A Detective Priest

         When I used to work for broadcasting in college, I often enjoyed many of the shows aired. One, in particular, was the ongoing 2013 TV series, Father Brown. As you know, BYU is my alma mater, so it was somewhat unsurprising this was available on campus television.

         It's been going strong with 8 seasons (90 episodes), and a ninth season is on its way. Father Brown got its inspirations from G. K. Chesterton's Father Brown short stories. This iteration is way more popular than its 1974 predecessor. In fact, Wikipedia states its the second longest running daytime drama.

         For your information, here is the list of the main casts per IMDb.

Storyline

         It's about a Roman Catholic priest solving murder mysteries around his village. The setting of show takes place in post-WWII England, in the 1950s. A typical episode usually starts with Father Brown going about his business in town. Then, trouble brews until it catches the priest's attention. In a "meddling kid" fashion, Father Brown unravels the truth to the audience.

Differences to other series

         Other detective series are more about logic and the genius of the detectives. Father Brown is more about intuition and takes a dive into human psychology. The show further uses his experience as a WWI veteran and his role as a priest to focus on those points. Since the setting of the show takes place in the 1950s, there are no fancy technologies to aid our hero.

         The show often contains religious references and alludes to it. This should come as no surprise as the main character is a Catholic priest.

Personal thoughts

         What I found interesting about Father Brown is his approach to the real culprits of the crimes. Instead of "bringing them to justice", he offers them a listening ear. He doesn't judge them, but encourages them to face the consequences of their actions.

         In a way, it's exactly like a confession one would do with a priest in Catholicism. Father Brown doesn't turn them in and keeps the conversations in confidentiality. Why would anyone believe him? I guess people are a lot more trusting of religious figures back in the 50s.

         From a religious standpoint, Father Brown represents mercy. One could go as far as saying he could be a type of Christ. At the very least, he operates on the level of "judge not, that ye be not judged" in Matthew 7:1.

         As far as crime/detective series go, Father Brown is rather light-hearted. Take this clip for example:

         With any series, they are enjoyable until contemporary events set into a show about the 1950s. I won't go into details here, but ushering in "wokeness" can put an anachronic feel to the series. Unlike Sherlock Holmes, it's not as easy for BBC to reimagine Father Brown into a 21st century drama.

         But hey, I'll let you decide how good this series is on your own.