entire meta before about Flamby’s reading material on the train and how it relates to his character)--particularly the show’s choice to have Flambeau fixated on religious art specifically (RIP for Flambeau’s Dairy Company though. It will always live in my heart).

Unfortunately in the adaptation, loses a few points for not really using the show-original characters particularly effectively. It loses still more for Flambeau’s characterization in this episode . He comes across as much more  serious and menacing in this episode than in all the others. It works okay when we consider this as a standalone episode but provides some glaring Early Installment Weirdness when we compare it to other episodes. 

3. The Penitent Man (s05e15)--

So as the rest of this list  will testify, I have strong preference for the “fun” Flambeau episodes over the more series ones. This is the exception that proves the rule--the  serious, cerebral, melancholy episode that simply “works” for me in the way that some of the others have not.

A lot of it is due to the more-intense-than-usual Flambeau character focus that goes into this. Sure, we’ve met his (presumably ex-by-now) wife, his daughter, and his first love by this point, but all of those episodes focused primarily on Flambeau as an extension of the relationships with others. (”The Judgement of Man”  in particular is far more Rebecca’s story than Hercule’s.)

Whereas this episode is very definitively focused on Flambeau himself and allows more nuanced exploration of two of the most defining facets of Flambeau’s character:  (1) his fascination with religion--and spiritual salvation in particular--  as  something he seems to resist and crave in near equal measure  (2) his almost masochistic streak of recklessness.

Even though Flambeau’s supposed “piety” is revealed to be all part of his heist plan, there are strong hints that his desire for redemption and atonement are at least somewhat genuine, even if he is not  ready to pursue them just yet. 

Off topic, but a few random things of note in this episode: this episode all-but-confirms bi!Flambeau, wet!Flambeau at the end is extremely relevant to my interests, Father Brown attempts to smuggle Flamby a lock pick from the beginning and has the audacity to say “ I only use it when I get locked out of the presbytery.”

Also, it has this iconic exchange:

Goodfellow: What is that awful smell?

Father Brown (covered in sewage): It’s me

2. The Honorable Thief (S07e10)-- So nearly all of the Flambeau-centered episodes from S3 on  have been a little preoccupied with filling in some of the gaps in Flambeau’s backstory, which is *fine*, but honestly, I feel like in doing so, they’ve really lost sight of why we fell in love with the character in the first place. 

 He’s vibrant and clever and funny and over-the-top. But most importantly, Flambeau is a lot of fun. Therefore, it follows that episodes that feature him should be a lot of fun too. 

And well... they are all fun in some way,  but they aren’t as fun as they really could be. John Light is insanely charismatic, but charisma can only go so far when the episode in question is a downer.

Fortunately, this episode is the furthest thing from a downer imaginable. It’s absolutely delightful from start to finish. The plot is serious enough to keep things engaging, but also light enough to keep us from getting too distracted by angst. 

I’m also incredibly biased in favor of this episode, because it finally gave me the Felicia/Flambeau ship tease I’d been passionately hoping for (if not really expecting to get after “The Judgement of Man” disappointed me). But it was so much and so good, and I wasn’t ready for it.

In a broader sense though, this episode really delivered with Flambeau/squad interaction in general--which was a key component that has been missing from most of the other episodes. And the Father Brown & Flambeau interactions were also has heartwarming and funny as they always are.

If I have one tiny little gripe with the episode, it’s that Daniel is not Sid. He has enough broad similarities with Sid that I can’t help but wonder if the episode was originally written with Sid and then hastily re-written when Alex Price couldn’t return. That being said, he was a likable enough guest character in his own right, and I wouldn’t mind seeing him again.

1.  The Mysteries of the Rosary (S02e05)-- Perfection. Not only is this THE definitive Flambeau episode, but is also one of the best episodes of the show overall. It has everything: the birth of bearded Flamby, bromantic road trips, a treasure hunt, great guest turns from Anton Lesser and Sylvestra Le Touzel.

I think part of the reason this episode resonates so strongly with me is that it’s really the first proper sense that we get of Show!Flambeau as a character. Sure we officially met him in “The Blue Cross,” but considering he didn’t show up until halfway through the episode and was in disguise for most of it, we didn’t really get much of a sense of who he is.

