Dougal, is there anything on your mind? Let me rephrase that.
The priests go to a picnic site, where Ted falls foul of the zealous attendant Benson. Dougal, meanwhile, falls under the influence of the rebellious Father Damo Lennon, who encourages him to pierce his ear and smoke. When Benson's whistle is stolen, a priest is identified as having been the thief. Ted's lecture to Dougal on doing the right thing leads to his arrest before Damo is eventually exposed as the thief.
Tropes featured in the episode
- Arms Dealer: Father Larry Duff and the lads can't make the picnic because Father Williams was caught with a box of machine guns in his car.
- Artistic License – Military: Father Williams is shot by a soldier using a Sterling submachinegun. The Sterling was never used by the Irish Army and the FN FALs seen carried by the other soldiers in that scene were replaced by the Steyr AUG in 1988 (though the FAL was still used by reservists until 2001 and still sees limited use by the Navy to this day). Even the British Army phased the Sterling out in 1994, two years before the episode was filmed.
- Ask a Stupid Question...: The quote at the top of the page.
- Comical Overreacting: Pretty much all of Craggy Island in response to the whistle theft, viewing it as heralding a crimewave of drugs, prostitution, gangs and murders.
- Creator Cameo: Arthur Matthews appears during the picnic scene.
- Disappointed in You: Ted when he thinks Dougal stole the whistle.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: Father Damo's rebellious attitude rubs off on Dougal and turns his relationship with Ted into one resembling a stern parent and a moody teenager. Father Damo's relationship with his own senior priest, Father Frost, is then shown to be exactly like that.
- Failed Execution, No Sentence: Averted when Benson explains how his stolen whistle once saved his grandfather's life when he was put in front of a firing squad and all the bullets miraculously hit the whistle.Ted: God Almighty! So he survived?
Benson: No, no. They just reloaded and shot him again. - Gosh Dang It to Heck!: The angry couple at the picnic site using 'fup', 'grasshole' and 'blackstard' because swearing is against picnic site rules.
- Gun Struggle: Between John and Mary over the shotgun which, of course, goes off offscreen.
- Hypocrite: Ted says confession is sacrosanct after opening the episode by gossiping with Dougal about what he heard at confession that morning.
- Ignored Aesop: The episode ends with Dougal admitting he's learned nothing at all from the experience.
- Impossible Theft: Jack drinks two whole bottles of wine from about ten metres away in the split second they are out of frame.
- Mundane Made Awesome: The standoff between Mr Benson and Ted holding a plastic fork is played to dramatic music and action cuts.
- Pocket Protector: Averted. The whistle saved Mr Benson's grandfather from being executed by a British firing squad. Until they reloaded and shot him again.
- Point That Somewhere Else: As John is showing off how he keeps his shotgun cocked so as to get the jump on any would-be whistle thieves, Ted nevously nudges the barrel away from himself.
- Reckless Gun Usage: John points his loaded and cocked shotgun straight at Ted, then jokingly slams it down on the counter after reassuring him that it's not dangerous as long as it's not dropped or the like.
- Serious Business: The whole of Craggy Island is up in arms about the theft. Sgt. Deegan starts doing helicopter rounds, John buys a shotgun to defend his shop and one old lady says she's going to lock herself in the basement until they catch the thief. In fairness, it has been well-established in previous episodes that nothing ever happens on Craggy Island so it makes sense that any theft (small as it was) would set them off.Old Lady: I never thought I'd see the like. What next! Somebody'll be murdered and then what!
- Super-Hearing: Jack can apparently identify the brand, varietal and vintage of wine, just by the sound the clinking bottles make.
- Talking in Your Sleep: Dougal thinks he's playing Countdown in his sleep.
- Tempting Fate: Ted can't wait to eat Mrs Doyle's sandwiches as long as they're not egg. They are, of course, all egg.