This episode changes all that and sets Flambeau up as the character we will know and love for the rest of the series--charming, urbane, funny, passionate, a carefree carpe diem exterior masking (or overcompensating for?) a sense of uncertainty and conflictedness.

Somewhat off topic, but as great an episode as this is for Flambeau’s character, it is nearly as wonderful for both Sid and Father Brown’s characters. We get to see Sid’s  ease with Father Brown, the casual camraderie that the two of them have--as well as Sid’s protectiveness (and jealousy) when Flambeau decides to gatecrash their bromantic road trip. 

Honestly, there are so many things that are great about this episode that I don’t think I could possibly list them--but one little detail that really struck my the last time I watched was that the first proper glimpse we see of Flambeau in this episode (we see him in shadow in a flashback before) involves him  saving Father Brown’s life.  Whereas the last proper glimpse we see of Flambeau is after Father Brown has saved Flambeau’s life.  Thematic reversals. Cinematic parallels. We love to see it. 

[notmoreflippingelves]

I feel like we as a fandom haven’t really taken the time to fully process and appreciate just how Extra™ Flamby’s plan in “The Penitent Man” was..  (Spoilers below the cut for those who aren’t caught up yet)

His plan was essentially:

1. Frame himself for murder 

2.  Get himself sentenced to death

3. Find the rare religious artifact that has not been seen for hundreds of years and may not even be there anymore

4. Specifically find the thing in the five minutes before he is executed

5. Find some way for Father Brown to tag along, so they can have bro-time.

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Father Brown + recent google searches

↳ Hercule Flambeau (Part 1)

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#i live in hope that one day we'll have a whole season of their shenanigans #imagine sid coming back to find flamby has installed himself #father brown acts like he just picked up a stray cat ((excellent tags via @justastormie)

That’s part of reason I was a little disappointed with both “The Judgement of Man” and “The Daughter of Autolycus,” as good as they were. I had gotten super hyped  about the idea of Flamby interacting with the entire squad, and I just didn’t get as much of it as I was hoping for.

Cause the whole cast of characters are so good and play off each other so well, and adding Flambeau to their already fantastic dynamic would just make even more perfect.

But yes, I have a feeling Sid would have the hardest time of anyone getting used to Flambeau.

Bunty  would adore Flambeau, almost from the beginning, because he’s just so cool.  He’s the embodiment of all the scandalous, cultured and dangerous outlaws from the cinema.(Basically a dark and handsome Errol Flynn-type that speaks French). She’s a little smitten with him (because how could she not be), but mostly she just wants to be like him--to be  suave,  wild, scandalous, and able to wrap beautiful people (women and men alike) around her little finger. She also  low-key ships him with aunt Felicia, because their chemistry is explosive and they look so pretty together. 

Felicia is extremely attracted to Flambeau (and they both know it), which she tries to mask by being snarky to him. But their belligerent sexual tension does not erase the fact that they really  understand and care about each other. And she enjoys matching wits with him.

 Mrs. M would be resistant/suspicious of Flamby at first, but he’d win her over eventually, through a combination of natural charm, complimenting her cooking, and  subtly manipulating her maternal instincts.

And then, there’s Sid...

He has no idea, but he’s probably a little attracted to Flambeau, like Felicia and Bunty, but he’s too busy high-key resenting Flamby that he never really processes this.  Less than 1% of his dislike of Flamby is based on suspicion/fear/protectiveness of his friends, and the vast majority is really just straight up jealousy. 

 Because Flambeau is so handsome and so cultured and so badass that Sid can’t help but feel like an inferior version. And all the women just fawn over Flambeau , even though he’s not that great (except Sid knows deep down that he is). And worse, Fr. Brown adores him and starts inviting him on all the adventures. (Cause Flambeau can pick a lock or swipe a key much much faster than Sid. Plus, he’s always down to seduce someone as a distraction).

I think a large part of it might come down to Sid being a war-time orphan and feeling somewhat lost and abandoned. And now, he sees Mrs. M mothering Flambeau and Fr. B beaming  whenever Flamby does a thing. And poor Sid worries that he’s being replaced. 

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Sorry for rambling, but I had this thought late last night.

What if the reason that we only see Flambeau once per series, is that he literally spends all of his time offscreen working on his next heist? 

And by “working on his next heist”, I really mean  embroidering his little hankies and trying to figure out how he can reasonably include his priest  man-crush in an elaborate plot that has literally nothing to do with him.

Because honestly, Flamby is so Extra™ that rather than calling up his bro and seeing if he’s free to hang out (Like a NORMAL person would do), he’d probably just go right ahead and schedule an art heist playdate for them.

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Although nothing will ever replace “The Mysteries of the Rosary” in my heart as the perfect™ Flamby episode, I must say that “The Penitent Man” now comes a reasonably close second.

Just think of all the beautiful things we got.

Flamby slowly unbuttoning his shirt in a way that showcases  off John Light’s Monumental jaw™ and perfect shoulders

Seeming confirmation that Flamby is bi/pan given all the times he flirted with and/or was hit on by guys this episode (I would also like to add that I called this years ago)

Flamby rushing to the rescue when he hears the bad lady is messing with Fr. B’s friends.

Flamby clocking the guy when he threatens Fr. B

“Am I really just an old acquaintance?”

The fact that right after I commented on how completely extra Flamby is, he goes and pulls his most Extra™ stunt yet.

A few instances of gratuitously!French Flamby which is most definitely my Achilles heel

Flamby sending Fr. B a present (which includes a sample of his lovely handwriting)

The fact that he addresses his little note, not with “Father Brown” but with “Father” (This stupid idiot with his Daddy issues)

“Our latest adventure.”--THIS BROTP will end me

Fr. B laughing and smiling at Flamby’s present. :)

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combefaerie reblogged your post: “Although nothing will ever replace “The Mysteries of the Rosary” in my heart as the perfect™ Flamby episode, I must say...”

#All these points are amazing#I loved this episode#and you'll be glad to know that whenever certain things happened my first thought after general excitement was how much you would like them

Awww...I feel so loved. But yes,it’s like the writers found my Flamby wishlist and just went to town on it. I mean, I was not expecting shirtless!Flamby and wet!Flamby in the same episode. And the entire ending sequence with the car and his snazzy hat and cravat and the little note he sent to Fr. B...  was just <3 <3 <3

But honestly, Flamby completely owning anyone who messed with Fr. B & Co was all I ever wanted. And I got it twice!

The only thing that would’ve made it even better was if Felicia was there, and I finally got a kiss. 

But just...gah...

I’m so happy, and it’s like completely re-ignited my Flamby love (even though that never really goes away).

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Thanks for making Inspector Valentine edits because he's great and I adore him lol

Awww, I’m glad you like. I’m trying to do all the major characters in every episode, though I’ve come to the realization that I���ll probably skip Mallory since I don’t care for him. 

(Even if my completionist/purist self is fond of reminding me that Flambeau is a lot fewer episodes than Mallory and I’m still doing him...but come on, Flamby is mon petite gallique merde who stole my heart a long time ago. And Mallory is unpleasant, though Jack Deam does an amazing job w/ such an unlikeable character.)

[notmoreflippingelves]

Flambeau is coming back???

Yes.  (With the beard, which is his hottest look imo.)

He’ll be  in today’s episode “The Daughter of Autolycus.” He’s going to enlist Fr. Brown’s help in stealing the Pope’s coronation gift to Queen Elizabeth.

Nancy Carroll’s (Lady Felicia)  hubby is also guest-starring.

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Changed my icon to bearded Flambeau because my Gallic trash prince of thieves is coming back today :)

[notmoreflippingelves]

Sorry to go all English major on you all, but when I was re-watching “The Blue Cross,” and I couldn’t help but notice which book Flambeau was reading on the train, and after I thought about it for a moment, I couldn’t help but realize what a perfect choice The Old Man and the Sea  is on the part of the production team and how perfectly Flambeau’s choice of reading material captures Flambeau, Father Brown, their relationship, and Flambeau’s future redemption arc. (More under the cut as this is gonna be long)

As many of you may know, Hemingway is often described as a “hyper-masculine” writer as his works center around male characters, include stereotypically male activities (like fishing, brawling, bullfighting, etc.) and often focus on the problem of being “man enough” in a (in-critic’s opinion) world that threatens to emasculate. As Flambeau grew up without a father and later failed to protect the woman he loved from the Nazis, it seems likely that Flambeau is not always sure he is “man enough”--or at least the man he thinks society expects him to be. Perhaps because of that guilt and doubt, Flambeau responds by indulging in stereotypically “hyper-masculine” vices (primarily violence, physical fitness/agility, and sex) in the same way that many of Hemingway’s men do.  

But simply acting in this manner is not enough. Flambeau knows that there is something missing in his life that will make him feel complete--which Chesterton, Fr Brown, and show canon imply is religious faith. However, he is unsure how to obtain this faith and still lives in fear of pursuing it and ending more empty inside. (After all, Show!Flamby blames God for letting his father die and the Church for their complacency in Nazism which threatened his girlfriend’s family). So he goes about his search for faith indirectly but aggressively--in his relationship with Fr. Brown and in his obsession with religious artifacts. 

In Chesterton, Fr Brown and Flambeau meet by chance  whenever they cross paths. (If anything Fr. Brown is the one who aggressively  pursues Flamby  rather than the other way around)  but the show makes Flambeau the one who seeks out Fr. Brown--not only in “The Blue Cross” but also in “The Judgement of Man.” He purposefully puts himself in Fr. Brown’s path on two separate occasions, because he knows the priest will  try to bring him to the light. This suggests that Flambeau--at least subconsciously--wants to be saved.

Now onto The Old Man and the Sea specifically:

The basic plot of the novel is that an old fisherman, who has been unsuccessful at catching a single fish for months, ventures out past his normal grounds in search of “bigger fish” and soon becomes embroiled in an intense three-day struggle to reel in the huge marlin on his line and to return home with his catch. 

Prior to the events of their stories, both the fisherman and Flambeau have been  been doing the same thing in the same way and expecting different results. Hemingway’s Old Man keeps looking for fish in familiar territory and coming up empty. Similarly, Flambeau sticks to the familiar, committing himself to the same masculine vices that he thinks will strengthen him. At first glance, it may appear that--given his numerous successful art heists-- Flambeau has succeeded while the Old Man has failed, but Flambeau is still unable to obtain the happiness he truly wants. As Fr. Brown tells him  in “The Judgement of Man,”  Flambeau has “exiled [himself] to a life of purgatory” even as Flambeau argues that he is still “surrounded by beautiful things.”  At some level, both Flambeau and the Old Man realize that they need to make changes in order to gain the happiness and success they desire, and so they do--the Old Man venturing out into unfamiliar territory and Flambeau approaching Fr. Brown.

 By trying to draw the innocent Father Brown into his web, Flambeau seems to be playing the “fisherman,” and like Hemingway’s Old Man, he finds himself “caught” and dragged out further to sea by his supposed prey. On the other hand, Fr. Brown is a true “fisher of men,” as he tries again and again to “catch” Flambeau for Christ. In a sense, both men are both the fish and the fisherman, an idea that is paralleled in Hemingway where it is often unclear who really holds the power. Furthermore just as the Old Man has a clear respect for the fish’s power and strength, both Father Brown and Flambeau have a clear respect for each other, even as their ultimate goals seem to be at odds (though subconsciously Flambeau wants to be saved just as much as Fr. Brown wants to save him.)

In terms of more direct symbolism, both Chesterton and Hemingway rely heavily on  fish and fisherman as Christian symbols. In the gospels, Christ recruits his first four disciples (who were fisherman) by promising to make them “fishers of men.” And in the original Father Brown stories, Chesterton uses this imagery extensively and obviously. In “The Queer Feet,” the Chesterton story in Flambeau finally repents and turns his back on crime, really hammers home the Christian/fish imagery with a society called “The Twelve True Fisherman” (clearly meant to suggest the Apostles) from whom Flambeau steals  twelve pearl-handled  fish knives before being himself netted by Fr. Brown. 

Although Hemingway’s use of the tale as a Christian allegory is a bit more subtextual, the parallels are nevertheless glaring if you know to look for them. The Old Man struggles with the marlin for three days, parallel to the three days Christ spent in the tomb. In his struggle, the Old Man recieves injuries on his hands that mirror the stigmata, the wounds Christ received on the cross, and Hemingway later compares the Old Man to a crucified Christ.

The overeager English major in me is almost certainly over-reaching a tad here, but given the fact that this anaylsis works so well, I feel that having Flambeau read this particularly book on the train was probably intentional, especially considering that the same writer wrote all three Flambeau episodes (and only writes Flambeau episodes if wiki is to be trusted) and seems obsessed with slowly bringing my Gallic trash prince of thieves to the light.